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.