Paige Barnes

I need to give a shout of praise to our most wonderful and amazing Almighty God! Our little nephew was born in March and the doctors were very concerned that he may have some serious issues with his spine and spinal cord. While he was moving ok and developing normally, they were still concerned and braced my sister and brother-in-law for the worst possible scenario - that he would have many problems as he got older and that surgery may be required. I know that LOTS of prayers have gone up to our Heavenly Father on behalf of little Noah, and yesterday we found out that the final test they had chosen to do was completely normal!!! Praise God for He is good! That means the little Noah won't have to go through all those tests again and they don't even have to worry about this scenario anymore - his spine and spinal cord are perfect. When things like this happen I try to let the first thing out of my mouth be "thank you Lord. I praise you Lord". Well, I just had t...

So we bought a fixer-upper when we bought our house. Got it at a great price in a good neighborhood and the potential to resell at a much higher price than we paid for it. So, the hubbs and I are pretty much DIY with this fixer-upper and we are, well, busy folks. So we are working tirelessly on the front bathroom. We have two really nice vanities sitting out in the garage ready to be put in, but first we must remove wallpaper, fill holes, sand, put down flooring, and paint. I can't wait to get this house like I want it. I will tell you that I really can't bring myself to have people over because of the state it's in. The hubbs tells me I have a vanity problem and I really do talk to Jesus about that on a daily basis. Now that I will be staying at home with Big Red, I hope to get some stuff done on this house. Here are some pics so you can see why I can't invite any of you over! Jesus peace, ~Paige

Well, today was our first day of homeschooling. I must say that it actually went quite well. The son was amused that he "got to do school in his underwear" (he was wearing a t-shirt, too!). We worked on our list of 7 spelling words and he practiced writing them. He did a good job. We've got to work on certain letters and the way he writes them, but those are only a few. He does a pretty good job. Hopefully by the end of the week he'll know how to spell these words that we worked on today. We learned a scripture verse - 1 Samuel 16:7. We did some language work in his language book and then for reading he picked a book to read to me. We were able to do that laying on our bellies in the floor. The fun of homeschooling! Then we went to the church for awhile. I will be there for another month and I still have responsibilities and work that must be completed in order to ease the transition and allow things to go as smoothly as possible. We played and we sang an...

Ok, so I know the suspense of what those big changes are in the life of the Barnes family are killing some of you! Let me say first (cause I know some of you are thinking it) that I am not pregnant. God has not chosen to walk us down that path again yet. (Although, I wouldn't be too upset if he did!). For the past several years I have been the youth minister at our church and our son has attended a wonderful private Christian school here in town. We have put our heart and soul into the ministry and our son has thrived very much at his school. In June, our son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. This has changed our life completely, to say the least. He started back to school and we've had some major issues. He's spent more time in the nurses office and having to come home that anything else. We began to wonder if he'd start to get behind. His body is still adjusting to the diabetes and we are still changing dosages of insulin and this may continue on for severa...

Friends, There are some major things that are about to be taking place in the Barnes family. I can't wait to tell you about them, but I must wait one more day! God has been doing a new thing in our family in the past few months and He's really leading to to take some major steps of faith. We have prayed and questioned and cried and prayed and listened and listened and listened. We have a peace about it all and the new mercies that God rains down on us everyday are unbelievable!!! I will let you all in on it tomorrow. This afternoon we are headed to celebrate my hubby's grandfather's 90 th birthday. What a heritage! He is who our little man got his red hair from. It should be a fun afternoon of getting to see family.

Backpack...$49.99 School Supplies...$50.00 Medic Alert Bracelet for school...$25.00 Having your teacher pray over the students and their parents on the first day of school while IN the classroom...priceless! Praise His Name for our wonderful school and may God grant us a safe, healthy, happy, and productive school year!

Well, tomorrow my boy goes back to school. First grade seems so old! He's changed so much this past year since we walked him up the sidewalk toward kindergarten. He's grown taller (much taller). He's smarter (and more smart-mouthed, but he gets that from me). He can read and add and subtract. He even programed the channels on the TV in the youth room once much to my amazement. My child is amazing. I take no credit for that. I'll give credit where credit is due and thank my most awesome and loving God for blessing me with such a wonderful son. He gets his stubborness and big mouth from me. He gets his genius from his dad. Tomorrow we go back to school with something that we didn't have last year - diabetes. I can't sleep tonight, knowing that he won't be with me every moment tomorrow like he has been all summer. The hubs is pretty shook up too. See we adore that little smart mouth, genius, red-on-the-head. I am praying for God to give peace to ...

My mom came for a few days to stay with us. We really enjoyed her time with us. One night we decided to play Monopoly - well it actually took two days. It was a blast and even more fun because I won! ( I never win these kinds of things). Here are some pics.

So here's how the latest conversation went down with Big Red (my 6 year old). (Me - sitting on the couch minding my business) (Big Red) "Mommy, perhaps if your butt hurts then you are sitting on my star wars game". (Me - trying not to pee in my pants from laughter) "Yes, son, perhaps". ~Paige~

Yesterday the hubbs and I met with Matthew's teacher, coach, school nurse, and principal at his school. We can't say enough good things about his school and the staff there. We are so blessed to be able to send him there. They are ready to take on his diabetes and were so easy to work with yesterday. The hubbs and I are scared to death to send him back to school knowing others will be responsible for his care, but we are so at peace after our meeting yesterday. On our way home, the red-head was pondering what he wants to be when he grows up. The conversation went something like this: "Mommy, I think I am going to be an operator when I grow up". (Me), "What kind of an operator" (Red) "You know the kind that cuts people open and makes them better". (Me) "Those are called surgeons and (my heart swelling with pride at the thought of my doctor son) they are very important people. They help others who are sick". (The Red) "Maybe I will b...

Well, she may just be stubborn like her Auntie Paige! Baby Greycie came a month earlier weighing in at 5 lbs and 10 oz. She is precious and looks just like her mommy (my sister)who was a beautiful baby and is a very beautiful young woman today. It breaks my heart that she is all the way in Mississippi. But I am very proud of her mommy and her so I wanted to show her off.

We took our church youth group to the beach this summer and had a blast. This year my wonderful two boys were able to go. It was a wonderful time and a much needed break just three weeks after Matthew's diabetes diagnosis. Of course, Matthew and Cole both got stung by jellyfish. They were everywhere that first day! But, we managed to still have a great time. Here are a few pics.

I have been so crazy lately that I haven't been posting regularly. So I am going to try to catch everyone up. A couple of weeks ago we went to the Birmingham Zoo along with the great folks at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). We spent a lovely day at the zoo even though we were rained on. I guess our favorite exhibit was the monkeys. At times it was like the three of us were looking in the mirror at our monkey selves! This was our first outing with the JDRF and we are looking forward to more and more outings with those great folks. Pics to come as soon as I can get my Mac and my PC to jive!