Family

You know how some of your family members you love dearly, some you can only take so much of at one time, and some you just don't understand how you are related to? Maybe you feel you need a major vacation after a family reunion? I know we all have family like this, but I have never truly wished that I was not connected to a person or situation as I am right now. Never have I ever had one person cause so much widespread hurt among the people I love and call family. Please pray for all of my extended family right now, we are confused, we are hurt, we are crushed, and we have a long road ahead. We NEED God more than ever, I have faith He is carrying me right now, I cannot walk myself.

Christmas Lights

We had two great light outings this year. The zoo, a new one for us, was a long day but well worth it. We did both a daytime visit and night visit all in one day breaking it up with dinner at Cracker Barrel in between. Here we are at the lights at the zoo.
It was so cool, they had 4D short version of Polar Express at the zoo, I think this is my first 3D type experience and I know it was the girls' first time. The 4D experience was that the whole place smelled of yummy hot chocolate!

The youngest could go to the zoo and skip the live animals and go just for the merry-go-round!
We've never done this before, but happened to be there at the perfect time to buy some nectar and get to feed the parakeets. Red loved this and never freaked out even though one landed on her head!
Kelly was not as happy about the bird thing, since right after I took this picture, one sat on his head and then peed on his head! EWWWWWW!


The other lights outing was the Lights of the South. The biggest difference besides the lack of wild animals, was the hay ride instead of walking, and the fact that the night we went here, it was about 27 degrees!! Burrrrrrrrrrrr.........

They have hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights starting with the story and Jesus, then the kids' favorite characters and ending with Santa himself. We got to roast marshmallows over the open fire pits and drink hot chocolate and apple cider to try to warm ourselves.

Christmas Program

My sweet girl was in her very first Christmas program and Daddy was home to see it. Some of the angels sang more than others, but they all looked angelical! She choose to watch more of the program going on behind her more than participate, but Mommy and Daddy had a great time watching her.

On a side note: you should know that the angels are all 3 years old, and that they stood through the program was a great feat in itself, AND Mrs. Pat and Mrs. Alice said that this was the BEST year of angels, since no one took off their halos or wings until they were all finished.

Sara Groves

On December 15th, Kelly and I went to see Behold the Lamb of God, with Andrew Peterson, and best of ALL, Sara Groves. After I saw her at the MOPS convention, christian music is about all I listen to, so I was really excited to find out she was coming to Augusta. The concert started off with the 6 different musicians taking turns singing some of their own songs. Then the second half was Behold the Lamb of God, a story of Jesus from creation to His birth in songs. It was GREAT and I recommend that you go see it next year if they come to your town! I felt so star struck and a little silly, but very excited to actually get to speak to Sara on her way out of the convention center while Kelly was cd shopping; and I was brave enough to ask for a picture along with 2 or 3 others. Sara's music is so wonderful and you should check her out if you've not heard any of her songs. She has a great sound and an even better message in all of her songs. This is Sara's site that has her info: http://www.saragroves.com/ and you can get most of her cds from you local Christian book store.

1st Day of Pre-School

Well, I am not blogging in order, life is too crazy this year for me to really care! :)

My sweet blondy started preschool last month and she loves it! She only goes 3 days a week, but she is usually sad on the days she doesn't have school.

This is her excited for school, but she would prefer that Mommy DOES NOT take her picture! Too bad!

Now we are happy! If they would just open the doors!

Okay Mom, you may LEAVE! See ya later!
Plus, her patriotic selection of clothes granted her the job of flag holder on the first day, how great is that?!

MOPS Convention and Great Friends

Can you believe it, I went to Orlando AND Disney with no hubby or kids in sight! Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure to attend the Int. MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) Convention. We had such great praise and worship, great speakers, and best of all I spend the weekend with some great friends and my all time best friend from WA, she lives in OR now ;) .

Here we are Downtown Disney, Friday night to check out the sight and to shop for the poor family members not here (the kids)!
Yes, here you see 3 grown women on the tram to Disney. We were SO excited (okay, maybe it was just me) and no we DO NOT have the kids with us!
Yep, my girls are quite jealous of this one, us in front of the castle at Disney. They have no idea what all was involved, but they are convinced that I went in the castle and saw the princesses and they REALLY want to go now.
Okay, call me silly, call me crazy, but I had to have my pictures "flying" on Dumbo, what ya think?

Moments

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

Painful moments, TRUST GOD.

Every moment, THANK GOD.

My Baby Started School!!!!

Here she is, eating breakfast for her very first day of kindergarten. She was so excited!

On the front porch, with her backpack, all ready!

Look at her! She was so excited, just waiting for me to leave. My baby is in school! Oh my! She loves it so much. :)

Calling all those who pray!

Please take a moment or several to pray for my step mom, Chong Hwa. She was in a very bad car accident last night and the outlook is not very good. She is on life support and unconscious. The doctors fear that there will be brain damage if she does recover. Also, pray for my dad, Ray, who you can imagine having a hard time. Thank you.

All things are possible in God!

God Bless All you Mothers of Boys!

LOL! I'm serious! I am on day 3 of 5 for VBS at our church this week and I am helping out with the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. I am one of the ones that rotates to all of their classes of VBS and boy oh boy! They are a breath of fresh air from my own preschool age children, but they are a hand full!

I am amazed at their true kindness to each other at times and then the split second later, they are being crazy kids. At this age, it is very apparent that the girls are surpassing the boys in maturity and that has been a huge eye opener. Some of these boys are so sweet and truly respectful, but they just cannot help being boys. They are constantly moving and pushing and hitting each other (only in a way that boys that are friends can do, seeing as if girls did that to each other, someones feelings may get hurt), and they are unable to really focus on task without being reminded several times.

I have decided that I am a mother of girls through and through. And, though I may be singing the blues when the teenage years are here; right now, I am glad that I have girls. I don't think I would have the energy to keep up with boys! :)

So, for all of you moms out there with little toddler boys, or grade school age boys, and you manage to keep up with them (even if it's barely some days), YOU GO GIRL!

And, if you would all say a quick prayer for me, we have 2 days left! ;)

Zoo Fun

We had a great time hanging out as a family at the zoo a couple weeks ago. Seems like forever ago! We did all kinds of fun things, the girls rode ponies, fed the giraffes, and goats, and they even rode on the merry go round!

Family Pictures

We finally went to get our family pictures done, what a terrible experiance! The lady taking our pictures didn't even know what she was doing. Luckly, there was another lady who popped in every now and then and we got some decent shots.

Our new Angel

Here is our sweet new Angel. Prince, our other cat that we have had for a year, went missing a month ago. :( I was very sad, he was such a cool cat. My Mother asked when the obsession to always have a cat will go away for me, I guess never! I went out this last Sunday and got this adorable little girl cat I found in the paper. We named her Angel. She's so tiny! I think she will be a nice fit in our family, even Anya approves.

The BIG 3!!!

My swetie turned the big THREE!! She's quite the big girl. We celebrated at Chick Fil A, just like big sisters birthday, but with a couple less kids to minimize the confusion. She had a great time and loved the Mickey Mouse theme that she had picked out. It was a great day all around.