Random thoughts

We have recovered from Emily's Birthday Weekend!  We had a fabulous party with 10 of her closest friends...I love her friends, I love their parents, and I love that they all get along so well.  We celebrated President's Day and Emily's Birthday all at once...it fit nicely since Emily and I have been studying the presidents and American History all year! 

My little Bible study with some gals at work is the greatest joy!  I truly get so excited thinking about it! 

I'm looking into a new chore system...surprise surprise...I think I might write a book called  Managers of the Home When Your Husband Works Shift Work....no day is the same...

John is the most wonderful hubby and father ever...but when he is home, things are different.  He likes to show me things, he asks the kids to help him, he needs lunch, he has chores he needs help with, etc....my days are just totally different when he is here in the mix!

Our new baby chicks are getting so big...I'm thinking they will all survive and we will be giving some away. 

Upward Basketball Season is almost over and we are all a little sad :( But T-Ball season is about to begin and John Daniel will be playing for the first time!

We are going to the Quincy 4H Livestock show next week with a friend from work.  It will be very interesting!  We will be watching kids show pigs, sheep, and cattle and joining in on a BBQ!

So far, Washington DC is a go for Mid April!  We are so excited!  In fact, we have been doing a Bible Study in our Sunday School Class by a Pastor from DC and it has made us very excited...just seeing all the monuments, historic sites in the videos is exciting!

We have an opportunity to go to Ethiopia in November to work at our church's sister church and meet our Compassion Child that we sponsor...how cool would that be!  It seems so far fetched but so within reach all at the same time....our church partners with a church in Ethiopia which is a Compassion International Site...it is a family trip, very safe...the group would be working at the church and in the community.....we are prayerful......that is all.

We have been reading about the Great Depression for awhile now.  As we were reading the other day, I was showing the kids pictures of poor sharecroppers that had been kicked off the land and were piled up along a road with all their belongings with no place to live.....Emily said, "Why did the land owners kick them out of their houses?"  John said, "well the crops were bad and times were hard and the land owners couldn't pay them anymore and afford to let them stay there."  So then the book talked about the government sites that were set up where people could live...so we discussed that the government was trying to take care of the homeless people...John Daniel says, "Why didn't church people or missionaries take care of them?"  I was so proud of his observation...that is a good question John Daniel!

I had a haircut today....a really great haircut!  I haven't had a haircut in like 8 months so it was such a treat!  She took 1 1/2 hours on my hair...it was such a nice time!  Thank you John for the gift certificate and for the time to enjoy a haircut! 

Go Lady Trojans!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

This picture makes me kind of sad....she looks older and wiser and more mature....maybe it is her long hair but you can kind of see what she will look like as a young lady...sniff sniff!

Love this girl more than life itself!  My first born, my kind hearted, loving, emphathetic, energetic, artsy, creative, beautiful girl!  So blessed to call her daughter...God gave us a precious gift 9 years ago!  Happy Birthday my sweet girl!

Feeling Purposeful....

It is an ongoing prayer for me...to wake each day and do something purposeful, to be used by God, to glorify Him in what I do, and to live life as if I AM NOT blowing around like a tumbleweed...life is not random...we are God's masterpiece created to do a work that was prepared in advance for us to do (paraphrased from Ephesians 2:10).  I have the greatest privilege to be a part of God's work and I'm so excited, joyful, thankful to be meeting with some great friends, co workers, women to lead a Bible Study...We started with Romans 3:23...All have sinned....and discussed that we have to acknowledge our sin and understand that as sinners we are separated from a Heavenly Father.  We discussed the woman in Luke 7 and how she truly acknowledged her sin in the presence of Jesus.  She understood the magnitude...and she was saved.  I have no idea what the future holds but feel so "free" to be a part of something that can lead to eternal blessings.  Thank You Lord for not ever giving up on me and for allowing me to be  part of your amazing plan!

Fun Friday!

What a Friday we had...super busy with super fun stuff!  First was our library scavenger hunt, then we went to the Florida Baptist Children's home to take a tour (not to drop our own kids off!).  We have decided after much prayer to lend a hand at the Children's home.  They are in need of sponsors, meals, paper products, yard work, mentors, tutors, etc.  We first wanted to get acquainted with what their purpose and need was...we know a set of the house parents that live at the Children's home so we specifically visited them.  We asked a lot of questions and now understand what the Children's Home does and what they need.  It was a great visit and we got to meet some of the sweet girls that live at the Jones house.  Then we went and ate pizza with the "C" family.  Afterwards the boys were off to the Moster Truck Monster Jam.  John Daniel and his best friend went...what a fun time for those cute boys!  John Daniel said that the trucks "pretend danced, did wheelies, crushed cars and a van, a woman got shot out of a cannon, and one of the trucks had big teeth." 

The girls all went to the Mall where we shopped at Justice, Claires, and Build-a-bear.  The big girls each chose an outfit to model for us moms.  The little girls visited with everyone in the store, tried on every headband, played ball, and rocked stuffed animals!  I feel positive that the clerks were glad to have us out of there.  It was a fun fun day!

Snow Day!

This is one of the coolest things that Celebration Baptist Kinderschool does...their Annual Snow Day!  They have an ice company dump many pounds of ice on a hill to make a sledding hill...the kids have so much fun and for my kids....it is the closest to snow they have ever seen...one day they will see the real stuff but until then, this is great fun!

The teachers and Director are so nice to my family. The girls and I were there to serve hot chocolate to the classes after their snow sliding and Ms. Pam said that the girls could go take their turn down the hill with their brother.  Molly loved it...she kept saying, "Gin, Gin!"

Dancing Queens

Molly wearing one of Emily's leotards.

They had a grand time dancing all over the living room!  Molly tries to copy everything her big sister does.  It is much cuter in person...Molly can do a spin with her hands above her head, a plie, and an arebesque (spellings are probably wrong)...it is hilarious!

Recent Field Trips

We have been on a couple of really cool field trips in the last month or so.  We went to the Mary Brogan Museum with the "C" family to see the Bug Exhibit.  They had giant moving bugs displayed and all kinds of cool bug games and facts to test your knowledge.  We also enjoyed the regular learning games at the museum.

Molly liked the bee display.

This past week we visited the Main branch of the Leon County Library to do a library scavenger hunt.  Ms. "A" found this really great list of library items to hunt for.  Some of the items  just to name a few were:

A Roget's Thesaurus

Gone With the Wind

A book published in the 1700's

A biography of any man that signed the Declaration of Independence

A Bible

The location of the newspapers on microfiche

The desk of the reference Librarian

A book containing the work of Mathew Brady

A book about the U.S. presidents

We split the four families into two teams, discussed library manners and how to speak to the Librarian.  Both teams did great!  I think we found everything except the book published in the 1700's.  The kids liked talking to the Librarian and asking for help.  Emily and I had done a little research the night before so that when we got there that she would know for instance...who were the men that signed the Declaration of Independence and who Mathew Brady was.  She asked f we were cheating and I explained to her that we were preparing and doing our research.  The kids learned how to look for the copyright date and publishing date, what microfiche is, where the reference books are located, how to look up a title on the library computer, the difference between fiction and nonfiction, and biography vs autobiography.  It was  great learning experience...even for me!

Picture of the kids minus one family

Breakfast in....

The Recliner...

John Daniel earned a ticket from me for doing good on all his jobs for the week.  The ticket that he earned was being served breakfast in the recliner...but I made Emily serve him.  He ordered cheesy eggs, sausage, and biscuits.  He LOVED every minute of being waited on by his big sister.  Then I had the idea of each of them getting a day during the month of having breakfast served to them by the sibling...CAN I FORCE A SERVANT'S HEART?  We have been doing a study called Peacemaker's about the condition of your heart and how this causes good and bad choices which can either cause or cure conflict, etc.  I thought this serving each other thing might be good practice in having a servant's heart....who knows but he sure did enjoy it this day!

Happy 12 years of being Cancer FREE

I realized after looking at the pictures I took from this day, I only took pictures of the food and sign...and not of John (the star of the show) but it WAS his six days ON at work and when he came home the morning of January 29th, he was tired and looked a little rough....but he still enjoyed sharing cake and celebration with us!  We celebrate January 29th every year as the day that John was pronounced Cancer FREE...he also passed his Paramedic State Boards that day and asked me to Marry him...he was such a busy boy that day!  The kids made him a wonderful little sign and I made him red velvet brownies with cream cheese frosting!  Praise God for healing and the many blessings we have enjoyed!

Made from scratch

We had a little of this and a little of that in the cupboard and John and I came up with this chicken and rice paella!  It was fabulous and we made it up all by ourselves!