Happy Anniversary!!

Happy anniversary to my awesome parents, who have been married for 33 years today!!! Your life together has been such a testimony of God's grace!! I will always be thankful for what I've learned through you. I love you guys!

Learning By Watching

We've had a lot of rain this past week here in East Tennessee. We really needed the rain, but the downside was that the kids started getting "cabin fever" when it rained for a few days in a row. One afternoon, I decided to take them out to our awesome front porch to play during a thunderstorm. They loved the sound of the thunder and were being so cute, so I took out my trusty video camera and taped a little bit of their cuteness. What started out as cute turned into another "thunderstorm" of arguing on our front porch. I'm always on the lookout for creative ways to teach my children natural (logical) consequences (good and bad) to their actions. I just kept filming the situation while trying to correct them. Here's what I filmed (take note...Molly is dressed up in her new princess dress--what is on her head is her pink "hair")



I stopped filming and called them over to me to watch the video. Their little eyes were glued to the camera--watching intensely! I asked them if they were acting kind in the video or selfish. "SELFISH!" said a trio of tiny voices. I asked, "What does kindness look like? Can you show me?" So, they all ran back to their little "set" and I started filming again. Here's what I got:




Let me just say that this was a GREAT teaching tool!! I've been filming my kids in several situations since the porch scene and they've learned a lot. Sometimes it takes seeing our own foolishness before our eyes before we learn how foolish we are! Maybe I should have someone start following ME around with a video camera all day. :)

Off Duty

As of this morning at 6 am, I am officially off mommy duties for 1 week!! My parents so graciously took all 3 of my kids to "Camp Mimi and Pete" in Little Rock so that Aaron and I could get some stuff done. This morning, I made us a great breakfast with a hot cup of coffee and we sat and had a conversation uninterrupted!!! After he left for work, I sat and made out our menu for the week...uninterrupted. I also went to 4 different stores and got the best deals on what I needed without having to load and unload active preschoolers, one of which is always on the lookout for a chance to run away into the middle of the busy parking lot. And while I was out, I didn't feel the need to hurry back home to relieve a sitter. Ahhhhh, how wonderful this was!! So, if you care, which I'm sure you don't, here is our "to-do" list for the week:

1. Declutter my entire house!
2. Prep and sell unwanted items and clothing on eBay.
3. Do a faux finish paint job in hallway.
4. Paint stairway (steps and walls).
5. Finish painting all ceilings.
6. Paint green polka dots on girls' bedroom floor.
7. Enjoy my husband (go out for coffee, watch movies, exercise together, etc...).
8. Go to stores I'm never able to go to with children (antique stores, fabric stores, etc...)

We will surely miss our children while they are gone, but we'll also enjoy having just the 2 of us. Thank you, Lord, for such wonderful parents who are willing to serve our family so generously. Mom and Dad, you're the BEST!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!!

Today we celebrate our dads. The kids and I celebrated Father's Day with Aaron this morning by giving him cards and having a fun lunch together. But, because of our stressful week of trying to put ourselves back together after our long Arizona trip, I didn't get around to getting my own dad a card!! So, here's you card, Dad. I love you more than you'll ever know and I thank God for you every day. Have a good one!

More Wedding Pictures!

Here are more pictures from my brother, Sam's wedding in Arizona. It was so beautiful! The wedding took place at Boojam Tree, a Spanish villa-like place in Phoenix. It was breathtakingly gorgeous! All went well during the ceremony and the happy couple flew out to Boston a few days after to begin their new life together. May God bless Sam and Brooklynne!!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Sam and Brooklynne Sittin' in a Tree...

We returned from our big trip to Arizona last night. We had such a wonderful time there. Phoenix is a beautiful city with lots to do. Sam and Brooke's wedding was gorgeous!! Here are 2 pictures I uploaded of the happy couple and of Molly and Riah, who were the flower girls. I will upload more later. It's great to be home!!!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Old School Blessings

As many of you have probably heard by now, New Kids on the Block, the popular teen idols from the late '80s/early 90s, have reunited. I heard about this awhile back, but didn't really care at the time. Then, as I was doing my morning "ritual" of drinking coffee and reading the newspaper while watching television (I like to multi-task), I saw this...

The memories started flooding back and I had to sit and smile for a moment. I remember daydreaming of Joey day after day, hoping that one day he'd realize that he should leave showbusiness to move to Little Rock, Arkansas and sweep a chubby 10-year old girl off her feet! Ha ha! I remember constant debates with Rachael Goad, my BFF, over who was the cutest--Joey or Jordan (her fav New Kid). Most of all, though, I remember my dad taking me on a date to the NKOTB concert when I was in the 6th grade. This was HUGE! Let me tell you why...my parents wrote the book on picking your battles with kids. They could have easily said "no" when I asked for tickets for my birthday that year. While their music wasn't what one would call evil, it was pretty crappy. The guys are kind of tone deaf, and since I come from a family of musicians, this would be the night from hell for my dad. Add the loud, bad singing to the sound of screaming adolescent girls and you've got the seventh circle of hell for Dad. But, he gladly took me to this concert--ear plugs and book in hand--and as we walked up to the front of Barton Colosseum that February night, we noticed that the guy taking tickets at the front door was making all of the fans throw away the handmade signs they brought with them. I just happened to have made a sign, myself, so I was really disappointed. My awesome dad saved the day when he gently took the sign from me (it said "JOEY" in red marker) and quietly folded it up. He helped me put it in my pocket so I could sneak it in. Boy, I was so floored that MY DAD not only was taking me to this blessed concert, he helped me sneak in a sign!! WOW! We had a great time--or should I say, I had a great time. I screamed and held up my wonderful sign while Dad sat and read for 4 hours, God bless him! I will never forget that night, not because the New Kids were so memorable. I will treasure that night because of the memories I made with my dad. That can be added to thousands of memories that I have been so blessed to have with him. God has been so good to me--He saved my sinful soul and I definitely didn't deserve that! But God also gave me the best parents ever, and I can say with certainty that I don't deserve that. Thank you Dad, and thank you Jesus!