Thursday, December 23, 2010

This Christmas...


                                              May there be peace on earth...




                                               May you have the laughter of a child....





                                               May your feet walk steady....



                                               May there be a skip in your step..



  May you have the love of family....




                                              May you notice the little things...



                                                       
                                                 May you see His splendor...







                                            May you experience His Grace... 





 
                                                   May you feel His presence...




                                                   May you always remember...

"For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:11

                                                    May this Christmas be filled with His love!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Night of Lights...


Last week we went with some sweet friends of ours to go see Fantasy in Lights in Callaway Gardens.  We loaded up the van and headed out.  I thought the ride there would be filled with the chatter of excited children....needless to say, everyone of them fell asleep and us adults got a nice relaxing ride.  We got there and the kids woke up, and boy they were excited!  We had tickets to ride the trolley through the lights instead of driving our car and there is no other way to do it!  Everyone sings carols and the trolley is open so you can see the lights so much better.  The kids oohed and ahhed and couldn't wait to see their favorite things.  Charlie and Trenton  just wanted to see Jack Frost...they loved the snow...the frog jumping in the pond.  It is really cool and they do such a good job with it.  There are over 8 Million lights displayed...that is a ton of lights!  Here are a few pictures from our adventure!




                                             Charlie and Trenton awaiting Jack Frost....



                                                              Addie was so excited...




This was what I saw of Jesse the whole trip...except for when he saw the Nutcrackers...he hid his face  
from them..."they scur me Mom"!


                                              Me and the "Queens"...she loved it ALL!



My favorite...the big oak tree...




this was the snow section and it was just gorgeous...




Definitely a must see if you live in the Atlanta area!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

25 things...

I was looking at my facebook page this morning and came across a note I wrote over 2 years ago(one of those things that people use to pass around). I almost peed on myself laughing at some of the things I wrote...and since I needed a really good laugh today, I figured someone else might too! It was 25 Random things about yourself...and in the note I said..."you asked for it, you wanted random...you got it". Enjoy my friends...and feel free to laugh at my expense.

1. I tried out for the Lead of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz in the third grade...and got the part of a Lollipop Kid! Go figure...try out for the pretty girl with the red shoes and end up being the dirty kid with the lollipop!

2. The Lion (aka Jonathan) in the play had a crush on me and gave me Diamond(ok QZ) lightning bolt earrings at the wrap party.

3. In the third grade I also decided I was going to play Division 1 Basketball....the same year I decided to play ball, I was lifting weights to show up my older brother and dropped the bar on my front tooth and chipped it. I sure showed him!

4. I use to coon hunt, gig, fish....well you see the pattern...when I was in high school. I was in tight with the redneck boys and loved every minute of it.

5. I once threw myself in the floor when I found out my cat Butterball died. I was 10 and to this day my family still makes fun of me and my drama. Good thing I don't act like that anymore:)

6. My brother Paul was my best friend in high school and we went to every high school dance together...with OTHER people...look people we didn't live in West Virginia!

7. My brother was in a horrific car accident my senior year of high school...I think that was the hardest thing I have ever been through in my life. The memories I have of those days are still so fresh in my mind. It made me realize how fleeting life is. I believe that was when God truly began to work in my life and draw me to him.

8. I scored over 1200 points in high school...they even stopped the game to present me with the game ball...and then we LOST the game to Nelson County!!!!

9. God completely interrupted my life when I was a sophomore at Liberty and saved me at Spiritual Emphasis Week. I had lived the life of a good girl my whole life and God showed me that night that I still needed Jesus. Basketball had been my "god" since the 3rd grade and He saw fit to take me to the place that had been my "god" for so long to show me how much I truly needed a Savior. I prayed to receive Christ on the basketball court that night...the place that had been everything to me....turned out to be the place I gave Everything to Holy God! Praise God for His Grace!

9. I played basketball at Liberty University and won about 10 games the first 3 years....My senior year we had a great crop of freshman come in and we ended up winning our conference and playing in the NCAA tournament for the first time ever.

10. We lost that game....horribly...but what memories!

11. I got to pray at the end of our Big South Championship Game with about 2000 fans in the stands...it was so cool because it got really quiet and you could hear me praying all over the Vines Center....God was so good and still is!

12. Out of college I worked at a nursing home as an activities director...yep, I played Bingo and listened to Bluegrass Gospel with the old folks...it was such a rewarding job. I loved being there and loving on the residents.

13. I quit my job to stay at home and take care of my MaMa after my PaPa died. One of the most rewarding years of my life. She taught me so much in that short time. I believe to this day that she had a huge part in my Christian Life. She was always praying for me and asking me to go to church...I miss her so much. She went to be with Jesus almost 8 years ago on Valentine's Day.

14. 25. My husband bought me golf clubs for Christmas years ago and I secretly want to get really good at golf and go on the TV show "Big Break". I would love to get really good...hey, I just like spending the time with my man on the course. Seriously the best date ever:)


15. I met my husband on a blind date and pretty much knew that night that I was going to marry him. 3 dates later we talked about "being the one" and how we knew we were going to get married. We were engaged in 5 weeks and married by 6 months. He is the love of my life and the One God chose for me. He is my best friend....and yes I still think he is "Hot Lovin"!

16. I didn't kiss my husband until our Wedding Day! SO glad I waited....but boy it was hard:) Thank God we weren't engaged very long!

17. I am a Pastor's wife and in all of it's craziness...I love it! I love ministering to people, seeing people saved, seeing people grow...just seeing lives transformed by a Holy God! I love teenagers(use to hate them when I first got out of school...hence the old folks) but I love being around them. There is really no place I'd rather be!!

18. I teach Purity to teenage girls and it is truly a passion of mine. I have had the opportunity to teach it in several different places and would love to eventually write a book. God has truly laid this on my heart and I desire to see young girls stay Pure...not just physically, but emotionally!

19. I am a stay at home mom and love it ...LOVE it! I have 4 precious children and would have more if my sanity would allow it...okay who am I kidding....if Ric would allow it. I have no sanity left. I do love my babies and can't believe my oldest is 7!

20. I had to have 4 C-sections and ladies....no, they will not accidentally let the laser slip and HAVE to preform a tummy tuck during the C-section...I tried to get my Dr's to do it the last 2 times and they laughed at me! How Rude!

21. My kids all have an "e" sound at the end of their names....I know corny right....but it just flows and that is important when you have to yell all their names in order when they are trying to kill one another!

22. My daughter Shelby is not named after a family member or dear friend...Nope, it is from the greatest movie ever..Steel Magnolias! I wanted Truvey and Jackson too but Ric had to draw the line.

23. My MaMa called Ric..."Rex" while we were dating. She had dementia and couldn't always get his name right..me and my family still call him that to this day! The dog in Steel Magnolias was Rex...I'm just saying people!

24. I am truly blessed to be a wife to the greatest man ever and mother to the four greatest kids ever. My family is wonderful and I have the most supportive mom and dad any girl could ever ask for. I love my sister and brother and their families...there are nine grand kids in all. My in-laws are awesome and I love Ric's family...They are such a blessing as well! I have the greatest friends in the world and count it an honor to be able to call them every day numerous times to bug them for no reason at all. Thankfully they answer and if they don't I just leave really long messages:)

25. I love to sing...would seriously trade my van(that is broke down in my driveway) for the ability to sing really good. No really, I would love to be able to REALLY sing!!

I'm crazy blessed...I can't explain it!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

You are such a card…

I love this time of the year for several reasons, but one of my favorite things about Christmas is walking down to the mailbox to see who we got Christmas cards from that day(I still love snail mail). I love to display them so that all season long we think about the ones who love us. I have been doing photo Christmas cards for years so that people can see our kids and how much they have grown over the last year. We have to get the perfect photo!! Photo cards aren’t the same anymore…and that’s why I am excited to tell you about the awesome products Shutterfly has for you this Christmas season. You can get awesome cards like this with multiple pictures on them…here are a few of my favorites:



Shutterfly doesn’t just print cards…oh no, they have it all. You can get personalized calendars…what grandparent wouldn’t want to see their sweet grand babies all year long?? Shutterfly also does really great photo mugs…and coming from a coffee drinker…you can never have too many mugs!!

 With gift ideas galore you really should check out Shutterfly. They are always offering special deals and sales and well, as much as I love photography, I could really get in trouble!!

Happy card hunting...from one card to another!