The most wonderful time of the year....

I realize it has been a very long time since my last blog, but I'm just not good at keeping this thing up! I was thinking about some of the Christmas songs I've heard lately. "Jingle Bells", "Mary, Did You Know", and "Winter Wonderland" are just a few of my favs. But I thought about the song "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" today and kept asking myself, "Why is NOW the most wonderful time of the year? And is it really?" Don't get me wrong, I love the Christmas season! The parties, the school plays, the events to attend, the messages, the songs, all of it I love! But as a Christian, celebrating my Saviour's birth and life should be the most wonderful time ANY time of the year! Yes, I agree, that this season brings about nostalgia and fondness that we all love, but do I realize that it is because of the life Christ gave me, that I can even enjoy this season or any season for that matter? I'm guilty of saying things like, "Jesus is the best gift" to my kids and others, and while it is completely true, do I life that out and treasure Him as the BEST gift? I fall way short I'm afraid. I want to marvel at the fact that Almighty God would empty heaven of its BEST, and send Him for me, to be born, live, and die so that I might have my wretched life exchanged for HIS BEST LIFE!!! It blows my mind, and yet all I can do is praise HIM for it!

My family and I are beyond blessed. We are healthy, have plenty to eat, are well dressed, and have a comfortable home in which to live. We're spoiled indeed. We are so thankful for our friends and family. We have such a fantastic bunch of people in our lives that we love deeply. Our prayer for ourselves and all of you is that we each will truly treasure the gift of Jesus Christ, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the awesomeness of God our Father! Because of Jesus Christ, this and every time of the year is the most wonderful!

Merry Christmas! We love you all!

4th of July fun!

Summertime is the BEST time!!! We have loads of fun while the boys are out for summer break. Going to the pool, watching baseball games, eating ice cream, and get-togethers are some of our favorite summertime activities! Celebrating the 4th of July is another great get-together that we enjoy. We had friends and family over to enjoy a big cookout and lots of fun! The boys planned a water-balloon fight, the kids decorated tattoos on each other, and had fun with their sparklers! We all ate more than we should have, and topped our dinner off with super yummy banana splits! I love entertaining, and desire that all those who enter our home, feel at home! We had lots of fun watching the kids do what they do best.....be kiddies! Earlier in the week I spent time really pondering what it means to be "free". So many folks have given their lives so that my family and I can enjoy the liberties that we do. But I smiled every time I thought about the complete freedom I enjoy in Christ Jesus! Nothing is sweeter than being set free by the Creator, and Almighty God!

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

Summer Camping fun!

Ok, so it's been a while since I've blogged.....but with the end of the school year, and all the stuff to do to get ready for summer, I haven't had much free time. We did finally get to go camping this past week and boy did we have loads of fun! We always go camping with Mimi and Pappy, and whoever else in the family that can go. We headed up to Greenbrier Island campground last Thursday for a week long adventure. Our trip also coincided with Mason's 9th birthday! I can't believe he's nine! He's growing so fast, and this is his last year before double-digits!!!! He had a special day on Saturday with friends and family. We had a great dinner, all picked out by Mason. His menu consisted of grilled salmon, shrimp, and bbq ribs, with parsley potatoes, corn on the cob, and a big tossed salad. To finish the meal, we enjoyed ice cream with Aunt Sarah's chocolate cake with peanut butter cream frosting, also his request. Man, what a meal! Everything was great and we all had so much fun together! It's so nice to just get away and do a bunch of nothin' when you can.....I got some reading done, some sweet walks with the boys, lots of playin' and fishin' too! These are the times I pray my kids remember the most.....they may not be fancy, but our times together are so sweet because we love each other so much. We are greatly blessed! Just as it is written in Ecclesiastes 3:1, "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven-" We definitely enjoyed our time relaxing, playing, and in fellowship. Our prayer is that wherever we are, and whatever we're doing, that God would be glorified and honored in it all!

"Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Easter Celebrations

What a wonderful Easter weekend our family had! God is so very good to us in so many ways, not least of which is His merciful salvation to us through Jesus Christ our Lord! Hallelujah, what a Savior we serve! We kicked off our weekend with our lifegroup social at the Bailey barn on Saturday afternoon. All the kids enjoyed an egg hunt, playing with Mrs. Laura's 5-week old donkey, and running around in the warm sunshine. We all had a wonderful meal together, and afterwards, Mrs. Jennifer gathered all the kids to talk about the Resurrection of Jesus using the Resurrection Eggs. We are all so grateful that Jesus is alive indeed!!

When we got home that evening, after the boys got cleaned up, Jason and I gave them their Easter baskets. They love the Star Wars bobble heads they received, along with all the candy and other goodies. It's fun to "treat" your kids to some of their favorite things on special occasions!

Sunday morning, we woke up ready for a day of celebration and worship! Jason took some pixs of the boys in their new outfits....aren't they cute?!

Here they are give out over taking pictures....Typical.

Jason doesn't like it much when I match them up, but until they tell me they don't like it, I'm going to keep on! We enjoyed a great lunch with our friends Chad and Kristy Gay and their daughter Lainey. Then Sunday evening was our Easter Celebration service at church. It was packed!!! The worship time was so very sweet and such a blessing to my heart. I can't wait to get to heaven when we get to worship constantly, without worry of tiring, loosing our voices, or any other distractions, and most of all see my Jesus face to face!! I'm looking forward to going home, 'cause that's definitely where my heart is!

"I'm kind of homesick for a country; to which I've never been before..." (Beulah Land)

"This little piggy....."

Well, the girls and I were at it again. At Girls Night a couple of weeks ago, we decided we all needed pedicures before Easter, so being the organizer that I am, I called and booked us pedis at one of the newer salons on this side of town!

We all kept laughing at the "massage" chairs, how they would squeeze our thighs together, then poke and prod us till we all decided to just turn them off. Ginger, Jenny, Ally, Amy and I picked out some great colors for our toesies. Poor Amy ended up with a spot on her foot from all the pumice rubbing, that she had to have a band-aid! Yikes! Ginger had to leave afterwards to meet up with Andy at the ball field, while the rest of us loaded up into Ally's van and headed to Bruster's for ice cream! Super yumm! Allyson and I chose the turtle cheesecake ice cream, while Amy and Jenny satisfied their chocolate cravings with chocolate with Hershey's Special Dark ice cream. Whoa, that was all some sweet yummy goodness! We always have the BEST times when we're together! I am so thankful for my best friends, for who they are, and how God uses each of them in my life! I love you girlies! Until next time.........

"How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O prince's daughter" Song of Solomon 7:1

Girly Girls

It has been a looonnnggg time since the girls and I have been able to get together and enjoy time as best friends. Amy, Ginger, Allyson, and myself started the day out shopping. Jenny met up with us a little later.....(we missed you!) We were all looking for things like Easter outfits, shoes, jewelry, stuff for the kids, and anything else we thought we just couldn't live without. At 5pm Ginger and I had makeover appointments at the MAC counter. Amy and Ally finished shopping and met us there.

Here we are being "beautified". Sometimes, it's just a sweet treat to have someone else do your makeup, share tips, and walk away feeling pretty! I must say, I had the best false lashes on that evening....though they took some getting used to!

We all kept laughing because the MAC makeup artists asked us where we were headed for the evening, and when we told them we were just going to dinner when we left the mall, and they just looked at us kind of funny. Hey, a wild and crazy night for us moms sometimes just involves eating an entire meal without the kiddies! When we left the mall, we made our way to Cappacino's to meet up with Jenny for dinner. We were all starving, because it was 8:15, and we laughed again because we're all used to eating around 5:30 or so with our families. I know, we were really livin' on the edge!! We had a fabulous dinner complete with a fabulous dessert. We all laughed and giggled until our sides hurt, and my eyelashes were sticking together because my eyes were watering from all my laughing!!! We had a hoot, and can't wait for the opportunity to do it again.....hopefully sooner than later! I love you gals!

"A friend loves at all times..." Proverbs 17:17

Rockin' into the night....

Friday night we headed over to Scott and Renee Graham's house for some fun and fellowship with them and the Campbell family. The Pritchard's had to cancel because baby Evan was running a fever....poor Evan. We missed them being there!

Our boys have been looking forward to this night all week! They love playing with Cameron, Conner, and Clayton! The 12 of us devoured an entire medium sized Chick-Fil-A nugget tray and 2 trays of loaded cheese fries! Yummmmm!!! We also gorged on Amy's oooey-gooey chocolate butter cake, and my german chocolate upside down cake! Talk about sugar overload!!! But we needed our energy for playing Rock Band!!! The kids played all over the house while the adults pretended to be rock stars! It was soooo funny!!! We each took a turn at every instrument and vocals! It was a hoot! We absolutely love hangin' out with our friends! We laughed, reminisced, and had a great time! Terry decided that if he had a "Rock Band" at his house, he'd never leave! That's probably why we don't have one either! It is lots of fun though! Thanks Scott and Renee for having us over! We had a blast!!

Woo Hoo!!

Storm Trooper Conner and Batman Trent

Sweet Claire jammin' in her own way!

Gwen Stefani, I mean, Amy, singin' her song!

Scott jammin' and Renee kickin' it on the drums!

Scott beltin' out his tune. Look how serious Terry and Jason are!

"But the righteous sings and rejoices." Proverbs 29:6