Momma I hungry

Sometimes I feel like all I do is feed kids. Sean will wake up in the middle of the night and say "Momma I hungry." It seems like he eats all of the time. When he's not hungry he's saying, "I need a shrink (meaning drink)." I know that some day I will miss hearing those things, but there are times that I think I just need a break.

Tyler and Brayden are out of school for the summer. They are so excited about not going to be by 9:00 and just hanging out during the day. I really hope they have a great summer. Tyler will surely be taller than me by the time school starts back. Brayden will be ready to get away from Tyler by the end of summer and I'll be ready for both of them to go back so that they aren't fighting all the time.

I do have to say that I love each of my boys so much. I thank God everyday that he blessed me with such wonderful children.

Blessings!

Exhausted Yet Refreshed

Well I just spent an amazing 72 hours worshiping and rededicating my life to my Lord and Saviour. Wow. Just saying that is so powerful. I had a great time on the Walk to Emmaus. I don't think Randall and Gary will ever know how much they touched not only my heart, but the heart of each one of the women there. I am proud and thankful to say that they are part of my church family. Each of them will hold a very special place in my heart forever. God taught me that he loves me unconditionally, will never leave me, and will always forgive me when I let him down. Can you believe that? Wow! I can't say anymore about it than WOW!!! I give all glory to my Father in Heaven.

After getting home on Saturday, I noticed that my house was a little cleaner, my kids were still alive and well, and my husband still had all of his hair. I guess they had a great 72 hours also. I really missed them and I think they missed me too.

Sunday was Mother's Day! We went to church and then we had lunch with my Mom. We had a great time eating and visiting with Mom, Bobby, and Kaysha. Then we went to Debra's house for the monthly birthday celebration. It was great to spend time with more family and friends. To all of the Mother's out there: Happy Mother's Day!

I started my 2 1/2 week vacation last Thursday. I have big plans for my time off. We will see how much of them I get done. Whatever happens will be fine with me. I just needed a break. I have to get started on my list, so I will try to blog again later.

God is moving in us!!!

I know, I know. Several of you have mentioned that it's been a long time since I blogged so I thought I would update you!

We had just an awesome sermon last Sunday. The title of the series is Catch and Release. Randall did such an awesome job and I was deeply moved. I'm sure several of you noticed due to the red, swollen eyes that I had when I walked out of that room. I needed to hear each and every word he spoke that day. I left there with a feeling of urgency to deal with my past. On Tuesday night I had to go back to work and I listened to the sermon again. You got it, I felt that same sense of urgency. On Wednesday night at group, we had a continuation of Sunday's sermon. Again, I felt God moving in me. Thursday driving to work, HE SPOKE TO ME. He has always worked through others when speaking to me, but this time HE SPOKE TO ME. I had to submit and I called upon Teresa for help. I met with Teresa on Saturday and I feel like I'm on the path to RELEASING some of the "ugly carp" from my past. Praise God!!! Thank you for all of the prayers. I truely needed them.

Sean had such a wonderful birthday party. Thank you to all who came and for those of you who didn't come, you missed a great party. I can't believe my baby is 3 years old.

School is winding down and the boys have spring fever. Quentin and I have spring fever almost as bad. We can't wait to be outside all of the time. We look forward to hanging out with each of you this summer.

I want to thank God for bringing many new friends into our lives. It is out of our comfort zone to open our hearts to new people, but again it is what He wants not what we think we want.

I have felt lead to help with the Children's Ministry at church. I've thrown my intent out there and I'm waiting to hear what I can help with. I know we are growing as a church and I want to help facilitate that. He is moving in so many ways.

Praise God each day for the many blessings he has given each of us. God has his own way of showing us exactly what we need and what he has planned for our lives. I hope each of you have a wonderful week.

Blessings, Amanda

Hello 2008

Wow, where did 2007 go? I think it flew by and I missed the last half of it. I have been really bad about blogging lately and I know that I need to just sit down and do it. Here's an update of the Brown family.

Quentin~
Quentin is really growing in his walk with Christ. I am so proud of the man he has become and is still evolving into. I can't tell you how much more I love him each day. We will be celebrating our 10th anniversary this week. Yeah!!!! I can't believe it's really been 10 years. Wow. Quentin is working hard and trying to help me with the boys. It's been a challenge.

Tyler~
Tyler is growing into a young man. He has experienced his first big red pimple on his nose. I know he would just die if he knew I was sharing this, but thank goodness he doesn't read my blog. He is doing very well in school and we are so proud of him.

Brayden~
Brayden is doing so great. He is having success at school keeping his behavior under control. I knew he could do it. He is such a special little boy. Even when I'm mad at him, I can't help but love him even more. He is so caring and helpful.

Sean~
Sean is potty training. Oh my goodness. I think I have become the lazy one with this one. I haven't pushed him to do it (well, because he's the baby), and I know I'm not helping the situation. He does great at Debra's house (because she is soooo good). He is growing and learning new things every day!

Me~
Well I have been busy at work and at home. I had to write out my goals for 2008 at work and it helped me to really focus on what I was there to do. I also wrote down my personal goals and now I have them to work on also. My health is okay and hopefully I'm still on track to have surgery on March 7th. Stay tuned for more on that.

Family~
This is definately a trying time for our family. My uncle Ernie (Aunt Lavonna's husband) has been diagnosed with cancer. This is a fast growing cancer. He is in a lot of pain. The doctors told him that they expect him to live only 3-4 months. We all know that God has a plan for each of us and that he will leave us when God is ready for him. We just hope that it's later. I've never been really close to Uncle Ernie and now I am sorry for that. I do love him and his family. This is going to be very difficult for my Aunt Lavonna and I hope she knows that I love her and I'm here for her.

Quentin's 2nd cousin Kim is in a coma right now. She had 2 blood clots that have gone to her brain. I just can't believe it. Tyler played baseball with Josh for 2 years. Kim and Rick are awesome people. Kim was always there for every game and you knew that she loved both of her kids. Seeing Kim with her granddaughter was an awesome sight. Kim and Rick love each other so much and so I can't even imagine what Rick is going through.

Please just lift our family up in prayer.

Church~
We have decided to jump all in. God said it was okay and so we did it. I will be starting a small group on Mondays. Quentin and I are attending a small group on Wednesday together, and then I'm attending another small group on Saturdays. Praise God!!! We absolutely love it! What an awesome God we serve!

I have to go now. We are reading the Bible as a family and it's time for us to read.

Rush Rush Rush

I feel like all I ever write about is us rushing around, day to day, trying to finish just one more thing. Oh well, I guess that's what it's like to live in the Brown's household.

Football is almost over. I don't know if I'm sad or if I'm overjoyed. This is Tyler's last year before he starts playing middle school football. Then we're on to high school football. I can't believe that he'll be driving in only 4 1/2 short years. Oh my goodness. Anyways, back to football. Tyler's team finished the regular season tied for 2nd place. They played the tournament and finished it in 3rd. Now we are off to Clovis for their tournament. I am so proud of all the boys on this team. They have really put their all into this season. Thank you to the coaches for putting up with not only the kids, but the parents who can be just as bad as the kids.

I have a new nephew. He was born last Friday. He weighed in at 7 lbs and 3 ounces. I believe he was 20 inches long. His name is Jorden. I have seen pictures of him and he is so beautiful. I hope that I can meet him in person.

I went to the Women of Faith conference last Friday. What an inspiring experience. Between all of the laughing and crying, I was totally exhausted when I got back home Saturday night. I would highly recommend going to any woman who wants to be inspired by what God can do in your life. I owe a special thank you to a woman who is an absolute blessing to anyone she comes in contact to. Kathy, you are a special person to me. God will continue to bless you for doing his work. I love you!!!

Quentin has been sick and everyone knows that it's not fun when Daddy is sick. I'm glad he's over it and back to his normal self. Quentin, you mean the world to me and I hope you always remember that you are my love, my friend, and my life.

Sean and Brayden are doing well. Brayden saw a new doctor for his ADHD. I really like this new doctor. He suggested that we change his meds and so we are in the process of doing that. Say a prayer for us. It's going to be rocky for a while.

Awesome God

Like the song says, "Our God is an Awesome God." That's the only way I can describe what has happened in my family. As most of you know, Quentin and Tyler gave their lives to Christ on Wednesday. I can't tell you how excited, proud, and over joyed that they made the decision to do this and to do it together. How many fathers and sons can say that they did that together? I thank God everyday for putting Quentin in my life. I have prayed for so many years that Quentin would find his way back to God. It's finally happened. I have never doubted that it would, but I'm human and I'm impatient. I thank God for helping us find the church that we belong in and for finding Randall for Quentin. They instantly had a connection and I know that God was working through Randall to touch Quentin. Tyler has struggled for so long on how to give his life to Christ. I think that Quentin played such a vital role in helping Tyler make this decision. Tyler loves his daddy so much and I'm so proud that they were able to do this together.

Chad, Heather, Kaytlin, and Reagann came to church with us this morning. I'm so glad that they came. I hope they enjoyed it as much as we do.

Randall has been preaching on Marriage. Boy did we need to hear it. I think every week that Randall has been spying on us and is talking directly to us. Our marriage has been so much better and we are learning a lot of things that can help us improve our marriage even more.

Brayden has had such a wonderful week in school. I'm thankful for the good weeks. The good weeks make the bad ones seem less important. He is doing okay as far as grades, but the behavior issues are hard to deal with it. I know that God doesn't give us any more than we can handle and sometimes I find myself questioning that. I know as a Christian that I have to turn it over and so I have been doing that.

Sean is growing like a weed. He is doing so great at Debra's. Debra, I hope you know how much we appreciate and love you. Thanks for everything.

Work is really busy right now and I don't know how I'm going to keep up. I guess we'll see how it goes this week.

Love to all!!!!

It's been a long time

I know, I know, it's been such a long time since I blogged last. It has been a crazy month and a half. Let's see if I can recap without boring everyone.

SEPTEMBER:

In September, we had the Fair. Boy was that a long week. I worked in the vendor bank and Quentin volunteered in the Grill. I also worked 1/2 days at my regular job. Renay was such a huge help with Sean and we really appreciate that. During that same week we had to rush Papa to the emergency room and he was admitted to the hopsital with pneumonia. He's fine now, but it's always scary. Oh and let's not forget that I turned 30 in September. No, I don't feel any older or any different, but thanks for asking. About the only thing that I realized from turning 30 is that Tyler is half way through school, Brayden will only be in elementary school for 2 more years, and Sean will be starting school in 3-4 years. It's amazing how fast time flys. I can't believe how big my kids are getting. School has been really rough for Brayden this year. We have already had 1 meeting with his teacher and one meeting with the principal and the counselor. This is in addition to the numerous emails that have been sent between me and his teacher (which is basically daily). I hope we can help Brayden be successful in school. Sean is starting the potty training process. He has had some success, but of course he's being stubborn. I KNOW he got that trait from his daddy. Just kidding. Anyways, we haven't had much success, but we are still working on it. Tyler has played football every weekend in Bushland and they are tied for 1st place. Go Wildcats!!!! We are so proud of his whole team.

OCTOBER:

We are still having problems with Brayden at school. I hope we will get it worked out soon. We are going to meet with the principal, counselor, and teacher again soon. I have personally felt God working in my life this month. I have asked for some healing and of course that is what God is doing. I have been able to forgive where I thought it was impossible. Only God has the power to do that. I have to thank 2 very special people who are helping me with this. You know who you are and I want you to know that God will bless you for this. Tyler's football team is still tied for 1st. Sean is still plugging away at potty training.

I will try to do better at blogging. I've got to make some time for me again. I think this is my only time to focus on everything that is happening in our lives. I send my love to all and God bless!!!