Sweet Home Alabama

BLISS

2010-06-23T16:27:00.000-07:00

What a great Father's Day....

2010-06-21T06:36:00.001-07:00

This was our nutritious breakfast... the best strawberry cake E.V.E.R. from Edgar's bakery.
All the kiddos were in such shock that I would even utter the words, "Cake for breakfast" but they weren't going to give me a chance to change my mind either.

So, we had cake for breakfast.. not a bad way to start Father's day if you ask me!!

Following church we had lunch with some friends and then headed out to their place for some outdoor fun!

Daddy and the kids got to fish and mommy and baby got to watch and swing!

Sweet E caught her first fish and she was thrilled. BTW... she was the only one who caught a fish on Father's day.. the boys weren't too excited to be shown up by a girl.. but at the end of the day she's the one who caught the only fish of the day.

As a friend of mine once told me.. It's called fishing NOT catching :)

The Vintage Pearl: dad's day. [ a giveaway! ]

2010-06-18T06:15:00.000-07:00

The Vintage Pearl: dad's day. [ a giveaway! ]

A Great Start to Spring Break

2010-03-15T07:28:00.001-07:00

YUMMY!

So... one my son's had a friend sleep over b/c it's officially spring break and I thought we really needed to start it off right with some wonderful cinnamon rolls with cinnabon icing...

need I say more?????

My most ridiculous post EVER....

2010-03-10T07:10:00.000-08:00

So... here is my trash can..
you still with me??? I told you it was ridiculous :)

This morning I was sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor and I had to move the trash can into the dining room to clean and the top of the trash can was calling my name.

I should be grateful that my children don't leave their mess all over the house and they actually throw their junk away.. but when I saw the trash can top littered with yogurt and peanut butter I wasn't a happy camper. The picture doesn't do it justice.. I actually wiped some off before I decided to share it with you.. so this isn't nearly as bad as it was.. pre-picture!

Feel free to give me a good tongue lashing.. I know it's trivial.. but I guess I need more sleep b/c this one nearly pushed me over the edge this morning.

Oh and I forgot to mention that my precious daughter spilled my coffee all over the counter this morning.. another mess to clean up.

Some days I wish all I had to do was wake up and drink my coffee and have a lazy day.. not likely to happen with 4 kiddos in the house!

Alrighty... I feel so much better now just getting this off my chest.

Free 8 X 10 Canvas

2009-10-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

This will make an incredible holiday gift for the grandparents or Mom. You can check it out HERE

If you wanted to get a larger size, they are $55.00 off!

Thanks to For The Mommas for sharing this deal!

2009-10-07T06:15:00.000-07:00

What a great idea and easy to do!

I have a son who insists on taking his lunch to school and so this caught my eye! I like to put a note in his lunchbox so that he knows that I'm thinking about him during his day. This was an easy way to help a good cause!

Once you visit the site they have different lunch note designs that you can download to your computer and print for a unique and personal lunch note for your son or daughter! I chose one of the monster one's since it's close to Halloween!

Also, they offer a $1.00 off coupon for one Oscar Mayer lunchables lunch combinations with water! I don't send lunchables as part of my son's lunch but I might try this one since it looks healthier than your typical lunchable.

http://www.lunchnotepromise.com

Gavin's Baptism

2009-08-18T10:11:00.000-07:00

August 2, 2009

My oldest son made the most important decision of his life and this was his expression of his experience!

My husband and I couldn't have been more proud of our son as he took this huge step! We were with him every step of the way and praying him into the kingdom!

One child in and 3 more to go!

Baby Boy Has Arrived

2009-08-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

August 10, 2009
Baby Landon
8lb 9oz
21 1/4 inches

This was my biggest baby by far. He was an entire pound heavier that both of my older boys when they were born. I could tell he was going to be big and I even asked my doctor how big he thought he'd be and my doctor just said don't worry.. if you haven't had a 9 pounder before then you don't have anything to worry about... well.. he was wrong!!!

Sleeping so peacefully.. just before his brothers and sister arrived to visit.

Daddy was so happy that we all made it through the delivery without any complications and both Landon and I were doing fantastic!

This is Courtney/"CoCo"... our Labor and Delivery Nurse and she was fabulous.

My parents brought all the kiddos soon after I delivered and they were all so patient in waiting their turn to hold their new baby brother.

This was such a wonderful birthing experience and one I will cherish always. It's always bitter sweet when you know it's the last one.
However, I feel so blessed that the Lord has gifted our family with 4 beautiful and healthy children.
Now a new journey begins as we adjust to having a family of 6.

Our ever growing family!

2009-07-28T08:00:00.001-07:00

If you can believe it I've never done a maternity shoot despite having 3 children already.
So... since this is our last baby, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and go see a professional and have our family/maternity pictures taken.

I love this photographers work and can't wait to see what she'll do once the baby arrives.

36 Weeks and Counting

2009-07-23T06:32:00.000-07:00

If he only knew....

This is me at 36 weeks pregnant after my 8 year old son's birthday pool party! A friend of ours thought it would be hilarious to put a beach ball under my husband's shirt while we stood belly to "belly".

So, here we are and from the looks of things I am ready to pop. It won't be long and I'll be posting pictures of a newborn instead of me with my ridiculously huge belly.

The Nursery

2009-07-23T06:21:00.001-07:00

Baby Landon's Nursery

I covered the lamp shade.. added the striped fabric to the bottom of the curtain panels (which are lined and I found the pair for $17 at Old Time Pottery)

The blue frame and the "L" on the wall are from Hobby Lobby.. my favorite store!

The beginning of a ragamuffin garland that will go on the opposite wall over a small love seat.
I'll post pictures of that later.

I've been a busy bee...

2009-07-23T06:09:00.001-07:00

Before and After

I bought this desk on craigslist for my boys room.

I did some of the sanding but I have to give my husband the credit for most all of the work.

Because I'm pregnant my husband was so kind to sand and paint the desk and chair for me!

So... here's the end result. A very cute desk for the boys room. Now I just have to get them a computer that actually works and they'll be all set to go!

Our Beach Trip

2009-06-13T06:10:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful week at the beach!

These two are the hams of the family.

All 3 of my crew.

This was our last night at the beach so we decided to take a stroll down the beach after dinner and it was beautiful.
We are so blessed, especially during these tough times in our nation, to be able to take a week and devote to spending quality time with our family.

My Baby Bump

2009-04-28T06:01:00.000-07:00

Today I'm officially 24 weeks pregnant.
I made it past the halfway mark!
I'm feeling great and so excited about getting started on the nursery!

I've got some more searching to do for the perfect fabric for the crib bedding and I'm hoping to find it before my boys are out of school for the summer. Having to take 3 kiddos to the fabric store is not ideal for me and I'm sure they're bored out of their minds too.
Whenever my boys see Hobby Lobby they say, "Not Hobby Lobby AGAIN... please mom."

So, I've shared the picture of my baby bump now b/c I'm not so sure I'll be willing to post pictures come summer time when I won't be able to see my feet anymore. :)

I just praise God that things are going so smoothly and this baby boy is healthy and growing stronger everyday. Can't wait to meet him in August!

My couch is now complete

2009-04-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

The two pillows on the ends are the pillows that came with the couch when we bought it about 8 years ago. I've had the fabric for the other pillows for months and months but when I got pregnant I just didn't have the energy to sew. However, there's nothing like having guests over to your home that motivates you more to tie up some loose ends.

So, along with the sewing that I did for Emelia's party I also finished up the pillows that I've been wanting to add to the comfy sofa.

My Baby Turns 3

2009-04-21T06:53:00.001-07:00

She begged for an Ariel cake forever.. so a family friend who bakes cakes on the side made her this Ariel cake and she LOVED it!

We decorated cookies and they were the party favors.. well the ones that weren't eaten up as soon as they were decorated. I made crowns, flowers and princess shoes for the girls to decorate and I made cars, baseballs and footballs for the boys to decorate.

These are the aprons that the kids wore while decorating cookies.. I made them with their initial and they were able to take them home as party favors as well.

Having some fun decorating cookies!

Finally getting to open her presents!

One of her favorite gifts.. a pair of princess skates that she had to put on immediately.

This is her "embarrassed" face... she was a little embarrassed as we all sang Happy Birthday to her.

Blowing out the 3 candles on her Ariel cake.
She had a wonderful time with her family and friends.

Project I've Been Wanting To Try

2009-03-28T06:25:00.000-07:00

Crayon Rolls

Well.. one of my son's has a birthday party to go to for twin girls that are in his kindergarten class and so I thought this would be the perfect time to try out this project that I've been putting off for a while....

Skip to my Lou is the site where I found the idea and she lays it out in full detail. I hope the girls like these unique gifts and they don't have to share with each other because they each have their own.

Hormones are kickin' in....

2009-02-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

Today I'm officially 15 weeks pregnant!!

It's been a rough road up to this point but the hormones have officially taken over. Today "IT" happened again.

When I was pregnant with Emelia, my 3rd child, this happened but it happened a little further into my pregnancy. Wonder what "IT" is????

Well, "IT" was a tearful breakdown in the front seat of my mommy mobile. And of course it happened at the most inopportune time of the day. I was on the way to pick up my daughter from preschool and it happened.. a song of all things...

While driving the song "Cinderella" came on the radio and I completely LOST IT!!!

I was crying uncontrollably and was trying to come up with a good excuse to tell her teacher that was going to load my daughter up in the carpool line.. but my only excuse was HORMONES!

Those sneaky jokers took full advantage of me today and caught me completely off-guard.

With Emelia it was the Carrie Underwood song, "Don't forget to remember me" and with this baby it was Steven Curtis Chapman's song, "Cinderella".

I just had to share this b/c even though I am only showing a little... the arrival of the hormone take-over has made this pregnancy quite official.

10 Minutes to a Room You'll Love

2009-02-19T13:58:00.000-08:00

My friend the Nester has been doing mini makeovers for the past few Mondays by taking ordinary spaces in her home and in 10 minutes creating a completely new space. Of course I love this idea and have loved reading her posts. Well, this is my 10 minute makeover in my foyer.

Sorry there's no before picture to share but just use your imagination... there was nothing in this space.. very boring. This little niche grew from a desperate need of mine to organize my boys backpacks and jackets. Once they got home from school there was stuff EVERYWHERE!!

So, I took an ordinary shelf with hangers on it and simply painted it black and then took one of my many stars and painted it red and we now have one of my favorite places in the house.

Menu Planning

2009-01-19T08:56:00.000-08:00

Another one my favorite blogs to visit especially on Mondays is "I'm an Organizing Junkie" because she has Menu Planning Monday. She shares her menu for the week and then hundreds of people share what their menu is for the week.

It's full of different menu ideas.. it's always nice to see what other people are having for dinner and it helps me to get out of my menu rut. Sometimes there are also recipes included. Hope you find it as interesting as I do...

2009-01-04T15:46:00.000-08:00

My New Favorite HGTV Show

Paint-Over! With Jennifer Bertrand

I was bored on a Saturday night and decided to do some vegging in front of the TV and stumbled upon this great new show. This cute and bubbly designer has such great ideas and is very entertaining to watch! Maybe you'll find her as entertaining as I did... you should check it out!

Simple Yet Timeless Ornaments

2008-12-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

I saw what Kimba, A Soft Place to Land, did on her blog a few weeks ago with these wooden cut outs and card stock. I just fell in love with the idea of making something so simple yet so timeless.

I'm hoping my mother doesn't check my blog for a few days b/c then she'll be seeing one of the gifts that I made for her and my dad. Oh well, mom if you're reading this before Christmas then.. Merry Christmas to you.. early!! I made them for my in-laws as well.

They're not only affordable to make but also ornaments that will be treasured for years to come.

Christmas Open House

2008-12-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

Around the house @ Christmas time.

This little scene is situated on one side of the mantel.

This green star is by far one of my other most favorite finds at the thrift store.. love it and just so happens to be one of my most favorite colors as well.

This is my baby girl's stocking.. last year I took advantage of an after Christmas sale that a cute boutique had and got us all matching stockings with our names monogrammed on them.

This is an angel wreath that I purchased a few years ago... love the Christmas theme.

This is a special ornament that my mother gave me.. it's called a blessings basket and you write down your blessings and put them inside and then year after year you read your blessings to remind you to be appreciative of all that you have.

I absolutely love this metal G that I found at the Christmas village.. I painted it red and used it in my Christmas wreath, but you could repaint it any color and use it in any season to decorate. I just haven't done it yet!!

Has it been a whole year???

2008-12-15T17:42:00.000-08:00

Our beloved home

It's so hard to believe that it's been a full year since my grand idea to make my very own crunchy onion topping for my green bean casserole turned into a complete disaster.

This is all that remained from my iron skillet and my favorite rudolph oven mitt. The firemen put out the fire and decided to leave the charred mess on my outdoor table.. how nice of them, huh?

This time last year we were frantically moving out of our temporary hotel "home" and into a rental house wondering what Christmas would be like in a strange new place.

With such a wonderful, helpful and loving family our Christmas turned out to be an amazing time spent together... no matter whether we were at "home" or not.

As Christmas approaches I'm reminded that it's not about US anyway.. it's about focusing on Jesus and celebrating his arrival into this world. Because of His birth we who choose to believe have the incredible opportunity to accept Him as our Savior and live with Him forever one day.

Rejoice... our King is born!

Merry Christmas!

My Favorite Thrift Store "FIND"

2008-11-20T11:39:00.001-08:00

THE CHAIR

This has to be the cutest high chair that I've ever laid eyes on before.. and I was so lucky to have found it at the thrift store. I can't imagine who would ever have just given this away.. but you know the old saying.. "One person's trash is another's treasure" and this is such a treasure to me. It will be in the Gray family for generations to come.

My daughter absolutely loves it and sits in it all the time.. we have to take it from room to room so she can sit in her chair. I'm so glad that I didn't just walk by and leave it at the thrift store.

Bike Fun @ a birthday party

2008-11-15T15:02:00.000-08:00

We went to a friend's Bike birthday party. The kids decorated their bikes and she had the local fire department that was just down the street to come and lead us in our bike parade.

The kids thought it was loads of fun and they got to ride behind the fire truck on their bikes while all the neighbors came out to watch our parade... fun, fun, fun!!

2008-11-04T13:50:00.000-08:00

My Little Class President

Alright... I am so stinkin' proud of my son that I had to post the news on my blog. This precious child is in Kindergarten and is more like his father than he truly knows! (for those of you who know his father you know what I mean)

Well, because we are in an election "season" and there's so much talk about the candidates... there was an opportunity to teach our kids about politics and doing our part as citizens of this great country.

So, we decided to participate in a class project that was optional. Each member of Braydon's kindergarten class was given the chance to "run for class president". We worked on our poster over the weekend and we made bracelets from pipe cleaner and beads that reflected our school colors for each member of his class.

I'm not going to claim that our poster was the best or that the bracelets totally won over all of his classmates but I'm completely convinced that it is the extraordinary personality of my son that won him this "election".

By the way... he doesn't have a shy bone in his body. He knows more people in his school from just the few months that he's been there than his older brother knows and he's been there a whole school year ahead of Braydon.

I'll finish by just stating that I couldn't be more proud of my son for taking a chance and having the opportunity to experience a positive outcome.

Too Much??

2008-10-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

Alright, this is how my Saturday started out... yeah.. that would be my daughter playing peek-a-boo with me using her croissant. We are some Panera Bread lovin' fools.. well let me correct that statement... I AM A PANERA BREAD LOVIN' FOOL and my poor family is sometimes just along for the ride.

My husband had to go and give a few estimates before my son's soccer game so I was fully intending to head straight home and just chill out for a while. Well, wouldn't you know that I passed a yard sale sign on my way home and decided to stop.. which lead to a moving sale and then yet one more yard sale.. oh and my kids were super happy about all of that... but can they really complain with a DVD player in the van and a belly full of yummy panera bread??? I don't think so!

Then Braydon played soccer at noon with his team from last season as a fill in b/c one of their players was sick... Well, he was smokin' and scored the only 2 goals for his team and was even invited to stay for the "end of the season" party for a team that he wasn't even on. At the party they were giving out trophies and of course they didn't have one for Braydon b/c he's not even on the team but they gave him an "honorary" team member medal and he was super happy.

After the soccer game and party my sweet husband said, "Hey, honey why don't you go have some Mommy time and do a little shopping".. God love him.

Off I went fully intending to go to Target and TJ Maxx, BUT.. I made what was supposed to be a quick stop at the thirft store to just look at their furniture and this is what I ended up with...

So.. is it too much????

I'm divin' in

2008-10-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

Official member of the famous "Mistreatment" Club

Alright my Nester friend... this one's for you. I'm officially divin' in and becoming a member of the mistreament club. I've lived in my house for almost 6 1/2 years and have never done a single thing to my bathroom that is downstairs in the basement. It was hideous with its striped wallpaper and just bland overall appearance.

So.. when construction was going on in the house after the fire I decided that I was going to start stripping the wallpaper off and make some changes. How I wish I had taken before pictures b/c the wallpaper was awful.. I think I've mentioned that already. So in Jan/Feb of this year I began the painstakingly tedious task of removing the wallpaper.

BUT with life and children and living in a rental house that was 15 miles away... I didn't quite finish. Then at the end of March we were able to move back into our house so at that point I was more concerned with other areas of the house.. not to mention unpacking hundreds of boxes.

WELL... here I sit in late October and I am finally getting off my butt and finishing the bathroom in the basement. And I must give all the credit to my adorable and precious friend the Nester who has completely inspired me to make my home a place that I actually want to live in... thanks dear friend.

SO... here's my first official window "mistreatment"

Below is the shower curtain that's not complete yet but I had to add this picture b/c it's one of my most favorite fabric choices... and it was on sale (50% off) yippeee!

These next project isn't completed yet either but I'm needing some advice on color choice...

This is the boy's room and yes.. this is the way they left it last night b/c their mother was busy cleaning out the garage ALL day and so I had no idea of the devastation that awaited me when I climbed those stairs.

Anyway... back to color choices... they have lots of blue with splashes of red.. do you think this stripped blue fabric on the right blends into the wall too much?? Should I change it up since their other window treatment is the darker blue?? Any suggestions??

My Wooden Pumpkin

2008-10-25T05:26:00.001-07:00

My surprise!

Well, I walked out onto the front porch a couple of nights ago to water my mums and to plug in my pumpkins and I found this... my husband made me a pumpkin from an oak log that was bound for the firewood pile but my thoughtful and creative husband decided to make me this cute little wooden pumpkin.

My creative middle child

2008-10-22T06:12:00.001-07:00

Alright.. my middle child's name is Braydon and when he was a baby my husband gave him a nickname... Bray Bray.. well yesterday when he was having his snack after school he decided that while eating his pretzels he would spell out his nickname and this is what he came up with.. is that not the funniest thing you've ever seen??? a nickname spelled out with pretzels that my son so creatively crafted... this was too good not to share.

Boo At The Zoo

2008-10-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

Boo at the Zoo

Boo at the zoo was fun but we couldn't fully experience the whole thing b/c the price for the rides (haunted train, ghastly carousel, ghost roller ride & hay ride) and the Planet of the Apes Haunted House experience was just a little too costly for our family of 5.. bummer!

But it was a great excuse for the kiddos to get to wear their costumes and do a little trick-or-treating on a smaller scale.

Then there were some photo opps that created some memories with friends.

This had to have been the most voluptious Snow White character that I've ever met.. Emmie had to have her picture taken with her and I don't think Gilby really hated it too much!

We had dinner at our friends house before he headed to the zoo, so I took this chance to get a few pictures with my characters.. but my black spiderman didn't really feel like taking a picture b/c he was too upset that he couldn't play his friends DS before we left for our fun-filled evening.

Our cast of characters

A Must Have...

2008-10-17T06:39:00.001-07:00

This is a great magazine that Kraft sends out every season... Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer!

It's easy to sign up and receive these for free..

Go to: http://www.kraftfoods.com/share and simply sign up and they'll send one to you.

These magazines are full of great recipe ideas related to the current season. I've used them often and there recipes taste great. Some have lunch box ideas for the kids.. they have great snack ideas for when the kiddos get home from school too.

HALLOWEEN IDEAS

Included in the fall magazine last year were the cutest halloween food ideas.. just visit http://www.kraftfoods.com/halloween to find these ghoulish goodies.

Another bonus inside includes these coupons that come tucked inside the magazine. Not too bad, huh? I hope you give it a shot and see what you think. I look forward to my newest food and family arriving each season. It's a pleasant surprise when it shows up in my mailbox.

Girlfriends in God

2008-10-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a free devotional, Girlfriends in God, from Crosswalk.com.

I pray it blesses your heart today.

October 16, 2008

When I Am AfraidMary Southerland

Today's Truth"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV).

Friend to Friend

We do a lot of laundry at the Southerland house. There always seems to be a load in the washer that needs to go in the dryer, a load in the dryer that needs to be folded and a load of dirty laundry waiting to begin the process all over again. Sound familiar?
Our washer and dryer have numerous settings for everything from hand washables and fine delicates to cotton and permanent press. In an effort to raise responsible young adults, our children began doing their own laundry at a young age. However, there was a price to be paid for that lesson. After a few loads that yielded pink male underwear and sweaters shrunk to fit Barbie dolls, we decided to wash everything on one setting. Heaven help the man, woman or child who dares to change that setting.
When a life crisis comes, we generally have an automatic setting of fear and anxiety. The good news is that we can change that setting to peace and joy! How? By counting on God.

Count on God to be with you. We battle stress every day, but God is faithful and we can count on Him to be with us every step of the way. Worry is trying to fix tomorrow's problems with today's resources. My husband and I are flying to Charlotte, North Carolina. Dan booked the tickets and reserved seats for both of us. We have packed our suitcases and made every preparation we can think of. However, we really don't need any of those things...until we get on the plane. Grace is much the same. God gives grace in daily doses -- just when we need them.
Isaiah 43:2 When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you (NLT).

Count on God for direction. Life can easily spin out of control in a whirlwind of confusion. God offers direction and guidance through His word, through His people and through the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 32:8 I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you (NLT).

Count on God for provision. God goes before us in every area of life. Nothing that happens to us will ever surprise God. We must be careful to stay away from the scenario sickness of "What if". There are no "what ifs" when we choose to trust God for every need.
Isaiah 65:24 I will provide their needs before they ask. I will help them while they are still asking for help (NLT).

Count on God for protection. God will fight for us when we are attacked. When we follow God's agenda, God fights for us. When we follow our agenda, we are on our own.
Exodus 14:13 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still" (NIV).

I recently saw a bumper sticker that read, "If God is your Co-Pilot, switch seats!" Many of us have good reason to be afraid because we are sitting in the pilot seat of life, determined to be in control. Fear feeds stress. Stress thrives in an atmosphere of fear and doubt when our hand is on the steering wheel of life. We need to move over, surrender control to God and find the peace waiting in His hand.

Let's Pray

Father, my heart is filled with fear. It seems like I am drowning in the uncertainties of my life. Lord, help me to surrender my fears to You. Strengthen me to face each one and walk through it, knowing that You are with me. I choose to trust You and doubt my fears. I choose against stress and choose for peace. I choose You, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Now It's Your Turn
What fears are you facing today?
Make a list of your fears.
What step(s) do you need to take in order to find victory over those fears?
Surrender each one to the loving control of God as you pray, "I will fear no evil, for you are with me."
Burn the list as an offering of praise and thanksgiving to God's perfect peace enthroned in your life.
Read and memorize the following verses. When you are afraid, pray and speak these verses aloud:
Psalm 46: 1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (NIV).
Psalm 63: 7-8 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me (NIV).
Isaiah 42:16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them (NIV).

More From The Girls

The longer I live and walk with Christ, the more I experience the reality that God is the only one I can truly count on in life. He never lets me down. He never leaves me. He is always there when I cry out to Him. Fear was once a very familiar prison to me. Step-by-step, I began to realize just how faithful God is and that realization has changed my life. When you are afraid, He is your complete peace. Need encouragement? Check out the new MP3s now available!

My 3 Superheros

2008-10-15T15:55:00.001-07:00

So.. here's what we ended up doing today.. playing superhero! Aren't these capes so cute? They were a Christmas present last year. Such a big hit at our house. And YES those are sequins on Emelia's cape.. so fitting for a little girl with older brothers.. she really stands out now! The boys are starting to feel better so I guess the "bug" has been driven away from our house for now.. thank the Lord Almighty. It's no fun taking care of one sick child let alone 2.. praise God Emelia didn't catch it.

Newbie in town

2008-10-15T06:14:00.000-07:00

Well... it doesn't surprise me that as soon as I decide to dive into this blogging world that 2 of my 3 children catch a virus. It started on Saturday and has just yesterday(tues) spread from my middle child to my oldest!?!

I have to give a little background for those who don't know me.. last December 10th we had a kitchen fire that destroyed the kitchen and created soot and smoke damage throughout our house. Thank the Lord no one was injured and we all got out of the house in plenty of time. It wasn't the best timing considering having Christmas in a rental house for a family of 5.. but turned out to be a blessing b/c I got a brand new kitchen, new carpet and new paint. So, with a new palatte to work with I've been inspired to make my home a place that I actually enjoy living.

It's still a work in progress...