Thankful Thursday........

Today I am just thankful.....






Thankful for this 8 year old little boy and his sensitive spirit.....



Thankful for this brown eyed beauty and her loving heart.......



Thankful for this ball of beautiful energy......


Thankful for this sweet babe that has my heart......


Thankful for this man who made all of the above my children.....thankful that he loves me just 'cause I'm me....


Thankful for the journey that God has me on....one filled with faith, hope, and love....and the greatest of these is LOVE!

God's been good to me...oh, God's always been good!

And yes, for that I am thankful!!

Heading South.......

I am so excited to be heading out to visit my husbands family for Thanksgiving. I love to go and visit with his folks...his sisters...his cousins, aunts, and uncles. His family is huge and it is so neat to spend time with them. They truly have it all in the Blazi/Faircloth family. We have teachers, preachers, realtors, soldiers, sweet folk, funny folk...and ok, who am I kidding...we got crazy folks too!! I love this family and think that they are pretty special!

We will eat our fair share of food, play our fair share of corn hole and domino's, play our fair share of flag football......and just have our fair share of good times. It is a super relaxing good time, filled with more traditions than you can shake a stick at. We always go to a movie...eat breakfast at my in-laws(like 35 people)...play flag football with real flags and all(new fun tradition)....play basketball at church...actually have free baby sitters so Ric and I can do something...and Ric and I always go shopping on Black Friday! Good Times people.

I will be out of town but will keep posting...for several reasons. I am slowly nearing my 100th post and I am going to celebrate. I am going to do a great giveaway....so stay tuned for more details. I am not far off so keep checking back with me! I also have awesome pictures to show you from my recent photo shoot this past weekend. I have already ordered my Christmas cards and am in love with several of the pictures!

Here's a sneak peek at my photo's:

I can't believe I did it.......

"Are you serious Mom....

Last night I did something I swore I would never do. Something that I haven't done in 8 years. Something that scared me more than anything else! But I did it....and I am a little proud of myself this morning. Look what I did:

What is that you ask? I will give you one more hint....

No I didn't shave all of my hair off...although I am hating my hair so much that that may be the best solution....nope, I cut my boy's hair! It saved us $28, so for that I am really excited! Ric has been telling me to do it for years and the answer is always....."Have you seriously lost your mind...you better go find it 'cause I am not putting any kid of clippers on these precious boys hair"! Mind you this....I had some pressure on myself because I am taking their Christmas pictures tomorrow with my friends camera...so a mess up would have been huge. I did it though and it looks pretty good. I wish I had gone shorter with Charlie's...but hey, it was my first time, and I cut the top with scissors!! I mean it is a for real haircut...not a buzz with a two guard on it...I am talking scissors...even if they were kid scissors! They worked well though!

After the stress of haircuts, we played in the living room while Addie worked on her spelling words with Dad. She is so smart and works so hard! I don't know how she did it with all this mayhem going on around her! Check out our "We just got our haircut and now we act crazy" party!

How she studied I will never know......

And this last image....no words....I have no idea what she was doing!!!!

Tiny Truth's Thursday...."Meaningless Info....."

Shelby Jean is my youngest daughter. A child that loves life...loves to laugh...and knows a lot of "meaningless" information. She knows every one's first and last names and usually calls them by their full name. She also knows how old everyone is...who they are related to...what size shoe they wear.....you see where I am going! She literally has a steel trap mind. She loves people and loves to know everything about them. You can call it nosey....silly...whatever you want to call it, but Shelby is all up in every body's grill, and she doesn't even know what's cooking!!

It makes me laugh that she can remember the stuff that she does...recall data that most 4 year olds don't even care about. That she can tell you who everybody in our church is related to...when I don't even know! That's just Shelby though. Sometimes she will even tell people that her last name is Rainwater because she wants to be a part of their family some days. I guess she gets it honest though....I use to tell people, when I was little, that my name was Lootie Mae Stinnett! Yeah, I know....payback!

I got to thinking about Shelby and how she remembers everything...how she knows all the little details about people...how she can make you feel so important because she knows when your birthday is! Shelby is just a little girl with a grand memory....but our God...now He truly knows all of the so called meaningless information about us. He doesn't just know our names, who we are related to, our birthdays....no my friend, He knows it all! Our dreams...our fears...our heartaches...our burdens...our thoughts...our selfishness...He knows it all. The bible even tells us in Matthew 10:30 "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered." If that isn't "meaningless" information than I don't know what is...but it's not meaningless to Him...nothing is. He cares about the smallest of things...to the largest...and yes, I am thankful He does!

So as Shelby rattles off peoples names and ages...addresses and shoe sizes...I will remember that nothing is meaningless!

Tiny Truth's for this Thursday~

~ That Shelby likes numbers and names

~ That Shelby has a steel trap mind

~ That she seriously makes me laugh

~ That God knows everything...even the number of hairs on my head

~ That to God....nothing is without meaning!

Jumping in mud puddles.....

The past few weekends have been huge for the Blazi household. On the 7th we got to do something that we have been dying to do with our family. Look where we went and what our kids got to experience:

The kids loved it...they hollered...yelled "Sic 'em"...danced....ate....spilled drinks(oh wait that was me)...cheered for the girl throwing the baton's in the air that were on fire( she was seriously the highlight of the game)...and just had the best time. The weather was perfect...the Dawgs won..and we were all together. It was a perfect day!

Jesse's face here is priceless....he loved watching everything...and dancing for the girl behind us!

Check out the girl next to Addie...she was all about a photo opportunity!

This pic has all four of the kids in it...even though all you see of Shelb's is her nose:)

The next weekend I did this....sorry for the horrible picture!

I had my first trade show with my vinyl lettering.....loved it. While I was working hard, Ric took care of the kids and they had a grand day...Burger King...playground at church....duck pond.....and puddles???? Yes, Jesse had a big time in the puddles...and Ric got pictures of the aftermath...do my kids have a great dad or what. I love my husband and am so thankful he will take the time to do fun stuff with our kids!

My cup seriously runneth over!!!!

It's that time of the year again....tip off time...

It has been a busy couple of weeks in the Blazi house. We have ended soccer and basketball is right around the corner. The three oldest will be playing and Ric and I are coaching all three of them. WE are so excited, but know that it is going to be mayhem around our home! We love being involved in the sports program at our church though...it is crazy rewarding to be able to share Christ with these little ones...and teach them the best game that was ever created!

I played ball in college at Liberty University and loved every second of it. When I was in the third grade something happened the day I picked up the basketball. I fell in love with the game. I lived and breathed all things basketball. I decided that year...yes, at the ripe old age of 8, that I was going to play college basketball...Division 1 at that. I set a goal and was going to do whatever I had to do to reach it. I worked hard...and I mean hard. Every summer was spent away at camp just trying to get better. Early mornings were spent on the track and afternoons in the gym...just so I could play ball in college. Little did I know that God had this perfect plan layed out the whole time! I ended my career at my high school and went on to sign a full scholarship with Liberty. The school that I never wanted to go to...the school that was literally 7 miles from my house...was where I went. I woke up one morning and knew that was where I was supposed to go. I could have gone to several other schools to play, but for some reason I knew I was supposed to go to LU!

I went and didn't play much my first year and decided that summer that I was going to work my hind end off to get a starting position. That fall I got saved...Jesus took me off the path to hell and put me on the path to heaven. I surrendered my life to Him on the basketball court during a convocation service in the gym. Not only did my life change...but so did my outlook on the game of basketball. No longer was it just a game, but a tool to reach the lost. I wanted to play ball and share the Gospel with my opponents. I wanted to glorify God in not just my life, but my basketball as well.

Needless to say, God used my basketball ability to give me the opportunity to share Christ with a whole bunch of people! I shared after games....during press conferences...with children in Spain.....and now with the 4 year olds that I will have the opportunity to coach. Amazing how one game can do so much in a persons life! I will forever be grateful that I picked up that leather ball in the third grade! That I was a determined young girl...and that God used the game to change my life! I pray that me teaching these young kids about the game...will not just point them to basketball, but to a Holy God!

I'm back.....It's done.....

Wow...it has been forever since I posted. Let me tell you a little bit about where I have been. I started a company with a guy from my church and have been busier than I have ever been in my life. I have worked like a mad woman for the past two weeks to get everything finished and I finally got it done. We had our first Holiday Market last weekend and it went great. There was a lot of interest in the company.....and I am just praying that it will take off. I have put a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and mostly prayers into this and am believing that God is going to use it...to bless others...to bless the ones involved in it...and to aid in my addiction to vinyl lettering!! I could seriously put it in every nook in my house! I love it...I love it...I love it! Here are some of my favorite pieces that Lord willing will not only grace the walls of my home soon, but the walls of many!

Who am I kidding....there are way to many to show...go check out my website at http://www.onthedoorpost.com/ and you can see all of the images. I am stoked to say the least and can't wait to see what God does with it!

It's calling my name......

The candy my kids got at our church's fall festival has seriously been a thorn in my side. For several reasons that I will list below......

1. Even though I hid said candy on top of my fridge...somehow my kids still get into it. Jesse even pushes a chair over to the counter and tries to climb up on it....seriously...he is 19 months old.

2. This candy has been a source of arguments amongst the natives....."no...that's the last Reese Cup and it's mine"....okay that was my comment, but the kids have fought more.

3. I ate 3 of those Reese Cups today!

4. I have found several wrappers on my floor and that makes me really ill!

5. It seriously calls my name every time I walk by the fridge....I can hear it now!

6. Jesse likes to try things out....case in point, I let him have one thing out of the bowl this evening because he is sick and he picks a sucker...he takes the wrapper off the sucker, wrinkles his nose...then proceeds to put the wrapper back "on" said sucker and put it back in the bowl. I will not be eating any suckers!

7. It's almost gone......and then what will I have to blog about...think about....

8. I'm out....going to get the last Butterfinger and sit down and watch the Biggest Loser that we DVR'd.....and dream about buff abs like Jillians!!!

Ten little Piggies....

The other night we were outside playing on the playground and the trampoline....it was a gorgeous fall evening with just enough crisp in the air to make your nose cold! All four of my sweet kids jumped...and giggled...and jumped and giggled...until seriously there was no jump left in them. We headed inside to get ready for dinner and I had to take Jesse's clothes off because he was covered in dirt and trampoline grim. When I walked back in the living room I found Jesse doing this....

He noticed his feet were black and dirty from the trampoline so he decided to wash them...with a baby wipe...it was too cute not to take a picture of it!

Ten little piggies went outside

Ten little piggies jumped on the trampoline

Ten little piggies got dirty

And needed desperately to be cleaned

One little boy found the wipes

And cleaned and cleaned and cleaned

'Till ten little piggies were all clean

And one little boy was done!!