Year-In-Review

I can hardly believe that another year has past. Today is the LAST day of 2007 - wow!

I went back and looked at my New Year's Resolutions for 2007 and well, I'm a bit irritated with myself. I kept only ONE of those resolutions!!!!!!!! I guess that's pretty typical but I'm not happy with myself over it. I hope to do better this coming year.

It's interesting to look back over the past year. This is the first full year that I've had a blog so it's nice to be able to go back and read through what went on this year. We did a lot! Between the local stuff like the bounce place, YMCA, swimming, Discovery Center, Christ Church, etc. and then to trips like going to Oklahoma, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. Morgan turned 6 and started Kindergarten, losing 2 teeth along the way. Drew turned 4 and started preschool, he also got potty trained (well, mostly -we're still missing the overnights). Owen turned 2 and has started talking a lot more and is now sleeping in a big boy bed in a room with his brother. Eric ended the year by starting a new position at work. And, me, well, I was along for the ride!

Here's to another GREAT year!

That's a relief!

Every once in a while I have a dream that seems so real that when I wake up it takes me a minute to realize it was a dream. Ever have that?

Well, last night I had a crazy dream that I invited a bunch of people I knew (not all friends, just random people I knew) to a weekend away and that I picked up the tab. I remember sitting there, getting the bill, and about hyperventilating as it was rather large. In my dream I remember thinking, "Man, Eric is going to kill me for this one." It seemed so real.

Then I woke up.

Ahhh - sweet relief!!!

A bit of randomness for your Sunday afternoon reading. :)

The Grinch

We had a GREAT time tonight! My parents are visiting us for Christmas and we were fortunate enough to get free tickets to the Grinch ICE! Show at the Opryland Hotel (a BIG thank-you to my father-in-law for scoring us those tickets!!).

None of us had ever been to an ice show so we really didn't know what to expect. It was amazing. Everything in the place was made of solid ice. It was also FREEZING in there - 8-10 degrees I think. They handed out parkas when you went in and I wish I had brought gloves and hats for everyone too.

The kids were as amazed by things as we were. There is a slide-show below with some pictures.

I'm so thankful we were able to go. Thanks again Ralph!!!

The magic of Christmas morning

"Santa" just got done setting up the gifts for Christmas morning. As I was done, I stepped back and was flooded with memories of all the Christmas mornings that I experienced as a child. There was a magic in it - walking down the stairs and into the room and seeing the gifts laid out around the tree - WOW! It was so exciting. My parents didn't put any of the gifts out until after we went to bed on Christmas Eve so it was a huge thing to see so many presents around the tree.

I am excited for my kids to experience the same "magic".

The real "magic" of Christmas didn't happen in a comfy little house under a pretty tree - it happened in a manger all those years ago - our Savior, grace in a manger, Jesus - was born. The world would never be the same, I would never be the same.

The best gift that we are getting for Christmas is one that is free and available to EVERYONE no matter where you are at in life. The best gift that we are getting for Christmas makes it possible for us to remain separated no longer from the God that created us. The best gift that we are getting for Christmas is our Savior, Jesus.

Have you opened your present yet? Don't let it sit under the tree - open it.

Open your heart to Jesus.

Wishing you & yours a very Merry CHRISTmas!

April Fool's Day

Why April Fool's Day?

Well, Drew is my little AFD joke. You see, Morgan was born in October and the last quarter of the year is typically the busiest at my old job. It wasn't good that I was gone during that time and they always joked with me that I couldn't have any kids during that quarter, they were going to write it in my contract (how funny that all three of my kids were born during the last quarter).

So, April Fool's Day comes around and I told my two bosses that I was pregnant and due around the same time that Morgan was born. I think I even joked around with Eric. I had a lot of fun with this joke.

Two weeks later I was telling then that I really was pregnant! Oops!

Drew was due on Dec. 30th but was really wanting him to come before Christmas. There was supposed to be 16 people at my house on Christmas day and I had visions of going into labor with all of them there so, on Dec. 19th I took the dreaded Castor Oil (yes, I took this with ALL three of my kiddos and it worked all three times).

By mid-evening I wasn't feeling too good but didn't have what I would call contractions. I called the hospital because I hadn't felt Drew move in a while and I was concerned. The nurse said to lay on my left side, turn off the lights & TV and just relax. Within minutes of doing that the contractions started. Morgan was asleep (26 months old) when we started calling the people who were supposed to watch Morgan for us. BOTH were out of town that weekend!!!! Thankfully my friends Dina & Ryan were available and they came over. I do remember that it took them 30 minutes to get there and that was a LONG 30 minutes! :)

We got to the hospital and had to go through the ER because the main doors were closed. I had Eric drop me off so he could go park the car and get the bags. It was kind of comical because I had a really bad contraction in the ER and had to lean against the wall. I turned and there was a group of teenagers in the ER waiting room just looking at me. I guess they'd never seen anyone in labor before. :)

Got to L&D and was 4 cm dilated. I wanted the epidural right away but they had to get a bag of fluid into me first. Darn IV wouldn't go in right. A roll of tape later and a nurse holding my arm and the other one squeezing the bag, I was ready for my epidural! God bless the epidural man! :)

Around 3:30 am I started pushing and at 3:52 am Drew was born. 8 lbs 9 oz! He was and still is such a cutie!

Here's some pics.

Me, in labor, and ready to head to the hospital.

Drew just minutes after he was born.

Drew at 4!(well, almost, this was taken a couple of weeks ago).

Where to?

Do you ever get to a place where you just don't know where to go from there? In life, relationships, etc?

I'm in that place with a very important relationship in my life.

Just don't know where to go from here.

Perhaps you can be praying for me, I'd appreciate it.

The High Calling of Motherhood

I started reading the book "'Don't Make Me Count to Three!'" by Ginger Plowman. I've read "Shepherding Your Child's Heart" and loved it and this book was recommended to be read alongside that book. I've only just started reading it but there were a couple of paragraphs that jumped off the page at me today that I wanted to share with you.

"God does have an important job for me, and it does require much skill. It is my calling, my priority, my struggle, and my goal. I will rise to the occasion and accept the task at hand. I will love, nurture, and train my children the way that God has called me to do.

Moms, we need to be reminded of the awesome responsibility that God has given us. When we respond to the high calling of motherhood with passion, the rewards are far greater than any we could ever gain outside of that calling. The joys of motherhood are rare and beautiful treasure that can be easily missed if we don't seize the opportunity to grab them.

Being a mom is more than being cook, chauffeur, maid, counselor, doctor, referee, disciplinarian, etc. (just to name a few). It's about molding character, building confidence, nurturing, training and guiding. There is nothing like the influence that a mother has on her child. A mother's influence has enormous potential to shape the person a child becomes, for good or ill."

Sometimes the responsibility of motherhood seems over-whelming and impossible but I am always reminded of how God will not ask us to do something and then NOT equip us to do the job.

Opry Mills Shoppers - my apologies

I knew things had been going to good. After some struggles with Drew, my strong-willed but tender-hearted middle child, I felt like things were going good with us. Drew enjoys pushing my buttons and doing things wrong deliberately to see how far he can push me. We've really been trying to "tighten the screws" on him to encourage him to obey. Things have been going SO WELL - until today.

Eric's father was in town today on a tour and had a few hours free that we could spend with him. We had to go to Opry Mills as that was close to where he needed to be when the tour resumed. We decided on Chili's for lunch and then had planned to walk around the mall for a little bit. Each of the kids had gotten some money for Christmas and they wanted to go to the Disney store to pick out something. I told them during lunch that they had to be good and obey all through lunch to get to go to the store. Well, Drew really struggled and ended up losing his toy.

That didn't go over too well and he started to throw a temper tantrum. I should have just cut it off right then and left (like I had warned I would) but I didn't. I felt bad leaving Ralph early and Morgan was upset at the thought of not getting to spend time with Grandpa. So, against my better judgement, we started walking through the food court. We didn't make it far when I had to take Drew to the bathroom for a little chat. Again I reiterated that he wasn't getting a toy and why and then we left the bathroom. We got a little farther into the mall when he throws another fit. I was at the counter at Radio Shack returning something and he comes up begging for a toy. When I once again told him "no", he proceeded to throw a big fit. This time I did tell him we were leaving and then it all broke loose.

Here's a mental picture for you. I had to pick him up while he was kicking, screaming, punching, biting, grabbing, etc. at me the entire walk out -it wasn't a short walk either - right through the heart of the food court during lunch. He's a big kid and my back has been hurting so it was killing me to have to carry him so far. OH MY GOODNESS. What the heck???? (Ashley, Becca & Tammy - this was 10x's worse than the fit he through at Christ Church).

We get to the car and it was a huge struggle to get him buckled. Once I did, Morgan went on the bus with Grandpa and I closed the doors to the van and just stood outside, smiling at strangers who were giving me the pity look because they could hear him screaming from outside the van.

As mad as I was, and I was LIVID, I did wait until we got home and we'd both calmed down before talking to him and giving him a spanking. That's something because honestly, I wanted to beat that child in the middle of his temper tantrum.

The moral of the story - never let your guard down, even if you think that they've "got it", they are always testing you and FOLLOW THROUGH the first time you warn with something.

Missing people

One thing I am horrible at is keeping up with people who I don't see all the time. Call it a product of my youth as a military brat, moving around every 3-4 years, but I just struggle with calling people, writing, and just keeping up on their lives. When we moved around as a youth, I just made new friends and didn't really keep in touch with the old ones. It's just the way it was.

So, now, I have moved to TN (over a year ago - wow), and while I've done better than normal, I still struggle to keep in touch with all that I want to. You know how it is, you get busy with your day-to-day life and just don't call or write. That doesn't make it okay, it's just reality.

There are so many people I miss but I'm thinking of one very special friend today. Miss. Myrtle! Me & Myrtle worked together at The Voice of the Martyrs for about 7 years. She was the Administrative Assistant for our dept. and one of the dearest friends I had. I remember countless times sitting in her office or mine just talking about life. She was a surrogate mom for me many times and a good friend all the time. I was encouraged daily by her faith in God and her commitment to her family. Her daughter-in-law, Robin, is the one that watched my children while I worked and she was such a blessing as well. We would go out to lunch a lot and just talk about life. I miss that. I miss my friend.

She moved to a new state about the same time that we moved to TN and really haven't been able to connect since then. It makes me sad.

So, Myrtle, if you read this, EMAIL ME and give me your new contact information. I miss you my friend and I want to hear all about your life in TX!

Still not found.

So the Christmas gifts that I posted about awhile back that I bought early but have misplaced STILL haven't been found. I ended up going today and buying new gifts. Two of the gifts were for my nieces in MO and I'm going to be giving my father-in-law those gifts when we see him this week. You know what that means don't you?

I'll find the gifts I lost next week, after the new gifts have been delivered!

Drew's 4th birthday party

We celebrated Drew's 4th birthday this past weekend. His actual birthday is right before Christmas but we've always wanted to make sure he didn't get lost in the Christmas shuffle, so we celebrate at the beginning of the month.

We rented a bounce place for a couple of hours and let the kids run wild. Imagine 20 kids and 5 big blow-up things - wow - it was crazy.

Thank you to the friends & family that came and made our little man feel special!

Here are the pictures - enjoy!

Note to self - the Christmas gift version

When buying Christmas gifts more than 2 months in advance, find a "safe" place that isn't so safe that you never find said gifts again!

Searching my house for 3 gifts that I bought this summer!!!!

Mentor anyone?

Mentor - a wise & trusted counselor, teacher.

I think it has become very rare these days for anyone to actually have a mentoring relationship with someone else, especially in the church (at least the churches that I've been to).

I find myself thinking about this a lot lately, wishing for a person like this in my life.

I've had it in the past. When I went to college I was a new Christian (1 year old), and had never really been discipled. I got together with another girl in a similar situation and our Resident Assistant became our mentor - wise & trusted counselor, teacher. I remember that year vividly. I loved that small group of girls and I hated it at the same time. I loved it because I was learning so much about Jesus and about who He made me to be, it was exciting. I often hated it though because I also knew it was a place where I couldn't hide what was really going on inside. If I had sin issue I was struggling with, if I wasn't spending quiet time with the Lord, etc., I knew that I would not be able to leave that place without talking about it and praying about it. If you're anything like me then you know that the first instinct when you are struggling is not to stop and talk about it and certainly not to pray about it - you want to run from it, ignore it, hide it, etc. I couldn't do that with this group and I loved that.

I've missed that ever since.

I do have one friend who has been an informal mentor to me over the years but we no longer live near each other. We still play a huge role in each other's lives and I love that.

What I really want now is to find someone, more seasoned in their faith, that can me my wise & trusted counselor, teacher. I find myself needing the accountability and the wisdom that I could get in that kind of relationship.

Definitely an item for prayer.

So - what about you? Do you have a mentoring relationship with someone now? Have you been a mentor before? Have you been mentored before? Tell me about this. What role, if any, has mentorship played in your Christian walk?

Thanksgiving 2007

I am FINALLY getting this together and on the blog.

We had a GREAT time over Thanksgiving with my cousin, Brad, and his family and our good friend, Shea and her son, Dillon.

Brad, Kristen and their boys Caden & Owen recently moved a short drive from our home and we were SO excited that they agreed to come on out and visit with us for Thanksgiving. Their son, Caden, and our son, Drew, are only weeks apart in age. They also have a son, Owen, that is 1 year younger than our Owen. It got a little confusing with 2 kids with the same name but we figured it out. Drew & Caden were a riot together - wow.

Turkey day was fun. Poor Morgan was outnumbered as it was Shea's son, Dillon, Drew, big Owen, little Owen and Caden. :)

Thanksgiving night the boys went out and picked up a program that both me & Kristen wanted at a store for an amazing price. Kristin and I also got out on Black Friday and tried to find some good deals before heading to Toot's & The Discovery Center.

We had such a good time with everyone! Thanks for making this a special holiday!

Santa Handprints

I know, I still have Thanksgiving pics to post and here I am posting something Christmas-y. The Thanksgiving pics are coming but I just couldn't help myself in posting this.


While I am a crafty person, I rarely do projects that I put around the house - I tend to stick to scrapbooking & stamping. I saw an idea in the Dec Family Fun that was shown as a card and I decided to do it a little bit different.


Here is the original idea:

And, here is what we did with it:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and I think it looks great on our wall in the family room.

Hannah Montana Concert

One of Morgan's birthday presents was two tickets to the Nashville Hannah Montana concert. Apparently tickets were hard to come by and we saw tickets farther away from the stage than ours going for $1000 for two!!! I have to admit that it gave me pause as we could use an extra grand around here. But, I was reminded of the credit card commercial and new that this fit into the "priceless" category - no sale here.

Eric took Morgan to the concert the day after Thanksgiving and Morgan was SO excited. It was rather cold outside but she already knew what outfit she wanted to wear and it didn't matter that she'd be cold for a little while (yes, she wore a coat too).

Eric called during the intermission between The Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) and they were having a blast. He said that he should have brought ear plugs because the squeals from the young girls when they came on stage was deafening. My husband among a bunch of screaming girls at a HANNAH MONTANA concert, now THAT is priceless!

He said that Morgan was fun to watch during the concert, standing the whole time and singing and dancing along when she could. I wish I could have seen her myself.

Here's my baby and Eric before the concert (AUNT KRISTEN - note the bag ;) )

Redeeming Love

I have a lot of other catching up to do (pics from Thanksgiving, tree trimming, etc.) and I have 4 loads of laundry to put away but I just had to take a minute and post about something I read today.

I know that many of you have read the book "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. If you haven't, you NEED to read this book, it's fabulous. I started reading it yesterday after church and I couldn't put it down. I finished it this morning before taking Owen to his 2 year check-up. It was that good.

At the back of the book was a note from the author talking about her spiritual journey and why she wrote this book (it's a fiction book btw). The following quote has nothing to do with the book, I just loved it.

"Many churches seem to be mere museums for plastic saints, or they preach
fulfillment from the world's point of view - a 'prosperity gospel.' This
church was different (the one that her family tried after moving). It was a
hospital for repentant sinners; their only blueprint for life was the Bible,
which everyone was carrying, and - most amazing of all - reading!"

I am so thankful to be a part of a church that is neither a museum or teaching the "prosperity gospel" but, instead, is committed to teaching the truth from the only book that matters - the Word of God.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's officially Thankgiving Day, not by much, but it's here. Just finished up two pumpkin pies and now I am getting ready for bed - obviously.

On this Thanksgiving Day, here are a few things that I am thankful for:

1. Jesus and His sacrifice for me on the cross.
2. My husband - he's a keeper :)
3. My kids - they are so cute and so fun to be around (most of the time LOL)
4. My family on boths sides (Eric's & mine).
5. Health
6. God's provision in our lives
7. My church & small group
8. I could keep this list going & going & going

There is SO much to be thankful for! Praise God!

Suddenly it doesn't seem so bad...

Okay, we've had a hard time with Drew & the potty. The kid is almost 4 and still has accidents and we still have to stay on top of asking/making/demanding that he use the bathroom as he doesn't like to stop what he's doing and use the restroom.

We've had accidents in lots of places and I've spent lots of time frustrated.

Maybe it's in light of our struggles that I found THIS post hilarious. Seriously, if you have a potty-training child or one that will be soon or recently did, you NEED to read this. Furniture store + expensive sofa + potty training child = READ THIS.

Pain in my BACK!!!

Okay, I just have to gripe for a minute.

MY BACK HURTS! Not a little hurt, a big, annoying, can't-bend-without-crazy-pain HURTS.

I have had lower back pain since college when I was in 2 accidents within two weeks of each other (Mom, not sure I ever told you about the 2nd accident after the one I had in Colo. Spgs). My lower back got knocked out of place and I had to see a chiropractor to get it put back in after many months of pain (it took me that long to work up the courage to go to the chiropractor for the first time). Every now and again, not often, it gets knocked back out of place and, wow, it hurts.

I called 2 chiropractors today but they have weird hours and no one was in. I'm hoping I can get in tomorrow because this bites.

Any recommendations anyone? I hate trying out chiropractors, I've had a hard time in the past finding good ones.

Unexpected Fire Drill

I was up at Morgan's school today helping with some PTO stuff. There were several of us popping popcorn, getting prizes counted, etc. I had left Owen in the PTO office while I went to take Drew to the restroom. Suddenly the fire alarm goes off. Great - what am I supposed to do now? One kid with me and another kid in a different part of the school.

I go outside and another PTO mom agrees to watch Drew while I walk around back to find Owen. I found him and we wait.

Turns out it wasn't a planned fire drill, the alarm was set off by the popcorn machine THAT THE PTO WAS USING to get ready for something tomorrow at the school. LOL!

Oops!

11, 12, 13

Eric and I both really like the Oceans movies - they are pretty clever and interesting to watch. I have a funny "history" with the Oceans movies.

The first time I went to watch Oceans 11, I fell asleep. I tried several times after that to watch that movie but I fell asleep each and every time without fail. I think after trying 5 or 6 times I decided to watch it during the day instead of at night and I did end up seeing the whole thing.

Oceans 12 came out, same thing - I fell asleep each time I tried to watch it until I wised up and watched it during the day.

So, Oceans 13 came out this week and what do you think happened when Eric pushed "play" on the DVD last night? Yep - I fell asleep!

Perhaps I need to throw out the Tylenol PM and just pop in one of those movies when I can't sleep. For now, I'll try to find a time during the day when I can watch it kid-free.

Just call me "Scrooge"

I love the Christmas holiday, I really, really do but I just have to play Scrooge for a moment.

It's NOVEMBER 15th, one week BEFORE Thanksgiving, the leaves are still changing, it just now got a little cool outside, so why, WHY are there Christmas lights & decorations out already?????

Seriously????

Isn't there some kind of unwritten "law" that says that no Christmas decorations are allowed to be put up until AFTER Thanksgiving???

Operation Christmas Child

Our church is participating in Operation Christmas Child with Samaritan's Purse. Over the past several months, we were asked to bring in items such as soap, toothbrushes, socks, toys, candy, etc. that can be sent to children around the world for Christmas.

Each week Morgan has come home on Wed. night from church and told me about the items that we needed to bring in. She kept reminding me and we brought several things in.

Tonight was the night that the church packed the shoe boxes and sent them off to Samaritan's Purse. I have to be honest, I almost didn't come to church tonight. My back is KILLING me and it was pouring down rain - the idea of getting out there was NOT appealing. We went anyway and I'm so glad that we did.

Drew sang in front of the church with the other preschoolers - that was a riot in and of itself. Then I took the boys to their class and helped Morgan pack her box. She was THRILLED. She got the soap that we brought as it was the only one of a certain kind and thought that was the best thing ever.

I am glad that she is learning to show Jesus to others in a practical way through this project. Thanks to all those at our church that worked so hard to make this a success.

Please click the title above for more information on Operation Christmas Child.

"My bum is talking"

Those were the words my oldest son, Drew, used tonight to describe the bodily function he was having issue with. I'll let you figure out which function that was LOL.

Sometimes the things these kids say cracks me up!

Am I Not Allowed.

I read this today and I found it very good. Thought I'd pass it along. It's worth the read.

Scrap night fun

Tonight was so much fun. It was the first time that I've had people over to scrap/stamp since moving to TN.

Before moving here, I had a few friends that I would get together with, sometimes weekly, to scrapbook and stamp together. It was one of my absolute favorite things to do and so much fun with other people. I've missed that but, to be honest, haven't wanted to get together at my house because I was sad that I didn't have my scrapbook buddies with me - we had been doing this together for YEARS.

Tonight my friends Suzanne & Misty came over and it was great. We definitely need to make this happen more often!

His name is Jealous

"Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God."
Exodus 34:14

On Wed. night during our sr. high ministry, we talked about how God is jealous. Jealousy as wikipedia defines it include actions that happen when a person believes a valued relationship is being threatened by a rival.

How appropriate a definition. God gets jealous when we give our affections to someone other than Himself and He will stop at nothing to get our affection back - He is in constant pursuit of our affection.

Doesn't that blow your mind? God desperately wants what is His - WE are His. He pursues us and He longs for us to pursue Him.

There is a constant war over us for our attention and affections.

I have to tell you, lately I feel like I'm in the middle of a war zone. We are important to God and Satan wants to destroy God and take away what God deserves - to be glorified. If Satan can get our attention on things other than God, then he has succeeded in robbing God of the glory that He deserves.

Does anyone else feel this way sometimes? I rarely hear people talk about it so I have to wonder if I'm the only one that feels the battle that goes on for our affection.

We need to fight like we know that there is a battle. God is actively pursuing us and wants us to live a life that glorifies Him completely.

Lord, help me to fight each day against the plans that Satan has for me. Help me, instead, to run whole-heartedly after you, a God jealous to have my attention and affection. Keep my heart, mind and spirit safe from the deeds of the evil one and set me apart for your purposes here on earth.

Changin'

Can I be honest and just say that I've been struggling lately? Seriously. I think the past 1.5-2 weeks have been the worst. I have been so frustrated because I feel like I can't get past certain issues and I end up dealing with them over & over again. I hate that. It feels very defeating to keep having the same issues and I have to be honest, the past few weeks I've let that take the wind out of my sails, so-to-speak. I started thinking it was hopeless to keep on fighting a losing battle, I was never going to be able to change that particular struggle so why bother.

Do you ever have those moments where God just kind of turns on the light-bulb and you suddenly get-it?

I had one of those last night.

Jesus has completely and totally changed my life. He changed my heart, he changed the place where I would be spending eternity, etc. The list could go on and on. All of a sudden I had this thought - If God could change the big things like my heart and my place in eternity, why couldn't he change the little things (and they are little in comparison to eternity)????

Sound simple?

It is - simple but not easy. Does that make sense?

God CAN change the things in my life that I struggle with on a daily basis. I struggle with anger, I struggle with consistency, I struggle with laziness, I struggle with my thought life, I struggle with pride, the list could go on and on.

I don't need to feel like I'm fighting a losing battle, God has won the battle.

Lord, help me walk in the faith that you can and will continue to change my heart and life. Please help me to submit completely to you and trust that you will mold me and make me into the woman of God that you want for me to be.

Sassy Girls

For Morgan's 6th birthday, we decided to treat her and some of her friends to a Sweet & Sassy party. It was really something - wow.

They got to pick their outfits, have their hair & nails done, do a little dancing, a birthday conga line, a runway show and then do cake & presents. It was SO MUCH FUN.

The theme was Hannah Montana and Eric was able to get a couple of tickets to an upcoming concert so that was Morgan's big gift from us. She is SO excited and can't wait to go.

Happy 6th birthday!!

Computers....

I started having some major problems with my computer and decided that I just needed to do a restore and start over. Eric was awesome and went and got an external hard-drive so that I could save all my photos & files over to that and then re-did my computer for me. It's a bit frustrating getting a few others things restored but that's okay. Now my computer works and I can burn CD's again & get on the internet, etc.

Gotta love technology!

Trick or Treat

Tonight we went over to Eric's cousin's house and spent some time with their family. The kids were excited to go out trick-or-treating.

Here are some pics from the night. Madelyn was dressed up as Belle and her daddy was going to go as the Beast. Unfortunately the only beast mask he could find terrified Owen to the point that he was in my arms screaming so Madelyn had to go trick-or-treating with her Daddy instead of the Beast. The other kids in the pic (pirate & ninja) are Madelyn's cousins on her mom's side.

I'm sure you can figure out what my kids dressed up as but just in case - Morgan was Hannah Montana, Drew was Spiderman minus the hat, and Owen was Pooh.

Bonus pic - Madelyn just became a new big sister last week when her brother, Riley, was born. Below is a pic of Riley and his mom, Rachel. Isn't he CUTE???





I also wanted to include an article that a family member forwarded me regarding Halloween. I struggle with this holiday because I don't like what it stands for yet it is hard, for our children, to ignore all that is going on around them. How intentional we must be as Christian parents to make sure our kids look at things as God sees them.

It's a good read.

HALLOWEEN
Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
By Pastor Eric WattGuest Writer
CBN.com – What about Halloween?
Should you and I be involved in the celebration of Halloween?
Finding the answer to this question has been an interesting journey in itself. I interviewed several people and then researched what many leading Christian writers, authors and spokesmen have written about the subject. I also searched various websites like www.christianitytoday.com, www.focusonthefamily.org, and www.cbn.com to read what others might be saying. What I found was an agreement on the origins of Halloween, but a mixture of recommendations about allowing our children to participate in this super-charged media driven holiday.
The origins of Halloween are Celtic in tradition and have to do with observing the end of summer sacrifices to gods in Druidic tradition. In what is now Britain and France, it was the beginning of the Celtic year, and they believed Samhain, the lord of death, sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming disguises and looking like evil spirits themselves. The waning of the sun and the approach of dark winter made the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks. Believe it or not, most of our Halloween practices can be traced back to these old pagan rites and superstitions.
But what about today? Perhaps we can still learn from history. In the fourth century, Christians attempted to co-opt the holiday by celebrating the lives of faithful Christian saints the day before Halloween. This was a conscious attempt to provide an alternative and re-focus the day away from ghouls, goblins, ghosts, witches and other “haunted” experiences. Since that time many Christians have decided to allow their children to dress in more “innocent” costumes of pumpkins, princesses, Superman or as a cowboy. Part of this is due to the simple reality that in today’s Western culture it is nearly impossible to “avoid” Halloween.
Just before reaching a conclusion on the subject, I was struck with the thought that I ought to further my search and find out what Wicca, the official religion of witchcraft, has to say about Halloween. Perhaps they viewed the day as a simple fun and innocent neighborhood activity?
“Shock” is the only word to describe what I found. Halloween is a real, sacred day for those who follow Wicca. In fact, it is one of two high and holy days for them. The Celtic belief of spirits being released is current, along with the worship of Samhain (the lord of death) – both are promoted as something to embrace on that day. There is no question in my mind that to those who believe and follow the practices of witchcraft, Halloween represents an opportunity to embrace the evil, devilish, dark side of the spiritual world.
So after discovering this, what is a reasonable conclusion? As Christians you and I are placed in this world to be a light in a world of darkness. There is no lasting benefit to ignore a holiday that exists around us, but it also does harm to celebrate Halloween as it has originated and grown over the centuries.
My suggestion? Christians should be teaching their children (age appropriately) that:
there is a spiritual world filled with goodness from God and evil from Satan (Eph. 2:1-10);
life with Christ has power over darkness (I John 4:4); and
those who celebrate Halloween either are unaware of its roots, or are intentionally promoting a world where evil is lauded and viewed as an ultimate power.
To counter the evil influence of Halloween, we need to join together and celebrate the reality of the heroic efforts of Christian saints over the evil in their day. Many leaders in the past -- and present -- have fulfilled the mandate of destroying the works of the devil through their sacrificial commitment to Christ and His Kingdom.
Too, rather than “hide” in the face of evil, we should unabashedly and boldly create an alternative that is positive and uplifting; that celebrates good over evil and the triumph of God over Satan. We need to provide an environment that also makes room for heaps of fun while using the day as a “teachable moment” to celebrate God’s protection, provision and purpose for our lives.

Oops

Well, apparently Morgan wasn't allowed to dress up for school today. I looked in the school handbook and it didn't say that they couldn't dress up, I looked for something in the notes sent home from school, again, nothing said they couldn't dress up. I did have a note from her teacher telling me that I could dress up and add to the craziness of their Halloween party and the school down the road was able to dress up as book characters. Call me crazy, I guess I just assumed they could dress up as long as it was modest. I remember dressing up for school and loving to see what everyone else wore.

So, Morgan gets up and we get her all dolled up as Hannah Montana, wig and all. She was SO cute (I'll post a pic later) and she heads to school. About 30 minutes later I get a phone call from her teacher asking me to bring in clothes as they weren't allowed to dress up. Nice.

I felt really bad because I didn't want Morgan to feel embarrassed or anything so I hurried up and got to her school with clothes. She could have cared less and for that I am thankful.

So - tonight - Hannah will be out & about along with Spiderman and Pooh Bear.

Hannah Montana

So, is it sad that my TWO YEAR old was sitting in my car the other day ASKING/YELLING/BEGGING to listen to Hannah Montana and today my THREE year old turned it on here in the house?

Aren't they a bit young to actually like listening to Hannah Montana???

Happy Fall Y'all

Note: I started this post on Thursday, Oct. 25th but am just now getting it up, hence the references below to my mom being here. We had a great time with you Mom!

Finally, a day that actually felt like Fall! This has to be my absolute favorite season of the year. There is nothing better than a crisp fall day, leaves changing colors, pumpkins around and the scent of apples pie.

My mom is here in town visiting and we finally had a day without rain (I'm not complaining, we needed the rain). We picked up the kids from school and decided to head to the pumpkin patch. Here are some pics from the day:

Morgan is SIX!

In keeping with the birthday tradition, here is Morgan's birthday story.

Six years ago, today, our first child, Morgan, was due. Out of all three of our children, Morgan was the only one that we "planned" (the others were more of welcome surprises). We had only been married about 6-7 months when we decided we wanted to have a baby - not long, I know. I went online and found an ovulation predictor that showed when would be the best time to get pregnant based on information it asked. It told me and said if I got pregnant when i would be due. I expected it to take a little while to get pregnant but 2 weeks after deciding we wanted a baby I found out I was pregnant! I was shocked!

Fast forward to my due date, October 27, 2001. It fell on a Saturday six years ago, just like today. I went to a craft fair with my friend, Dina, and was just feeling blah. I was tired of being pregnant and I was in no mood to walk around looking at stuff. I knew that if I didn't have this baby by Monday that I would be induced because of blood pressure problems. I can't remember if I already had Castor oil in the cabinet or if I went out to buy it that day. At any rate, I took it around 2 pm and waited. I thought nothing was happening and went about my day. Later that evening Eric was taking a nap in our room and I was sitting on our bed watching Maternity Ward, getting ready for my favorite show at the time, Trading Spaces to start. All of a sudden I felt and heard a loud pop. It was the strangest feeling. I laid there for a second wondering what that was and then got up and ran to the bathroom. I was able to make it all the way to the restroom before my water broke. That was probably one of the most surreal moments of my life. It's not like I didn't know what was going to happen, I was pregnant and I knew I couldn't stay that way forever but my water breaking made me stop and think, "Wow, this is really happening."

We call the hospital and the lady gives me the "Oh honey" speech and treated me like I was ignorant and didn't really think my water had broken. We decided to go in anyways. Before we even got to the car I started having contractions 3-4 minutes apart. They didn't hurt very bad, just a bit uncomfortable. We got the hospital and was found to be 4 cms. dilated. I got the IV, the thing that scared me the most, and hung out in the hospital waiting for things to happen. At that time I had been talking about going drug-free in labor and told Eric to make sure I really wanted meds before letting me. Several hours later I was ready to say the heck with natural labor and asked for the epidural. Eric asked me if I really wanted one or if that was just the pain talking. My thoughts (not sure if I said it but I sure thought it) was "the pain is going to start 'talking' to you if you don't get me the darn epidural." The epidural man was my new best friend!

Funny thing about my labor. This was the day that you set the clocks back for the fall and I was so irritated at the nurse when she came in, stepped up on the back of my bed, and moved the clock back an hour. I had worked hard for that hour - I wanted it back!

I got to 10 cms. pretty quickly but Morgan was still pretty high up. The dr. let me labor without pushing for 3 hours and the contractions brought her down. I started to push at 3:00 am and at 3:37 am my little girl was born. She was 8 lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long. We laugh about this now but M did NOT want out and she spent the entire first hour of her life screaming her head off!

So, here we are, 6 years later. Where has the time gone?

I'm trying to upload some pics but for some reason blogger is being a pain, check back later.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORGAN!

Can't get the pics to work but you can click on the links.

On the way to the hospital - after water broke.
Pre-epidural - OUCH!
Minutes old.
Morgan, 2 weeks old.
Morgan, 6 years old.

Girl's Weekend

This weekend I had the opportunity to go visit some friends - some GIRL friends for a fun GIRL's weekend!!! It was GREAT! Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and children but it was SO nice to have some "me" time with my friends.

It has become an annual tradition to get together with Dina, Nance & Jamie (pics coming) and make our Christmas cards. Yes, this is a bit early but it was the best time for all three of us so we did it anyway. I must say, our cards look AWESOME! :)

We had fun going to all the different scrapbook stores and also doing some shopping (for our kids, of course). I got to meet my friend's newest addition - Nicholas! Jamie, he's ADORABLE. I got in some serious cuddle time with that little guy hoping to get rid of this baby fever I seem to have (didn't work).

On Sunday we threw a surprise baby shower for my friend, Dina! It was fun to surprise her and give her some fun GIRL stuff. She has a little boy so the girl thing is new for her. YAY for PINK!

I so miss my friends!!! It was great to spend some time with them.

Save some $$ with these websites

I know that I've given many of you these websites before but I don't think I've posted them.

Here are some websites that I like for good savings. If you know of anymore, please post them in the comments section.

I check these two websites daily:

www.dealhunting.com
www.slickdeals.net

Before I buy anything online, I check out this website. Use the drop down menu to pick your store and click "go". If there are any coupon codes available, they're normally posted here.

www.naughtycodes.com

I read this blog some:

www.frugalhacks.com


Anyone have any to add? :)

They are driving me nuts

Do you ever have those days where your kids absolutely, without fail, drive you OUT OF YOUR MIND????? I think I've had one of those days EVERY day this week. I can't get anything done, my house is a stinkin' pit and we are having a neighborhood garage sale tomorrow and I am not ready for it. I wish I could ship them off somewhere for a couple of hours and get something done!!!!!

Don't get me wrong, I really love my kids but I am just at my limit with their stupid fighting and inability to spend even 5 minutes without having to have me entertain them.

Kids say the darndest things

I wish I could remember all the funny things that my kids say but I can't. One from Drew really sticks out though.

We were going to Morgan's soccer practice and were in the car getting ready to get out when he gets excited and points to a big dog across the parking lot. Morgan asked where it was and he said, "Over there, by that human!"

I was rolling!

Putting it in writing.

Okay, I was at spin class this morning and got to talking to my friend, Laura, about the Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon. The spin instructor had said that the YMCA was going to start training for it in November and the marathon is in the spring. The timing is funny because I was just thinking about it this week and thought that I'd really like to try it this year. I thought about it last year but I had barely started working out 6-8 weeks prior to the event and well, I wasn't that motivated at a normal work-out let alone training to do a 1/2 marathon. Yes, you can walk it and you have 7 hours to do 13 miles and so it's doable but I kind of wanted to try running it or most of it.

The thought of running really intimidates me, I have to tell you. I joined the track team briefly in high school or junior high school and quickly determined that it was not for me. It probably didn't help that I had no physical training at all and was completely out-of-shape and tried it but it left a bad taste in my mouth about running.

I've been working out consistently 5 days a week going on 3 weeks now and I have no intention of stopping. I haven't seem huge changes in my outward physical appearance (DARN IT!) but I can tell a difference inwardly. I feel a lot better and I have a lot more energy. Perhaps with a few more weeks under my belt and my physical condition a little better I can get up the nerve to actually try running.

I told Laura this morning that I was afraid to try running on the treadmill because I'll be that girl who does and ends up flying off the back and flat on their face. Seriously - that would be me!

All this typing to say, Laura & I along with a few other people have decided that we are going to try the 1/2 Marathon this year.

There, Laura, I've put it out there so we have to do it! Are you still with me? :)

Pooh Party!

We had Owen's 2nd birthday this past weekend. I still can't believe my baby is 2!!! I have some cute video of him singing "Happy Birthday" that will have to wait for when I can figure out how to get it off my camera and onto the computer but in the meantime, here' a slideshow.

The theme was Pooh as Owen LOVES Pooh & Tigger.

Funny moment from the party, the older boys (Drew, Eli & Dillon) were outside and someone inside said that there was someone peeing on the fence. I look out and my son had dropped his pants and was standing there peeing on the fence while Dillon watched. Guess he really had to go. LOL!

That was me- the sore thumb

After a very hectic day, I was hoping to get to the YMCA in time for spin class. Unfortunately it was a little after 6:30 pm before I got there. I seemed to remember someone mentioning a Pilates class around that time so I went upstairs to check it out. I walked in and that's when I became the sore thumb as in I WAS STICKING OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB.

Apparently Thursday afternoon is Yoga (not that I know how that is different from Pilates). I felt awkward just walking back out so I got the mats I needed, took off my shoes, and *tried* to participate the best I could.

My picture of yoga was women in weird positions, saying "Ohmmmm" and well, I don't know. I guess I just thought it was some weird thing (sorry if you like Yoga). This really wasn't anything like that - with the exception of women (and one man) in weird positions.

It was kind of nice in a strange way. I needed something calming and low-key and I sure got it. You do stretch in ways that feel very good and I'm sure I also needed that.

While I can't say that I'll ever go to yoga again, it was a nice change of pace for tonight.

The story of "O"

Owen is TWO (Oct. 4) so I thought I would share the story of our little man, Owen.

Warning - this is LONG.

To say that Owen was a surprise is a huge understatement. Eric and I were still "discussing" whether we wanted a third child. I come from a family of 3 and I was pretty sure that I wanted another baby while Eric comes from a family of 2 and was pretty sure that he was done with two kids.

My friend, Dina, and my co-workers knew I was pregnant before I even did. I remember going to lunch with my department and I got grief for my food choices. I didn't think they were odd and had a logical reason for everything I ate (salad, pickle w/lots of salt on it, and a blackberry cobbler). They joked with me about being pregnant and even more so because my two older children were born during the last quarter of the year which is VERY busy at work. No one wanted me to be on maternity leave during that time again. LOL! I think my exact words to someone when they asked me if I was pregnant was "Hell no" (tsk tsk - I know!) Their joking got to me and I went out that night and bought a pregnancy test and it was negative - this was on a Thursday.

For some reason, I questioned it again on Sunday night and after our small group left our home I ran to Wal-Mart and picked up a three pack of pregnancy tests. I didn't tell Eric yet that I was doing as I didn't want to freak him out unnecessarily. Well, the first test came up positive as did the following two!!!! OH MY GOODNESS. I was in shock. And, Eric, well, the guy who NEVER calls in sick was so shocked that he called in sick and literally stayed in bed with the covers over his head all day & night. LITERALLY.

Now, onto my friend, Dina. I later found out that the week prior to finding out I was pregnant, I had walked into her house and her first thought was that I was pregnant and that it was a boy. She told me later that she was actually mad at me because she thought I was keeping it a secret from her when in fact, I didn't know yet.

The pregnancy went along well, no real complications. We found out that we were expecting a boy mid-way through and quickly came up the name Owen Francis. Owen because we liked the name & Francis after my grandfather who had passed away while I was in college.

Fast forward to late September. Eric's grandpa, Lester, was very ill and ended up passing away. That was so hard. So hard. He was such a wonderful man of God and a tremendous grandpa & great grandpa. I was heartsick because I was due any day and we couldn't travel to his funeral. I tried everything to get this child out early so that at least Eric could attend the funeral to no avail. This child did NOT want out.

My mom came out and to help with the kiddos and I still hadn't had Owen. It wasn't that I was overdue, I just wanted him to be born. When I was 40 weeks, 1 day I had a dr. appt. and the dr. said that I could be induced in another week. WHAT?????? I was NOT going another day being pregnant. So, I went home, and took 2 T. of Castor oil, as I had done with the previous 2 pregnancies, and waited to see if it put me into labor. About 5:30 pm I was getting a bit frustrated and wasn't feeling great so Eric & my mom took the kids to the park. My stomach started hurting but it wasn't contractions so I wasn't sure that it was labor. It hurt like crazy though. Eric called about 6:30 and I was pretty sure that we needed to go to the hospital but he didn't get home until about 7 pm. At that point, the pain that I was experiencing had turned into timeable contractions and they hurt. They were at the point where I needed an epidural with Morgan and I was STILL AT HOME. Ughh. It was the hardest thing I did to say goodbye to Morgan & Drew without scaring them by the pain that I was in. I could have knocked Eric out too. I am in crazy pain and he wants to IRON HIS PANTS before we went into the hospital. Are you kidding me????? Put the stinkin' pants on and let's go.

We get to the hospital and they don't have a labor room cleaned up yet so we were put into a post-partum room. I was checked and was at 4-5 cen. I immediately asked for the epidural but they couldn't give me one until I had a bag full of fluids first. NOOOOOOO!!!! They did give me some Stadol and then proceeded to ask me to sign a bunch of papers. Hello - I am on another planet and you want me to answer questions and sign documents? Seriously? Why the heck did I pre-register if I was going to have to do all this???? I've heard many say that Stadol doesn't take the pain of the contractions away and is worthless but I have to tell you, it took the edge off the pain enough to make me happy. They said it would last 30 minutes and I kept close watch on that clock. I finally got moved to a real labor room and the epidural guy was called. The Stadol started wearing off and wow, that was some stinkin' pain. I remember just crying that I couldn't do this anymore while Eric sat there trying to convince me that I could.

FINALLY the epidural guy shows up. I sit up to get the epidural and it was the strangest feeling, unlike the past 2 times. It literally felt like I was sitting on Owen's head, like he was right there. I sure as heck wasn't about to tell them either until I got the stinkin' drugs!

Epidural in and working and the nurse checks me. I am 9 cms. dilated and the only thing holding Owen in was my bag of waters. The nurses can't break the water, only the dr., so we waited. About 20-30 minutes later the dr. shows up & breaks my water. Shortly there after I started to push and out comes Owen without much work.

He was born 2 hours after getting to the hospital, around 10:30 pm (I think). This was nice because both Morgan & Drew were born around 3 am. He weighed 9 lbs 2 oz and was 21 inches long.

After Owen was born, in the delivery room, Eric & I decided to change his name and include his grandpa's name - Lester. It seemed funny to many that we had two middle names but they both were special to us. We wanted to honor our grandfathers and so we named our little boy Owen Lester Francis.

My wonderful mom had come out for 2 weeks to help me with each of my children but had gotten there shortly after we were released from the hospital the previous two times. It's hard to plan flights in advance for obvious reasons. It was so special to be able to have her come up to the hospital within the first hour of Owen's birth and hold him. I love that memory!

So, here we are, two years later. He's still my baby. Such a cute little man.

Happy Birthday Owen!

Here are some pics:

Me, in labor, ready to get to the hospital. Don't I just look *great*?



Minutes after Owen was born.

Funny picture of Owen just after he was born.


Newborn photos (less than 2 weeks old I believe)

My three kiddos (Morgan was 3, almost 4, Drew was 22 months, Owen was less than 2 weeks)

Eat More Chicken - TONIGHT!

A family from our small group, the Johnson's, are in the middle of adopting a sweet little girl from Malawi (you can read her story here). As you can imagine, it's not cheap to adopt and the Johnson's have been doing many fundraisers in an effort to help with the cost.

Tonight Chick-Fil-A in Smyrna is donating 20% of sales to the Johnson family. Just come in between 5 - 8 pm and eat, present them with the flyer and let them know that you are there to support the Johnson family. Don't worry, if you don't have a flyer, Crystal will be there with plenty of extras.

This is a great opportunity to serve another family in a practical way. Please come, enjoy some YUMMY food and help bring baby Savannah-Hope home!

Thanks!

Knock on wood, I'm doing good.

I have to do a little bragging on myself here, I just can't help it.

Out of the last 7 days, I've gone to the gym 5!!!!! M, T, W, F, Sun!!!

After seeing many depressing photos of myself and feeling like crap because I weigh as much as I did when I GAVE BIRTH to Morgan, and close to what I did when I gave birth to Drew & Owen, I decided to suck it up and work on things.

I'm doing a modified version of Weight Watchers, taking vitamins, and exercising and so far I've lost about 8 lbs (in 2 weeks)! It feels good!


So - 8 lbs down and 40 more to go!

Baby #4 coming! - UPDATED

Did you think I was talking about ME???? :) I wish, Eric doesn't. LOL!

Please pray for some good friends of ours, the Duda's, as baby #4 is on his way today! So excited for their family!

Baby Nicholas arrived safe & sound yesterday. Congratulations to the Duda family!!!! Can't wait to meet him in a couple of weeks.

Update on prayer request

A couple of days ago I posted a link to a blog about a local family facing the loss of their newborn daughter to Trisomy 18. This family are Christ-followers and their testimony through all of this has been incredible.

They lost their little girl yesterday.

If you have a moment, please say a prayer for this family.

Thanks!

Please forgive me.

Do you ever have one of those moments where the lights just go on and suddenly you see something clearer than you've seen it before?

I have to tell you, I had one of those experiences tonight and it doesn't make me very happy with myself. Actually, I'm quite irritated with myself because I just realized how big a hypocrite I really am.

Stay with me here.

Matthew 18:21-35 tells the story of a man who owed the king a large debt. The slave begged the king to let him pay the debt and the king, knowing that the slave didn't have the money to repay him, forgave the large debt. The slave left and ran into someone who owed him money. This person begged him just like he had begged the king. Instead of forgiving the debt, the slave got mean about it. The king heard what happened and wasn't happy.

"Then summoning him, his Lord said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you entreated me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?' And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart" (vv. 33-35).

I claim to follow Christ and I tell people that He loves them and forgives them yet I realized tonight that I have been carrying some unforgiveness in my heart toward someone for almost 1.5 years. If asked, I would have said that I forgave this person (people) but that I was holding myself back because I just didn't want to get hurt again - it wasn't really unforgiveness but self preservation. That was a load of crap.

My God saved me and forgave me of all my sins, a huge debt that there was no way I could re-pay, and yet I wouldn't forgive these people for what happened between us several years ago. See any similarities?

I have a huge sense of justice and fair-play and when I think that things are wrong, or I am utterly convinced that I am right, I don't want to give in. The idea of forgiving someone and asking them to forgive me makes me feel like I'm admitting they were right and I was wrong, and well, there are times when I just don't want to go there.

At the beginning of this story we find Peter asking Jesus how many times should he forgive a brother that sins against him - seven times? Jesus responds as follows in v. 22, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven."

There shouldn't be a limit to the number of times we'll forgive someone. We shouldn't say that we've been hurt one too many times so we are done. I said I was done and totally disengaged from a relationship that I shouldn't have for selfish reasons. What a great picture of Christ I painted for these people.

I know this person reads this blog and I'm sorry for not truly forgiving you before now and I ask that you forgive me for how I've treated you & your family this past year & a half.

Let's start over little sis.

Pray for this family

There is a blog that I know several of us check out from time to time, Rocks in My Dryer, and it had a post that I followed to another blog. This is a young family who happens to be here in the Nashville area. They just had their second baby girl a short time ago and she has Trisomy 18 (I think) and is going to die. They are Christ-followers and their testimony as they walk through this fire is amazing. If you have a moment, please take a read and say a prayer for them.

Webkinz - The Dueling Daddies

I don't know if you all are familiar with Webkinz but Morgan, Drew & Owen each just got one from Eric after his last trip. You can get online and take care of your pet by earning money doing jobs & playing games. Morgan and Drew LOVE playing this and apparently, so does Eric.

I just went downstairs and he was playing Webkinz checkers with his cousin, Jeff, whose daughter also has a webkinz!!! Two grown men playing WEBKINZ!

The other day Eric went online and played for a while and "bought" Morgan a chair for her pet's virtual room.

The things these daddy's do for their children - such a sacrifice.

How it should be

I know we all have had experiences with the church where people didn't act "right" or treat each other "right" or serve each other "right" but I just LOVE it when I see the church act the way that it should. LOVE IT.

I love it when a group of people come together to meet a practical need of someone else. Jesus did it over and over again and He commanded us to do it as well. I have seen it repeatedly throughout this past year in our small group by providing meals, money, Christmas presents, prayers, encouragement, etc. and it encourages me each and every time it happens.

I'm thankful to be in a group of Christ-followers who believe in making the Gospel of Jesus practical to the world around them.

Edited to add a link to a blog I read tonight on this very subject. Check it out, it's worth a read. (Do you guys think I read too many blogs? LOL!)

Again!

For some reason today I've been thinking about certain experiences that I've had in my past that I wish I could experience again. I'm not talking about changing anything, I just wish I could go back in time and experience it again. Does that make sense to anyone?

Here's the list I came up with:

1. June 18, 1991 - when I accepted Christ. I've told the story a lot but sometimes it seems so far away and I wish I could experience the emotion of it again. It was amazing.

2. May 13, 2000 - my wedding day. It was a PERFECT day - not too hot, not too cold - PERFECT.

3. I don't remember the date but I do remember the last time that I saw my Pop-Pop before he passed away. He lived in PA and we had gone out there several months prior to his passing for something, holiday maybe. Maybe it was God's way of preparing me for what was coming because I distinctly remember hugging him and thinking that this would be the last time that I ever got to do that. It was. I would like to go back and give my Pop-Pop another hug and get another one of his whisker kisses!

4. Feb. 16, 2001 - day we found out we were pregnant with Morgan. That was a crazy day. I wasn't even "late" yet but we were trying and I ran home at lunch and took a test. I remember calling a friend at work who had kids and asking her what 2 lines meant - did they really mean PREGNANT? I ran to the Dr. office for a blood test and they confirmed that I was pregnant.

5. October 28, 2001 - actually, back it up to the night prior when I went into labor with Morgan.

6. April 2003 - when we found out we were pregnant with Drew. Remind me sometime to tell you how he was my April Fool's Day joke on Eric & my bosses.

7. December 20, 2003 - the day Drew was born (starts out Dec. 19th in the evening).

8. January 2005 - when we found out we were pregnant with Owen. I'll tell the story of how we found out on Owen's birthday in a couple of weeks.

9. October 4, 2005 - the day that Owen was born. Nice short labor!

So, there you have it. If I could, I would LOVE to go back and experience these things again. I know, that's impossible, and probably a stupid thing to think about but I was thinking about it today and well, now you know.

If you could relive any moment from your life, what would it be?

Amazing story - definite prayer request

My mother-in-law just forwarded me a blog for twin girls, grandbabies of some people in her church, that were born at 24-25 weeks (I think). It's amazing how technology today can help these babies survive outside the womb 16 weeks early!

http://www.emersonandstella.blogspot.com/

Prayer Request - Neighbor

If you all could say a few prayers for my neighbor that would be great. She had a baby last week on Monday and today got a uterine infection that has her in the hospital for 2-3 days. They have 3 kids ages 3 and under.

Thank you very much for your prayers.

Our little relief pitcher?

Okay, I have to confess, I don't get it really, Eric just said this when I mentioned that I thought Owen was going to be left-handed. I guess most relief pitchers are left-handed? (Sorry honey that I'm not more up on baseball terminology - at least I know who to root for - GO CARDS!)

I can't remember when you can really determine what hand is the predominate one in kids but I swear Owen is going to be a lefty. He uses it almost exclusively when doing stuff like coloring, putting Lego's together, eating, etc.

I vaguely remember wondering with both Morgan & Drew but they tended to use both hands equally, Owen does not.

So, what do you think? Is it too soon to tell? Neither Eric nor I are left-handed so this could be interesting I guess.

Utterly Ridiculous - Suing God? Really?

There are some ridiculous things out there but this one takes the cake at the moment.

State Senator Sues God

What a ridiculous waste of time and money.

Two birds - one stone

So, my ear is still a mess. I never realized how much we rely on all 5 of our senses until one was impaired. This really stinks but instead of harping on the bad things, let me list a few of the good things.

1. The children fighting with each other is quieter! :)

2. Right now I can hear all the noises that my body makes on the inside loud & clear (stick your fingers in your ears and eat or talk, you'll understand kind of what I mean.) Well, forget Weight Watchers, just having to listen to myself chew things like tortilla chips or bubble gum is enough to stop me from eating!

So, there you have it, two birds (kids & weight) with one stone (ear infection).

Oh & if I saw you at church today & didn't reply to you, chances are good that I didn't hear you or that I was so spaced out on the meds that I stupidly took on an empty stomach that I couldn't respond. Sorry!

One year ago today

One year ago today I arrived in TN with my mom & my kiddos, Eric had come ahead of us by a week to start his new job. I remember being completely & utterly exhausted from the week we had just gone through. While it's nice to have the movers come & take care of things, don't kid yourself, it's still a lot of work, especially with three kids! We had a good-bye party for the kiddos and it tore my heart out to say good-bye to all the friends in Oklahoma. I don't think I've cried that much in a long time.

It was hard to leave but also easy to leave at the same time. I just KNEW that this was the path that God had us on, I even remember having conversations with my close friends and also my mother-in-law one year prior about how I felt strongly that our time in Oklahoma was up. I'm not a patient person by any stretch of the imagination so when I felt God telling me that it was time to move on, I was ready to go. We had to wait a YEAR!!!

Eric found out he had a job and within three weeks we sold our house, came house hunting in TN, and bought a house. Again, our current house was one of those times when it was VERY clear to me that this what the Lord wanted for us. Both Eric & I had found this community online and found a floor plan that we both liked. I found out that a house with this exact floor plan and in this neighborhood had just become available. That was exciting to me because I really just wanted to move in, I didn't want to be in intermediate housing until a house that we liked could be built. I was SO frustrated with the realtor that we'd been hooked up with because he was a BIG fan of Williamson county and just came over to Rutherford because we insisted. We walked into this house and I KNEW, again, that this was the house God wanted for us.

My mom was a lifesaver (she's amazing if I haven't already told you so) and she came out to help me and drive out with my and my three kids. We stopped half-way and stayed in a hotel and then we pulled into town on Sept. 14th. I was a bit over-whelmed by just the traffic. WOW. The town we moved from doesn't have traffic. If it does, it just means it takes you 10 minutes instead of 5 minutes to get most places!

Don't get me wrong, I was excited! There was a Chick-Fil-A and Target just 10 miles up the road and LOADS of scrapbook stores. For a girl like me, that's pretty darn close to heaven!

We closed on our home on Sept. 15th and began the adventure of unpacking and making it feel like a warm & cozy home. The first night we were in the house we realized that our dishwasher was busted and so we had to wash the dishes by hand. Let me clarify, my amazing MOM washed the dishes by hand.

We got through and while Eric worked I found my way to places like the Discovery Center, library story hours, and, of course, Chick-Fil-A & McD's.

We also lived across the street from First Baptist and the gentleman that sold us our house went to that church. He recommended it and then a neighbor did as well, so we tried it out. I thought it would take us forever to find a church that we felt right being at but it happened with one stop. This was yet another time that it was very clear that this was where God wanted us. It was a big church but we found a Sunday School class (small group) that we felt like we fit with and have been going ever since.

We feel so blessed to be here. We have made some fabulous friends, gotten active in our local church and have managed to find our way around to some cool places! I am so thankful that God has put us in this place and can't wait to see Him work in our lives here.

To my TN friends, thank you so much for being welcoming and helping our first year in TN to be an amazing one! You are a true blessing.

Oh my

Can I complain one more time about my ear?

Seriously - childbirth aside, this is the single most painful experience that I've ever had. OUCH.

I actually found some Vicadin that I was given when I had strep throat and took it last night it hurt so stinkin' much.

Please let that antibiotic work faster!!!!

Ouch!

I am feeling like a bad mom right now because I don't think I realized just how painful ear infections are. My kids have obviously had their fair share of them, hence the 5th set of tubes between 5 kids that we recently put in.

I got a cold last week and it made my ears have that airplane, clogged feeling. They didn't hurt, just were stuffy and I couldn't hear well. I woke up this morning to extreme pain in my right ear and went to the Dr. Turns out I have a VERY bad infection, so much so that he's not sure we will be able to stop the ear drum from rupturing. He remarked that he rarely sees ears quite this bad. Nice. Can I just tell you that it HURTS LIKE CRAZY????? He gave me a prescription for Vicadin and I was half tempted to actually fill that one but I didn't. What is a mom to three kids going to do after taking that stuff, really?

So, the next time my kids have an ear infection, I'll probably be a bit more sympathetic as this STINKS!

They are their father's children

I often give Eric a hard time because he can be quite particular about a few things. He likes to have a neat house (nothing wrong with that) and it bothers him when there are spots on the carpet or marks on the wall. It bothers me too but I don't notice it quite as easily as he does.

Anyway, he has reason to be proud of 2 of his kiddos today as they are following after their daddy's footsteps.

This morning before going to school Morgan noted a stain on the carpet and immediately showed her daddy. Imagine the proud look on his face LOL

This afternoon I could not vacuum without Owen helping me - it made for a SLOW time but the kid LOVES to vacuum, much like his daddy. I remember a Christmas several years ago when Eric asked for a hand-held vacuum that had rolling heads with brushes on them to use on the stairs. I got him one and he hadn't even finished opening the rest of the presents before he was using it on the stairs.

I know, you girls are jealous, aren't you? He vacuums (stairs even), does dishes, laundry - I'm a lucky girl! :)

Add the above to Drew's window washing abilities, and, well, we MUST have the cleanest house on the block.

Prayer Request - Wilhoite Family

I don't know this family personally, I just happened to find her blog several months back and was drawn to it, I think because she has a child the same age as my Owen. She is struggling with leukemia and is not doing very well right now. Please say a prayer for her & her family.

Thanks!

Deeper Still

WOW! What an amazing conference. I can't even begin to tell you everything what God taught me through this weekend because, well, it would take forever and I'm still processing it.

I'll give you a few of the highlights though.

Imagine, if you can, 23,000 women in one room all praising God with their whole hearts. It reminded me of a quote from an article that I just read and posted about, "Passion filled the air and we were overcome by their outrageous joy." This was definitely OUTRAGEOUS JOY. I just stood there and watched all those ladies worshipping and was blown away. Can you imagine what heaven will be like? I can't even begin to wrap my head around that thought. Awesome.

There was a real focus on God's Word this weekend that I just loved. I'll be the first to admit that I struggle with reading my Bible. How can I expect to really know God if I don't spend time with Him? This weekend gave me a renewed passion to spend time in God's word even more.

I have so much more I could say about what God showed me but I'm going to have to work on that for another day.

First soccer games!

Morgan & Drew had their first soccer games today! I missed them because I was at the Deeper Still conference but Eric took them and they did great! Drew had fun practicing and playing with his team and Morgan had fun during her game, even scoring 4 goals!

WOOHOO Beth Moore weekend

Just have to share my excitement.

Tomorrow a small group of ladies is starting a Beth Moore bible study called "Daniel." I am SO excited as I have really been praying for a women's small group to do something like this. I SO need this. I can't wait.

If that wasn't enough, Beth Moore will be in Nashville this weekend and I AM GOING!!!!!!!!!!!! I am missing M & D's first soccer games which really does bum me out but I AM GOING TO SEE BETH MOORE!!! Can't wait to see what God teaches me!

Stay tuned.

Johnson family needs prayers & help!

A couple in our small group just found out that they are going to be new parents again when they adopt a little girl from Malawi. This little girl has quite the story and needs our prayers.

Please read her story, pray for this situation and, if you can, help them bring her home.!

Outrageous Joy

And I am not talking about my children either. :)

I have to tell you, sometimes I get so frustrated with Christians, especially those of us in the United States. We have it all - the freedom to worship and share Christ without fear of persecution - and we tend to waste it bickering with each other over how we choose to go about doing that. Sometimes I think people enjoy being miserable and being the center of attention, regardless of whether it's negative attention. We get so caught up in our right to share our opinion that we forget that just because we have the right doesn't make it right. Taming of the tongue -- forget-about-it -- we let it all fly, screw the consequences.

We are so full of ourselves, aren't we?

I am always reminded of how petty and ridiculous the American church can be when I receive my monthly newsletter from The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) or get an email update from Life of Hope Ministries.

There ARE people in the world that choose to follow Christ and by doing so they choose an actual, physical death. They are KILLED, literally, because they are a Christ-follower. Don't believe me? I dare you to subscribe to The Voice of the Martyrs FREE monthly newsletter and see for yourself. Your walk as a Christian here in the United States WILL be challenged when you read the stories of those persecuted for their faith in Christ.

I read one such story that I wanted to share with you. It was one of those stories that has helped me today keep things in perspective.

In this month's newsletter there was an article from one of the high school students who went to Vietnam with VOM earlier in the year. A reality show detailing these adventures called "Underground Reality: Vietnam" was taped while there and is available here.

At one point the students traveled 13 hours to the Central Highlands of Vietnam to visit a tribal church and deliver 500 Bibles. The students didn't know what to expect as they knew that by just being there they brought additional danger to the local underground churches. This students words:

"I was expecting to see a church trying its most to hide and conceal itself. Nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to experience. The small, dilapidated, wooden shed held hundreds of people, jammed in together. These believers were not just singing, they were praising God from deep within their hearts. Passion filled the air and we were overcome by their outrageous joy. As a young Christian from a contemporary evangelical church, I was overwhelmed by the atmosphere that filled the room. God was real to these people, like I had never known. They did not hold anything back, but rather surrendered everything to come before God's throne in praise and thanksgiving. I could do nothing but join in singing with my Vietnamese brothers & sisters, "Hallelu-Hallelujah, Amen! Hallelu-Hallelujah, Amen!"

The next time we're in church perhaps we can worship God with outrageous joy, with passion and without holding anything back as opposed to sitting around looking for ways to disagree with each other and argue.

Make JESUS famous people - that's what it's about.

It's not about us, it's about HIM.

First day of school - take 2

Today was Drew's first day of preschool. I was a little unsure of how he'd do because he had been giving me mixed messages on whether he even wanted to be there. No need to worry - he had a GREAT time! And the kid who never takes a nap was the ONLY one in his class that actually fell asleep today. Thank heaven for soccer practice this afternoon for him to run off some of the extra energy he had! LOL

Outside his new school:




Drew w/ his teacher, Ms. Julie:

He was excited to see the place mat that he colored. They have to put their lunch boxes on top of their place mat when they get to school.