Sunday, January 31, 2010

happy birthday boddhi!


i cannot believe he's 3!! hope you have a great day boddhi boy, we love you!

uncle jere, aunt nicole, kelsey, blythe, jackson, isabel, and ella-sophie

Friday, January 29, 2010

grandfather





i may have been hard about my grandfather earlier, but i'm not apologizing.

however i will say this, i'll keep it short and simple. he's trying with my children. he's trying really hard, and they love him.

can we truly forgive AND forget? besides forgiveness is not for the other person, it's really for you.

i decided a while back to forgive him (that's old news) but allowing him to have a relationship with my kids never even crossed my mind. but apparently it did his. every other month he comes to abilene for the va hospital and his heart doc. he always lets me know and eats dinner with us. he even has jere's cell phone number in case he can't get a hold of me.

i don't know that sharing a bowl of beans and cornbread is really that groundbreaking, but in the quiet of my home he sits and they love him. he tells them the same story of me as a child and they laugh every time. he talks about my grandmother (whom i did love) and he tries.

i guess that's all we can ever ask of one another.

happy friday, hope you're all staying warm.

cole

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

grandpa's



growing up i always felt gipped in the "grandfather" department. my mom's father was not very what's the word hmmmm. nice? affectionate? thoughtful? i don't know. he just wasn't a granddad like any i had ever heard from my friends. in my world grandpa's were like some magical fairy tale creature. maybe even like bigfoot, you know sighted but never confirmed to me anyway.

my crazy grandmother shielded me from him most of the time so i DID spend some time with my grandparents growing up. i wish i could say the same for my siblings. dustin had NOTHING to do with either of them and sarah wasn't allowed.

my father's father died the year before i was born. but i'm told he was fantastic. my dad worshipped his father and my mom loved him very much. that's great, but again in the "grandfather" department once again that doesn't do me much good.

but we grow up and we get over it right?

i knew with absolute certainty that MY dad was going to be a great papa and he was. emphasis on was because he died too. my dad only met my first two children, my brother's oldest two, and he never met sarah's babies. once again, "hey God, what's going on here? (BTW my oldest 3 just met their bio-grandfather on their dad's side this past summer-so dad was really all they ever had)

grandfatherless again

that was the way things were for a long time.

BUT.

mom started "dating" i use this term losely because mainly it's just gross to think of your parents "dating" anyone:) this introduced us to Papaw Dan. dan and mom's relationship, well "it's complicated," but no matter what they are, they are always there for my kids and my kids LOVE their papaw. "dan" is a character in isabel's reader this week and she purposely says his name with flair. afterall that's her papaw :)

then i married jere and that meant harry (whether you like it or not :)my husband's father is brisk and very no-nonsense. he can be so hard sometimes that it hurts. however when it comes to his grandbabies (ALL 8) he is a really great papa and i have no doubt how much he loves my babies and i know he knows how much they love him.

so i guess the best grandfathers don't have to be "related" (I hate that word!)to you to be what is the BEST for your kids. maybe even you

blessings,

cole


ps

this blog is an introduction to a recent development with my grandfather and my children that i'll share later.

Monday, January 25, 2010

happy monday!!!



hope you guys had a great weekend and an even better week! enjoy the weather, go for a walk, take a bike ride, or sit on your arse!!

blessings,

cole

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Christmas Eve









i know that i should have probably already posted these but i just didn't get around to it. the holidays are just too busy to blog :)

this is in graham at mom's. we arrived just in time for the blizzard of '09 and as you can see by the pics the kids had a GREAT time. BTW the extra kid in the picture is the kids step-sister kaley visiting us from georgia.

have a great week-end!

cole

Thursday, January 21, 2010

happy friday's eve from ella-sophie



i know it seems like i only have one child sometimes, but i also did not have an iphone 3gs with all my other children!

but just so my other children know how important they are here's a quick update

kelsey- placed first in talent show singing "blackbird," accompanied by her father on guitar. i sing this song to each one of my babies after they are born so i teared up a little bit. it stings just a bit as they mature, it doesn't hurt, but you notice.

blythe- recovering well from her mysterious abcess that had her in the hospital from the 1st-3rd of this month. she honestly needs to take an entire year off from sports but that's not happening in the mean time she's living off steroid injections to her knees (they are starting to look like my brothers) sometimes i really think i should have named HER jack.

jackson- turned 10 this week and feeling fine. he has cut himself TWICE with his new manly pocketknife courtesy of his uncle andrew. andrew promises next year he'll get him either a gun or a stripper, you know whichever i think is more age appropriate (sigh).

isabel- is still a mess! someone told her she looks like snow white and now she has determined that we are holding her back from her full princess potential??? she has never even SEEN snow white. so she wants to wear dresses, grow her hair, wear her sunday shoes EVERYWHERE, and of course sing to our dog since snow white sings to the forrest animals.

anyway that's it for the mccurdy's.

hope this blog finds you all well and feeling doubly blessed

with love

cole

ps welcome Gianna Katherine Morrow into our family, congrats to Mike, Brook, and Fallon Nicole.

oh yeah and welcome Olive Bess(mom's new pek) to Marmee :)

Monday, January 18, 2010

Happy Birthday Jackson!!!


yesterday my only baby boy that God has seen fit to graciously bless me with turned "10" yesterday. that's right ladies and gentlemen . . . double digits.

i cannot believe he is ten. jack was born to me at such an awful time in my life. i was still rebelling from my dad's death and was in the middle of an awful (but when are they ever anything but) divorce. i was living with my mom with two very trusting sweet baby girls and trying to find out what i needed to do with my life.

i was two weeks overdue, miserable and tired. they induced me at 7:30 that morning and after 5 short hours of labor he arrived.

8lbs 4 oz of beautiful darling baby boy

jack

my brother and i knew he was going to be jack before we saw the sonogram, and we were right. instilled with my dad's laid back spirit, my sense of humor, and the wisdom and patience of solomon, jackson is my most peaceful child of the five.

he marks the beginning of me finally taking control of my life and turning an important page of maturity. in a lot of ways jackson is the true mark of my adulthood.
when he was only 8 months old i started college and began the slow and constant change i needed in my life to not just be a better person, but a better mother, daughter, sister and in just two short years wife (again).

thank you God for my jack

my blessed baby boy



Close your eyes,
Have no fear,
The monsters gone,
He's on the run and your daddy's here,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Before you go to sleep,
Say a little prayer,
Every day in every way,
It's getting better and better,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Out on the ocean sailing away,
I can hardly wait,
To see you to come of age,
But I guess we'll both,
Just have to be patient,
Yes it's a long way to go,
But in the meantime,

Before you cross the street,
Take my hand,
Life is just what happens to you,
While your busy making other plans,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,
Darling,
Darling,
Darling, jack

Thursday, January 7, 2010

daddy and his babes







my huband paid me quite a compliment the other day. he claims he is no good at romantics, but he's a liar. Ok, he might be a bit right about that one. if he tries the clichey valentiney junk he knows i'm not going to fall for it, he claims i'm a bit caulous, whatever.

but every once in a while he says something on an idle tueday night straight from his heart and it makes me smile.

here's the scene . . .

just put both littlest girls to bed from baths, jammies, teeth brushing, story reading, and prayers. we are now in the kitchen helping with homework (blythe) listening to teen's days events (kelsey) and watching cool new magic tricks (jackson) all while beginning to load dishwasher and clean kitchen.

the mommy (that's me) turns to put skillets back into stove and the daddy (that's jere) turns her around and hugs her tight gives her a kiss and says, "thank you for making a home with me."

i really like my husband :)

hope your week is going well and you are feeling the blessings of the New Year already!

cole

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Happy Birthday Sarah!


32 years ago today my parents punished me for some unnamed sin and i have been paying for it ever since!!!

no, just teasing, so Happy Birthday Sarah! to a really great sister and aunt and friend (heck, even jere says you're alright :) hope you have a great year, we love you very very much!

cole

Summertime

Summertime
Beautiful batheing babes (and bubs)