Who Knew!!!

Dak and I had the best day today. We went and got his hair cut and finished his clothes school shopping. He is just the funniest kid to shop with.

He actually shops and makes it fun.

This is a pic of him at McAlister's for our afternoon tea.

I'm telling ya, we were in dire need of a tea and a seat ~~

I ask you ~~ How cute is he?!!
I mean really!!

(Sorry for the glare, taken with cell phone)

Dak is on the prom committee this year and the theme is something to do with a masquerade.

So today he took me to this place in our local mall that has these masks.

So how creepy is this one?!! EEK!!

And of course I had to get in on the action ~~

How glam is this?!!

So Dak and I are walking down the mall and I look up and guess what I saw?
FOREVER 21 ~~ Who knew?!! Be still my heart!! I was so happy.
So I went in and bought an ADORABLE top!! I will be showing that to you soon.

Now onto the real business ~~
Guess who turns 1 tomorrow?!!

Yep Sir Cuteness himself!!

And he's happy about it too ~~ see?!! =)


Have a Blessed and Beautiful evening,

Some Things on my Heart .....

Like:

Stellan This little babe so needs our prayers. Please go here and read Jennifer's latest post. It will break your heart and push you to pray. She needs us to stand in the gap, Christians. She needs us to hold up her hands while they fight. If this was my babe, I'd need you to hold my hands up in prayer. So let's band together and fight through prayer for this babe.
Lamentations 2:19 "...pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord; lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children..."

Also on my heart today:

Jonah 2:8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs."

This verse is part of the powerful prayer that Jonah prayed where? Yep in the belly of the fish. Listen, sometimes it takes a fish to swallow us whole to start praying in earnest. I know from experience.

Recently I counseled someone from this very verse. The Lord had told them to go to Nineveh and yep, to Tarshish they went, and now there they sat right in my kitchen in the belly of a great big fish. They were defeated, dejected and ready to listen. It was a beautiful thing. I got out my Bible and went to this verse. You see they had clung to a worthless idol and was forfeiting the grace that could be theirs. I asked them what forfeit meant, and they said to lose. But actually it means to give away. If you forfeit a game, you have given that game to the other team. You lose without even giving any effort to try to win. It is a sad state of affairs when life gets this way. But if we cling to worthless idols in our lives ~~ and let's just clarify, an idol is anything you set up above God ~~ then we are surely forfeiting the grace that could be ours. This has been resonating through my heart this morning. Oh how I never want to cling to another worthless idol in my live.never.

So these are just a few things on my heart today. I feel a moving of the Spirit in my life in a way that is exciting and refreshing. I am ready to go where He sends, and that includes in my heart. Sometimes we think that going where He sends is physical in location and sometimes that is true, but sometimes He asks us to go places in our hearts that maybe we haven't been in a while, you know to do some cleaning. Or maybe, there is something that He is wanting to draw out of us to use in us? Ya know?!! Just some thoughts to ponder.

I love ya so,

Rocking the Family Union ~~ Lawson style!!

So this weekend was my mom's family reunion and it was so fun.

I am not usually jumping out of my skin to go to these, because generally I spend a lot of time feeling awkward and out of place.

But this was a lot of fun, and we have pics to prove it =)

Here is Dak and his favorite Loovile cousins!!

Aren't they sweet??

Okay so Dak is all ready to serve, except ~~ Hey son, where is the ball man?!!

Here is Dak coming from fetching said imaginary ball and Kae fixing her beautiful red hair!!

Oh and I love this shot: Huh? Yeah there really is a ball!! =)

Here is from left to right:

(Cousin) Melanie, (Cousin Heather's hub) Cliff, (Cousin) Janis, (Cousin) Andy

Here is my brother Rusty and his wife Sarah. I haven't seen them in like 2 or 3 years.

It was so good to see them.

Bet you didn't know I had a brother huh? =)

Here is my sweet mother ~~ the Matriach of our family!!

Here is my mom's "friend" John!!

And here is Kelly turning his nose up at me. Nice.

So again this is a quick post, but I'm off to pick up hubs from work and then to see Sir Cuteness.

Be still my heart!!

No time to review, so I hope you can understand this post =)

Love and hugs,

And please continue to keep Stellan and his family in your prayers!!

Stellan needs our prayers!!!

Our God is able!!!!! This much I KNOW!!


Stellan, Jennifer's (a.k.a MckMaMa's) baby is in desperate need of our prayers right now. They are giving him a drug in his IV and we need to pray that his heart goes into NSR (normal sinus rhythm). If you follow her on Twitter you know that is heart is beating at 258 bpm. And Believers, we need to pray for this itty bitty and his family.

Father,
You are AWESOME!!! There are no words to adequately describe You!! Thank You for hearing us when we pray. Praise You Precious Jesus!!! I lift Stellan to You right now heavenly Father, and I pray that you will help this little one. Please return his heart to the proper sinus rhythm and help him to be able to stay in that rhythm. Give the doctor's wisdom and understanding.

Be with Jennifer and her husband and little ones Lord, help them to lean on You. Please give them peace in this chaos and hope in the despair. Father, Jeremiah 32:17 is coming to mind right now: "Ah, Sovereign LORD, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for You." Nothing, Father is too hard for You!!!!! You hem us in before and behind. Father how I praise You. Work Lord on behalf of this family. I give You the glory Jesus, Amen

Thank you for joining with this sweet family in prayer.

Have a Blessed evening,

This Woman's Work

Last night on SYTYCD was one of those moments that will stay with you.

Melissa and Ade danced a comtemporary piece to "This Woman's Work" and it was one of the most powerful dances I have ever seen. I lost a friend just a few months older than I, to breast cancer at the age of 38. I have a picture that hangs in between my kitchen and living room that she gave to me as a gift several years ago. This piece really hit home to me.

This to me was a tribute to my friend Shelly who died of breast cancer three years ago, and to my friend Cassie who died of bone cancer 4 months ago and to my mom who has fought cancer twice and today is cancer free, but still has to have many check ups and port flushes and deals with the reality that it could come back again. These people are my heroes for their valiant fight and struggle.

I'm sure we all know someone who is dealing, has dealt with, or lost their battle with this disease. This is an important piece of work. Please grab a tissue and watch. I just posted the dance, but if you want to see the longer version with the rehersal and the comments by the judges please go to youtube and watch. The comments are powerful.




We're off to get mom's port flush today, yes another reality of living with cancer.

Love and Blessings to you,

The Goodness of the Lord....in the Land of the Living!!!

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."

Psalm 27:13

How much do you love this verse?!! Yep it is one of my fav's.

I was reminded of it this morning when I was lovin' on my husband and watching him walk out the door for work, when I looked down on my porch and saw something.

Someone had put these under one of my plant stands outside for me.

Is that not the cutest little bunch of lavender and white daisy's you have ever seen?

There is something about a homespun gift, if you will.

Someone took the time to put these homegrown daisy's in this little plastic bottle (reused~~love that) and even put a couple of sprigs of greenery in there. And then set it on my doorstep just to love on me. Now that is sweet goodness right there.

No I do not know who they are from there was no note. There are two or three possibilities just in my sweet neighborhood alone. I'll let ya know when I find out!! If it was you, Thank you so much. You have already made this a sweet, lavender filled, lovely smelling, flower kind of day and I thank you!!

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Well, I mentioned yesterday that I had a doc's appointment. It was an appointment with a podiatrist. A few years ago I had to have a spot removed from the bottom of my foot that was a fibroid tumor. Nothing serious...totally benign. Well I had another spot come up on my left foot, but this time had to go to a new doc, ya know changes in insurance, so I went to a doc my baby sis suggested. This doc was so great!!! So down to earth and just regular. I loved it!!

I was expecting to have to have the thing taken out again and wear a boot for another 6 weeks, no weight bearing and all that stuff, but no. She said it was just a callous, because of shoes and my foot shape, bunion, etc. and so she just cut it out right there in her office. She even cut the other one out on the other foot that was starting to form, and didn't even charge me, except for my co-pay, because apparently our insurance doesn't cover cutting those out. But she did it for free ~~ How great is that?!!

So my foot is definitely sore, but she said that it would only be sore for a few days and NOT to limit my activities. YAY!! So in about 30 mins I'm getting Dak up to go for a walk. Yep, what a nice mama I am =) He will thank me later =) Really he will !!! =)

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Another busy day is in store for me, but I am so thankful for it. The kid's sign on there house today. Yep they will be homeowners, and it is just the cutest house, with such personality and character, just like the kid's. Can't wait to see what they do with it.

And Sir Cuteness is going to LOVE sliding down the hill in their back yard in the winter time. YAY for him!!! I heart him. He is the cutest thing..... moving on ...... =)

So let me encourage you to look around today and see "the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living", because it is there. And if you have the opportunity, pass it along. Point someone else in the direction of goodness that is only found in our Lord.

Love you so ~~ Have a Blessed day,

PS I posted pics of the new "do" last night, so please scroll down and take a gander and let me know what you think. I love it!! It makes me feel pretty again. Isn't it funny how something like a new cut will do that for you?!! Love you still, Dawn

To Do or not to Do....

Yep, I did it....

A new do for this chick!!!

How do you like it?!!

Yep I know.... your digging the gray highlights...

Thank you Dak, they are especially lovely in the sunlight...

And yes your name is on quite a few of them .....

Yes I know....I'm welcome =)

When we got home from the doc's and errands today (haircut and other funness...)

I went to the garden and picked these....

Are they not scrumptious looking?!!

And the taste?! Get-out-of-town delish!!!

I know, another quick post.

I am a busy girl this summer it would seem.

Tomorrow the kids close on their house.
Yes I know, it was suppose to be on Friday...

Yeah, you know how banks are....delayed and then delayed again....

But it is suppose to happen tomorrow at 1:00 pm.

They are so happy!!!

And today is Tonya's birthday (Sky's mama) ~~

Happy Birthday T ~~ You, my dear, are FAB!!!

And just in case you would like to see me in my natural habitat when Dak is behind the lens....

Here ya go!!

Your welcome =)

Have a Blessed evening,

Weekend with Sir Cuteness!!!

Okay, so this little guy is a busy one ~~ oh my stars ~~

Look at that face!!!

...

Okay so this is a new found love of Sir Cuteness ~~ diapers.

No not the one he is wearing, he'd just asoon have that one off,

nope it is the ones in the package, well loosely speaking ~~

they never stay in the package long if he has a chance

to get his adorable little fingers on them!!

...

I know you can't see his little face, but he is so intent when he's playing with his diapers.

He got one so discombobulated this weekend that when I went to put it on him, all the fibers on the inside were bunched up in front ~~ yep that one he just got to play with =)

Yay for Sky!!!

...

We had so much fun with g-babe this weekend!! We took him to the nature center,

and yes, I forgot the camera. What is wrong with me? Yeah, don't answer that =)

He was a little scared at first, but it is a jungle out there.

But safely in G-pa and nan-nan's arms, he endured and ended up liking the outing.

It was a BLAST!!!

He is now eating mostly regular food. In fact, when you feed him baby food he looks at you like you just grew a third eye ~~ what were we thinking trying to use up what is left of our baby food =0)

And we also found out he digs homemade rolls ~~ yum ~~ yep this child is a bread eater!!!

Well, I just wanted to post quickly tonight. Tomorrow will be a very busy day for us.

I have a docs appt for my foot tomorrow (more on that later) and then maybe a little school shopping and contact picking up and grocery shopping and .... whew I'm tired just thinking about it!!

Have a Blessed day,

PS I know I haven't visited many blogs lately ~~ don't give up on me, I've had a lot on my plate lately. But I will get back to reading, hopefully this week. I love ya!!!

Kickin' it Up....Slowing it Down....Random Friday!!

Wow has it really been since Monday since I posted?!! What a slacker!! =)

This week has been a crazy one for me. I have not been feeling well. Don't worry I didn't get what Dak had, nope still thinking his was Tick Borne Illness. No, I have had low temp (95.9) and low blood pressure (89/50) and just generally feeling bad. No energy, ya know just yucky. Well I went to the doc, and she did some blood work, and changed some medicine around and I'm starting to feel a little better. It will probably take a little while to get to feeling like myself again, but hopefully this medicine will help.

_____________________________________________

Here it is the 18th and I have not posted my verse for the next two weeks. First of all, let me recite my last MV:

Philippians 4:8: "So finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

Wow has that verse ever been needed in my life over the last two weeks. I am so thankful for the Scripture Memorization Team through LPM. It has so changed my life this year. I honestly don't know where I'd be in this crazy year without some Truth in my head to guide me when things get crazy.

Well, this time, God has lead me to verses in Isaiah that just want to make me shout!! Do ya ever just want to Shout for the LORD?!! Well here is your chance!! Just give Him a shout of praise as you read these two verses.

Isaiah 12:2-3: "Surely God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. 2 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation."

Hallelujah!! Now if that's now worth "Kickin' up" some praise for our LORD nothing is!!! HE is our salvation!! Aren't you glad you aren't your own salvation ~~ or anyone else's for that matter ~~ I've often thought what a mess we would all be in if salvation was left up to me. Jesus bore it all on the cross. Every pain, every hurt, every fear, every SIN ~~ He bore it all for you and for me. He is my salvation, my strength and my song!!! Hallelujah!!! Glory to His Name!!

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Well, today the kids (C & T) close on their first home. Do ya'll remember the first home you ever bought? Yep, I do, sitting in it right now. I heart our home. It is such a haven of rest and peace for us. It isn't great big and fancy, no it is just the right size for us. Comfy, cozy and cottage...yep love it!! We are so happy for them and will be at the signing this afternoon and then guess what? Oh go on take a guess!! Yep Sir Cuteness himself is coming home with us for the weekend. Oh be still my Cuteness lovin' heart ~~ I can't wait to get my hands on those curls!! He is such a joy and delight to us!!

This weekend, today included, the high is to be 80 degrees. The high in the middle of July in MO 80 degrees ~~ get out of town!!! Beautiful!! So we plan on "Slowing it Down" a bit... and getting Scoot out of doors and into the great unknown (okay the Nature Center), but to him it will be The Great Unknown!!! Lots of stuff to explore and do ~~ yay for lovely weekends!!

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And just on a Random note: The garden is bringing me such joy!! I feel like I've learned so much more about gardening my second year than I did my first. I'm so glad ~~ I always want to keep learning. Our tomatoes have started ripening, and hopefully next week (toward the later part) we can put up some more salsa. We opened up our first batch of this year last night......mmmmmmm it is sooooo good!!!

Hopefully next week, I'll be back to more regularly blogging. I have much to share with ya'll....recipes, book reviews, funny happenings and of course The Word!!!

Have a Blessed and Beautiful weekend,

Seriously....How many pictures can one post hold?!!!

This post is full of pics from last week and weekend...

Okay, so what do you think?

Is he feeling better?

I would say so.....

Heeheeheehee
Well here is our lil Scoot...
How cute is this munchkin I ask you?!!

Oh and I just love this pic of his soft curly hair.....


This is another fav....He's looking at his papa...
How cute is this?!!?! He loves his papa so....

Yep and here he is looking up at me....

He also, just happens to really love his nan nan

(which is what he is starting to call me from time to time ~~ how cute is he?!!)

In case your wondering, ummm yes there is water in that sink,

and yes that is a clothed baby in the sink......

ummm.......

Okay, so you're probably wondering if that is normal procedure around these parts...

Well only when you've had a bath in couscous first......

Please, let me explain.....
I made couscous with honey and soy milk for breakfast for me....

And for Scoot I made couscous with soy milk (minus the honey ~~ ya know honey and babies don't mix... anyway....)

and we had a lot of fun eating playing in our breakfast, by the time we were done we had it all over ourselves and our chair.

It was so fun!!!

I forgot to have hubs take pics of that, so instead I thought I'd take pics of clean up,

although it really just looks like he's playing, fully clothed, in a sink full of water, there really was couscous on us....really =)

Here's some more fun we had.

Ah yes baby and hubs on the trampoline ~~ so fun!!!

He's trying to decide if he likes it at this point!!

Look at this hair ~~ yep ~~ baby + trampoline = static!!!

I love this one.....look how he's clinging to his papa...

Look how sweet this is.....Cutie pie holding onto Cutie pie....

Look at this face...

We hope you enjoyed our weekend in pics.......

We heart you..... =)

Have a Blessed Monday,

Thought You Might Enjoy =)

Yes I will be blogging tomorrow on what g-babe is doing in the sink of water with clothes on .... yep more to come ~~

Hope you had a GREAT weekend,

Dawn

Time Marches On ...

Wednesday was July 8 and it marked 23 years that my first husband passed away. It was July 8, 1986 that he slipped from my grasp very unexpectedly. He left that morning and simply never returned. I watched him drive down the hill and out of sight. It was the last time I would see him alive. In so many ways it seems like yesterday, and in so many ways it seems like forever.

Time marches on ...

I saw his sister yesterday quite unexpectedly. I had to get a copy of my Birth Certificate, so I went to the local Health Department and the lady that came out to hand it to me was C, my first husband's sister. She said as she held the Birth Certificate in her hand before she came out, she thought, "I knew a Dawn once," I was sad.

Time marches on ....

Then when she saw me we hugged and talked. It was great!!! We talked of things not spoken of in years. It was fabulous and sad. It was a mixture of joy and pain, but mostly joy as we reminisced about our time with sweet David - hers as a sister - mine as a wife. Our lives forever woven together in a beautiful tapestry of love and time, pain and joy.

Time marches on ....

I allow myself to feel the pain now that I never used to allow myself to feel. Sometimes raw, sometimes scarred over, always real. But instead of focusing on the pain, I'd like to focus on the person for a moment. David was the funniest person I had ever met, even to this day. He just had a way about him. His sense of humor was over the top. He made me laugh daily. I remember thinking back then, that I couldn't believe that I got to spend the rest of my life with this person. He was great!!! But that wasn't meant to be.

Time marches on ....

I have never shared pictures of David and I on this blog. Even though it has been 23 years now since his passing, there is still pain, and that pain makes it hard to share, but today I wanted to just share a couple of poignant moments from our wedding. It was the happiest day of both of our lives up to that point. It would be the happiest day of his life period. I'm so glad that I was the one that got to share it with him.

I know you are probably wondering how Dick feels about David and my relationship with him. Well that is one of the most wonderful things about my relationship with Dick (my now husband of 10+ years), we both loved David. Dick was David's best friend, and he was the best man in our wedding. Weird I know, but it is such a source of comfort and strength for me now. I can talk about this larger than life person and Dick knows exactly what I'm talking about. We share him in our lives now, our thoughts and feelings of him and his passing so soon.

David was 22 years old when he left this world. He was killed in an accident on a job site. He was electrocuted. It was a very sad day. But....

Time has indeed marched on, and I am so grateful to God for allowing me the time that I got to spend with David. And I am so thankful that He brought Dick and I together many years later to share in the grief of that time and to celebrate life.

Let me just say that even though this was indeed a huge tragedy in my life, God is so good. He sustained me and kept me, even when I ran. And He brought me back to Him and now teaches me daily what it is to be His. I am so grateful for the love of my Savior.

Thank you for sharing these moments with me today. I am sad, but I am also very aware of how God blesses my life every day and He keeps helping me to see the blessing in this very big thorn.

Have a Blessed Friday,