Throw-Back Thursday

No woman can understand a mother's love until she has children of her own. I have learned to love unconditionally and hold this precious life close to my heart. As the days pass by so quickly, I am saddened by how much I don't remember about the first days, weeks, months - even though I feel like I remember so much. Time is always so precious. This little guy stole my heart the day I found out he was coming. When he arrived, my heart melted and I don't think I have gotten over it since. He is such a joy, even on the bad days. I am so thankful that I can call him my son.

 

   

photos by Suzanne Rollman Photography

Beginning June

A new month is here. This year is flying by. I hate that the end of May was so slow on the blog front, but here's to a fresh start. I hope June is treating all of you well. A season of changes and new things are coming for me, but that is information for another day. Today, I will just leave you with some pictures I took on Memorial Day of some special guys in my life.

 

 

The Challenge: Day 30

Day 30 Prompt: React to this term - Letting Go.

I don't consider myself a "copy-cat" but as I was reading the blog posts that have been posted recently from my blogger friends, I just happened to come across this phrase. I have been trying to find the right words for today's post and that phrase just fit. So, I am using it too. Crystal, I hope you don't mind.

My last post created a lot of emotion and I did lots of thinking and praying. I want to let all of you know that just a few short days after my post, I had that conversation with my Dad. I asked him to meet me at my house one evening so that we could talk. Turns out - my emotions really had been getting the best of me and letting my worries grow greater than they should have been. My Dad really wants a relationship with me as well and he told me to ALWAYS call when I needed him - even if I had to call kicking and screaming at him for something. We were both able to talk though some concerns we had as well as have a bit of laughter and genuine conversation. After about 2 hours, 12 misquito bites, and J-Man worrying the tar out of us, we finally ended on a good note and decided to both do what we could to continue to make our relationship work.

In the midst of the anxiety I was having as the days, hours, and moments led up to our conversation, I had a lot of prayer. I just wanted God to give me the right words to say. I didn't want to make my Dad upset, but I also wanted to make sure that I said what I needed to say - still respecting the fact that he is my Dad. I, by no means, wanted to hurt him or make him upset so chosing my words wisely was very important to me. Turns out, as it always does, God was right there with us. He allowed us to open up with each other and neither of us were torn down by words.

I am so thankful that I took the step to call him over to the house. I am thankful that I have a God that both of us can turn to in everything in life. I am thankful that I let go of my own emotions and worries and let God oversee the situation. I am thankful for my Daddy and love him very much.

I'm Still Here...

... and you will find me on blog overload tonight! I have been out of sight since last Wednesday, I believe and boy have I missed it. I have wanted to post something every. single. day. but I was on a marriage retreat with Daddy J and he was definitely more important than pulling my computer out. Don't you think?

Anyways. To catch up, I will start with a beautiful afternoon outside. It was about two weeks ago and we were spending the afternoon relaxing under the setting sun. Bocephus has been doing much better about staying at our side when his is with us outside the fence, so I let him roam a little bit. 

J-Man was playing with a couple of his toys and Daddy J had just finished cutting the grass. Bocephus was panting pretty badly so I pulled the water hose out to give him some water. Once he realized that I wasn't going to give him another bath, he was elated that he could drink some water from the water hose. Well, maybe not because he was getting it from the hose, maybe just because he was getting water in general. He gulped it in as quick as it was coming out. J-Man watched every moment and you know what they say...

Monkey see. Monkey do.



Spelling, A Cake, and Our Weekend

I have been meaning to get back on to say hello for a few days now. Time has just not permitted. However, here I am now and I am going to play catch up from the weekend. First up? The spelling error referenced here. As you can see in the below picture, I made a BIG boo-boo! The two people that commented about the error were correct. Yay!! I have now updated my header so I no longer have to have that hanging over my head.

One of the main events of my weekend was decorating a cake. I do some cake decorating on the side when I have extra time. This time was for Maddox, who was turning two. I am very pleased with the way this one turned out. I used Oreos for the dirt piles and everything else is icing (exept for the toy tractors). I was told Monday that the cake was a huge hit. Comments like those make all my decorating worth it!

Saturday evening, we had a couple over for dinner from our church. Daddy J fixed a low country boil and it was awesome. Notice the "Red Lobster biscuts" in the background? They are homemade. Compliments of Momma J! Oh, just kidding. We found the Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscut mix at Sam's Club this past week and that was our first attempt at making them. They were EXACTLY like Red Lobster's biscuts and they were AWESOME! In addition to this lovely dinner, we had chocolate covered strawberries made by Daddy J. We had a wonderful time of food and fellowship and a round of Phase 10 until the wee hours of the morning. I actually tied for first place!

Sunday was filled with all things church. Another awesome day in the Lord's house. I hope your weekend was as great as ours! Happy Tuesday, y'all!

Family Time

Mourning the death of a loved one is never a fun time. The loss tends to always be a shock even if the death is known to be near. My mom lost her brother last week. He was the baby of 4 siblings and was only 51 years old. He lost a battle with a disease called alcoholism. We all knew the time was near but really didn't expect it to happen so quickly. When the word was received that he had passed, it was still a little hard to swallow.

He was a husband, father, brother, uncle, and son.

Many loved him for him.

Many were long time friends.

Many will truly miss his presence.

In times like these though, you tend to bring family in closer. You hold them tighter. Let them know that you love them. None of us will ever know when we will take our last breath. Cherish each moment - and that we did over the weekend. My mom's sister, her daughter and granddaughter came up for the funeral. We don't get to see them often because they are so far away, but J-Man and his cousin "Miss Diva" are only a little over 2 months apart and love to spend time together. I was able to capture some images of them playing outside. J-Man had not had a nap, so he was irratable and wouldn't let me get some pictures of them but I was at least able to get a few where he at least acted like he was having a wonderful time.

My little guy had a hair cut this weekend too. It has definitely had to grow on me.

Oh, and this is just a random shot of the love of my life! :)
He could use a haircut on his face! LOL.

Eventhough the time spent together was very short and the occasion was a somber one, it was still nice to see everyone. It was nice to chit-chat and catch up on the major events. Until we meet again (and hopefully not for another funeral).

Like Father, Like Son

Ever feel like there is something you want to write about but something else just keeps filling your mind?

No, not "writer's block".

You have words to write, just not the words you intended.

That very thing happened to me yesterday. The thoughts that were filling my heart and mind overpowered what I really wanted to post about and my fingers followed my mind. Maybe you, as my readers, really needed to see those thoughts.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:"

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Today, count yourself lucky because I am going to hopefully let you in on what I was going to say yesterday.

I arose early to look over my Sunday School lesson one last time. It was around 5:15 or so. Very shortly after I started my review, I heard J-Man get out of his bed. This was VERY unusual for him as he rarely gets up in the middle of the night. He couldn't see the light that I had on either. He went to the bathroom and as he was walking back to his room, it hit me.

I had to cough!

I assure you that I didn't want to make any noise, but it was killing me to keep it in. One of those where your eyes start watering because your throat is iching so bad for a cough! And... out with it.

He heard me... of course.

He rounded the corner. "Mommy, I didn't know you were up!", he gleefully shouted. Yes, that's right, gleefully. Like... he-had-his-full-night's-rest-and-was-ready-for-the-day, glee. My first thought: Oh no, buddy! It is waaaayyy too early! Before I could say anything, he calls my name as if he wanted to ask me a question. I answered him and he proceeded with his question, so innocently, "You know what?" "What, son?", I answered. Are you ready for it? "We should have cleaned my room last night! It is a m-e-s-s!" Not only did he have the cutest facial expressions, his fingers were so adorably pointing back to the direction of the his bedroom.

In that moment, I could only chuckle under my breath. I surely wasn't laughing at him but I came to realize my son is his daddy's child. Just as I was about to get up to take him back to bed, he started up again.

"The rocking chair room is messy too. We should have cleaned that too."

"... And the living room. It is messy too Mommy."

I really laughed out loud then. I couldn't hold it in any longer. After letting him know that we would work on getting it picked up soon, we headed back to bed. I told him he needed to sleep a little longer to make sure he got the best rest for church.

What a way to make a mommy smile!

A Spring-Like Saturday

A morning with tempuratures in the mid sixties means that we are able to spend some time outside. I had to work for a few hours but J-Man sure entertained himself. That is one thing I love about that kid, he does play well by himself. However, you better be ready to play with him when he asks... because he doesn't ask often. Most of the morning started off with Rescue Bots...

That picture appears blurrier and blurrier every time I look at it. :(

Yes, I believe he now has every Rescue Bot that was made, and he is asking for the fire and police stations now. Grandma has her eyes out on radar for them. Oh, I sure wish I could have taken a picture of how J-Man dressed himself today to go outside. That... was just hil-ar-rious! Maybe I can capture one of those another time.

After Rescue Bots, J-Man and Bocephus spent some time outside playing. I was still working, but the few times I checked on them, Bocephus was just chillin' and soakin' up the outdoors and J-Man was digging in the dirt or throwing balls in the yard. Just a few moments where I was glad to be able to watch him without him knowing I was looking. I just sat back and smiled. He is getting so too big. Time is flying by too fast.

I was finally able to get off the phone and out of my computer for work and I grabbed my camera and went outside. I took a few pictures but J-Man really wanted me to play ball. So we rolled a ball back and forth on the deck. After he got tired of that, I took a few more random pictures of him. This one included:

He did change his clothes because he was too cold with what he had on originally. :)

Oh, and he wouldn't let me just take all the pictures... he had to take some as well. I got a few random ones of the deck boards and the grill. Then, he wanted to take a picture of me. I think he is going to be quite the photographer. :) Hopefully he will get a better model for his pictures though. :\

I guess that is as good as it gets when I am still in my PJs.

Then, it was time to play with Bocephus for a little while. I kept calling his name but he would just simply ignore me. That happens often. I wish I had the tone that Daddy J has - let him speak, and Bocephus jumps! Then after a few minutes, I had just the thing that would get him motivated! One word you don't say out loud in my house is PRIZE. Unless you want a doggie all over you, drooling, begging, and nudging you to go get him a prize (treat). I wish I had a video camera for this, but I since I didn't, this series of pictures should suffice:

1) "You said what?" "Are you sure you said 'prize'"? 2) "Oh, here I come, you better be ready" 3) What are you doing, lady? Aren't you going to go get the prize?" 4) "Please?!?!"

Bocephus finally got his prize and we were all happy again. J-Man decided to hammer some of the nails back down on the deck for a little while. Then he pretended he was painting the deck with his hammer and his spit. Oh, the imagination. I absolutely love days like this! Happy Saturday to all of you!

Welcome!

Welcome to Between the Chapters! I am so glad you stopped by. Take a moment to grab your favorite coffee (or tea, if you prefer) and settle in to enjoy the stories of our life. I know you have heard the phrase, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, right? Through the stories posted on this blog, you won’t have to only see us from the outside; you can enjoy what really happens day-to-day for us – inside our lives.

Who are we? I am glad you asked!

 Let me start by introducing the man of the roost – we’ll refer to him as Daddy J.  Daddy J thinks he has some pretty thick skin (and most days that is a true statement) but he has such a tender heart on the inside. He loves to spend his time cherishing his family, watching cop shows, and learning everything about history he can (especially war history). He also loves to be busy with improvements around the house to make our new house home. He is my Martha Stewart but a very manly version. He definitely has some OCD quirks about him and even though they may aggravate me just a bit, I love him from the bottom of my heart. I truly believe he is the half that makes me whole. You know what is really awesome about him? He knows Jesus Christ as his Lord and is leading our family in the best way he knows how.

As for myself, the lady of the house, I will be called Momma J. I love taking pictures, spending time with my family, and having days of rest and relaxation. I wish that I had time to scrapbook more often and hate that I battle weight issues. However, I love my life and every part of it and I wouldn’t change any of it for the world. Wait, I do desire to be a better money saver, but that is something I can definitely work on for the future. I do consider myself a musical person as I enjoy playing the flute. I often attend musicals with my mom and love to sit and listen to a pianist play. I sing in my church choir and love to belt out songs of worship and praise in the shower and in my car.

Of course, we would not be called Daddy J and Momma J if it wasn’t for our little J-Man. He is our four-year old pride and joy. He loves to laugh, go to the movies with his Grandma, spend the night with Nana and Papa, and play on PePa’s swing set. He loves to play games on the iPad and search for new ones to buy as well. I am so glad a password has to be entered to purchase things through iTunes or we would be in trouble! Right now he is really into Rescue Bots (Transformers) and watches the TV series on Netflix every chance he gets but as the weather is getting warmer he loves to spend time outside as well. He enjoys playing with his friends at daycare, church, and down the street. He is also a big sponge that loves to take in every bit of information and knowledge he can.

I just have one more member of the family to introduce and that would be Bocephus. He is our four-legged family member and has been with us for nearly 8 years. He loves to play outside, go for walks, and drool for our food. Silly dog! He is the best cuddle buddy and guard dog. He enjoys having visitors over and he gets especially excited when they come to play with him! However, most of the time, you will find him sprawled out on our bed or curled up on the couch.

So, that’s a really short synopsis of “us”. Life around here can get crazy at times but we just take those precious moments in and cherish every second. Please come back to visit soon and again, thanks for stopping by!