Sweet Girl

Dear Ruby,

You ran to Jesus today. My heart is broken, but I am so thankful you are whole again. Your journey on this Earth has not been easy, but you have changed the life of every person you met. I think Mrs. Carren said it best today -

"It didn't take long in her presence to know how amazing she is."

So true, sweet girl. 

I remember seeing your beautiful face walk in my door for the first time. I knew there was no way I could ever fuss at you, give you detention or take away your recess. We spent such a sweet year together in "Team Spobel." You had missed almost a full year of school getting treatment, but no one would ever know it. You grew so much as a reader and you amazed Ms. Robel with your math skills. You taught 32 children all about kindness, compassion and courage. 

I especially loved my "Ruby Days" - introducing you to the new hot dog place, playing Wii, eating ice cream and painting flower pots. You loooooved making your teachers sing karoake - especially when we didn't know the words!  You never ever wanted "stuff" - even though I would've gladly bought you the moon. You just wanted to spend time with the people you loved. I am so blessed and grateful to be counted among those people.

  
Ms. Robel (your other favorite teacher) was so right - "My sweet Ruby-Dooby-Doo, you made this world so much brighter and will continue to shine on us all from above with the Lord. Thank you for showing what it means to have an amazing heart and truly be a fighter. I love and cherish you always my sweet angel.

You fought just as fiercely as you loved. Those five years were not in vain. I know there is purpose in every day you were here.

  Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
      you formed me in my mother's womb.
   I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
      Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
      I worship in adoration—what a creation!
   You know me inside and out,
      you know every bone in my body;
   You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
      how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
   Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
      all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
   The days of my life all prepared
      before I'd even lived one day. ^{Psalm 139: 13-16} .

I find a lot of comfort in this passage (thank you, Jennie). Each day of your life was prepared. HE called you home at just the right time. 

As Ms. Hailey said, "A special young lady now has a special place in heaven. Her smile and spirit has touched many and she will continue to live in the hearts of those she has touched."

Did you know the impact you had on people? I am amazed at how many of my friends were touched by your life. (It is impossible to meet you and not love you instantly.) 

Mrs. Leavell's family picked out a scripture to remember you by and I think it fits you perfectly:

 ^6-7I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
 ^8-9You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don't see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you'll get what you're looking forward to: total salvation.
1 Peter : 6-9

I have been constantly humbled by the faith you and your parents exude. I take great comfort in knowing you loved Jesus and trusted Him to carry you through your suffering. When I think of how hard you had to fight, this is a verse that gives me peace. 

You remind us to speak kindly to everyone, to invite people into our hearts and to live life with spice. You are our sweet and spicy girl!  

Mrs. Poncheri is right - "We will miss you sweet Ruby!"

I don't know if there is a right or wrong way to end this letter. As Ms. Fernandez said today, "Some moments in life have no words. Love leaves a memory no one can steal. As always I send you hugs and kisses."

Ruby-Dooby-Doo, I love you. To the moon and back.

And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory's side, and
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus and live! 

-Come to Jesus, Chris Rice

My New Favorites

My grad school and blog-friend Angie has the most fabulous Etsy shop. I stalk it frequently.Usually closer to payday. I also stalk her blog. It does not require payday - and her stories are pretty freakin' hilarious.

Last week, (not so close to payday) I was etsy-stalking and saw this:

And these:

So I ordered them. And then I went on vacation. Do you know how much I love coming home to packages??
Do you know what's even better to coming home to a package?

Coming home to a package that has a surprise in it!

How cute are these??

I even went shopping today to find more blue shirts. Just for these earrings. Don't tell Bryan. Seriously.

So, I write all this to say thank you, sweet friend!

For the rest of you - go visit her blog:







and her Etsy shop:

You won't regret it!

*All photos by the fabulous Angie as well!

Squir-coonin'

That got your attention, didn't it?

Last weekend, my "Obel" and I joined our sweet friend Leigh at her family's house on Daufuskie Island just off of Hilton Head in South Carolina. We celebrated her birthday all weekend long with her friends Erin and Emily. You know I have stories to tell. But this is not the blog post for stories. This is an opportunity to share my extensive knowledge on squircoons.

Sweet Peas -  there were squirrels, there were raccoons and then there were squircoons. I. am. not. kidding. I have never seen anything like it in my entire life. Every time we went out on the golf cart, it was an opportunity to go "squir-coonin." You know what? I didn't take any pictures of people the entire time I was there. Just the squircoons.

Squircoon Fact #1: Despite popular opinion, squircoons do not travel in pairs.

Squircoon Fact #2: There is some debate, however, as to whether these animals should be called "squircoons" or "squnks."

Do you SEE the SIZE of these things??? They are HUGE!!

Squircoon Fact #3: Squircoons are very speedy, making it almost impossible to get a picture of their squircoon faces.

I hope you have enjoyed your lesson on squircoons, a species known only to this author to reside in remote areas of South Carolina.

Thank Goodness for the 755 Club

On Friday afternoon, I had a text-versation that went something like this:

 "Do we have plans on Sunday?" - B

"I'm babysitting until 12:30 but after that, nothing." - A

side note: I started thinking... It's been awhile since his store did an inventory. They are always on Sundays. They are always horrible. I bet he has to do inventory. Yuck.

"I will make something up if it's inventory. We'll go visit your parents." - A

"We have 4 Braves tickets with parking pass. Behind the dugout. Ask someone. :) - B

Yahoooooooooooooooooooooooo! Not inventory! And fun!!

Ladies and gentlemen, Jason Heyward. Love this kid.

Right after I took these pictures, we gave in to the s-w-e-l-t-e-r-i-n-g heat and headed for the 755 Club. Also known as the Land of Air Conditioning. Within five minutes of us walking in the door, it started pouring outside. We laughed when when we heard Chip Caray call it "sprinkles." They were not sprinkles. But we were dry!

We stayed through the 7th inning and headed back to the seats to watch the last of the game. Do you know how hot it was? All that rain? Gone. Not a drop anywhere to be seen. Ugh. Don't get me wrong - I love being at Turner Field and watching the Braves. I hate being hot. HATE IT.

But you know what I love? People watching.

Baltimore Wildebeast

If you cannot see the amount of hair on this man, it is a crime and a shame. I thought I was miserable. He had an extra layer!! (Note: Had he been an Atlanta fan, I probably still would've taken his picture.) Seriously! If you were setting him up on a date, you would need to include the word "furry" when describing him to someone. Seriously.

The Braves lost (probably because I took his picture and decided to make fun of it) but it was a fun afternoon. I hope we get to go back again soon!

Unwelcome Visitor

The Smyrna Zoo had an unwelcome visitor this past week.

On Tuesday, Bryan and I were hanging out when we noticed pieces of wood coming out from under the coat closet in our living room. We opened the door and couldn't see anything except for MORE wood chips and pieces...

At least 1 inch of the door... gone!

We looked at each other in panic and promptly shut the door. People, I am not a fan of "critters." In fact, I do believe I used that very word. Along with a few other more colorful ones. Bryan, being the manly man that he is immediately called the exterminators who told us they could come out THURSDAY. Whaaaaat? Thursday? Are you kidding me?? Surely you mean NOW.

Nope, they came Thursday. And so there was a definite "barricade" (read: recycling bin) in front of the door until the Arrow man came.

When the very nice Arrow man came, he looked about as excited as I was to find out what was in our closet. I believe he referred to it as "a vermin." {Really? Who still uses that word??} Anyhoo - he set up yet another barricade to guide whateveritwas out the front door and prevent it from running all over our house. He also asked me to step into another room because I was making him nervous and the "vermin" was enough. HA!


This is where the fun starts, lovies. I have never wanted to laugh so badly in my entire life. That nice man started pulling things out of our closet one by one and jumping back about 10 feet each time he did. By the time he had pulled out 7 or 8 things, I saw a SQUIRREL come running out of the closet, through the front door and he did not stop until he was all the way across the street and up Mrs. Housely's tree. That's right, buddy. You stay there and tell your friends too.

squirrel in the closet  = total destruction

Arrow Man started looking for an entry point and couldn't find one. Would you like to know how the squirrel got in according to him? It folllowed us in the house. Yeah, right. Would you like to know how I thought the squirrel got in?

I don't know how he missed this fist-sized HOLE IN OUR WALL, but he did. That's right - the damn thing chewed through the drywall and was feasting on the birdseed I kept in there. {Notice I said kept. Yep, sorry birdos. No mas seed for you.}I am picking up a drywall patch kit tomorrow. Until then, we have found yet another use for plastic grocery bags. Yep, that sucker is packed full of those things. Eat that, you nasty rat with fur. 

Bryan has a new motto: "Stupid squirrel. I hate squirrels." I think I'm going to have it made into a bumper sticker.

Yikes!

Did anybody else know about this?? I'm glad we locked in our plans while we could! You have until July 7th according to the article. Get on it!


Say goodbye to unlimited data

Father's Day

I have to say a few words in honor of my Daddy-Man for Father's Day...

First of all, the man should really be nominated for sainthood. Or some sort of "survivor" award. He managed to survive a household with FIVE women. 5! Until you've managed it yourself, you have no idea how much estrogen that is. No idea.

Daddy Man with his girly girls - 11, 9, 7 and 1.5

Daddy only had eight years with his own father. My grandfather was killed in 1961 in a plane crash in Italy. He was a captain in the Air Force. This means that everything my daddy knew about fatherhood, he learned in eight years. When I think about how good Daddy has been to my mama and his "girly-girls" I am so thankful. I am thankful that Granddaddy Richard had an impact on him, and that he carried on his values and strong character through us.

Capt. James Richard Boone

My Aunt Tanna recently posted the following:

So true!! "Anything worth doing is worth doing right!" I hear those words ringing in my ears anytime I find myself wanting to take the easy way out. Even scarier, I have heard myself telling my third graders exactly that on numerous occasions.

I know that there are many former "band geeks" out there who can also attest to the following: My father is the best teacher I've ever had. He expects the most, makes you work the hardest (to the point of cursing him under your breath) and gets the best results. Every time. I never worked harder in high school than I did during marching band season. I never had more fun doing anything else, either.

D. Sanford Boone, Director of Bands

Happy Father's Day, Daddy. I love you.
I am so glad that He saw fit to make us your daughters!