Navigating a Life Interrupted

Hi, friends! For all you Clarksville/Ft. Campbell locals, I wanted to share a great opportunity for a summer bible study with you. We know a lot of groups take a break in the summer so my dear friend Kelly and I are going to do a summer study to be sure Satan knows he has no ground through these summer months. Here are the details...

What do we do when God interrupts our lives? Many times, like Jonah, we run! Join us for Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer as we redefine interruption and find out that it is actually God's invitation to do something beyond our wildest dreams. We will meet at Bethel Community Church on Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., beginning June 8. The group will be led by Kelly Bullock. Childcare will be provided for a small fee. For more details and to sign up, click here. 

This study is short and sweet, just seven weeks. And if you have to miss a week or two, no worries. You can easily download the week's lesson online to catch up. We pray this study blesses everyone who joins us and we look forward to navigating our interrupted lives together.

Super Star

If this family knows how to do one thing, it is celebrate a birthday. We love to celebrate. And of course we'll do that in a major way for our star family member. Let's be honest, every person in this house under the age of 30 (haha, you like how I just threw my man under the bus like that?) thinks Rob hung the moon. He gets a rock star's reception on an average day when he comes home from work. He usually has three kids and a dog literally jumping all over him and a wife shooing them all out of the way so she can kiss her man. He is THE stuff around here, so we had to make this day special. We didn't have a big surprise party like last year, but we wanted him to feel extra special, for sure. It started with a special delivery of his favorite iced coffee at work this morning. Then I ran around like crazy getting everything in order. The kids each picked out special just-from-them gifts for him and we decorated the house after school. We went to get his favorite barbecue from the next town over and I baked him a pineapple cake and cupcakes, at his request. Then the kids, the dog and I all waited patiently (haha, yeah right) for him to come home from work. Here are a few photos from the day.

I made a list of questions for each of the kids to answer about Rob. Some of my favorites were: 

Kreid: How do you know Daddy loves you? He loves me good.

Mekyla: What do you love most about Daddy? He loves me.

Xzayvier: What makes Daddy such a great dad? He will cheer you up.

Hopefully I will remember this next year and have them do one each year for his birthday. They were so sweet and I think they meant a lot to Rob. 

Happy birthday, Rob! Xzayvier, Mekyla, Kreid, Tyler and I think the world of you. Thank you for selflessly being our leader, our provider, our protector, their daddy, my husband, my best friend and for taking on the tiring tasks that each of those entail. You are truly amazing and we love you so much. ♥

Mekyla's 8. And I'm the worst blogger ever!

So it's May 2 and I am just now getting around to blogging about Mekyla's 8th birthday. WOW I am terrible. So, imagine it's March 23 (her birthday is the 22nd) and that I am a super-on-top-of-things kinda mom/blogger. K? Thanks.


Sooooo...Mekyla is 8. Going on 25, I think. This girl brings so much energy and joy into this house and this family that I can hardly stand it sometimes. No really, sometimes I can HARDLY stand it. But, her beautiful smile, silly giggles and great personality keep us madly in love with our princess. She is a super-sweet girl...unless your name is Xzayvier. She is high-spirited, and I mean high. Almost every night when Rob and I go to bed (2+ hours after the kids do) we are not surprised to hear a faint, "goodnight mommy & daddy" from Mekyla's room. I think she would probably function on three hours of sleep, if it was up to her. She's a spit-fire. She's goofy. She loves soccer. And she's pretty good at it. She wants to be a tomboy...who wears makeup. She is a typical girl who loves to play (and fight) with her friends. She would probably ride her bike around the world if we'd let her. She's spunky. She sings her own tune, until someone says they don't like it. So she's fully capable of taking charge, but she can fall back too. Unfortunately she tends to mix up the appropriate times to do that. For instance, she thinks she can take charge in her class and tell the teacher how SHE learns best (she's gotten her feelings hurt with that a few times), but if her friends are doing something ridiculous, she's doing it too. I'm sure she'll get that figured out as time goes on. Hopefully. She loves being the only girl. She is Daddy's girl and there's no denying it. If Daddy likes it, Mekyla likes it. If Daddy doesn't like it, Mekyla doesn't like it...even if she's liked it for all 8 years of her life, she will change her mind if she finds out Daddy doesn't like it...broccoli. Thanks, Rob!

A great way to start the day, with yummy birthday pancakes!

 Mekyla's special homemade birthday cupcakes, compliments of Mrs. Amie.

 Mekyla opening her new inline skates from Pappaw and Bert. I think she likes them. ;)

She loves them!

All-in-all, I'd say Mekyla keeps this family moving. She never harps on the past. She is quick to get upset, and even quicker to get over it. She is bubbly and fun to be around. She is a beacon of light and her energy is a constant stimulant to all things Smith Family.

Where has the time gone?

Happy birthday, Mekyla Ahleecya Edyn Smith. We love you more than you know.