I want to be different. That's my prayer. Lord, I'm begging you to change me. Yes, I'm posting it here for the world to see. No more hiding it within the secret places of my heart, so that I don't feel badly when people don't really notice a change. This is true accountability. My prayer for the last few weeks and, for forever more, has been for the Lord to take me and mold me into what He wants me to be. I don't want to say things that hurt other people, I want to be encouraging to my brothers and sisters in Christ, I want to be a light in a dark world, I want to be salty, I want others outside of the church walls to know who I really belong to and whom I really serve - Jesus Christ. I want the lost to know that they are lost and I can introduce them to the only one who can save them. I will believe that Jesus can save anyone. I want my friends and family members to understand that there is so much more to this life than what we will experience as humans on this earth. We will live for eternity, either with God or apart from him. And living apart from him isn't a dreary, boring, gray place, but a wretched place that will torment those living there forever. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. An ugly, horrid place that makes those living there wish they had made a different choice. On the other hand, living with him won't just be a beautiful, peaceful, rainbow-every-day type place where you get to see your Grandma again or catch up with friends who have gone before you, there will be rejoicing, shouting of praise, singing at the top of your lungs, worshipping at the feet of Jesus... forever. I won't be apologetic for offending others because I know the Truth and aren't afraid to speak it. I know who Jesus is and I know what he did for me and for you. I will pray for people to understand the cross. I will live so that others can see Jesus in me. But, most of all, I want them to know Him. He has changed me and I want to live as a changed person.

Can you say Y-U-M!!! Saturday night we headed out for a pre-race meal for Chris and his running buddies, then went to WalMart (isn't that what all married couples with children do on date night?), then decided we would go across the street and enjoy a wonderful dessert - CHOCOLATE FONDUE! It was absolutely delicious!! This particular one was call Yin and Yang - a mixture of dark and white chocolate. Except the dark chocolate wasn't bitter... mmmmm is was so good! And, to dip was strawberries, bananas, poundcake, cheesecake, marshmellows, brownies and rice krispy treats. Absolutely one of my favorite desserts ever!

Our 7-yr old dog, Charlie, is absolutely Gavin's favorite friend. She is such a sweet dog... now. In her puppy days, I couldn't keep a good pair of shoes and her favorite thing to do while we were away was to open (and empty) the kitchen trashcan. But, now that she's calmed down and mellowed a bit, she is a wonderful pet and certainly the best dog we could've ever asked for for our kids. This particular day, Gavin was using Charlie as a pillow as he sometimes does, but he actually fell asleep on her. I thought it was very sweet. Two ole pals.

Yes, it was our turn this past weekend for Happy Turtle to visit our home. Such is the life of a preschooler.
Ivey was SO excited to bring him home! He went everywhere with us except to downtown on Saturday where we went to pick up Chris' race packet for a race he did on Sunday. We certainly didn't want to risk leaving Happy Turtle on MARTA... I think her class would have been devastated and I certainly wouldn't want that for 15 four-year olds! So, Happy Turtle slept with Ivey all weekend and played and read and even went to church with us Sunday morning. I'm sure it was his favorite part. And once or twice she even let her little brother hold him. So long, Happy Turtle. I hope you have as much at your next home to visit!

I forgot to post these pictures of our last snow fall. It was actually the only one that the kids got to play in this year... we were out of town for the others! Even though I wasn't thrilled about them playing in the snow (I knew they would miserable in about 30 seconds since we own absolutely NO snow-playing worthy clothing), I decided to let them go for it. Actually, I stayed inside while Chris watched them outside. Yes, I do have the best hubby ever!!! I'm pretty sure he had the best idea of all the parents outside though... he got out the firepit to stay warm!

Throwing snow balls and having a great time!

Even Charlie loved the snow! After running around in it for a few minutes, she just enjoyed laying down and watching the kids play.

Chris and Gavin have their cake and eat it, too! Enjoying the snow while staying warm by the fire.

I thought it would be fun to dye Easter eggs this year, so, after being inspired by some really cute decorating ideas, I decided to get all the supplies we needed in order to have a fun craft night tonight. We designated tonight as family night and headed off to Subway for dinner. Then, after running to the grocery store for a few groceries, we went home to dye eggs. It really was a lot of fun and I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids did. In fact, we had so much fun we decided to do it again tomorrow! However, I'm really looking forward to making the Easter cookies that everyone talks about each year. The ones where you put them in the oven over night, seal up the oven with tape and then in the morning you find that the cookies are hollow... just like the tomb that Jesus was put in. Ivey's teacher sent home the recipe for the cookies last week along with the Scripture verses for each step. It sounds really fun and I think the little kids will really understand it this year!

A quick stop at mile 6 to get a picture with Jesse from the Toy Story!

Our group: Shannon, Cacee, Shawn, Kathy, Debbie, Barbara, Jen and Teri after the race

Finished! So proud of that princess medal around my neck!!


I did it! We all had a wonderful time at Disney World this past weekend to run the Princess Half-Marathon. It was absolutely the most grueling physical activity I've ever had to do, but, at the same time, it was fun and exciting. The Disney characters cheering us along the way definitely helped! The first 5 1/2 miles were the easiest until we had to stop to go to the bathroom around mile 6. It seems that stopping really wasn't in our best interest as my legs cramped up and Shannon's knee blew out. We were able to walk/hobble/jog to the end, but it was only because of sheer determination and will power!! Everyone in our group completed the 13.1 miles and several tears were even shed at the end of the race. We were so proud of each other and what we had accomplished. We were thankful that the Lord gave us all good health to run the race and a good attitude to complete such a task. I'm ready now to move on to something else - probably not another half-marathon. I'll stick with shorter distances and free t-shirts!

I know two little kids that have summer fever and they're momma isn't far behind them!! Today they wanted to put on their swimsuits and go swimming in the tub. Fine with me! They had fun and it kept them busy. At one of our MOPS meetings last year, we had a speaker that talked about all the fun experiences she let her children have. Of course, your answer can't always be "yes", but it's important to just let the kids live out their ideas sometimes even though it may be inconvenient for us as moms... like having a picnic in the back of the minivan or taking all the pillows off the couch to dive onto. And it makes for really great pictures in the future. I remember when...

T minus 14! Exactly two weeks from today I'll be leaving for Orlando to run my first ever HALF MARATHON! Of course, I like to do things big so we'll be running the Disney Princess Half Marathon on March 7th! There are 8 of us going - all ladies from church, all different ages and in all different stages of life. I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone better and to have an awesome time hanging out in Orlando. It's going to be a blast!

Here are six of the eight of us (Sorry, Shannon. I stole your picture, but it was really good!)

Ivey loves to take pictures. And, I try to let her use her creative abilities as much as I can stand. However, she hasn't quite mastered the art of cleaning up her messes, so those times usually just consist of crayons and paper... she gets paint, play dough or craft supplies every once in a while. One of her favorite arts is photography. It's always interesting to look at the pictures after she has a photo shoot because she takes pictures of random objects around the house...

Here we have a very beautiful picture of a torn advertisement from the newspaper.

Intriguing, I know.

Here we have one of Gavin's favorite toys, a truck.

Of course, we cannot forget Ivey's most favorite food group. Candy!!!!!

And we abolutely couln't leave out the self-portrait.

If that isn't talent, I don't know what is. :)

And, yes, I have been crafting a little bit lately. My neice just turned one and I wanted to make a really cute gift for her. I finally had the idea to make a few cute applique shirts. And, yes, I cut the pattern, picked out the fabric and sewed them all on by myself! I especially love the Sunbonnet Sue applique. I happened up on the pattern while I was searching for new ideas on the internet. I picked the Sunbonnest Sue because my sister especially loves all the quilts that my grandmother made with them and I love the antiqueness of the Sunbonnet Sue. I think she'll love it! We'll be on our way to Charleston this weekend for my niece's birthday party and to spend time with my sister. It will be a fun weekend!

And, yes, we did take Gavin to Chuck E Cheese for his 4th birthday. The only friend he wanted to invite was a neighbor friend. Even after we suggested other friends, he still only wanted to invite Will. Will also happens to have a twin sister, Emma, so it worked out quite perfectly for Gavin and Ivey both to have someone to play with. So, off we went to Chuck E Cheese (aka Germ Fest) on a rainy Saturday night. It was quite crowded, but the kids didn't care and all in all we had a great time. The only problem now is that Gavin asks every day if we can go back. I'm trying really hard not to say "Son, you don't know how hard I try to not get within 100 yards of that place." So, I smile and say, "Sure, honey. We'll go back one day." The following day we had a family party for him. He had a great birthday weekend.

Yes, I know... it's been almost a month since I posted last. Life is busy with the every day needs and wants of the family, time with my husband, church activities, personal interests and hobbies and trying to live in the grace and mercy of Jesus. Also, I begin to think... does anybody really care that I took my kid to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday? Or that I made a cute little shirt for my niece? Or that I'm praying about one of the biggest, life-changing decisions of my life so far... homeschooling my teenager? So, I guess it is what it is and I guess people are interested. At least I'll pretend that they are today.

So, here goes...

The last few weeks have been a time of realizing, once again, that God is so much bigger than me yet he cares about every small detail of my existance. He cares that I felt like I was hitting a brick wall with my teenage son, so he sent me to a discipleship class called "The Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens." Yes, it has been most definitely a God-send that has changed my life. Literally.

My teenage son and I now spend each night not only praying before he goes to sleep but reading from the Bible. For lots of reasons, more than I have time to write and more than you have time to read, this is huge. God has made me keenly aware of the spiritual warfare surrounding my child and I will not allow Satan to devour him. I will do everything in my power, by the One whose power is within me, to protect, to teach, to show and to live out the importance of living for Christ each day.

No news is good news, right?

Not much going on here. We're taking it easy this January... lots of time inside because of the cold weather. Although, Chris was able to take the kids out to play this afternoon - Hooray for 53 degrees!

Chris turned 33!!

It is a rare occasion that we get all three brothers in the same picture... Chris (middle brother), David (little brother) and Matt (big brother). We took this picture at Chris' family birthday party.

*Sidenote* MOPS started back today and that was a lot of fun. We have four people on the waiting list though. Please pray that we can find more childcare workers so that we don't have to turn people away!

That's it for now... stay tuned!

We had a fantastic Christmas... getting to spend time with our extended family is always blessing. The kids and adults all had a great time talking, playing games and watching football! No catastrophic events, trips to the ER or sick tummies is a successful day in my book!

This year, we had the awesome privilege of attending our first Beginners Band concert!!! It was a hoot and the kids did really well. I couldn't really get any pictures of Morgan as he was hiding behind his music stand. However, I did make him take a picture before the concert in front of the Christmas tree... hey, what else are mom's for???

Grammy began a tradition years ago of baking Christmas cookies with the grandkids. We have a good time hanging around in the kitchen unwrapping chocolate candies, putting cookie dough on baking sheets, sharing our latest news and watching the children make a huge mess. Grammy is so patient with the kids and they all have a great time. Here are a few pics from this years "Cookies with Grammy".

Ivey, Gavin and Arden get ready to spoon out the M&M cookies. Although, Gavin didn't really help, he just ate all the cookie dough!

Let's face it... Grammy did most of the work. Thank you, Grammy!

Alex and I - she's such a sweetie!

Best buds, Gavin and Andrew. They are definitely two peas in a pod!

Contrary to popular belief, I did help (some) :-)

Ivey and Grammy decorate sugar cookies

Yesterday was Ivey and Gavin's last day for preschool until January. Ivey's class sang a few songs in front of the parents. Both classes had a Christmas party. Here are a few pics from our day.

Best buds: Daddy and Gavin

Gavin wasn't very excited about getting his picture taken with the class...

Or about singing Jingle Bells.



Ivey and her good friend, Kathryn. These two are like two peas in a pod.

Ivey begins decorating her gingerbread man. By the time she finished, I think we had about a pound of sugar on that thing.

The Pre-K classes sing for the moms and dads. Very sweet.

Today I have been working on a embroidering a few Christmas gifts for others. I don't really advertise, but I love to embroider things for friends and family. And, many of them ask me to embroider gifts for them to give to others. It's a fun hobby and the extra cash is nice. I'm told that my prices are much cheaper and my turn-around times are much faster than an outside embroidery business. I appreciate the votes of confidence and the fact that someone can give a very special gift to someone they love.

Aren't these mother-daughter aprons adorable?!?!?!

Well, the past 36 hours have been... interesting. Sunday evening, while we were celebrating my mom's birthday at her house, Gavin and Morgan were horseplaying. Gavin had a pencil in his hand from pretending to play drums earlier and Morgan tripped him while playing. Gavin fell onto the eraser end of the pencil, the eraser was pushed out and the metal part cut his eye lid and tear ducts on his right eye. (Lesson #1 - Don't play while holding sharp objects.) His eye started bleeding within a few seconds and we immediately scooped him up, put on his shoes and headed out the door to the ER. Mom and Papa kept the other kids while we headed to a nearby hospital. I obviously wasn't thinking with a right mind because we decided to take him to a regular hospital rather than driving down to the children's hospital. We spent several hours at the regular hospital before they told us that they couldn't treat his injury and that we would need to take him to Scottish Rite. (Lesson #2 - Always take children to Scottish Rite to begin with.) So, a couple of hours and two $200 ER co-pays later, we were taken back into the emergency department at Scottish Rite. They called in a pediatric opthamologist who told us that they would probably go ahead and do the surgery to repair his eye. However, after the trauma of trying an IV in one hand without success and then putting it in the other hand, we were told that it wasn't enough of an emergency to call in the opthamology team, so we would need to go home and schedule surgery for later in the day. Great. We finally got home around 4:00 AM on Monday morning only to wake up Gavin at 8:30 to eat breakfast since he couldn't have anything after 9:00 because of the upcoming surgery. He went back to the outpatient center in the afternoon, had the surgery at 5:30 PM and was home by 10:30 PM. Everything is sewn and fixed and he looks great. Just a little redness and swelling around his eye. We are so happy that the pencil didn't cut his eye ball or cornea or that it didn't just go straight through. All in all, it was a fairly minor injury. We feel very blessed.

The morning after the surgery. He looks pretty good doesn't he? He has several stitches in the top corner of his eyelid and a small tube inserted into his tear duct so that it will heal correctly.