Saturday, February 28, 2009

This is just a bit too funny!


This is the link to this hilarious bumper sticker! Brent and I have talked about this mortgage bail out plan and how unfair it is to those of us who didn't buy a house we couldn't afford and have not been negligent on our payments. I had to chuckle when I saw this actual bumper sticker on a friend's facebook wall. The Tennessee GOP is selling them for $5 or 3 for $12.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Hannah's 7th Birthday


It's hard to tell from this angle, but this is a princess crown cake. It's a 2 layer cake with special shaped sugar cookies all around it to make it look like a crown. Hannah insisted she have a crown since she's not only our princess, but God's princess, too! Have you seen the little girl movies in the Christian book stores about GiGi? There was one for $5 around Christmas time at our local bookstore so I picked it up. She loves it! There are several of them available. And don't tell too many people, but Daniel even likes them...because it's not just a girlie movie, mom!!!
It's so hard to believe she's 7!!! I remember so clearly the day she was born. I was supposed to be at the hospital at 6am since I was being induced, but the nurse called to say they were full and there wasn't a place for me to have her so we had to wait. Brent and I went out for breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then came home and went back to bed. We called around 11 and they said there was a bed for me and to come on in. My epidural worked like a dream, and she was born around 3:00 that afternoon. Her labor was so very easy for me--I remember asking the doctor if I was pushing because I could feel NOTHING!!! She came so quickly, and she had so much hair that Brent and I laughed when she was delivered after 3 pushes. I'll never forget thinking when I saw her for the first time, "That's it? That's all I have to do to give birth to a baby monkey?!? Who knew it could be so easy?!?"
We have this tradition in our house to decorate with streamers and banners for everyone's birthday. It was progressed to the kids' rooms, too. I put the streamers up when the kids are sleeping. Daniel and I laughed as Hannah tried to get out of bed that morning. I told her that if she tore down even one streamer she couldn't have her presents. She managed to get out without tearing one down!
Love this girl so very much! She's truly a sweet young lady who loves God and sincerely wants to please Him. How thankful I am for her sensitive heart. She's always with me in the kitchen or at my crafting table asking what we can do together. She's always saying, "Mommy, can I do something to help you?" I am so challenged to spend more time with her, training her to be godly, and working to instill in her the principles she'll need to be a godly grown lady doing the Lord's will, wherever that may be! One sweet thing she said the other day while I was doing her hair..."Mommy, wouldn't it be fun if I lived really close to you when I grow up?!?" "I can't think of a better thing," I told her, "if that's what God wants!" Secretly I asked the Lord to give us that desire if He so wills.




Tuesday, February 10, 2009



I took this video of the kids during our family devotions last night. We're working with Sarah in hopes of training her to sit still for Sunday School a bit better. She LOVES to sing, and as you can clearly see, she has her Momma's coordination. I think she was getting dizzy about half way through. Father Abraham, I could understand, but who gets dizzy singing Deep and Wide?!? Only MY girl for sure!

Does anyone know what this is?!?

I saw this in our yard yesterday, and I'm quite puzzled by it! It looks strangely like grass, but it's been so long since we've seen grass in our yard that I'm not quite sure if that's what this is. It is over our septic tank so it would make sense that this would be the first place for grass to show up...but I'm just not sure! :-)

It's supposed to be in the mid 40's here today. We are far from spring yet here. We have at least 2-3 more months of snow, but the past few days of seeing snow melt instead of forming huge drifts is such a sweet thing!

Monday, February 09, 2009

Something we just don't get enough of anymore!


I loved the teeny tiny newborn baby stage of all of our children. Looking back now that it's gone, I loved it even more than I knew at the time! They were so snuggly and cuddly, never squirmy, always on the go, and constantly wanting down. We just don't get enough snuggle time with our baby these days. So when we do get it, we stop everything and soak it in. Sarah fell asleep on the way home from church yesterday, and let me tell you...she was OUT! I couldn't resist taking this picture because it is such a rare occurrence nowadays. Brent brought her in from the car and she was so content resting in her daddy's arms. It was such a reminder of when she was a newborn. Brent took each of them the first several nights and slept in our recliner with them sound asleep on his chest. She's grown so much since then...her entire body used to fit between Brent's arm and shoulder! Brent could tell I was getting antsy and wanting the special time with her, too, so he eventually gave her to me for my turn. I held her close and just smelled her sweet little head--every parent knows what I'm talking about--I hope to never, ever forget that precious scent of my babies!

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

If you give a 2 year old a cookie...

she'll smear it all over herself, the counter, the floor, your pant leg she held on to to steady herself as she struggled to get up on her red stool while holding, I mean, squooshing, her cookie between her fingers. And then she'll whine and whine until you pay attention to her...
and then while you have your back turned, she'll snatch a cookie that is cooling on the counter. And she'll have little to no regard that college students do not understand nor appreciate the humor in getting a half eaten cookie in a care package from their campus parents, no matter how good the rest of the remaining cookie tastes!and when you think it can't get any worse, she'll climb up on what is becoming your worst nightmare, that goofy little red stool that allows her to reach anything and everything on the counter which used to be the only safe place left in the house, and snatch the beater out of the kitchen sink and run downstairs before you can stop her to enjoy a snack while watching her favorite show Dora.

The moral of the story is...wait until naptime to try to bake cookies for the campus kids next time!

Monday, February 02, 2009

A new look for my sweet baby

When my mom was combing Sarah's hair recently she commented, "It's just like yours was! You'd comb it and the curls would just spring right back up!" I remember looking at my baby pictures and thinking, "Why didn't my mom do something with my hair?!?" Now I understand! Sarah's hair is really thin and curly...the perfect combination to make her always look disheveled! No matter what I do, it comes across scraggly...but it's so thin, going shorter won't work either. I'm just going to have to wait until it thickens up a bit. I did manage to get her hair up into pig tails yesterday and trim some bangs. I think it might be the best look yet. I'm sticking with this look until it thickens up...which for me was around 6th grade...think she'd mind sporting this do in upper elementary!?!

Sunday Pictures

I found these great coordinating/matching outfits online for an amazing price! They are very high end outfits--I only subscribe to their newsletters to give me ideas of things to sew for the girls--I have never purchased anything from them. However, when they sent me an email saying they were having a massive clearance sale, I went and checked them out, and I could not believe what I found! These dresses would have been $150 each, but I got them for less than I would paid for dresses at Walmart! I LOVE GREAT DEALS!!! And Daniel's sweater is coordinating so it's not too sweet for him yet. I asked him if he minded matching, and he said no. I'm going to take advantage of these times while he's still okay with it! I added a few extra pictures here so you can once again see the difference in personalities. Daniel and Hannah cooperating sweetly...Sarah's up to her normal shenanigans!

If you can't see it here, Sarah's contemplating how high the bench is and how quickly she can jump down, make a run for it, and get away from me! She's ready to spring now!This is probably the 4th or 5th attempt at a good picture...you can totally see that in Daniel's expression, too!