Happy Birthday Jeremy

Today is Jeremy's 34th birthday. He was born on August 27, 1976 to Ronnie and Sylvia Clayton. He was their second child and second son. It may be hard to imagine now, but Jeremy had the curliest blond hair that you ever did see when he was little. Needless to say he hated the curls, that's why he sports a shaved head now days!!!

I couldn't ask for a more kind, loving, and caring husband. Jeremy is always willing to help others out that are in need. It doesn't matter if it is for friends or family. If you need something done, Jeremy is there. There have been so many times in our marriage when I felt completely defeated and he is the one to lift me back up. This year has been extremely difficult for our family. I honestly don't know what I would have done without Jeremy in my life. I talked with him about me going back to school instead of looking for a job and he told me that whatever I needed, he would get for me. He has worked long hard weeks to pay for my books and education. Anytime overtime was available, he was asking if he could work. It touches my heart so much that he is willing to work so hard so that I can pursue my dreams of becoming a nurse. I know that there are a lot of women out there who are not able to be in my position and I am truly grateful for this opportunity. I know that I don't tell him as often as I should how proud I am to be his wife. How blessed our children are to have such an awesome father. We have grown so much closer since Jolianne came into our lives. She gave us the chance to stop and really think about the things that are the most important to us.

I thank God that He brought Jeremy and I together. He is my rock, my teddy bear, my best friend in the whole world. I love you beyond imagination honey!!!

Happy Birthday Jeremy :)

Happy Birthday Ronnie

My Little Ham!!

Well yesterday was Ronnie's seventh birthday. I meant to post something for him but life got a little busy as usual so I am updating now.

Ronnie Daniel Clayton was born on August 23, 2003 at Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler. He came after a long 19 hour labor that was induced because of my high blood pressure. Ronnie Daniel is not a very common name so let me tell you where it came from. Ronnie is my father-in-law's name. It is not short for Ronald, it is simply Ronnie. Daniel is my father's name. So we put the two names together and came up with Ronnie Daniel in honor of both of our fathers. Everyone on Jeremy's side of the family calls him Little Ronnie. It is pretty funny because Ronnie has never been little. He came into this world weighing nine pounds, at 38 weeks. If I would have carried him to 40 weeks he would have been 10 lbs. I always joked around and said that I got a 3 month old instead of a new born!!!

As he has gotten older I have seen such an amazing heart in him. He is always honest, even when it sounds brutal he adds love to the end so you just can't help but laugh. Example...He will tell me, "Mommy I really love that you are "fluffy", it makes it more comfortable when I lay on you and have cushion. I love you so much Mommy." Now if it were anyone else I would probably leave the room in tears!!! But not Ronnie, he has no intention of hurting my feelings, he was just sharing his thoughts with me.

Ronnie has never met a stranger. He will talk to absolutely anyone. It doesn't matter where we are. He loves to tell people things about his day or what we are going to be doing when we get home. One time were were at Wal-Mart getting a colander and Ronnie thought that he needed to tell the woman on the isle that his brother Andy had broken the colander that we had so we were getting a new one. He then let her know that you do not wear them on your head, even thought they make a really cool hat. He also invited her to our house for dinner. And told her we have the wooden house with the green roof if she needed directions. He is such a Ham!! He always has people laughing or smiling when he is around. He is a bright ray of sunshine for our family. He really keeps us on our toes and wondering what is coming next!!!

I pray that Ronnie will continue to grow in Christ. He is always so excited about anything and everything to do with Church or Bible Study. I hope that he keeps his heart open to God and listens to what the Lord has in store for him. I know that he will do amazing things.

Time Just Seems To Fly

I can't believe that the first week of August is almost over. We only have two weeks until school starts back. I have had so much fun this summer with the boys. It feels like just a few weeks ago school was getting out for the summer. I started getting ready for school a few weeks ago and I am very happy to say that I have all the school supplies purchased and all the clothes bought. I have a few more shirts to get for Andy and I will be finished. I am very excited that we are all getting ready to go back to school. I pray that this year is a good year for everyone, especially coming off of the year we've had. It is hard to believe a year ago I was placed on bedrest in the hospital. It seems like a life time ago. Time sure does seem to fly by lately.

Ronnie and I are going to be going to Splash Kingdom sometime in the next week. It is soooo hot this week so we may have to wait until next week and go in the morning. We have been working on him following directions the first time he is told. I have been doing a color system and when he is acting bad he has to turn his stick to a different color. He starts at green, then moves to yellow, then red, and then black. If he has a black stick that means he has had a very hard day. I promised him if he could keep his stick green for one week that we would go to the water park. It took us a little while but we finally have a green week!!! I hope that he can stay having green sticks for the rest of the summer. I really hate having to spend so much time getting on to the kids.

Andy will be going to D Now starting on Saturday. It is a really awesome three day event for the youth at church. I hope that this really reaches out to Andy. I feel like he has been so lost lately. We have really been struggling with him making good choices. He has been grounded from his phone and iPod all summer long and he just can't seem to get things together. I pray that he will get on the right track. I pray that God will put something together for me, I feel like I am out of options with him and not really sure where to go from here. I can take things away all day long but he needs to learn to make the right decision. It is easy for him not to use the phone late at night when I am keeping all the phones in my bedroom. The first time I forget to take them in there he is right back to making calls at 2 and 3 in the morning. I wish that he would respect our rules and do the right thing on his own. I know that he is at a difficult age so I need to find some way to get through to him. Grounding doesn't work, getting rewards doesn't work, taking things away doesn't work, giving extra chores doesn't work. Anyone who has suggestions please leave a comment for me. I don't want to give up on my boy. I know that there is a way, I just have to find it!!! (maybe I should try the color sticks with Andy and see if they work!!! ha ha)

I hope that everyone is having a blessed day,
Crystal