So time does fly!

So yes, a lot has happened in our family since September of last year.  Both boys are growing like crazy and is costing us an arm and a leg to try to keep them in clothes and shoes!  Yes, Zachary turned 15 and was he ever excited....yep, because he was ready to start driving!  He took Driver's Ed in October and got his learner's permit and from that very moment he has not stopped bugging us to drive.  In fact, he is counting down the days until he turns 16 because he THINKS he will be able to drive everywhere and anytime!  HA!  Boy, does he have another thought coming!  However, since we are trying to raise responsible children, we informed him that he will have to get a JOB and actually pay for his insurance, gas and most of the minor upkeep on his truck.  The upside of Zachary is that he is a very responsible young man and is actually a pretty good driver.  Zachary completed 10th grade and made all A's and B's, in fact, his fifth six weeks he actually pulled all A's!  We were and still are very proud of him!  That is a major accomplishment considering all the honor classes he has!  He even managed to earn an Academic Letter for the year!  So, now he has informed us he wants a letter jacket to put it on!  I'm sure he will get it, besides after all that hard work to earn it, you have to have something to show it off on!!  This picture is of him accepting the award!

Zachary is changing everyday...in fact, he even started shaving and it about broke my heart because his baby face will soon be a thing of the past.  He texts girls ALL THE TIME!  I know, I know, it's only normal for his age to start thinking about girls, but it is really making me insane to realize that in a few years he could possibly be serious with one of them!! YIKES!  But I won't borrow worries by thinking about it now...besides, we told him that college is first....now if he will only listen!!

As for Zane, he seems to be growing by leaps and bounds!  He completed 2nd grade with all A's and B's and we were and still are very proud of him too!!  He found a love for reading this year and we thought that would never happen to him because he just didn't seem interested in anything to do with learning.  But he did actually make the comment to me that he really loved to read, and I was so excited to hear him say those words!  At first, I really thought I was hallucinating when I heard it, but thankfully, I wasn't!  He did so well one six weeks that he earned the Pearson Pride award; it is an award given to the kids that perform outstanding during that six weeks!  This picture is of him and his award!

He further surprised me by crying on the last day of school because he was so upset that he was going to miss all of his friends and his teacher!  I was seriously beginning to suspect that an alien had taken him over...but you can imagine my relief when I found out it was still Zane!  Even though he has a soft side, he's still all boy and as you can see from the pictures, he loves to show me his ornery side every now and then!  Gotta love him!

As for me and Ron, we celebrated 24 years of marriage in May.  It comes as a surprise to me that it has already been 24 years....I guess the old saying time flies when you are having fun could really apply here.  Yeah, we've had some rough times but it's the good times that out weigh the bad times....and I wouldn't trade anything for my family!  I am so blessed!  So until I have more to say...make time fly by having fun!!

Some Changes....

This is probably one of the hardest updates to my blog that I have ever made!  Perhaps that is why I have been postponing it for so long....yes, there have been some more changes in our family.  In fact, the day of my last post, we had a very devastating change in our family.  It was Zachary's birthday that day and we were at church when I received a call that Memaw had passed away.  She had been in pretty bad condition since her fall in March 2010.  Yet there were times that when our hope would grow stronger, believing that she was going to get better and get home!  However, that never happened.  I believe in my heart that the day when Pawpaw passed away was the day that Memaw gave up hope of getting better.  She had lost the love of her life and although she loved her family, her soul mate was gone and she wanted to be with him!  It was so upsetting for Ron, the boys and myself, not to mention the rest of the Smith family.  I wanted to write a poem in her memory since I wrote one for Pawpaw; however, words have not come to me to express what she meant to me.  Even as I write this update, tears are streaming down my face for my precious Memaw.  Yes, she was Ron's grandmother...but she was more like my grandmother than Ron's.  There wasn't anything I couldn't talk to her about!  Before her fall, she and I would talk to each other at least every other day, if not everyday!  And oh, how I miss those talks!  There are times even now that I catch myself picking up the phone to ask Memaws' advice about a situation, or ask her how to cook something, or just to chat about my day!  I will forever miss her and never, ever forget her! I will update more about our lives soon...and hopefully soon I can write my own little memorial to Memaw.  It will come, but I think my heart and my head still need some more time....until then I will relive my fond memories of my time with her!

Happy 15th Birthday, Zachary!!

Fifteen years ago today, my life changed in a way like no other!  I became a mother for the first time in my life...to this little bundle of joy that I waited 8 long years for!!  Zachary was the baby that I prayed for and dreamed about....and it was a dream come true!!  But as you can see, alot happens in fifteen years!  My baby is no longer a baby...he is, in fact, almost a young man that will be no longer need Mom for little things, like driving him to school or helping him decide what to wear to church.  And although, sometimes the little things like that may get on my nerves....I get sad thinking about him not needing me anymore!!  Zachary is growing up to be everything I ever imagined him to be!  He is so smart, good-looking and just an all around great boy!!  He loves God and I pray that his love for God only grows and that he will allow God to guide him in every choice he makes for his future...and I know that if he does that, there is no telling what the future will hold for him!!  I am one proud Momma!!  I love Zachary with my whole heart and I pray that God will keep His hand on Zachary and bless him abundantly!!  Happy birthday Zachary!!!

Happy 8th Birthday Zane!!!

Eight years ago today, my life changed for the better.  The change was on September 3, 2002, when I gave birth to the sweetest little baby ever....Zane Connor Smith. And before this big change, I thought my life was pretty much perfect.  Yet this little baby that entered my life has only made my life even better than I could have ever imagined.  But my baby is not so much a baby any more, and that makes me sad.  I know he has to grow up but why does it have to happen so fast?  I guess that's not for me to know nor understand...but the one thing I do understand is that I have been so blessed to have Zane in my life for 8 years now!  He is such a joy to our family and he is always so full of life and so full of energy!  Always ready for fun and excitement!  There is never a dull moment with him and that's what so amazing about him!  I love Zane with my whole heart and my only wish for this birthday is that God will keep His hand upon Zane's life and bless him abundantly!  Happy birthday sweetheart!!

Happy Late Birthday, Ron!!

Happy Late Birthday!

I realize that these wishes for Ron a happy birthday come very late, especially considering his birthday was July 3rd.  However, after burying his pawpaw the day before, we really weren't in the celebrating mood!  Here's hoping that you have many, many more years to come to celebrate your birthday!  And I promise with all that is in me, if at all possible, your next birthday will be a blast!  Happy, happy late birthday to my dear hubby!

In Memory of Roy Leon Smith

June 28th marked a sad day for us...Pawpaw, Ron's grandfather, passed away.  He had been in the hospital for a few weeks with health issues and we all knew he was not in the best of health.  Yet, it came as a shock to receive the call that he had passed away a little after 5a.m. on Monday, June 28th.  Although he was my grandfather by marriage, never once did he make me feel like I was not a part of the family.  After all, he was the only grandfather alive for both Ron and I; he was also the only great-grandfather that Zachary and Zane ever really knew.  Words cannot explain how much he really meant to all of us and we are so sad to have lost such a great man in our family!  I wrote a poem that came to me after he passed and I am posting it as a tribute to Pawpaw.  The poem sums him up like no other words could describe.  Rest in Peace, Pawpaw.

A Man called Pawpaw

There is a great man

I call Pawpaw and friend..

He had the scowl of a bear,

but a love without end.

His nickname was Kraut

that he rightfully earned

His sweetheart was Addie,

and for her, he yearned..

Many years ago,

they tied the knot.

Then he served in the war

and for freedom he fought.

Together they raised

3 wonderful boys,

he taught them about life

and the meaning of joys.

He taught them to be

honest and true,

but the very best thing

he really did do,

was to live as an example

for his boys to see,

and of Butch, Ronnie and Jerry,

he was proud of all three.

As the years passed

his family grew,

with the addition of 'daughters'

he already knew,

that his boys would leave home

to start families of their own,

to share their seeds of love

that he had sown.

But he became pawpaw

with the birth of little Ron,

then Jennifer, Brian, and Michael

but the list goes on...

Jeremy and Barbara would

finish the crew...

with all these grandbabies

time really flew...

Next thing you know

great-grandkids were born,

creating this big family of

whom he adorned.

Before he knew it

Father Time had marched in,

grey hair and wrinkles appeared

where none had been.

Along came aches and pains

as his body grew old,

while he tried to be

strong and bold.

But like people in the future

as well as the past,

we know that this body

won't forever last.

He finally decided

that his family was strong,

and for his Heavenly Father

he very much longed.

So with one last breath

he departed this life,

leaving his loving family

and beautiful wife.

Forever we will remember

this wonderful man,

a man I call Pawpaw,

a man I call friend!

by Stacy Smith

Better late than never?

It has been some time since I updated my blog, so I will try to catch up eventually!!!  On March 26th, we got a call late that night saying that Memaw, Ron's grandmother, had fallen and hit her head and she was being rushed to the hospital.  She had just checked on her oxygen machine for the night and was turning around to go to bed and she stumbled and fell flat on her face!  She severely damaged her right eye and was transferred to Baylor Hospital to a eye specialist and they did surgery the next evening.  However, she did have bleeding on the brain and was in pretty serious condition.  To make a long story short, she lost the sight in her eye and ended up having a stroke a week later.  The stroke affected her swallowing and her whole left side.  She ended up staying in the hospital until June 28th, which was 3 months and 2 days, and after all that she went through, she will never be able to live on her own again...which is very sad for the whole family considering how independent she and Pawpaw had been for many years. 
On May 13th, I had nose surgery due to a deviated septum and both nasal passages were collapsed.  It was a day surgery with only about a week for down time at home.  After that I was up and ready to go! 

The school year ended with both boys passing with flying colors and Zane was on the 'A' honor roll for the year!! We are so proud of him!
The first weekend in June, the boys and I went to my family reunion...the Norton family reunion in Heber Springs, Arkansas.  Nana and Poppa Roy went with us and we had a really great time!  It was so good to visit with family we haven't seen for over 2 years.  I think the boys wanted to go to play in the pool, and play they did!!  It was hard to get them out of the pool but they had a lot of fun and didn't want to leave. 

The first two weeks of June brought swim lessons for Zane and he really did great!!  By the end of the two weeks, he was jumping in 10 feet of water and swimming really good!  But we were glad when it was over, so we could finally sleep in!!  The third week of June was Junior Camp at Lufkin, Texas for Zachary!  He had a blast hanging out with friends and had awesome church services!  He came back almost hoarse from yelling and shouting so much!  He had so much fun he was ready to head back the next week for Senior camp.  I was also planning on going to Senior camp to serve as a dorm matron...but little did we know that God had other plans for us because of a change that was coming to our family!