Four Times The Fun

Friendships and Heartbreak

I've tried to write this blog post for a week now... Still right now, my palms are sweaty, my heart is beating violently against my chest and I feel the tears start to burn my eyes... I will be brave. I will be brave, because they have to and he was...

I went to school with the Davis family... Russ, Heather and Holly. Holly and I were freshmen together. We had band and cheerleading together and hit it off right away.  We'd give Mr. Clay such a hard time!! OH! The memories that flood back when I remember Holly! Before Mr. Clay we had Mr. Sanchez... My goodness! The things we got away with! Somehow, we made our way to the practice rooms daily so we could talk about boys and all the things little 14 year old girls talked about! Read...BOYS! And every so often we play our clarinets so we wouldn't get caught goofing off! We were such goof balls! Holly was ALWAYS there for me. She was always there to listen to me talk about my boy problems! Problems! That makes me giggle!!! I was a mess! 

Holly? How did you and Beth deal with me? I was a complete dork!!!! ;-D And Do you remember how Mr.Clay would roll his eyes at us!!! ;-)

I recently re connected with my Holly through Facebook. To see Holly's face was wonderful. Seeing her and her family was comforting to me. To know that Holly was happy and well, made things somehow feel right in the world. It's hard to explain... It just felt right.

Hearing about Russ, and Heather and their families was icing on the cake. Looking through Holly's photos and seeing her whole family happy and together... seeing that Russ Davis  has a SON made me giggle. Seeing Heather and Holly with their sons made my heart happy. And Mr. and Mrs. Davis looking EXACTLY the same, was heartwarming.

But, things were not all perfect. Holly's son has major medical issues and in hearing her struggles broke my heart for her. I was having a hard time not driving over there and learning all I could about taking care of Matty, so I could stay up with him and let her and her hubby get much needed sleep!

Matty and Holly are the reason I joined The Littlest Heros Project. I needed to somehow make a difference... 

They were my heros.

(Uncle Russ with Matty)

This next part is hard...

On August 13th Russ was badly injured in an accident at work. He was a lineman for PG&E... After serious injuries, difficult surgeries and a strong fight, Russ passed away on August 18th.

My heart breaks for his family. My need to hug Holly becomes so hard at times... Memories of Russ flood my mind and make me want to laugh and cry at the same time. Thinking about his families heartbreak gets overwhelming....

I need to do something.

Russ was an organ donor. His life lives on... in his son, in the people who's lives he has touched, and with the gift he has given so many people with the donation of his organs.

I want to help. I need to help.

Heres what we're going to do...

I will be doing 10 sessions at $100 (regular priced sessions are $450) and all proceeds will go into Andrews trust. AND if you have a donor card or that sticker on your drivers license, we will give you 10% off a regular portrait session. I'm not sure what else we will be doing, but getting the word out about organ donation is going to be a big thing. Stay tuned to hear what we come up with...

( Russ with his son Andrew)

You can purchase a session and give it away as a gift... You can purchase a session and save it for Christmas... I'll make you a cute little gift certificate. You can purchase 4 sessions at once at the $100 price, and that would 4 sessions for less then the price of one.

I'm asking you to help. Russ was a thoughtful person with a great big heart... to say the least. I'm asking you to help me give back. 

Please keep the Davis family in your prayers. 

Davis family, if you are reading this...

I am so sorry for your loss. I have always been amazed by your family. You are part of the reason I wanted a big family! Now that I'm a mother I know first hand how challenging raising a family is. And Mr. And Mrs. Davis... you did an amazing job. 

 I can't begin to imagine how difficult this time is... please know my love and prayers are going up for you...

I'm going to stop rereading this post... I'm just going to post it! 

What Do You Do?

What do you do when you are in a funk. I don't mean just having a grumpy day. I mean having a grumpy week or weeks? 

I pray. I pray without ceasing! And I make a choice to reflect on what is good and true in my life. 

And still sometimes it's overwhelming. At that point I get myself up and moving! I take a deep breath and choose to move past it! 

Here are some things I do...

Go and listen to Brady talk about his hopes and dreams, the new movie idea he has or listen to him talk about his Legos. I ask him questions and get him talking! I listen and thank God for Brady's enthusiasm! Watching my boy light up talking about what he loves makes my heart feel happy! 

( he happened to have all his "Indy" Legos set up)

And if that wears off because the girls are being wild because I'm spending too much time with him...

I turn on some music and have a dance party!!!

How could you not love this show!

And I get up and dance with them! My that brings out the giggles in the girls and it's hard to be grumpy dancing with these girls!

And when I just need a break from the kids, Jeramy will take them outside with him and let me have some peace! And often times I watch them through the window till I can't take it anymore! Then I grab my camera and capture the love between them!

How can this not make your heart flutter!!

I focus outwards not inwards...

Sometimes I just have to do something crazy! Like making a BIG chalk rainbow on my door step!

I didn't care if chalk was going to be tracked in the house! I was focusing on being creative with my children! I was focusing on what rainbows symbolize to me...

Gods promises. 

=D

Thank for listening... for reading and for lifting me up in prayer! I adore you all!

Create

After dinner Jeramy took all the kids to church while he worked for a bit.

Read that again...

After dinner Jeramy took ALL THE KIDS to church while he worked a bit.

Now REALLY read that sentence again...

SHARON WAS HOME ALONE! ALONE WITHOUT ANYBODY!

You got it! I turned on Brook, lit a couple candles and sat down. I was trying to figure out when was the last time I was alone. Truly alone. Nobody around. Where I could sit and actually do something for just me?

For a split second I entertained the idea of cleaning the house. A split second. It was a really quick second.

So, I decided to use that time to create my "inspiration board" for Homegrown. I've been looking at a card I bought at Trader Joes for a while now and I wanted to work off of that. Well, I go to get it... gone. Called Jeramy to have him ask the kids... they don't know! Dang it! It really was just here!
I didn't let that get me down.

I really didn't know what I was going to create... I just decided to pray and create and see where God took it.

I've had tons of fantastic scrapbook papers sitting in a drawer for forever and pulled those out... I have also been picking up things here and there that I liked and I came across a old tin bucket filled with little odds 'n ends. That bucket really did call out my name, "Sharon! Over here! I'm cute! You haven't even looked at me in forever! Pick me! Choose me! Love me!" I picked it up. How could I not? I took those along with a few pictures and spread everything all over the table! I loved all the colors! And I sat down with a blank piece if poster board.

After looking and having to take a few picture of the papers and pictures by candle light I started dumping the little things out of the tin bucket. Here are the two words that tumbled out first...

I KNOW!
I bought that stuff YEARS ago when I was making an album for Gwyneth. She's 3 now! I haven't look in it in ages!

Of course I stopped and prayed a bit more. What was the message here?

Then I just started cutting and pasting and one thing led to another...

I'm actually not done... after finishing this piece I feel like it's only one of four. -you can kinda see the almost finished piece in the middle box on the left- I feel like it's not done, but I'm not stressed about it. I'm excited for the next step in this process.

God is telling me something in this I just can't decipher it right now. And actually... I'm fine with that too.
(if any of you have any ideas of what the lesson is... go ahead and share!)

I do know that I'm a very busy girl. With a husband, kids (one of them a nursing kid!), a home, church, family and friends... I sometimes get lost in all of it. With a young family I struggle with the constant GO! GO! GO! Sometimes I'm afraid if I stop I won't be able to start again.

I NEED time for just me.

That in itself, is a lesson.

I need time for me. Not just without kids... time with just me. So, I can pray, create and listen. So, I can see the ideas and feelings... and put them into art. Create.

Thanks hunny for making a way for me to have some alone time... love you!

Wish List

Side one

Side two

Maybe both photos in black and white? I'm gonna have to play!

ETA: I just noticed that I put the wrong picture on 'side two'.
I put the one where Jeramy and Natalie said my son looked "creepy"