Bugger

Peyton is a mess. Being the youngest of five, he has learned that he had too choices, be outgoing or get lost in the crowd. He picked the first. Peyton has been trying to keep up with his older brothers since day one. He has always felt a need to be right there, where the action was.
Peyton does VERY well in school. Math is his stongest subject and he excells in it.
He is very social and the older kids (especially the girls) adore him. He sat last night and talked to a 16 y/o girl who is a friend of the boys during an entire basketball game.
Peyton is very affectionate and has not outgrown hugs and kisses, even in public. He will even initiate it.
Like Maddie, he too can memorize lines to movies very easily and we often get reinactments of scenes from him.
Being our last child makes it very difficult to see him grow up but he is doing it... in leaps and bounds.

Maddie Claire

Oh my Maddie!! She is sweet as pure maple syrup. She cares about the needs of others. She is a stickler for fairness. She does not like to see people treated un fairly even if it is someone who has done her wrong.
She is very bright (just like ALL of my children) but she sees the importance of good grades. She works very hard and maintains A's and B's. Our other kids say that Maddie could become President some day. While I don't think this is her ambition, I know that she could do it if she wanted to.
Maddie has toyed with thoughts of becomeing a vet or a teacher. I think she has plenty of time to decide and I know that whatever she chooses, she will be great at it.
Maddie loves to make us laugh and she can memorize lines to movies with one sitting. We usually get snippets of movies acted out for us.

Devo

Devon (Devo) is our middle child of five and for the most part has followed THE book to the 'T". He is a very emotional young man. When he is happy he is very happy, when he is sad he is very sad. I know that this will be tempered as he matures. He is very caring. He considers the needs of others. And he genuinely hurts when he hurts someone else.

Devon is VERY artistic. He is also very creative. He uses these gifts in his drawing and painting. He wants to be an art teacher and pairing his love of art and his love for children is a wonderful thing.

I see Devon being a GREAT teacher. And more importantly being a wonderful man.

Kman

Where do I start with Kristian? I see so much of myself in Kristian. He sees life as black and white. His views are very idealistic and he has no problem making sure you know how he thinks. I realize that most of what I discribed could be seen as negatives but when I stop and consider that this is the mind of a 16 y/o I realize that harnessed these could morph into some pretty good qualities as he matures.

Kristian is a passionate young man. He can't "like" something, he has to love it or he will hate it. When he loves something,like lacrosse, skateboarding, or snowboarding, look out. He will put every ounce of energy he has into doing it the best that he can. But, when he hates something, forget it. there will be little or no effort "wasted".

He, like many 16 y/o boys, wants to make the "Bens" (= Ben Franklin= $$$$). He isn't sure how he is going to do that but he "knows" that is what he wants. He is thinking of getting into graphic design (he would like to create the designs that go on snowboards and skateboards) or marketing. I think that he has the brains to do whatever he wants. I just hope that he begins to realize that.

Kristian keeps us laughing. Although his sense of humor is somewhat warped, he does like to keep us in stitches. Now we just have to teach him when to turn it off.

Liz and I have now doubt that Kristian will be successful in whatever he chooses to do in life. That is that passion. It may not be something that the "world" sees as success but doing something that you love and loving what you do are keys to success in my book.

I love you Kman for who you are,warts and all!!!

My Little Girl

My little girl is my oldest girl. She is our first born and for that she will always be my little girl. Kenz is a beautiful 17 y/o that has blossomed in the past several months. She has matured more in the last year than all the other years put together. She has become very compliant and obedient. I see so much more of a young woman in her now than ever before. She is finally getting this thing we call life. I am amazed and VERY thankful for all of the changes that God has made in her.

Mackenzie turns 18 the day after Christmas. Wow, time flies. She is doing very well in school this year. So far, all A's. She is overcoming dyslexia which continues to be a battle but she has not given up. She was honored in the 1st quarter this year as Student of the Quarter. She is in her second year of Childhood Education which is a curriculum that our school offers to those wanting to study to become a teacher. Last year she was granted an internship teaching Kindergarten. This is usually only awarded to "promising" second year students. She absolutely loves children and There is NO doubt that she will make a SUPER teacher. Liz and I are so proud of her.

This note in my blog was not prompted by any ONE thing. I just wanted to start honoring my children more. Over the next several days I hope to share with you the positives in my children's lives. I hope that you are able to see my children for what they are, GOD's blessings.

Thankgiving

What a beautiful woman, inside and out!!!!This is my wife Liz. She has been my best friend for over 19 years now and I owe her so much. She has taught the true meaning of selfless love. She gives of herself every day and never asks for anything in return. This Thanksgiving I am extremely thankful for my wife.

Sometimes ya gotta head South before you head North

A couple of weeks ago I packed Peyton (youngest son), my laugage, and a boat load of handcarved decoys inot our Ford Taurus and headed South. We were headed for Decatur, AL for the Southern Wildlfe Festival Artshow. On our way down, a came across a radio station playing Contemporary Christian music. As Peyton slept, I sang along to the radio and prayed that God would provide us with safe travel. Peyton had already shown signs of homesickness even before we crossed out of NY, so I prayed that God would calm his nerves and that He would carry us on this trip. I drove about 10 hrs of our 17 hour trip before I pulled over for a nap. About 3hours later I woke up and found Peyton quietly watching a DVD( its 4AM). He said he couldn't sleep so we visited the rest room and head out for and early start. The entire way down I was able to pick up a Christian radio station and Peyton and I sang and I prayed for God to continue carrying us. Well, when we got to Nashville, Peyton had to use the bathroom (yes, there were othere stops before we got to Nashville). After our quick pitstop I noticed a "rainbowy" fluid behind our car. We were at a gas station so I figured it could have been from one of the other cars that had pulled into that spot sometime that day. I drove a bit further and finally the uneasy feeling got to me so I pulled over and checked......... Sure enough, that fluid was coming from my car. No!!!!! This isn't carrying us!!! This isn't making sure that we are taken care of!!!!! This isn't calming Peyton's nerves or mine, as a matter of fact!!!! What did I do to deserve this? Now I am 15 hours away from home and the machanic is telling me that he can't fix the car in less than 7days. I have to be back at work in 5days. What now? Oh yeah, It wll cost about $1200- 1500. Oh, is that all? Well, Mom and dad picked us up (they were down in Alabama to see my first show). We brain stormed and prayed and brainstormed some more. It wasn't until the next morning that our prayers were answered. My mother-in-law, whom we bought the car from, said that she would pay for a UHaul truck and tow dolley for us to bring the car back to NY. What an answer to our prayers. What weight lifted from my shoulders. As I sat at the breakfast table that morning with my mother and mamaw, I burst into tears. This trip South (both geographically and emotionally) had taken me "North", One step closer to God. I grew spiritually on that trip. I learned that God keeps His promises and that I need to stop trying to take control.

Oh, By the way... One of my birds won First.

The GOD Chip

Liz and I watched a very good movie this weekend, The Final Cut. It stars Robin Williams but not in his normal goofy roles. This movie takes place in the future where people can have an inplant (the ZOE implant) that records everything that you see and hear. Williams plays a "Cutter". This is someone who retreives and edits the memories into a "Rememory" or a video memorial. It is edited in a way that makes the person seem to be perfect with all of the "good" things being added and all of the "bad" things being deleted. During one scene, two cutters are talking about a 20ish young woman that was the epitome of "bad" behavior. She had sex with anyone, smoked, drank, and did whatever she wanted regardless of the consiquences. Then she found out that she had the ZOE implant and she did a 180 turn around because she then realized that everything that she said and did was being recorded and someone was eventually going to see ALL of the "BAD" stuff that she had done.
I was sitting in church yesterday and had a thought. "We ALL have a GOD Chip!" All of us will have all of the good, the bad, and the ugly shown on a movie theatre sized screen showing everything that we have don in our lives. We will be held accountable for all of our actions and thoughts. I know that there are things in my life that I don't want anybody seeing but especially the Judge of my soul. I need to live in a way that I don't have to be worried about who is going to see that. I realize that my motivation at this point may be of fear and not as a result of God's love, but, it's a start. God isn't finished with me yet. Everyday is a NORTHBOUND JOURNEY.

Before I go I want to share with you a beautiful scene that I captured Saturday...

Fall is Almost Here

I was out taking a walk the other day and came across a maple that had started to change colors. It was then that it dawned on me that Fall is almost here. I love Fall. I don't say this lightly. I LOVE FALL. I love the smells of fall. People start to fire up their woodstoves and the smell of smoke wofts throught the cool evening air. I love the sounds of Fall. The ducks geese start to gather in numbers at this time of year. They are preparing for their long journey down the coast. We have marsh that sorounds us and it is a favorite meeting spot for the geese. I can hear them calling each other together. "COME JOIN US" their honking seems to say. I especially love the tastes of Fall. Pumpkin pie, apple pie, corn chowder, chili... all taste better in the Fall, at least to me.
I know that some of you are lamenting Fall because it is an indication that Winter is around the corner. But wait a second, stop, look, listen, smell, taste. Don't be so quick to overlook the blessings of the day in fear of what tomorrow may bring. Enjoy the here and now.
Peyton was at practice the other day and I was taking pictures of him. He turned to me and stuck his index finger in the air. Wow, he not only likes this game now he's getting cocky as well. "We're #1" I saw his gesture to be. But wait, that's not it. He started to point emphatically. He want's me to look up. He saw the beauty in the little things in life. I'll let these pictures tell the rest of the story.

A quick catch up

We now have two teenage drivers in the house!!!!!!! We celebrated Kristian's 16th birthday yesterday. He celebrated by getting his learner's permit and a job. His is the proud employee at a local burger joint. He had actually been hired two months ago but the manager didn't realize that he was only 15 y/o. He was then told to report on his 16th birthday. He starts tonight.
Peyton is LOVING football. Liz had to practically drag him off of the field Monday night. I'll get some pictures and post them.
Maddie started soccer practice this week. She is having a tough time with the conditioning, but she has improved each day.
Devon has also been having soccer practice (JV). They played the girls varsity team yesterday and beat them 2-1. He is enjoying it and improving.
Mackenzie had a wonderful time as a counselor at Bible Camp last week. She made some new friends and is looking forward to doing it again next year.
Liz is ready for school to start. They go back on Sept 7.
Well, I just wanted to stop in and fill you in on some of the little things gong on in our journey. Keep in touch and God Bless.

Growing Pain Tears

Yesterday was Peyton's (9y/o) second day of football. He has played soccer up to this point but decided to give football a try. He made this decision on his own despite the fact that he only has one other friend that plays football and all of his other friends play soccer. Anyway, his first practice was a disaster for him. He had missed the first two practices due to his late decision so all of the other boys had two days of training and knowledge behind them. Boy did he feel like a fish out of water. Half way through the practice he came over to me with big alligator tears running down his cheeks and onto his jersey. "My stomach hurts" is Peytonese for "I'm out of my comfort zone and am not happy." I told him that he could take a knee and watch the others until his stomach felt better. Well it never did. After practice he got into the Jeep and I asked him if he was okay. Well, the floodgate opened up. He started crying heavily. We hugged for a while and He told me that he didn't want to play football. I asked him why and through his sobs I understood him to say that he doesn't know anything about football and he "feels like an idiot." Haven't we all been there? A new place, a new job, a new school? Not knowing anything about anything. I've been there. It is through these times of stepping out of our comfort zones that we do some of our biggest changing. I told him that he shouldn't make a judgment based on his first night of practice. After all, most of the practice was conditioning and not FOOTBALL. I called his coach and we got the lowdown on football. Being a prior soccer player, I knew very little about football. The coach explained positions, stances, gaps, yadaa yadaa,yadaa. I then got off the phone and gave Peyton a lesson in footballology. It took us 10 minutes before he was telling me "if they call I formation 44 power, then this player does yadaa, yadaa, yadaa." WOW, you've got it buddy. You could see in his eyes the confidence build. Yeah!
Second night of practice... We get there, Peyton is excited. Good things. Half way through the practice he comes over to me,tears running down his face onto his jersey "My stomach hurts." OH NO!! What happened to that little boy that was calling plays on my bed last night. Where is the confidence. Oh, yeah.... We are out of our comfort zone again. I put my arm around him and we walked and talked as the other players did their thing. We talked about commitment, we talked about working through the emotional pain, we talked about growing. After a while his coach came over to check on him and encouraged him to come back over even if it was just to listen to the information. He reluctantly agreed and buckled his helmet. I went to a spot that I knew he would be able to see me. The coach explained blocking to the kids. I could tell that although he was listening his mind was elsewhere. Now the moment of truth. The coach is going to let the kids block each other. Peyton is up. He gets in his three point stance (don't worry I didn't know what it was either). The coach yell "DOWN, SET, .....HUT!" Peyton steps up and into his player and knocks the other player on his back. He turns and looks to me and through his face mask I see THE SMILE. The smile that says "Yeah, I can do this!!"

Northward Bound

Since birth, I have been Northward bound. Geographically I have continued from my birth state, Georgia, to Maryland, and now (WAY) Upstate New York. Yes there have been some side trips. But for the most part I have been Northward bound. I guess I've been traveling the same way in other areas of my life. Personally, I would like to think of myself as a better person today than yesterday. Matrimonially (if that is in deed a word), I know that I am a better husband today than yesterday. Parentally (even if my 5 children don't agree) I feel that I have made some progress. Spiritually, hmmm, now we have some problems. Seriously, like all other areas in my life, I have made progress. But like my life geographically, there have been many side trips and moves South. I hope to share with you, through this blog, my journey Northward. In all areas of my life. I will share my times with my beautiful wife, Liz. I will share my life as I attempt to lead 5 children (3 teenagers right now) to adulthood. I'll share my personal and spiritually journey as well. You will even be provided with a few side trips to our hobby farm, Birchwood Farm, where we have 26 chickens, 2 goats, 3 dogs, 2 cats (3 if you count the cat that was left by a stranger for us to take care of. I'll share my hobbies with you. This will be your opportunity to get a glimpse into my Northward Bound Life.