Happy Thanksgiving . . . .

So happy to have my Sprat home, if only for a few days.  Thanks to a minor snafu by Mom Sprat also enjoyed his first plane ride via a first class flight home from Boston, while the hubbs flew coach. It felt good seeing the boys talking and picking with each other.  I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder.  There was minimal arguing and fighting these last few days.  We had a whirl wind Thanksgiving visiting everyone but it was so good to see family and friends.  It seems as though we blinked and now we are getting ready to send this big guy back to school.  Good news though, he will be home for a longer Christmas break. 

We got to hear all about how cold it is in Boston already and how it is dark by four o'clock. I do not think he is ready for the real winter he is going to experience, he has only had a taste of cold.  He does have lots of winter clothes and a big coat and boots to wear but he is going to experience Winter like he has never had before. 

 He has gathered with his friends to visit and catch up on what everyone has been doing and he had a list of places he wanted to eat that they do not have in Boston.  First meeting with all his buddies was Bojangles and then he wanted to eat at Salsaritas with all of us.  The boys went to Thanksgiving Eve Love Feast, that was also a must on Sprat's list of things he had to do while he was home. He took a picture of his Thanksgiving plate to show his teammates what a southern Thanksgiving looks like.  He  is the only true Southerner at this school so they all love to hear him talk especially the young ladies.  The hubbs had to stop on the way home from the airport to pick up Cook Out with some sweet tea.  He has asked on numerous occasions to send him some sweet tea via the mail.  I told him we could not do that.  It is funny the things that we get use to and that we miss when we do not have it.  He seems to be having fun and doing lots of cool stuff, Mom just hopes he is studying in between all of the fun.  Mama feeling blessed and very thankful for this visit with my boy. 

Below is one picture I was able to snap over this break, I hope I will get a couple more during Christmas. 

Garden Therapy. .

The hubs took Monday off and I had the day off so we decided to do a little work in the yard.  The hubs and Big T cleaned the front flower bed on Saturday while I caught up on some sleep from night shift.
They worked really hard and thankfully very quietly. 
The hubs and I dropped Big T off at school and had our breakfast date then off to the nursery to pick up some pansies.  I also picked up some decorative cabbage. 
It felt good planting and fixing our front bed. It reminded me of when we first moved in and we did all of  this work in that bed.  We had beautiful phlox and lilies and my rose bush.  We worked really hard in that bed those first so many years but then the kids were busy with sports and things just got neglected.  This could stand as a reminder for our spiritual life as well.  Perhaps this is what I needed to get grounded for this next phase of motherhood. 
It started to drizzle while we were planting today and that was ok we finished the planting and said a prayer for growth and renewal, again for our lives as well as our flower bed. 
Being in the yard and working and working with my hubby made me feel a little better about all this drama I am feeling lately. 
I have been promised some rosemary, lavender, and sage in a little garden area off my back patio, fingers are crossed.  We already have a few different varieties of mint and oregano back there that I use regularly in different recipes.  I will share pictures once we get the ball rolling. 
By the time Sprat gets out of college my yard may look like a jungle.  LOL!!!

This was several years ago.  I just love that phlox, the hubs has promised I get more phlox this Spring, I hope it will grow and be this pretty.  

New pansies and a little cabbage  

Another angle 

Rough Week. . .Random Thoughts. . .

I am a child of God, I struggle daily with the devil and his minions.  This week has been particularly difficult, my children are being tested/tempted by the devil and I am very worried for them.  We know that the devil is everywhere and that he is good at what he does, which is to tempt and tease us into doing things that we would not normally even think about doing.  His prime time to try and take hold in our lives is in our youth and this is what I am talking about with regard to my children.
I will not go into detail but I ask for prayers for both of my boys especially Sprat in Boston.  I ask for prayers for safety, peace, guidance, comfort, and healing.
When your kids are young you can protect them from most all things designed to do them harm, as they get older your ability protect gets less and less effective. It is not a fault of yours it is just the design of life, your kids get older and must make their own decisions.  All you can do and the most difficult job of my parenting adventure thus far is to let go and just keep praying.  I never realized how much of a control freak I was unit this year when Sprat went to Boston to college.  This week has tested my patience and my religion.  Sprat's concussion is getting some better and that is good and I am relieved and very thankful.  There are other things going on that I really cannot write about other than he is having a difficult time and so is mama.  Some days I miss those early mornings when the boys would come in the bedroom and crawl in bed with me and cuddle.  I even miss those wee morning hours when they would have bad dreams and I would crawl in their bed and hold them till they went back to sleep. 
This week has left me feeling very out of sorts, and we have a couple people out at work with various sickness and surgery so the extra work will come in handy for both my pocketbook and my sanity. 
I ask for prayers for both boys especially Sprat as we make our way to Thanksgiving and I get to see my boy for the first time since September.