Week 28, Life

Week 28 started off with a bang--or a bounce :)  After Tommy's speech therapy appointment on Tuesday (which he has been doing AWESOME at), we headed over to Bounce U to meet up with the Carter girls. The boys could not have been more excited--it was pretty adorable to watch their little faces light up when we got there!  In fact, I told Tommy the night before that we were going to a place that was similar to Monkey Joe's, and he started jumping up and down screaming, "YEEEEEEAHHHHHH!! YYYYYEAAAAAHHH!!! YEEEEEEAHHHH!!" over and over again.  It was pretty cool that he totally understood he was getting a special treat without having to see it first!  Anyway, check out these adorable pictures!

Ethan was constantly trying to dunk the basketball!

The boys had this jump house to themselves for a little while :)

Don't you just love Reagan's mischievous little grin?!

Cameron is on the move!!

Aubrey peeking out for her photo-op :)

"Mom, put down the camera and get in here and help me slam it!"

Tommy, Aubrey, and Reagan walking up the steep steps for the big slide!

Tommy and Cameron--a romance in the making?!

Ethan just noticed the skee-ball machine.....

......and, has cheated his way to the end!

After hitching a ride with the nice teenage boy who was working, Ethan left them all in the dust!

Tommy coming down the shoot!

Watch out for "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" :)

Tommy was in pure heaven the whole time!

Ethan at the bottom of the slide as happy as a clam!

My 2 boys <3

On Wednesday, Tommy had OT, which he is also doing really well at.  Ethan in the waiting room was a completely different story.  Let's just say someone is hitting their little 2 year old stride.  Basically, he completely stole a toy from this other little boy, and that kid's mother basically flipped out--chill out lady, I'm handling it!!  Alas, I digress.  After therapy, the boys headed over to Goggi's house for the afternoon, which allowed me the time to go through the boys' rooms and prepare for this week's consignment sale--yes!!!  Grandma is still recovering from bronchitis, so they didn't get the double-dip, but at least they got to see Goggi!  And, now that Goggi is on the case (Grandma's case that is!), she'll be better in no time--thanks for taking such good care of her!

Thursday morning I had promised to take the boys to Hit and Run so they could play baseball with Granddaddy.  They were soooooooo good, and so cute!!  They developed their own fun system of taking turns by having one person hit with Granddaddy's help while the other one stood on the pitching mound.  As soon as the ball hit the bat, the one on the mound would run to the plate, while the hitter would run to the mound and wait.  They seriously figured this out all on their own!  Hey, I was impressed!!

Ethan thinks baseball is hilarious obviously!

Hmmm...I think there's a slight skin tone difference between Ethan and Grandaddy!

Tommy's favorite part is always "RUNNING!!"

Ethan had to put the ball on the tee himself--no help wanted!

Good hit Tommy!!

Look at how big my little Catchings is getting!

Go Tommy Go!!

Look at the ball honey!

I think Tommy might be tired at this point :)

Big Red swings a Big Stick!!

That evening, I was able to go eat dinner with my good friend Marcia while Davey stayed home and had a boys night in--sorry everyone, no dance video was recorded this time!  On Friday we took a little family trip to the grocery store--aren't they just adorable sitting in that cart together?!  Saturday brought even more fun as we headed to Chick-fil-a to meet Aunt Becky Becky for lunch!  I have to give her props--she sent the boys 2 videos of herself basically being silly so they could watch them whenever (don't worry Becky--not posting them here!).

Tommy and Ethan enjoying a special treat with Aunt Becky!

Ethan loved looking at all of the animal pictures in the play area!

Tommy playing tic-tac-toe with the puppy dogs :)

The boys were more than worn out from their running around at Chick-fil-A, so much in fact that we had to wake them up at 5pm to go over to my parent's house for dinner!  The pool wasn't filled up, but the boys had a great time in the "rain showers" anyway!

Ethan keeping things lively in the car!

"Man, I love it when my big brother copies me!"

Tommy "roaring" in his monster towel after the rain showers <3

Time for the little monster to get some sleep!

 Sunday morning started off on the right note, with a weight loss of 3 pounds!  So, briefly, here's what I'm up to as far as that goes.  I finished "Made to Crave"--great book, still highly recommend it.  In fact, I think I might get the 90 day devotional book to go with it just for a daily reminder!  One of the things that I like about that book is that they don't give you a food plan.  You choose your own, and then they help equip you through scripture to stick with it!  What I've basically been doing for the past 2 weeks is eating REAL food.  I know, sounds silly, but seriously ACTUAL food.  Food from nature--as in not processed, or very very minimally processed.  Basically, if my Grandma Jan ate in when she was a kid, it's a go.  Now, obviously, baked goods have to still be in moderation, but truly whole grains, nuts, fruits, vegetables, fish, and eggs are all up for grabs.  Chicken, pork, and beef are okay too, but again, in moderation.  I have to say, I am LOVING it!  I haven't had a headache in 2 weeks, I don't feel bloated, and the food has tasted great!  It does require more work--basically cooking every meal from scratch, but it has been worth it thus far!  I've moved on to a new book--"In Defense of Food", to help me hone in on my own personal food plan.  I don't plan to be perfect, and I don't plan to enforce "food rules" outside of the house, but my goal is to highly control what we eat in our own home!

So, as you can see, it was another good week here at the Catchings house.  I finished the book I referred to last week, "Made to Crave", and I've moved on to my next one.  We had a lot of really fun family time this week.  I felt good about how I spent my time, and I lost 3 pounds (can I get an Amen?!).  Life was good this week.  However, for a few of my friends, life was pretty awful this week.  One of our friends lost his Father this week to pancreatic cancer.  Their 1 year old son will have to rely on photos and stories of his Grandpa.  For another friend, her husband left her the same week their son started kindergarten.  That's quite a lot of loss to deal with in the same week.  My best friend has been desperately trying to fight off the huge swell of emotions that she is feeling as today is the 1 year anniversary of her brother's brutal murder.  She has 3 kids under 4 to take care of, and her husband is out of town for a week.  Life.

Life can be so good sometimes, you can hardly believe it's real.  And, life can be so terrible sometimes that you can feel such incredible despair, hopelessness, and grief that you feel you simply cannot go on.  The craziest part to me is that you can move immediately from one to the other in a blink of the eye.  Life is always changing, and it is rarely predictable.  Something I really want to teach my boys is how to respond to the dynamic challenges life faces them with.

Life Lesson #3--Lean on God. 
I know it might sound trite or cliche, but it's the way to go.  Life is always changing, God is always the same--hang your hat on that!  You can depend on God to listen to you, to guide you, and most of all to love you unconditionally during every single moment of your life.  No one can understand you the way He does.  He sees all, He knows all, and He created you.  So, you might as well keep it real with Him.  Leaning on God does not mean being happy all of the time.  Cry out to God in your trials.  Ask Him for help.  Tell Him you don't understand, or even that you're feeling upset or betrayed.  Lean on Him and His understanding, and not your own.  Remember that you are not alone, and that this season of trial will not last forever.  Finally, when life is good, don't forget to thank God for this time of blessings in your life.  Ask God to give you wisdom to know the right choices, and the courage to make them.  Remember in your high times that others are going through low times.  Be compassionate and generous to them, and pray for them.  Be consistent--lean on God during all times.