Naughty or Nice?

Every year, Mrs. Clause leaves a Gingerbread house on our back door step. The children say it is the "signal" they are on the nice list. Last night, this ADORABLE creation arrived. Aunt Mimi and Uncle Pablo found it on their way over to eat dinner with us! I managed to keep the children from devouring it long enough to take this picture.

Today was Micajah's party at school. I managed to snap this picture of the two men in my life. Aren't they sweet? Tonight is Micajah's program at school. His sisters are going to be "helpers" in the program. Lindsey Kate is playing Mary and Heyward is playing an Angel. Yesterday afternoon as we were getting ready to go to practice, Lindsey Kate was getting a baby doll to represent Baby Jesus. She asked for a blanket to wrap him in. Heyward told her "Be sure when you wrap him, he looks really poor".

Christas Bunco

My girlfriends came over last night for our Christmas Bunco. It was SO much fun and it was extra-special because it marked our 1 year anniversary of playing Bunco. In front (from left), Maria, Ansley, Amanda and Sam, (back) Erika, Liane, Misty, Kalynn, Me, Tiffany.

One Huge Lemon

This is a Ponderosa Lemon. I put a sharpie in the picture for perspective. These huge lemons average 2-4 pounds. Yep, 2-4 pounds! Ours weighs in at 2 pounds .08 ounces. Our friend Kim Davis blesses us with one every year! She eats hers like a grapefruit. I don't think I could do that! :)

Happy Halloween

A lady recently being baptized was asked by a co-worker what it was like to be a Christian. She replied, "It's like being a pumpkin: God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you may have gotten from the other pumpkins. Then he cuts the top off and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."

Our kids and I were discussing this story as we carved pumpkins over the weekend. What a wonderful way to describe what it is to be a Christian. If you have ever carved/hulled out a pumpkin, you realize what a difficult task that can be. How they ever get the pumpkin you buy in a can out of the mess that is inside a pumpkin is beyond me! Also, our friend Kitty taught us a WONDERFUL trick. Sprinkle nutmeg and cinnamon on the "lid" of the pumpkin before putting it back on. The warmth of the candle inside makes it smell great!

We are looking forward to spending time with friends tonight grilling hot dogs, trick or treating and visiting our local nursing home to spread some cheer with the residents there.

May God bless you and carve a beautiful smiling pumpkin in your life!

Stop, Drop and Roll

In honor of Fire Prevention Week, the Fire truck came to Micajah's school today to teach the kids about dialing 911 in the event of an emergency, not being scared or hiding from the fireman if he comes to your house and to STOP DROP and ROLL if you are on fire. Sparky the fire dog came too. The kids loved it, except for a few that were a little scared of the firemen. One little girl (bless her heart) every time they said "fire" she began to SCREAM. They finally called her daddy to come check on her she was so scared.

Anyway, here are a few photos. Other than one little girl, Micajah was the only one that wanted to try on the fireman gear. Isn't he cute?! The other is of the whole class with Sparky in front of the firetruck.

10 Glorious Years

Today Jody and I celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary. What a wonderful journey it has been! I would have never imagined 10 years ago that we would be where we are, doing what we do, and blessed beyond measure as we are now. We've had ups and downs, thousands of laughs and smiles and very few tears. We've watched Laci grow into a beautiful young lady and celebrated births of three precious blessings from God. I feel overwhelmed with emotion as I think back on the fulfillment that God has given me when he granted the desires of my heart to be a wife and a mother. I have moments where I feel that I fall short of the mother and wife I want to be, but I guess we all do at times. Still, there is no where I would rather be and no one I would rather be with than my precious family. Thank You, Jody, for the best 10 years of my life and Thank You, precious Lord, for blessing me more than I deserve.

The Huckleberry Garden

Our friend, Natalie Vondersmith, came a week ago to photograph our children. I have been glued to them for a week. You can go to http://www.natalievondersmith.com/huckleberrygarden to view the entire slide show.

She is such a talented artist and was a joy and a blessing to work with.

Catepillar cake

This weekend, I baked a cake for our friends Amy and Ben Swayze. Their son, Cole, turned one and I was so glad to bake his cake for them. They wanted a Pistachio-mocha cake, like ML's wedding cake, but we didn't want to give espresso or pistachio to a baby. So, we made plain vanilla cupcakes for his cake and made the catepillars out of them.

Splashin' in the 'Boro

Laci invited us to come spend the day with her in Statesboro yesterday. After an uneventful drive, we arrived in Statesboro and spent some time with Laci and our grand-dog Libby at Laci's house. We then went and had a delicious meal at Longhorn where Laci works as a hostess, but had the day off.

Laci then took us to Splash in the Boro www.splashintheboro.com a water park in Statesboro built with Splost funds. It was SO much fun. They had two pools, 3 water slides, and lots of activities for the kids. Heyward was the only one of the little ones tall enough to go on the big slides, so Jody, Laci and I took turns going down them with her.

I'm posting a few photos of our day. Thanks, Laci, for showing us such a good time. We look forward to coming again VERY soon! The kids are already asking how soon we can go visit you!

A "Beary" Happy Birthday

Lindsey Kate turned 7 on Saturday. We celebrated on Friday with a family party and on Saturday took 6 kids (3 were ours) to the Build A Bear Workshop in Jacksonville. It was so much fun. It was the first time we had been. The kids all got to choose an animal, give it a heart, stuff it, wash it, name it and bring it home. We came home with Pinky the pink Poodle, Linda the dog and Poochie the frog.

At the end of the party, Lindsey Kate rang a bell and everyone in the store sang Happy Birthday. We then rode the escalators upstairs to eat at Chick Fil A in the food court. I don't know that any of the children had ever ridden an escalator before. It was quite exciting. Remember how much we loved them, Katharine?

Micajah and Lindsey Kate were quite impressed with the cake. Linds said it was "Way more better" than the one in the picture and Micajah said "Yep, it is prettier than Miss Regina". Miss Regina was his teacher at preschool last year. He guages the beauty of everything against Miss Regina. The fireworks on the 4th of July were "pretty, but not as pretty as Miss Regina". So, I guess I did pretty OK if the cake is prettier than she.

Anyway, here are a few photos. One of the Cake and one of the kids at Build a Bear.

Back to School

Today is the first day back to school. Sniff... sniff... It is hard to believe the Summer is over and they are back in school. Lindsey Kate is starting 1st grade and Heyward in the 3rd. It was nice to know, though, that they STILL want mom and dad to walk them to class the first day instead of dropping them off a block away - so no one will know who their parents are.

In the 3rd grade, they begin to switch classes. Heyward will have one teacher half the day for English, Spelling and Reading and another for Math, Science and Social Studies. WOW! Time flies. Her best friend Carrie is in her class and they get to sit together. She is SO excited!!

Here is a picture of them on the way in this morning. It appears that we are having a little bit of a bad hair day. I think it is because we went to sleep with partially damp hair. It will take us a few weeks to get adjusted to the school schedule. Thank goodness they are too young to be affected by Bad Hair days.

In addition to the regular school supplies, they are now required to take hand soap, boxes of Kleenex and Ziploc Bags - hence the Walmart Bags. When did our schools become so financially deprived, that the kids have to supply their own soap and kleenex?

Anyway, here's praying for a GREAT School year!

Daisy

This is Daisy, our new puppy. We got her on Saturday. She is such a sweetie and the kids love her. We think the name Daisy suits her. The kids and Jody came up with some quite unusual names, ranging from Dorito (Micajah's choice) to Hershey Kiss (the girls' choice) and Atocia (Jody's choice).

Coming soon to a Bookstore near you

I just signed a contract with a book publisher to publish my cookbook, Sweet Blessings. It will possibly be out by Christmas, but more than likely after the first of the year. It is a cookbook of all of our families favorite recipes and our favorites from family and friends. I'll keep you posted.

We've got Spirit - Yes we DO!

We've got two girls going to Camp this week. Heyward left yesterday for a week at CentriKid with our Church. Lindsey Kate is here, but going to Kiddie Cheer Camp in the mornings at our local High School. Yesterday, she won one of the Spirit Sticks! She was quite excited!

Beach Photos

The beach provided a perfect opportunity for me to practice my photography. It helps having such lovely subjects!

Space Shuttles & Alligators

We just got back from a wonderful Vacation in St. Augustine. We decided for the 4th to make a trip down to Kennedy Space Center to watch the Space Shuttle launch. It was AMAZING. I was literally brought to tears. I almost broke into a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, but was afraid no one would join in or they might arrest me for terroristic threats (by exposing those around me to my singing voice).

We made it back that evening to see the fireworks at the Bridge of Lions beside the Fort. Jody's parking and navigation were great, and we were back in our room in less than 10 minutes instead of caught up in traffic! We enjoyed the beach and taking the Trolly tours of St. Augustine. The Alligator Farm was especially fun. They had every form of Crocodile in the world at the park. The kids loved it!! They even got to pet a live anaconda.

Our tourist day in St. Augustine included Ripleys Believe it or Not, which was interesting, but Lindsey Kate freaked in a room or two and had to be escorted out by yours truly. The Old Jail was fun, too, and Jody got diving fever (again) by visiting the Florida Heritage Museum and seeing treasure from the Atocha.

On Friday we enjoyed a lovely dinner and great fellowship with Cousins David and Catherine and their kids Elizabeth and Ben. Elizabeth promised to come visit soon, but only if I make Ice Cream!

Boys night out

Our monthly Bunco game theme last night was "Dress like your husband" in honor of Father's Day. The pictures were too funny not to post.

Nice, quiet weekend

It seems like for the first weekend since April we had nothing planned this weekend. It was SO nice! The kids went to see their papa and Ms. Debby in the "country" and Jody went diving. Saturday morning, I found myself home alone for the first time in a long time! I made a leisurely trip to Walmart and spent the afternoon sunning by the pool reading my new issue of Guideposts (thanks, Kalynn!). How relaxing.

The kids came home to tell us that Muff (Papa and Debby's dog) had been bitten by a snake and was headed to the vet. That immediately sent me into a panic worrying that one of them could have been bitten, etc. Thank goodness Muff's visit to the vet revealed it was not a snake but a bee to which she had an allergic reaction. I believe she is feeling much better today.

Sunday we had several friends over to swim and grill after church. It was not too hot, due to the storm clouds rolling in. Just as we were finishing home made Ice Cream, the rain began to fall. All of the children and several of the fathers continued to swim, despite the down pour. No thunder or lightning, so we just let them swim. We all got a chuckle though when Lindsey Kate came inside to get her umbrella. We needed the rain So badly.

We've got Bunco tonight. Our theme is "dress like your husband" so it should be funny. I will hopefully post pictures tomorrow.

Ahoy There!

Saturday Afternoon was Micajah's birthday party. We had a real pirate (Thanks Uncle Pablo!) and a map to find buried treasure. The weather was great and a good time was had by all. Here a pictures of the Pirate Cake, the birthday boy and all of the treasure hunters with Captain Red Dog the pirate.

Micajah's birthday was actually on Thursday. About 9:00 Thursday afternoon, he said "If it's really my birthday like you say it is, when are the people coming?" Bless his heart!

2 cake weekend

We had two birthday parties this weekend to go to and I made the cakes for both of them. This one for Jessica's party turned out SO cute, I just had to post a picture of it.

Happy Birthday Micajah

Today is Micajah's 4th Birthday. 4 never looked so good!

We will celebrate Saturday with a Pirate Birthday. All the stuff for the party came in today from Oriental Trading Company. Whoo hoo! It should be lots of fun. Uncle Pablo will premier as Red Dog the Pirate. Named so for the treasure chest emblazened with a red dog on it. It was originally designed to be a beer cooler, but it makes a great treasure chest to be buried in the yard.

I will post pictures of the event on Monday.

Hurricane Season.....oh yeah!

Is it crazy that I love Hurricane season? We stay glued to the weather channel this time of the year. I love a good storm, even though they can be scary.

The first storm of the year came through last night. Tropical Storm Alberto. We woke up this morning to Alberto beating on our windows. It has cleared out for the time being, but we expect rain throughout the day.

Of course, we constantly pray for the safety of those more directly affected by the storms.

Resident Treasure Hunter

Last week we got a frantic phone call from a friend of ours who said his wife lost her engagement ring at the river. He wanted Jody to dive and look for it.

On Saturday, they headed down to the river. After one tank of diving, two sandwiches and an experiment with a penny to check out the river currents, Jody saw it sparkle out of the corner of his eye. There it was, sitting on a rock on the bottom of the river.

Here is a picture of Jody giving the picture back to our overjoyed friend Prissy.

Wedding Photos

I am finally getting around to posting pictures from Marilois & Pablo's wedding. It took us a few days to re-coop and then I was waiting for the pictures from Jody.

The wedding was WONDERFUL! I have laughed to family and said it was quite a "trip". Hee hee! Marilois was gorgeous and the children addendants behaved beautifully. Except for Micajah's run in with some ants, none of the children bailed out, cried or refused to walk. Quite a feat with 9 children under the age of 8. God's hand was certainly in it.

We loved visiting with out of town family, especially Aunt Katharine, Uncle Mike and Baby James. How much he has grown and how smiley he has become. He lit up every room he entered. We also loved seeing Dot & Tom Maier, Dorothy and Sophie Gould. We had been hearing of Sophie for years, and were thrilled to finally meet her. Our kids and she immediately bonded.

Here is a picture of the wedding cake that I made for the wedding. Apparently it was quite a hit. It was quite a labor of love. Maybe we will look back on it with great fondness of my launch into the famous world of cake baking.

Set of Professional cake pans : $200
New oven large enough to hold said cake pans: $1100
Pistachio Extract $100
Baking your sister's wedding cake for "free" : Priceless

Here also is a shot of the kids prior to the wedding.

AR Superstar!!

I have been a horrible blogger lately. It seems that we have been so busy between the end of school bustle and Aunt Mimi's wedding and baking the wedding cake, I have hardly had time to blog, and when I have time, I can't think of anything blogworthy.

Anyway, today was a special day. Heyward's school had the walk of fame for the students that earned more than 100 points in the Accelerated Reader program. Well, she not only earned more than 100 points, she earned the most points in the whole school (356) and got to lead the AR Star parade with the principal. She told Ms. Nan (the Principal) that walking in the parade was like doing her moms workout video!

These boots are made for walkin'

Even though the sky is blue and not a cloud is in sight, Micajah decided to wear his rain boots today. Can you blame him? They look great!

Good Citizens All Around!

Today being the end of the 9 week grading period, we find out who won the Good Citizen Award. It is sponsored by Georgia Power and is given to one student in each class during each grading period who exemplifies what a good citizen should be. Well, Miss Lindsey Kate won it for her class this time. She follows sister Heyward, who won it for her class last grading period. The parents are given a bumper sticker that says "My child is a Good Citizenship Award Winner". Now their dad and I each have one proudly displayed on our bumpers! It's nice to know your kids behave at school.

We're SICK of being sick!

We are now entering the third (yes, THIRD) week of someone in our household being sick. Two weeks ago Lindsey Kate woke up throwing up and stayed home from school. The next day, I get a phone call on my answering machine that says "Mama, come pick me up from school, my tummy hurts". I immediately call the school back and tell them to have Lindsey Kate ready, I will be there in a minute. I get to school and check her out. As we head out to the car I said "I am so sorry you don't feel well" She replied "What?!? I feel fine". HEYWARD was the one that called. So after checking Lindsey Kate back into school and checking Heyward out of school, we head home.

Last week, Micajah was sick. After 2 days of running a fever that got up to 102.9° I took him to the Doctor. He had a touch of bronchitis and an ear infection. They started him on a round of antibiotics for the ear infection. We got up to 103.4° (I think that was a household record) that night, but he is MUCH better this week and has gone back to school.

I have been stuffy and coughing the last two days, but mama's aren't allowed to take the day off from "school", huh?. Anyway, last night, Heyward started throwing up. I got up, changed the sheets, cleaned the bathroom floor where she "missed" and laid out an assortment of towels on her bed and floor to possibly aid in clean up later. Now, two sets of sheets, 2 bath mats and 5 towels later, I'm SICK of everyone being sick! Thankfully, spring arrived yesterday, so maybe that will help. No, that just means MORE pollen!!!

YIKES!!

I better run, I've got Lysol to spray!!!

Kite Day

Our local Womans Club sponsors an annual Kite Day in our community. We shut down the airport (only in a small town, huh!?) and just go fly a kite. This was started about 2 years ago in honor of our friends Macy and Brance that were killed in a car accident along with Macy's daddy. The funds that are raised by the Womans Club are used to benefit others in our community.

Saturday proved to be a BEAUTIFUL day with clear, breezy skies and temps in the 80's. Here is a picture of Lindsey Kate enjoying her kite. What a wonderful to usher in the Spring!

Makes me want to sing a little diddy from Mary Poppins....

"Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring....."

200 Points!

Our local school has an Accelerated Reader (AR) program. The kids, beginning in 1st grade, read books, take tests and are awarded points for scores on the tests. You are awarded prizes (like homework passes, lunch with the principal, etc) as you reach higher point levels. The "goal" is to get 100 points in a year. Most books in the 2nd grade level are 1/2 to 1 point each. The kids that get 100 or more points are in a parade through the school at the end of the year. Yesterday Heyward passed the 200 point mark! WAY TO GO! Thank goodness for Nancy Drew books. They are 5 points each!

We don't need no stinking wedding clothes

Saturday morning, Bami and I loaded up the kids and went with ML and Pablo's Sister Carmina to shop for wedding clothes for our children and the 4 other flower girls. About half way there, Micajah pipes up and says "Why are we going to by me clothes for Aunt Mimi's wedding, I already have my Tigger costume to wear". Well, needless to say, we got him something a little more appropriate.

After a CRAZY lunch at Pizza Hut/TacoBell/KFC we spent 2 hours shopping for the clothes. We ended up getting adorable dresses, but I was so frazzled by that time, I forgot to get pictures of the girls.

The other photo is of our kids and Carmina's kids after shopping. We got new kites because we have Kite Day here on Saturday and last year's kites "Were too heavy and blew away" as Micajah told me. Anyway, it was LOTS of fun and we loved meeting Carmina, her girls and boy.

A VERY Special Weekend

Friday Morning, 22 women and I boarded a bus headed for Birmingham Alamaba. We were headed to the Beth Moore Living Proof conference. What a special time for us all. As we stopped for lunch in Perry, GA we were stopped by a woman in a parking lot who said "You ladies must be headed for the Beth Moore conference in Alabama". In Alabama we joined 18,000 women for a powerful teaching about God. Even now, I am stirred with laughter and tears thinking about how AWESOME God is. He lit a fire in me and the other women in our church that we brought back home with us. How humbled and honored I am to be able to serve such a powerful God.

After a 10 hour trip home (2 of which were spent at the Cracker Barrel) I returned to a fully cleaned, laundered home. What a wonderful man I have!

On Sunday morning, Lindsey Kate was baptized. What a precious ending to an overwhelming weekend.

GOD is SO good!

Bunco Night

My girlfriends and I get together once a month to play Bunco. It is a dice game. The hostess chooses the theme and does refreshments and prizes for the game. Last night was Bunco Night. It was at Misty's house and the theme was Pretty in Pink. The Bunco gals (from left) are Me, Kalynn, Amanda, Tiffany, Ansley, Denise, Erika, Liane and (front) Misty and Lori. I baked a bunco cake because we had two birthdays to celebrate. It was SO much fun!

Little Miss Sweetheart

On Monday night, Heyward and Lindsey Kate were in a pageant sponsored by our local High School. I am by NO means a pageant mom and they are not typical pageant girls. Actually, this was a first for all of us.

Anyway, they both looked like little angels. Lindsey Kate was crowned Little Miss Sweetheart. And although Heyward did not place, she looked just beautiful and we were able to have a nice lesson on being a graceful loser. All in all, it was fun for all of us. They said they want to do local pageants in the future....... we'll see.

A birthday cake

In preparation for baking my sister Marilois' wedding cake in May, I have been looking for extra practice baking cakes. A friend called and asked me to bake her daughter Cara's birthday cake. I woke up early Saturday morning to finish this cake for the birthday party later that morning. I thought it turned out pretty cute.

Dancin' the night Away

Friday night was our local Father-Daughter Valentines dance. Jody and the girls went and had a WONDERFUL time! Here is a picture of them before leaving. The girls will be wearing these dresses in the Sweetheart pageant tonight put on by our high school. It will be the first pageant for both of them. Should be interesting.

An Afternoon at the Office

Our Normal babysitter (Jody's mom) had an appointment this afternoon. So, the kids came to the office with Mom and Dad. Here is a picture of Heyward reading Nancy Drew and Micajah and Lindsey Kate in their "fort" they made under the conference room table.