Awards

It was no surprise to us that you

"were caught demonstrating Creativity: Using your imagination to do something unique."

You truly are an artist!

So much creativity swimming inside that heart and head of yours!

We pray the Lord will continue to develop you in this area and are excited to see you use it for His glory!

 At the awards ceremony.

You got a Red Ribbon too!

You are in the Stomp Zone!

Mrs. Law says, "Chloe is a JOY to teach!"

He will not delay.

On repeat today.
Always by Tricia Brock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3YpY8bCWXI

My foes are many they rise against me
But I will hold my ground

I will not fear the war

I will not fear the storm

My help is on the way

My help is on the way



Oh my God, He will not delay

My refuge and strength always

I will not fear, His promise is true

My God will come through always

Always



Struggle surrounds me, chaos abounding

My soul will rest in You

I will not fear the war

I will not fear the storm

My help is on the way

My help is on the way



Oh my God, He will not delay

My refuge and strength always

I will not fear, His promise is true

My God will come through always

Always



I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord

I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord

I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord

I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord

From You Lord, From You Lord, From You Lord



Oh my God, He will not delay

My refuge and strength always

I will not fear, His promise is true

My God will come through always

Always



Oh my God, He will not delay

My refuge and strength always

I will not fear, His promise is true

My God will come through always

A Magical Weekend

Chloe and I were invited to celebrate a friend's 6th Birthday with her and her mom in Orlando, FL this past weekend.  (confession: I feel a little funny just typing that sentence.)

We were thrilled and overwhelmed by the offer...but of course we were happy to oblige!

We left on Friday morning and returned Monday night.  (the birthday celebration happened to line up perfectly with C's Fall Break at school)

I could go on and on about the weekends awesomeness...but words would not do it justice.

So here are a few nineteen pictures as an attempt:

 The girls' room

 The girls' Princess costumes

 Entering Epcot

 A picture with Daisy Duck

 Breakfast with Mary Poppins, Alice In Wonderland, The Mad Hatter, Pooh, and Tigger

 Outside the Nemo attraction

(we went here specifically to take pictures for Eli...it was tough, but someone had to do it)

 Jaycey and Chloe as we entered the Magic Kingdom

 All four of us in front of the castle

 Pixie Posing with Tink

 Before the Bippidi Boppidi Boutique

(Chloe and Jaycey)

 After the Bippidi Boppidi Boutique

(Rapunzel and Tiana)

 A Princess ride on a carousel

 Seeing herself for the first time after her Princess transformation

 Jaycey, Dawn, Chloe and Bud at the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Parade

 Completely exhausted from all the magic!

 Swimming at the pool

 Climbing and sliding down the Hippo (inflatable water slide)

As icing on the cake, Chloe lost her 5th tooth just before we boarded the plane back home!

Thank you Dawn and Jaycey for inviting us on your Birthday Celebration Trip...

Thank you Bud and Mi-mom for all your generosity through out the entire weekend.

I am sure these 4 girls will not soon forget how magical our time was!

2 years ago today...

Please go here to view what may be the cutest video ever.  Hard to believe only 2 years have past...yet he has changed so much.  We have watched it over and over and over again the past couple days.  But only tonight realized it was 2 years ago exactly that I posted it. FUN!

Chloe and I are off for a weekend getaway to celebrate her friend's birthday...
Palm trees, castles and mice might be involved.
The trip is a gift from the Lord.  An absolute gift.

Many, many, many pictures to come!

Turtle

Eli is all into 'squishy animals'.

They are a sticky plastic with little styrofoam balls inside.

The animals feel real-ish and he loves them.

As in... plays in the sink with them (as they are mostly sea creatures for obvious reasons) on a daily basis.

Sometimes more than once a day.

He is particular (surprise) about them. 

They can not have any carpet fuzz or hair on them.

They can not be 'dirty'.

I was out of town this past weekend and found a squishy sea turtle that I knew he would LOVE!

So I brought him home and I was not disappointed.

Meet Turdie.

Yep. That's his name.

Eli named him TURDIE.

The humor of this name is lost on Eli.
Because who actually says turtle "TUR - TLE." (emphasis on the second 't')
No. One.  That's who.
We all say TUR - DLE with the 'd' sound.
So 'Turdie' is a completely logical name for this animal, is it not?
How many times a day do I get to hear, "Mommy?  Where is Turdie?" or "I can't find my Turdie!" or "Look, Mommy! Turdie is floating in the sink!"

A. Lot. I'm telling you!
And each time I feel like a middle-schooler...because I want to giggle and cringe at the word 'turd'.

Side note:  This word is actually on my 'least favorite word' list.  I had a friend in high school that actually wrote it on my car window as a joke...because I disliked it that much....and now I get to use it on a daily basis in reference to a toy turtle.

Funny.  Life. Is. Funny.

Burt's 2011 (and a time warp to 2008)

We made the trek to Burt's Pumpkin Patch this past Sunday afternoon.

Our first visit was with Chloe when she was one and we have tried to make it most years since.

 These pumpkins are ginormous.

We did not come home with one of these.

 The kids are almost too big for the wheel barrow.

Kevin reminded Chloe of the year he was speeding around with her in the wheel barrow and hit a hole and sent her flying head/face first into the ground.

It is a much funnier story years later.

 I remember laying you in a basket of gourds as a 2 month old...

You. October 2008

 I remember attempting to prop you up on a pumpkin next to your sister...

You have always loved the tractors at Burt's.

Look how little you were!!  October 2008

Chloe picked out a chubby pumpkin,

while Eli picked a tall skinny one.

(with a twisty stem that he said looked like an angler fish)

*mental note: make sure that the pumpkins we pick can sit on their own...may need to prop this years pumpkins once they are carved...especially Eli's it's a bit topsy-turvy.

Music Monday

Fourteen years ago, Kevin and I were married.
I remember in the planning (all 14 weeks of it) it dawned on us that the Lord might like to be invited, like formally, invited.  So we made a point to invite Him, welcome Him, to not only our wedding, but our marriage.

A friend of ours was sitting in the sanctuary hours before the ceremony, praying for our day...I remember him telling us that angels were there...preparing for the ceremony.  It brought tears to my eyes then and still does.

I think the Lord likes to be invited to stuff.

I was reminded of this story last week as we attended the opening service of Gwinnett Church and sang this song.  It touched me deeply that they made a point to invite the Lord to their church.  It seems like the obvious thing to do, does it not?  But I have a hunch, that He may not always be at the top of the invite list...not purposely omitted...just not purposely included. May He always be the One we invite first.

Invite Him into your home.  Your relationships. Your crappy circumstances. Your messes.  Invite Him into the middle of it all.

We welcome You with praise...be welcomed in this place.

Here for You by Chris Tomlin

A Couple Weeks Ago...Boat Day

A couple weeks ago, we declared a Saturday 'Boat Day'.
It was inspired by the annual Dragon Boat Races that are hosted on Lake Lanier...we have always meant to go, but in our ten years here have never made it before this year. (boo.)

In honor of the festivities, we decided to make our own boats out of the recycling bin.  Thankfully we had forgotten it was Tuesday (recycling pick up day) for more than one Tuesday, so there were options.

Actually, we didn't need much to choose from...one box of Honey Nut Cheerios and Wheat Thins were enough...along with a twig and some wax paper...and crayons...oh...and duct tape.

 (that cupcake liner garland was from Chloe's birthday party...

I like it so much that I have left it up ever since)

Most of the fun was in the building.

Kevin is very gifted at making something out of nothing...

so our boats were very impressive.

There was a lag of a few days in our launch,

As we were pleasantly surprised by the magnitude of the Dragon Boat Races.

After spending the majority of our day at the festival, it was time for dinner and the bedtime routine.

 Life and it's busyness happened, but finally,

we hit the shores of Lake Lanier and bid adieu to our beloved boats.

 cute, huh?

 I think Chloe may have actually kissed her boat goodbye.

They were sea-worthy and floated for an unexpectedly long time.

We called it a tie and headed home for bed.

All three boats sailed peacefully off into the sunset.

Good times.