My Little Bell Ringer

Since I had a laptop in my possession for 24 hours, I figured I'd take advantage of it and post once more. I figured out how to transfer this picture from my cell phone to the blog so I thought I would share! They had a great time ringing the bell for an hour. Steve said when people were going to pass by without donating, she rang it even louder! Nothing like a five-year-old to "guilt" you into giving! Merry Christmas!

From the land of no technology...

My computer is sick with a virus. Steve took it away last Thursday and I have no clue when it will be back. So, I am without email, without blogs, without Facebook, without a way to charge my ipod (which is really interfering with my exercising), without online bill pay... You get the picture. My sister let me borrow her laptop today since I was having withdrawals, and I am playing a little catch-up. For the first few days, it was a bit of a blessing because I was able to get a good bit accomplished. But I have had enough of that and WANT MY COMPUTER BACK! :) By the way, AC told Santa that her mommy wanted a Macbook for Christmas. Do you think he'll deliver? I'm thinking not. So, here's to all of the fun Christmas posts that I'm missing...I hope to be back soon! And just in case it's not fixed before next week...MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU!!!

P.S. Steve and AC are ringing the Salvation Army bell at the mall this afternoon and guess who forgot to send the camera with them??? He just sent me a picture on my cell phone and it is adorable!


Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

Daddy's girl

Owen LOVES her daddy! When he comes home from work and she hears the door chime as it opens, she runs to the door yelling "Gaggy" (She cannot say daddy, so it is gaggy). She loves being outside and knows he will take her out as soon as he gets home (before the temperature dropped outside). Here is a little clip of her as she hears the door open. (She was saying "ga ga" when I filmed this but now we are to "gaggy"). It's actually a little more toned down than usual. But still cute and sweet! We think it is so funny that she looks like me but acts like Steve, and Anna Clare looks like Steve but acts like me!

Thanksgiving

Anna Clare at her Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast at the park

Playing the piano at Granddaddy's

Granddaddy got her a bow so she can be just like Daddy

My grandparents - June June and MeMa. They have been married for 66 years! She is 88 and he will be 88 on January 1st. They have 3 children, 10 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren!

MeMa and Anna Clare

We have our Thanksgiving meal at my grandparents' church because we have outgrown their house! This year, we all circled around them and the great-grandchildren as my dad read a letter that my June June had written for the occasion. It was very sweet and special. After we eat, the children play and play and play. It is one of Anna Clare's most treasured times because she gets to play with all of her cousins that she doesn't see very often. We were able to visit with LOTS of family in just a few short days and had 2 very good (and quiet) backseat passengers! A Wonderful Thanksgiving! Now on to the next thing...getting ready for Christmas!

Traveling Turkeys

We will load these 2 turkeys up tomorrow following Anna Clare's Thanksgiving feast at school to head out on our four day traveling Thanksgiving trek. We will spend each night in a different house in a different town in a different state. It is a hectic holiday for us but is so worth getting to see family members that we rarely see. We will be visiting with parents, siblings,aunts,uncles, cousins, and grandparents. I am especially excited about seeing my grandparents on Thanksgiving day. My grandmother turned 88 last week! I hope to get some good pictures and video of her with the girls. I am very blessed to have 3 of my grandparents still here with us! Hope your Thanksgiving is full of family, love, blessings, and most of all, thanks to our Father!



On a side note, this little one had her 18 month check-up this morning. She weighs 21 pounds, 9 ounces (which I think our doctor said was 10 to 12th percentile) and is 31 and 3/4 inches long (50th percentile). We are praying for a safe trip and a quiet trip...the latter being a tall order for an 18 month old!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever."
1 Chronicles 16:34

This I had to share!

I found this video on The Queen B's blog
and thought I'd share a little Thanksgiving fun! If you've never read her blog, check it out...she is hilarious! Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Steve's "Sermon"

Steve and I have a friend who is a pastor of a local church. He called Steve several months ago and asked him if he would be willing to speak at the 9:30 and 11:00 services on this particular Sunday since he would be out of town. Knowing that our friend considers everything with much prayer, he knew this was something God was leading him to do.

During all of the pre-election "hype", Steve found some scripture in Romans that really spoke to him and, long story short, this led him to Acts 10. God sent Peter, a Jew, to share the Gospel with Gentiles, an almost unheard of association.

Over the next few weeks, God revealed this scripture to both of us on more than one occasion. Because of this, Steve felt affirmed that God had chosen this for his message.

On Sunday, he spoke about prejudice...not racially, but more "prejudging" others when their views, opinions, personalities, or even appearances are different from ours. Obviously, this is not our job but is to be left to God. He said God had really convicted him (and me too through his message) about seeing people the way God sees them, which is so difficult to do sometimes. After all, aren't we called to be a witness to EVERYONE...not just to those with whom we relate? Finally, he talked about walls that we build when we judge people and the only way these walls can be broken down is through Christ. We have to ask Him for help.

I am thankful that God chose to use Steve in this small way and for the way he used this opportunity to humble both of us. I pray that I will be able to view people as who they are...children of God created in His image. Because I am human, I know I will fall. But by His grace, I can get back up and start again.

Raggedy Ann and her little pumpkin

Here are a few (late) Halloween pics. Thank you to our cousin Eb for letting us borrow the pumpkin costume. It was perfect!

Happy Fall!

Home Sweet Home

We are back from our mountain mini-vacation. We enjoyed beautiful weather and scenery and fun family time. The drive was a bit long for my idea of a vacation (I'm more of a two-hour beach drive vacation kind of girl)! Anna Clare was an excellent traveler, especially considering our portable DVD player blew a fuse less than an hour after we left the house! Owen did as well as a 17-month-old could do. We had a couple of hours of constant screaming, but we picked up a book on CD at Cracker Barrel that helped drown her out. Perhaps that's why she was screaming....


The Griswold's are off! (My sister wanted to ride with us, so we left the 3rd seat in and borrowed the luggage carrier!)



First of many, many stops



We are here!!! I think Owen heard someone say the words "car seat!"




A quick stop for a picture on the way up the mountain during our "family hike"



The waterfall at the top...halfway there!


My brother, Scott, my sister, Erin, and AC



The girls with my mom and my dad (the real Clark W. Griswold)


And the real highlight of the trip...


My brother, Dave got engaged to his girlfriend, Jaime! They went on their own hike (their hike was 13 miles compared to our two and a half mile). He asked her to marry him at the top of the mountain and she said "YES!" We love Jaime and could not be happier! They want to get married next fall in the mountains! Guess that beach trip will have to wait till the next year:)

We're Off To The Mountains!

We are packing up to head here...

We will be looking out at this...

I can see myself doing a lot of reading here...

especially on that back porch!



AC is most excited about this...

Not sure that she will be in there...

My goals are to...

*Sleep late
*Finish a book or 2
*Take a good Christmas card picture
*Enjoy family time...husband, children, parents, brothers, sister

We don't get to see my brothers too often and AC is super excited about spending some time with her uncles! If you don't mind, please pray for all of us to have a safe trip. Thanks!

A Little Fall Fun

Bike Riding 101

Time to say goodbye to those training wheels! Steve borrowed our neighbor's bike because his is smaller and easier to ride. Notice the smile has faded after a few frustrating tries.








She's just about got it licked! But just so you know...there was a certain clip of her in complete meltdown mode and kicking the bike after she fell crying, "Please don't put that on the blog!" I recall doing pretty much the same thing when my mom tried to teach me!

P is for Pitiful!

There are few things more pitiful than a sick child. OK, maybe a sick family! No, the kitchen fairy did not make a stop by our house this week. But the sick fairy came and unpacked her bags for a week long stay. Since last Wednesday, someone in our family has been sick in some form or fashion. Thankfully, I was hit the least and was not actually sick but just felt like a train had hit me and was completely energy zapped. I think I could have slept for 2 days straight. I didn't even make our bed for 2 days, and while I'm the first to admit that I am weak in the house cleaning department, I am OCD about making the bed every day. PRAISE THE LORD we are all better! Although we did miss one day of school, church, and Bible Study, I am definitely not complaining. It could have been a whole lot worse!


She is still not 100%,but improving. I did not pose her in these pictures. She is usually nonstop-on-the-go, but actually took it upon herself to seek refuge on the couch. She has the absolute worst diaper rash I have ever seen and literally shakes and screams when we change her. Talk about breaking a mama's heart. AC never had diaper rashes so this is a new experience. Thanks to Denise for introducing us to Resinol, which has helped a bunch. Although with this one, we had to resort to a prescription cream.


Owen accidentally headbutted Anna Clare in the mouth and when AC started crying, she instinctively went to hug her....sweet sisters!

And this is what we found when we were loading up for school this morning...







"Turkey" is one of his many nicknames for her!

If that won't make you smile and get your day off to a great start, what will? :)

For the Grandparents...

Still working on "Grandaddy"...that one's a bit of a challenge!

Swishy...Lost and Found

Swishy is AC's Kindergarten class pet. Every Friday someone gets to take Swishy for the weekend, journal about what goes on, and report back on Monday. Since school started, she gets in the car every Friday and tells me who got him. Last Friday was our turn.

After school, she informed me that Swishy said he wanted to go to the pet store to look at the other fish. So we did. Friday night was pretty uneventful. She played with him and we took a few pictures for the journal. Saturday morning, she and our neighbor took him all over the house and yard and had a great time. When I came home from a baby shower, I told her to get Swishy because he was going to a birthdy party with her. Guess what? No Swishy!

We looked EVERYWHERE! I mean, how do we lose the class pet...especially when we only had him for the weekend! She was in tears. Hysterical! Crying out, "I'm the worst kid ever!" Bless her heart! It really was pitiful. I assured her we would find him. We even prayed for Swishy's safe return. After the party, I continued to search with no luck. I was really starting to panic and did not want to have to tell her teacher on Monday that he wouldn't be coming back! How irresponsible does that look? My biggest fear was that Wilson, our Jack Russell, had devoured Swishy and we would find remnants all over the yard.

After AC missed out on taking him to the party, a football get together, and church on Sunday, my parents and sister came over to help. Erin saved the day! He was in the garage in the bottom of the stroller from being hauled all over the place Saturday morning. I have never been so happy to see a stuffed animal. Of course, Steve said I completely overreacted! Me? Never! Well, maybe a little. But it was important to her and I did not want to get "Slacker mom of the year" award. Swishy missed out on some fun stuff, but it made for a pretty interesting journal entry!

Confused and Conflicted

Not really. Well, maybe a little. When you ask her who she "goes for," she will tell you...

My Mama goes for Auburn.
My Daddy goes for Mississippi State (and Alabama).
My Papa and KK go for Alabama.

"But, who do you go for?" "I don't know."

She has Auburn crocs and Alabama crocs, an Auburn cheerleader outfit and an Alabama cheerleader outfit. Whatever she gets that is Auburn, my parents are right there to bring in the Tide. So, today, in honor of the grandparents, she wore Bama to school.

Speaking of football, there is a big game this weekend in the old "house divided." I better make sure that cowbell is hidden...

A Silent (or not so silent) Servant

Yesterday, as AC was telling me all about her day, she said, "Today, when we were cleaning up, (girl in class) dropped all of her crayons and I picked them all up for her. Mrs. C (her teacher) didn't see me do it, but tomorrow I'm going to tell her."

All I could think of was...Teachable Moment!

I tried to explain it by telling her that it was so great that she helped out a friend. But to tell the teacher about it would be like bragging. Jesus doesn't like us to brag about all the good things we do. He just wants us to help others without being asked and without having to receive credit. I think she got it.

Steve said when they were saying prayers last night as she was finishing up, she prayed, "And Dear Lord, please help me to remember to do something nice tomorrow and please help Mrs. C to notice." O.K., maybe she didn't quite get it, but at least she was honest!

Check out G.G.'s craftiness

Steve's mom made this window treatment for the girls' bathroom...

I LOVE the trim!

And she painted this canvas for the girls' hand prints...



I thought doing a 15-month-old's hand print would be next to impossible, but it actually went pretty smoothly and turned out to be adorable. Thanks, G.G. for sprucing up their bathroom!