Honesty and Trust

Some times we lose sight that being dishonest will gain us nothing but a loss of trust. Some times we say it is to protect others that we are not honest, but more often then not it is to protect ourselves. To lie is being dishonest, but it can also be dishonest to ignore or not tell the truth. The not telling of the truth can also lead to misunderstandings or as a sign of wrongs having been done with no desire to be admitted. Trust must be earned and if you are unwilling to be honest and truthful then do not expect to be trusted. The ones who are dearest to our hearts are the ones who are said to be the ones with the ability to hurt us the most. That is true. Trust is not something that is instantaneous. It takes time to prove to someone else that they can trust us, trust our word. We have to prove ourselves worthy of their trust. When we break that trust it will not be returned in an instant. We have to rebuild that trust. Words are empty when we have no trust in the one who speaks them. Can we ever lose someone's trust forever? That depends on whether we care enough to fix the relationship that we have damaged.

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. Luke 16:10

We tell lies when we are afraid... afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger. ~Tad Williams

Tired

My sleep is definitely being compromised during this pregnancy. Seems that this little boy is going to be very active. Normally he would get active right before I went to sleep at night and if I woke during the night he would lightly move until I was going back to sleep. Not for the past few nights! Right now he has been quite the night owl! He has been not only active, but his movements are very strong! Poor mommy has not been able to sleep well at night with this sort of activity and even trying to take a little nap during the day has not helped. I try to sleep and he tries to keep me awake. Hopefully this is not a sign of what is to come!

Hanging Out With Bubba

I had the rare opportunity to spend a day alone with Bubba. The other two children were over at Mamaw's house spending the night. This morning I ask him what he wanted to do and the one thing on his list was to head to the comic book store to pick up a X-men comic that Wesley was missing from his collection (Bubba has borrowed them and has been reading them the past few days). So we get ready and headed out to go a few places. First we went to do a Baby registry where Bubba got to use the scanning gun to add items to the registry. He was going scan crazy! Then we had a wonderful lunch at Chick-fil-a followed by a trip to McKay's. After all that he finally got to the comic book store and found the one he was looking for with just enough time to read it before we got to the grocery store. Seemed like he enjoyed the time with his momma which makes me happy.

And Baby Is....

We finally had our ultrasound on Tuesday! Our new little one was eager to share some things, but hid other things from us. First thing that we saw as soon as she started the ultrasound was that baby #4 is definitely a BOY! That was no secret at all! We got to see that he is growing at a good rate, measuring right on time. The thing that he was hiding from us was his face. He had his arms and hands covering it the whole time. The ultrasound tech tried to shake on my belly to try to get him to move and had me turn on my side, but no luck. So no profile shot of his little face.

Boy or Girl

Today is the day!!! We are finally going to find out what baby #4 will be. I am very excited about seeing the baby. That is the best part of modern technology is being able to catch a glimpse of our newest addition months before we can hold them. Hopefully I will be able to post a picture later today. Off to get ready!

Movement

I have been feeling baby #4 moving for several weeks now and I have actually been able to feel it move from the outside for a couple of weeks. I have not had success with having Joe feel the baby though. The baby moves most during late night hours and early morning hours when I am normally not around the rest of the family. I was feeling a lot of bigger movements just a little bit ago so I called Butch over. He had been very eager to be the first to feel the baby move. He was the same way with Otter, too! He had felt her move several times before Joe felt her for the first time. He is almost desperate in his desire to be the first. He even asked Joe again last night if he had already felt the baby and was happy when his Dad said no. I think that it was a good thing today since we were quite disappointed to not be able to get my ultrasound today. Due to the ice storm that hit us during the night we could not get out today to go to the doctors office. I will have to try to reschedule my appointment and hopefully it will be soon!!!

Christmas Surprise

We are excited because this is the week I go in for my ultrasound with baby #4. We will be learning what the sex of the baby is on Thursday if the baby is willing to show us! We were talking to the boys the other night and they thought we should put it in an envelope and they could open it Christmas morning to learn whether it is a brother or sister. So it looks as though we will not be sharing the news with everyone else until after Christmas. This will be hard for me because I am so excited about shopping after my appointment and sharing with everyone. Now I will have to shop and hide it until after they know (and not refer to the baby as a he or she).

Another funny story was something that happened yesterday morning. We put up our Christmas tree Saturday evening, so on Sunday morning Otter came in the kitchen as Joe and I were preparing breakfast to ask if her presents had come while she slept. She had assumed that we put the tree up and that meant it was Christmas the next day!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! It was so nice to have almost all the family here this year. There were lots of reasons to be thankful this year. Not only the two new additions we are anticipating through births in the next few months, but we also will have another addition through marriage! We are blessed with the wonderful woman that will soon be my new sister-in-law!

The guys had a great time playing flag football again. There were lots of great plays and several funny moments. We even had a guest this year when one of the boys in the neighborhood (that goes to school with Bubba) came to play for a little while. Several of the older members of the family were sore after the game, but I think that the annual day after Thanksgiving hike helped most stretch out those achy muscles! Not my Joe, though! He had to sleep most of Saturday to recover! ;)

Amazing Music

I wanted to share a link to my cousin's website. I was blessed to be able to spend some time with Andy and his wife while they were in town today. Andy was asked to come and lead music at a local youth conference this weekend. I have heard him singing several times and I believe that he has been blessed by the Lord with his music. He shared some of the recording he is working on for his album with us and I was really blessed by hearing them. Hope that you all head over and listen to his music!

Tabernacle of David

Blessings

Looks like our family is going to be blessed with a new addition in 2011! A couple of weeks ago we got to see the baby as well as hear the heartbeat. I went in this week and got to hear the heartbeat again which was a huge blessing! All the kids have been wanting another sibling and they are all excited. This pregnancy has been the hardest so far because I have been feeling poorly all the time. This is part of the reason why I have not been on here posting much lately. Sometimes it is just hard to concentrate.

Popcorn Time Again

Well, it looks to be time for the annual Boy Scout Popcorn Sales. This is the main fundraiser for the Boy Scout Troops each year. The money raised from this funds the activities that the boys do during the year. So please support the Boy Scouts as they sell!

Fun With Granddad

I took a trip with Joe to Chattanooga yesterday. While we were gone Granddad kept the boys and took them to school and picked them up. On Sunday afternoon Granddad told Butch to bring his baseball stuff with him. He then told us that he was going to take Butch to the ball field to practice his pitching. Bubba asked, "What about me? What will I do?" Granddad responded with "Sit on the bleachers and do your homework!"

Great Labor Day

Today we had a wonderful day with our families! We went up to Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area for breakfast. My mother-in-law makes the best mountain breakfast! We had a picnic site right by the river which made all the kids happy. They were just eager to get into the water. After breakfast the younger kids got in the water and most of the rest of us hiked up to the Little Greenbrier School house. When we returned we got in the river. It was so much fun to watch the three "boys" (Joe, Wesley & BJ) trying to rearrange stones to get a little pool for us to sit in. They got distracted by all the crawdads, though. So along with the older children we captured the crawdads until we were ready to eat lunch. After lunch the kids were all back out in the water. My little Otter did not want to get out of the water except to eat. She did not want to leave! We were all worn out when we got home.

Computer Woes

Over the past few months we have been having trouble with our desktop and after trying several little "fixes" with no real results my husband took drastic measures. He completely wiped off the hard drive and loaded the Linux Ubuntu operating system. This has taken some big adjustments for me. The biggest obstacle is the fact that my Family Tree Maker software is not compatible. That is one of my main uses on the computer and I now have no access on my desktop! All of my pictures have also been moved to an external hard drive. Hopefully I will get settled into this new system soon and post more often.

Another Great Reunion

I was so excited to once again be in South Carolina for my Lane family reunion. I always enjoy getting to see my family. We spent a little more time together this year, though it still seemed to fly by! I actually got to see a few cousins that I don't ever remember seeing before. After the reunion we headed to Dillon to stay with my cousin Theo. All three of his sons were there so we were all able to chat for a little while. Otter decided that she did not like the name Theo, so she called him Gooey. She would not even let us call him Theo! She would try to correct us so that we would call him Gooey, too! I really enjoyed our stay with Theo and his wife Lou! They are awesome cousins!

Humor of a Child

Over the past week we have had some good laughs from Otter. Here are a few:

She walked into the kitchen (where I was) and ask to watch "Billy" (the exterminator). I turn to see her wearing her cowboy hat in preparation! She said, "I'm Billy!"

She has been "tucking in Daddy" a few times. Each time she goes to get a book to read to him. She climbs up and lays beside him and "reads" him the book. One night she started talking about Cap'n Book. He is the brother of Cap'n Hook and he is "VERY scary!"

Last night this is what she told me this:
Otter: God said that we should obey ours parents, right?
me: Yes, that is correct. He told us to obey our parents.
Otter: God is our Daddy, too, so that means we should obey him, too.
What amazing truths a small child can understand!

Preparing For Family Time!

I always get excited about July. More specifically, the fourth Saturday in July because that is when the Lane family gathers in Marion, SC. I have always enjoyed the Lane family reunions and getting to see my SC family. This year is going to be good since I will see some that I have not seen in many years! The internet has been a great tool to help with meeting and keeping in touch with many of them, but nothing beats getting to see them in person! I am thankful for those who many years ago decided to start these reunions and for the wonderful memories I have from each of them. If not for these reunions I might not have met many of these relatives and I cannot imagine my life without their love and influence! So for those Lane relatives out there...bring your best potluck dishes, any pictures to share, grab as many of your family as you can and I will see you in a few weeks!!!

Happy 4th of July

I hope that everyone is enjoying celebrating the 4th of July. Our independence and the freedoms it gives us are precious and cost the lives of many brave men & women. Remembering the sacrifices of all those early Patriots and the men & women in our armed forces from the beginning of our nation to the present make me proud of our nation and the freedom we have thanks to their sacrifices. I hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday and don't forget to pray for our soldiers who are currently fighting for freedom!

Couple Time

I was excited to be able to get away with Joe for a weekend earlier this month. He made all the plans and picked out a very nice place called the Stone Fort Inn in Chattanooga. It is a beautiful Bed & Breakfast! We had a wonderful breakfast then we went down to the river. We walked along the river then walked partially across the pedestrian bridge. We later went to Rock City. It was a place that neither of us had been to before. I enjoyed the gardens and the rock formations. The skies were very clear that day so we had a great view from "Lover's Leap."

Another interesting part of the trip was when we purchased a GPS unit to help us get to our destination. Joe was very excited about it! On our way back home I was looking at the different voices. Neither of us were particularly fond of the American woman's voice (it sounded too automated), so I decided to try another one. Each language has a man and womans voice and they are also given names (ie: American-English woman - Jill). I decided that I wanted a British voice so I chose the British-English woman Emily as our voice. We both seems to like her voice more than "Jill's." Now it is very amusing because we now all refer to the GPS as Emily. When Otter and I get in the van she now asks where Emily is. We even talk to her and tell her "No thank you, but I do not wish to go that way. Recalculate, please."

All Day Marathon

We have come to enjoy a tv show called "Billy the Exterminator" on A&E. This is a funny show, although what he does is serious and dangerous. Today is an all day marathon! Sometimes it is nice to be a stay-at-home mom!!! All day, all Billy! "Billy, I got a job for ya!"