I Have Moved...

to a new blog site. I am now at: www.momof2.wordpress.com

I hope you'll come visit me there!

Blessings to everyone!

Full of Laughs

My children make me laugh. A lot. I mean, the great big full belly laughs one gets from the most amusing incidents that happen in life. Of course, there are also the silly giggles that I get just watching them play. They make up the most interesting stories and songs I've ever heard. In fact, I don't even have to know what they are talking about, just watching them giggle is enough to make me laugh. It's true, we have a lot of fun around here.

One of the things my son thinks is great fun is to pull the lever on my computer desk chair while I'm typing away only to have it lowered quickly and startle me. I always jump and he just rolls on the floor with laughter. He keeps giggling as I continue to type from nearer the floor. I'm sure I look like a gremlin. LOL :) He's a hoot!

Benjamin is constantly saying and doing things to make us laugh. He's my clown. Rachel is no stranger to clown antics herself. She is a master at inventing silly stories and songs to make us laugh. She even makes up little plays and skits to display her silliness. I am truly blessed with wonderfully inventive and creative children. And they make me laugh!

Rachel's 5th Birthday Party

We had a blast at Chuck E. Cheese on Saturday! Rachel loved it and I thought I would share the PhotoShow I made.

Parenting

Sometimes after listening to my children tell me, "Mommy, you need to still wear a jacket. It's cold outside!" (from my almost-5-year-old daughter) or "Don't do that! I do it myself!" (from my almost-4-year-old son), I start to wonder who the parent really is...not that I'm really questioning this, but Good Grief! I don't know why it didn't occur to me that my children would "mother" me, but it really didn't.

My husband gets it even worse, I think. Only because my daughter thinks it is hilarious to put her fingerprints on Daddy's glasses and then tell him that he really needs to clean them. LOL Where does she get this impish behavior? I have no idea...it can't possibly be from my side of the family! And, oh yes, my son now thinks that he should shave his whiskers "like Daddy does". What?! You're not even 4 yet!

My son has taken to laughing what I have dubbed his ornery/evil laugh. It's truly hilarious! He likes to ride with his Grammie on the electric carts at Wal-mart (she broke her leg almost 6 years ago and after 8 surgeries on it, she still can't walk for any length of time) so he can "drive". He actually pushes her hands away with his elbows while "speeding" down the aisles. It's a wonder we haven't been throw out of our local Wal-mart, banned from ever coming back. I guess they know how often we go and how much we spend. I should buy stock!!!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I was in front of them at the store (mistake!) when I heard this sinister chuckling behind me. I turned around just in time to see my mother's worried face and my son's intense stare and slight smile as he was preparing to run in to me. At the last moment, he turned slightly, just enough to miss me. As he was going by me, he threw his head back and laughed his ornery/evil laugh. Such a character! I love it!

I actually prayed for an ornery, tender-hearted boy. God gave me EXACTLY what I prayed for (I'm sure He did so with a big smile on His face too!)

Rachel's Artwork

Synesthesia Challenge

This is so interesting! I got this off of my cousin's blog, so I thought I'd try it.

100%

Kathy & Chuck's Wedding

Atlanta Zoo 2008

Easter Egg Hunt 2008

Vacation's Over...Back to Reality (This is a long one!)

Well, we’re back. Vacation’s over and it’s back to the regular life. We came back to cool (but not cold – Yay!) weather which I was expecting cold, so that was a major plus. Thought you might enjoy some highlights of our trip:

We left on Good Friday. We made great time (left about 7:00am) arriving just north of Atlanta about 2:00pm. We felt good about where we were and what time we were going to make it in to Macon…until…due to some accidents and a lot of construction we were still in Atlanta at 4:00pm, so we decided to pull off and get some early supper/late lunch. We pulled back onto the highway about 7:00 or so after going some back roads to try to avoid traffic (MISTAKE!) and got into Macon at 8:00pm. Needless to say, we were exhausted! LOL It was an experience, but as I kept telling Joel that it’s better that it happened at the beginning of the trip than at the end.

Saturday morning we got up and went out to Joel’s parents’ church where they had an Easter egg hunt at their lake property. It was a gorgeous day and I even got a little sunburn. The kids got to jump in the Moonwalk, draw with chalk; they got to dig in the sand, we had a picnic lunch and then sang songs with all the other kids while the adults hid the Easter eggs. Benjamin got a lot of eggs, but Rachel won the huge inflatable rabbit, which we promptly deflated about 2 hours after we got back to Joel’s parents’ house. It is cruel to give a traveling family such a big creature. LOL Rachel keeps asking me when we’re going to inflate it again. Hmmmm…we’ll see.

Sunday was Easter and we had a relaxing day.

Tuesday we took the kids to the Atlanta Zoo. It was a beautiful but chilly morning when we went and we ended up getting half price tickets because they told us that some of the animals weren’t out due to the cold. However, we ended up seeing all the animals because it warmed up considerably. This was our first experience with the kids at a zoo. They were fascinated by the elephants and loved watching them get fed. They also enjoyed seeing the momma gorilla with the two little gorillas on her or under her. But when we got to see the big male gorilla, we all watched him quietly until my son said, “His bottom is NOT pretty!” And my daughter nodded her head and said, “His bottom is not handsome either!” That got several chuckles from around us.

They got to ride on the train that goes around the Petting Zoo portion of the zoo. Rachel wasn’t too enthusiastic about the smells! We went through a barn to get to the Petting Zoo area. Rachel made a face and said, “EEeeww! Somebody went in here!” Yes, well, that’s farm freshness for ya!

They enjoyed riding on the merry-go-round and when they saw the rock climbing wall, they just had to do it! Benjamin was having a hard time figuring out where to put his feet and hands without seeing everything when he discovered falling – that was his favorite part! He loved twisting and turning on that rope all the way to the ground. Rachel just sort of hung there looking around. I was proud of them just for trying and they seemed enthusiastic to do it again.

The rest of the week we just enjoyed the sites around town.

Friday morning we left for Orlando and got into the hotel shortly after 3:30pm. We were glad for the chance to rest before the rehearsal at 6:00pm. We got to FBC Sweetwater right at 6:00pm and watched as they went through the rehearsal. I learned that night that I was actually singing a solo with the choir (no problem! I knew the song), so I had to rehearse with the music minister without the choir briefly for that. We then enjoyed the rehearsal dinner and fellowship with the family and friends we hadn’t seen in so long. I was able to give Chuck and Kathy their wedding gift which they loved along with a card explaining how and what I had prayed for them and what the different colors in the afghan represented.

That was the first time I had ever met Chuck and he is just as wonderful as Kathy described. I am so thankful that the Lord provided him for her – how faithful God is!

Saturday, the wedding day, we got up early and hurried to the store to get a dress for me and one for Rachel. Yes, we had accidentally left dresses in Macon. But I really would’ve had to get a dress for me because I needed something pink and I didn’t have anything with me. I found the most beautiful dress on a clearance rack in the back corner of the store. It had been bought on the internet and returned and it was the only one like it. It fit perfectly! God was truly watching out for me and providing what I needed!

We arrived early for choir practice at 12:30pm and went over our songs. The whole service was just gorgeous! The choir actually sang as Kathy came down the aisle. It was the most worshipful wedding I have ever been to in my life aside from my own. We sang some really beautiful songs one of them, Thou, O Lord, (a Brooklyn Tabernacle song) I have not been able to get out of my mind. Here is a link Song if you want to hear it on YouTube actually being sung by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Kathy had 4 Bridesmaids, 4 Groomsmen, 4 Bride attendants and 4 Groom attendants. All the attendants were children and when we sang that song, they came down the aisle waving banners. It was really neat!

Sunday morning we left a beautiful, sunny and 85 degrees, Orlando, FL to travel back to Macon which was a rainy, cold 52 degrees. Yes, it was a slight shock to our system!

Monday we crashed and slept and then traveled home on Tuesday and then crashed again and slept. LOL We really had a great time and loved every minute of it.