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.

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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.

Snow Daze

It's a nice frigid 22 degrees here in snowy Georgetown. We have reached 5 inches of snow since last night and we are supposed to get some more. Yay!

The kids went out to play and ended up "shoveling" snow. They came back in with their cheeks all nice and rosy. We stuck them in the bathtub to get them all warm. Tragedy struck though when Joel accidentally used Benjamin's shampoo to wash Rachel's hair. She's still lamenting over it - sobbing at the injustice! It's so unfair! And yes, her shampoo is pink and, of course, Benjamin's is not. Oh, the horror!

Some funnies

My kids are so funny and very competitive! They want so much to have what the other one has or they feel left out. Often times when we are riding in the car, one of them will point out something that is from looking out the window on their side of the car, so then we have to look for the same thing out the window on the other side of the car so that the other one sees some of the same things on their side. It can be exhausting! LOL Today it was horses. Rachel saw horses on her side and Benjamin was so upset because he didn't see any horses on his side. His lower lip was all stuck out and pouty. Just pitiful! LOL Well, I had to come up with something fast, so I spotted a really big and very elaborate stable out his window and pointed it out to him, "Look Benjamin! You have a pretty stable on your side." He was pleased.

Rachel scouted out her window for something that she could find to point out to trump his find. The only thing there was this spot where this old crumbly barn had been torn down and partially burned. She took a deep breath and stated, "Well, I have a big, uh...a big, uh...a big mess on my side." LOL!

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Funny thing happened on the way home from Bible study:
Due to the storms and cloudy, windy weather early in the morning, I was still expecting some more bad weather. We were driving slowly on a back road and I had just gotten done telling my mother what an overactive imagination my daughter has when I noticed how gray the clouds were.

Since my mother was driving, I was looking to my left. I suddenly noticed the sound of a train, so I start freaking out (just a little bit) and looking over my left shoulder, out the back window and the driver's side front. My mom was looking at me like I had lost my mind. I was just in the process of saying, "Mom, we should find a ditch to get in." because I could hear the train and it was getting louder. Because...

it was right next to my side of the car! DUH! Boy, did I feel silly. LOL I started laughing and turned to my mom and said, "What was I just telling you about my daughter's overactive imagination? I guess she comes by it naturally."

We had a good laugh!

Trouble is not a toy...

Trouble is not a toy...
I don't know what that means either...my daughter said that to me the other day and I have no idea what she was talking about but I thought it was really cute and funny.


Today the February Issue of HeartBeat Magazine is released. Come on by and check us out! Just click on the picture above to go to the HeartBeat website.

Have a blessed day!

My Sweet Daughter

Just a quick blog about how absolutely sweet my daughter can be! I asked her if she was done playing with her playdough (the foam kind that is non-staining) and if she needed help putting it away. She said that she needed some help and brought it to me to put on the lids. So, I watched her put it away on the hutch where we've been keeping it. A little while later I noticed that two of the six containers (3 of her's and 3 of Benjamin's make up the six total) were gone. I asked Rachel where they were and she held up her hands and said in her sweet little voice, "Well, David didn't have any so I took some up and put it in his room for him so he would have some to play with. I was just sharing, Momma." (David is my brother who is 35 and mentally handicapped) Now, isn't that just the sweetest?!!!

Laughing at Myself

Funny Pictures

Do you ever listen to yourself while you are saying something to your children or just after you've said something to your children? I did that the other day. I was trying to get my kids herded into the car and into their car seats and also get my mother's wheelchair in the car as well. Normally they are very good about holding on to my hands and watching where we are going. We look both ways...that whole bit, but not this day. They were so hyper and we were in a busy parking lot. They were skipping, jumping and singing at the top of their lungs. I was walking with them hand in hand out to the car (it's amazing that you can be sweating in 20 degree weather when you have to deal with your children). We got to the car and Benjamin rips his hand out of mine and starts twirling around in the next parking space. I was afraid that he was going to dart out in front of a car, so I urgently told him to come over to the car.

"Weeellll, I have to be Superman right now." he stated without looking at me and continuing his twirling and running around in circles.

"You just can't be Superman in a parking lot!" I laughed about this later thinking that if anyone had heard just that line, like walking into the middle of a conversation, it would've struck them funny, at least, it would've me! :)

My Princesses

Glitter Disney Graphics

I now know what it's like to have a princess ballerina roar like a tiger at me. Too funny!

The other day my daughter was playing dress up with some of her princess clothes. My son decided to be funny and dress up too. He was and is funny and even "bibbity-bobbity-booed" me with my daughter's wand (although I think it's actually a scepter from Beauty and the Beast, but it worked).

He's hysterical!

The Little Nasty

After we got home from church this morning, we had lunch and then put the kids down for a nap. I always make them take a nap on Sundays because they are cranky if they don't! :) Well, Rachel wanted me to tell her a story about the little nasty named Benjamin (my son's name!). I had told her a story a couple nights ago about a little girl who meets a troll who is a troll because he's mean and nasty which evidentially she equates with her brother. LOL So I did tell her about the mean and nasty troll whose name is Troll, not Benjamin, but he gets a new name when he becomes nice and kind - yes, you guessed it, Benjamin! Kids are so funny!

Christmas 2007

In the midst of a fog...Parenting is like Psychological Warfare

So last night my daughter, Rachel, woke me up about 2:00am telling me she was scared. I let her get inside the bed with me and snuggle. Normally she goes to sleep right away, but not last night.

Mental note to self: no more afternoon naps for Rachel!

After struggling to get comfortable, she finally settles in between Joel and me. Several minutes passed and she started to try to kick the covers down. She was apparently getting too warm for her taste. Joel prevented her from kicking the covers down stating that he was cold. "But Daddy! My feet are sweaty!" She started crying in frustration.

I moved her over on the other side of me, so that I was in the middle. We settled down to what I thought would be a quiet rest of the night. I don't know how much time had passed because I'd actually fallen asleep when I heard this small voice say, "Momma, my fingers aren't bony." The fact that I was asleep hindered me from replying right away. So she stated it again, more loudly this time, "Momma, my fingers aren't bony."

Through the fuzz of sleep in my mind came a thought, "You're right. They're perfect the way they are."

Satisfied with my answer, Rachel quieted down for minute. Enough time had passed for me to be on the edge of sleep once again, "No, they're not!" As if this thought needed more assurance in her mind.

My right eye popped open, startled. "You have beautiful little hands and fingers, Rachel."

"Yea, I do." Came her reply with a matter a fact sigh.

I heard a grunt, a snort and a chuckle from my husband beside me. I thought he'd been asleep, but he had quietly been listening to our conversation. "Deep ponderings for the middle of the night." He stated quietly, a smile in his voice and with that he rolled over. Within minutes he was asleep, softly snoring.

I waited expecting some sort of follow-up with this line of thought from my daughter. Hearing nothing, I began to drift into sleep once again. Again, I don't know exactly how much time had passed when I heard, "It looks like a horse."

"What?" I couldn't think. I was sure I hadn't heard correctly. Was she talking about her fingers again? I hoped not.

My daughter sighed impatiently, "The thing on the floor. It looks like a horse."

"Oh, okay." I replied. Good! It's not her fingers. Then a question formed in my mind, "What thing on the floor?" It might be a bug!

"That thing!" She replied, as if no other explanation was needed.

I couldn't stand it. I had to take a look. I got my glasses on and turned on the light, squinting at the general area of where her non-bony finger was pointing. I tried to focus on the small object. Relief flooded me when I realized it was a small part to one of her toys. I flipped off the light and tried to get comfortable.

A minute later Rachel said, "I have to go to the bathroom!"

I tried not to be irritated, but I was getting there quickly, "Okay, go ahead and go."

"I can't! I need the light on."

I reached up and turned on the light I had moments before flipped off. "There, now, please hurry!"

Happily scampering toward the bathroom, she cheerfully said, "Okay!"

I switched the light off once again and rolled over. Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, I realized my husband had a smile on his face. I sighed and asked him, "Are we being trained for the military or perhaps the CIA?"

He laughed, "You mean like training for psychological warfare?"

"Yes."

He laughed harder. "It feels like it, doesn't it?"

Maybe I should stop watching 'The Unit' or reruns of 'Alias' before bed.

Christmas Daze

All this past week as been a very busy one, as is normal for this time of year. Monday night, I went to my WMU (Women's Missionary Union) meeting. Tuesday night, my ladies' Bible study group went shopping for a family that we are helping for Christmas.

Wednesday night was church and the children's Christmas party. Rachel got a doll that drinks from a bottle that makes sound as she does. She named her Haddon Esther and we call her Esther. I have no idea how she came up with that name combination, but she did, all on her own. Benjamin got a truck that lights up and moves; however, it's gotten a lot of play time, so it's pretty much warn out now. Sad, but true!

Thursday afternoon we went to the Movie Tavern with Joel's work group for their Christmas party. We went to see Fred Claus, which is cute. The kids had a blast! We were supposed to go with the children's group at church to go through the KY Horse Park to see their lights, but we were just too tired by the time we got home.

Friday afternoon was my dad's work Christmas party. They had a Santa come in for the kids as well as face painting. Rachel was a Christmas butterfly and Benjamin was a tiger. As one shopper put it later that evening, he was in character. *Sigh* Boy, was he! Anyway, then that evening we went to pick out 2 gifts for a 5 and 6 yr old boy and girl respectively at the local toy store. I wanted the kids to go too and pick out the gifts for children their age, so they could understand the idea of giving. I was so proud of them. Rachel picked out a Dora Fairytale Doll and carried it around the store, put it up on the counter when we were ready to pay and looked up at me and said, "My girl will like the gift I picked out for her!" Benjamin did the same as he picked out a Sponge Bob watch and Sponge Bob paint set for the little boy. All was fine until we actually started to leave the store. Benjamin was not ready to go yet and started roaring at me, at Joel, at whoever was around him. Remember, he still had his face painted like a tiger. Hence the reason that the shopper stated that he was "in character".

Saturday afternoon Joel and I each got our hair cut and then finished some shopping at Wal-mart (always a fun experience during the Christmas season).

Now, tonight, we have their Children's Christmas Program - The Gift - at church. I'm looking forward to getting some good pictures out that one! One thing my kids do very well, well...okay, two things: ham it up and sing loud!

Thanksgiving 2007

Kiddie Korner

I am now writing the "Kiddie Korner" articles for an online magazine starting in the December 2007 issue. I am excited about this new venture. If you would like to check it out, please go to http://www.heartbeatthemagazine.com/ or see My Favorite Links and click on the HeartBeat Magazine link. Let me know what you think!

Not a Morning Person!

My daughter, Rachel, is NOT a morning person. It doesn't matter what time I wake her up or how I wake her up, unless she just wakes up herself, she is not ready so I have to decide whether it's worth it before waking her. She didn't use to be like this. When she was younger, you could wake her up however and whenever you wanted and she was always smiling. What happened? Sometimes I think we have skipped over childhood and gone directly to teenage years (as I stated in an earlier post).

Benjamin, my son, on the other hand, is as cheerful in the morning as he could be! It's freaky friday at my house everyday when morning comes around because my son used to be the opposite! He was the one who was grumpy and nothing could go right. *Sigh*

Anyway, I was dressing Rachel this morning. This is something that she knows how to do and usually does, but I woke her up and she was, "Too tired right now!" Everything I did was wrong and she was rubber baby which made it very hard to dress her. She wanted to be held but then I accidentally pulled her hair, setting her "off". It should have set her "on" because she was already "off" to begin with, but what do I know?!

I was trying to hurry and still have patience (hard for me!) at the same time. I finished dressing her and then dealt with her hair for a moment. I HATE that part in the morning (no pun intended)! She was crying and fussing and flopping down on the bed, so I thought I'd try to calm her down by holding her. I held her in my arms and looked down into her little face which had stopped crying. She was just looking at me with a slight scowl on her face as I talked quietly to her, telling her the things we were going to do today when all of the sudden she asked a question, "What color is your nose?"

WHAT?!!! How do you respond to that question? And not to mention that it completely breaks your train of thought! So I asked her, "What do you mean, what color is my nose?"

She heaved a big sigh, still scowling, "I mean, what color is your nose?" as she poked me on the tip of my nose with her little finger.

Puzzled, I replied, "Skin color."

"Oh."

And with that, she got up, smiled and went upstairs happily. Do you think that's her way of distracting me so I'll stop talking? Hmmmm...

November 2007 - Fall Family Fun

We took a trip just down the road to the Cardome Center yesterday. We did this last year about this time and got some really nice pictures of the kids. This year was the same and I thought I'd share some of the pictures with you all.

I entitled this one "Best Friends".

This next one I just love! Joel had knelt down to fix Benjamin's jacket and I got the picture of them once he was done - giving Benjamin a hug. I just love seeing Benjamin's little eye peeking from Joel's arm. You can see he has a smile on his face.

I got a couple of cute pictures of Rachel and Benjamin walking and running together down a path to the trail where we went walking.

We also went into the Japanese Garden area of the park and got some cute pictures there.

They had so much fun playing the rock garden and walking past the water fall. They enjoyed just running along the path. Kids are so easily amused sometimes. Although, put a camera in my hand and give me some time with my kids and I'm amused and just lovin' it!

Hope you've enjoyed seeing some of our Fall Fun!