Good things and not so good things have been happening. On the 9 month anniversary of my sister's passing, her/our tormentor was finally arrested. I felt so many emotions that day. I laughed, I cried. So much going on in my head. Now we wait for trial and justice to finally be served.
We FINALLY got Jon through the 5th grade. Not without HUGE bumps along the way. He's so smart and so sweet and I want nothing but the best for him. His depression has hit a major low and we are working with new doctors to help him. For the first time in a long time I feel hopeful that we'll get him through this time. I'm hoping with this new treatment this summer he'll be ready to rock 6th grade. He'll be going to a new school but luckily he'll have church friends to help him adjust. He was standing next to me on Sunday morning before church and I realized he's grown! He's still got a little way to go but he's almost as tall as me. Where did my baby go? He did a lot of body surfing on our beach vacation. He learned to catch some serious waves! He also got a hermit crab on vacay and was doing a really great job at taking care of it. Sadly Marvin was way too stressed and began losing legs on Tuesday. He finally passed on last night. Jon's tender heart was broken. He's been wanting a pet so bad and he really took good care of this crab. Alas now we know that crabs get stressed and know better how to take care of the next one.
Then there is Jess. He's still a mess. He turned 5 and graduated Pre-K in May. I had a hard time with him turning 5. I am happy he's thriving and growing but it made me sad. I guess it's because he's my last baby. :(. Great Great Uncle Jess was able to come for the graduation ceremony. It's so great to see the two of them together.
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| Double Trouble-Jess Harper and Jess Payne |
Jess has been talking a lot lately about wanting to go to heaven and see Jesus. He's asked to fly on a plane so he can go to heaven and see Jesus and just the other day told me "Mom, I really want to go to heaven." This is great to hear and a little scary because how do you explain how you become a Christian and get to heaven to a 5 year old? God gives you the words, that's how. I explained how you become a Christian by asking God to live in your heart and that means you'll obey the rules God gives us and when you sin, ask for forgiveness. He told "I can't do all that!" (the obey part I think). I told him how you will hear Jesus talk to you, your heart when you are ready to accept him. "But I can't hear him mom!" I laughed a little and said that sometimes you don't hear Jesus like he hears me or dad talking to him. I said "Jesus talks to your heart. You know how you feel when you are really happy? That's how you'll feel when you hear Jesus talking to your heart." He seemed to understand that. I was amazed to be having this conversation with him, helping him through this. I was praying to God to give me the right words. I was waiting for more big questions when he said "Hey mom?" and I said "yeah?". He said something about what happened at daycare that day. Just ask quick as the conversation started it was over. I didn't want to press and overload his little mind with too much. I just thanked God for the opportunity and for the words He gave me.
Overall, it's been a busy few months. We took a little mini vacation with the family to Crystal Beach over Memorial Day weekend. I learned the valuable lesson of proper sunscreen. I was suncreened but apparently not enough. Despite the painful sunburn it was a great time. So great to be with family and to relax and not worry about anything.
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| Me and my boys on the beach |
