Sunday, July 29, 2007

Great Weekend

This has been a great weekend! We had a wonderful visit with Mom and Grandmother, made some extra cash at the yard sale and Cullen's birthday party was a lot of fun. Cullen had the best day and got great gifts! Tuesday is his actual bday and we are going bowling and I have another surprise up my sleeve for my boy!
This weekend was jam packed and I am feeling the effects now and cannot wait to get in my bed! Once again, I am overwhelmed by the way the Lord provides for us in all ways. He has surrounded us with wonderful, supportive people and meets our needs in all sorts of ways we don't expect. He provided all Cullen's school supplies and clothes that I knew was going to be a strain to buy-He has provided all of them! He also provided a lawn mower! Ours broke last week and we found a great one at a yard sale and sold ours for the same price to someone who can fix it! Fabulous! He is reinforcing in my life how He is there and will give us what we need when we need it and it gives me hope.

Of course, not all our needs are financial. The Lord also showed me my sin today(everyday). Its so humbling to do something and feel so convicted about it later. I hate that feeling, but chastisement is a good thing. It gives you direction and helps you grow. I hate the feeling in the pit of my stomach and not resting well until I make it right, but whom the Lord loves He chastens. So there is comfort in it and all of that reminds me of why I discipline my own children. His design is perfect! Thank God for grace!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Simple Pleasures

Today was a good day. It didn't seem like it had the makings to be a good day, though. I had no car(it was in the shop for a minor repair), although sometimes its really nice to stay home all day! Just knowing I had to be at home made me do more fun things with the kids. Cully got to escape to Trussville with MiMi to look for more reasonable birthday presents. So, I had a couple of quiet, uninterrupted hours while Ansy slept(clean, balance my checkbook-nothing fun or crafty, but nice and quiet). Then I got my car back(YEA!!!) and made plans of how I'm going drive around tomorrow because cabin fever had set in. Trace went to a bible study tonight so Kim got to come over and hang out. That was nice, because we can talk the whole time and have fun with no TV or other distractions(the kids were in bed). Its good to have friendships like that.

Ooh, it is raining outside. Its making me sleepy and I can't let all that go to waste! I must retire to the bed and get rested up for the insane weekend ahead of me! We have family coming in for Cully's bday,3 birthday parties(one at my own house), a neighborhood yard sale(because I like stressing myself out and filling up every possible hour of an already hectic day)and shopping for bday and school. That's just my list, Trace has other obligations separate from me all day Saturday! Wish us luck! :)

Monday, July 23, 2007

Cullen's Birthday Wish List

Cullen's birthday is the 31st, but he's been making his birthday list for quite a while now. We have this list posted on our fridge. He wrote it, I translated it and now I want to share it because its funny, long and some of it is completely outrageous!

Slip-N-Slide
Roller skates
Cable for my tv in my room
XBox 360 for my room (we already have an XBox, just not in his room!)
Football game (XBox 360)
Soccer game (XBox 360)
My own computer for my room
My own refridgerator (Sounds like he's constructing his own "man-cave")
Videos
Playstation 3
Real Washing Machine for my room (my personal favorite!-but if anyone gets a new washer, its gonna be me!)
A stool to reach the washing machine (smart idea)
soccer ball (now, that we can do!)

Happy Birthday, Cully! You're such a funny little guy!! We love you!!!

Monday, July 16, 2007

Great Big God

Well, we survived Camp Cornerstone! My house barely survived! It seemed like everyday at noon I completely shut down for the rest of the day! Today, I surveyed the damage and got to work. We had a friend over to play with Cully, so that made it easier to clean. (I wasn't expected to be his playmate) Its amazing that having more children at the house=better housecleaning.

This weekend we moved Ansley back into her bedroom. We moved her in with Cully a few months ago because he was scared and wanted her in there. Now, he's sick of it(she cries) and he's ready to be a big boy(after all, he is starting Kindergarten next month) and have his own room again. She's really loving it too. I thought she might have to readjust, but she hasn't missed a beat! And I'm super excited because I can really girlify her room!! I decorated alot today, too(just call me Martha Stewart, Jr) so I rearranged her room, hung pictures and put little fairies on her wall. Very sweet-and girly! I say I was Martha-ish because I also redecorated our bathroom. We moved a cute wood table in front of the window in there, so I accessorized.

Now, onto the next project. We have an incredible opportunity to host the Little League World Series Banquet at our church this Thursday night. What does that mean? We will be feeding over 500 people in our gym! Wow!! This is an incredible outreach opportunity and its coming together nicely. We are not really experiencing any stress about pulling off such a huge event. Me and the ladies I am working with all have such a peace thus far in the planning. People have asked (and we've asked ourselves) where are they going to _________?(Fill in the blank-park, sit, eat, etc..) But the answer is the same, the Lord gave us this opportunity, so He will provide. I love having that confidence in our great, big God! That reminds me of a song our kids learned at CC last week-"Great Big God". Its been playing in my head all week! I love knowing that God is in control and there is nothing I can do to mess things up! There is such peace in knowing that! He's in control and He will use all situations to bring glory to Himself and will teach me things in the process, because He is so good, gracious, wise and loving. We truly serve a Mighty King!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Ever Seen A Miniature Cow?



Today at Camp Cornerstone we had live animals! It was a lot of fun! The sweet people at Shar-Itt Petting Farm brought out a goat, sheep, donkey and miniature cow! Notice in the picture that the cow is the same height as Ansley, who may be 2 ft tall! Very cute!


Here's Cullen and his best buddy Silas!




Ansley loved the animals, of course! She would have stayed out there all day and pet them!
This is a sheep she's petting, it looked alot like the goat. I thought it was a goat for most of the morning.

Cullen didn't pet them much, he's not a animal lover like our girl. Although he did try to feed the goat out of his hand, but once the goat came over Cully just put the grass on the ground and tried to tell the goat where it was! Oh well. I'm the same way about animals, I like them from a distance.

It was a fun day, and by the way, the only day it hasn't rained this week! The Lord has blessed our week!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Today

Today, Trace started his new job! He is very excited to be working again. Its a man thing. But, I am glad that he's glad to be working! This new job is such a blessing, due to all the missions limbo. This is something he can do while we are searching out missions opportunities, raising support or forever if he so chooses and we stay here. It doesn't offer insurance right now, so we are trusting that God will provide that as well by Sept.1- what else can we do, but trust?

Our tickets were purchased today for our upcoming trip to the UK. I'm getting pretty excited! I've always wanted to go there! This is a very humbling experience to see how the Lord has provided for this trip!

We had another excellent day at Camp Cornerstone, although I didn't take any pictures. Tomorrow I will because we will have live animals! I hope the kids will be as excited as I am! One thing I do know is that this week has wiped us out! I can see that the little ones would be tired because they keep them busy, but what's my excuse? Its only from 8-12, and I don't teach anything! I walk around, eat at the snack table, get on the computer, eat at the snack table, talk to friends, eat at the snack table... I will gain 10 pounds this week!!!!

I'm going to read a little (yes, read) and rest up for another exciting day tomorrow! Stay tuned...

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Camp Cornerstone is here!

Kingdom of Benjamin (2-3 yr olds)doing "Ring Around the Rosy"

This week is Camp Cornerstone- our church's version of VBS. It is a lot of fun, especially now that all the planning, worry and decision-making is over! Its been incredible to see so many people from the church come together and work so hard for this week! Can I just say I love our church?! God is so good, making everything come together! Now its smooth sailing through the week, as long as no one is injured or ill. Cullen and Ansley have had a blast- and we are all three worn out by noon, so after lunch we've all taken naps this week! Here's some pics so far-

Ansy paints a pretty picture

Cully with Clay Holmes-Helper for the Kingdom of Ephraim (notice the cool banner)

The men got up to demonstrate "true worship", or maybe just trying to learn the moves! They did great!
Thanks to everyone who has worked so hard and gave up so much time and energy not just this week, but for weeks leading up to it! Its all worth it for our children to hear the gospel and see it lived out in our covenant family!








Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Rambling on in the middle of the night

Today has been a good, productive day. This morning,Trace and I met with Rev. Tom Cheely, the Missions pastor at Briarwood. He is a lovely man, very friendly and full of knowledge! He seems to know every person, place and thing about missions! He was very encouraging to us today and imparted some great wisdom and insight for our chaotic existence. After that, we went back to the office and talked with Burt, Steve, Scott and Quinn about what we learned from Cheely. Then, we all went to eat lunch together at Pizza Hut.

I have done a lot of Camp Cornerstone stuff on and off today-that starts Monday morning! For those of you who don't know, Camp Cornerstone is our version of VBS. I really hope everyone has a great time, like in the past. I know the kids will, because we rented a "jumpy thing" and are having live animals one day. I'm excited, once I get past all the worry that I have forgotten to do something very important!

I was also able to clear out my paper stacks on my kitchen counter tonight. That is a source of much anxiety almost everyday, because it just sits there all messy and its a pile of important papers (bills) that I know I'll forget about along with pictures the kids colored, junk mail, papers I need to shred, etc... You get the picture. It just sounds stressful, doesn't it?

The kids and I went for a walk this evening. I always enjoy that, I love seeing their little legs run around and play! Cully was walking backwards and it was really funny to see Ansley imitate him! She's not quite as coordinated as him yet! She doesn't want to ride in a stroller anymore, so I don't get much exercise. That's ok, its still fun!

Well, we did a lot more productive stuff but I won't bore you anymore with details! Its 1:20am, and I know that I am rambling, but I'm not sure if I'm making a lot of sense. I shouldn't blog when I'm this tired! I need to be resting up for our big day tomorrow- Happy 4th of July!