Goodbye...

... "old" church. You have served our church family well. While we're a little sad to say goodbye to you, tomorrow is our first Sunday in our brand new building, and we are ecstatic to be there, finally!

Catching up

I'm pretty sure I promised myself that I'd get better at this blogging thing. Nope. And no good excuses, really. So, sorry... but really, I think I am the only person who reads it anyway! And since it's mainly my way of recording family memories, let me just catch up since I last wrote.



Easter came early this year, and for us it was especially memorable. Jay's little sister, Stephanie, was baptized at her church. We had a long day, starting at our church for the 8:00 service, then we headed across town to Mt. Pleasant Baptist, where Stephanie is a member. It was sweet to be there and celebrate with her. She is 18 years old and will be leaving in the fall for college. The year that Jay and I met is the year she was born! She was five years old when she was the flower girl in our wedding. Wow.



After church, we all headed out to Jay's parents' house for a huge family lunch and Easter egg hunt for the kids. Full bellies, full baskets and full hearts... it was a great day.



I've mentioned before that our church is on the move... literally, we are moving a few miles down the road to a brand new building. Jay has been working extremely long hours for the past few months, preparing for the move, and now it's almost here. Only 10 more days before we have our first service in the new building... it's "crunch time" now, and the hours are getting longer and longer. Last night he wasn't home until 1:00 a.m.! Whew; I know he is exhausted and we'll all be so glad when all of the hard work is done. But for now, we know the work is totally worth it. This Sunday is our last Sunday in the old building. Better grab a few tissues on the way into the sanctuary; it's going to be an emotional one, for sure. Our sweet Reed was baptized in that building a few summers ago. Both of our boys have grown up and out of the nursery there. It was the site of my surprise Anniversary vow renewal 2 years ago (I'll have to write about that one day). Jay has portrayed Jesus in the last 3 Christmas pageants there, and Reed was on stage for his first "real part" in the pageant this past year. So many wonderful memories attached to that building. But, the church is more than the building... and we will make so many more memories in this new place. We are so very excited about the move. More to come later about that!



I'll write again soon(er)!

Happy Birthday, January babies!

So, in our family, we have to start saving some serious money right after Christmas, because there are eight birthdays from December 31st-January 28th! That is alot of cake and ice cream, not to mention gifts to buy! Included in that list are my sister (Jan. 3rd), my dad (Jan. 12th), my mom (Jan. 20th), and our youngest, Miles (Jan. 28th). We had a Sponge Bob birthday party here Sunday night for sweet Miles, who is now 5! In honor of him, a few things about Miles at age 5:

• One word: hilarious


• Energy, energy, energy... and one volume: loud!


• Generous, kind-hearted, a good friend


• Sweet, on-key singing voice


• Always up for a game of hide & seek


• Loves grandma's homemade mac & cheese, pizza, and strawberries


• Is well loved by his Sunday School teachers, Miss Dawn and Miss Marsha, who spoil him rotten on a weekly basis

I could go on and on about this sweet little one. God has blessed us with another fun boy to love, and I am so very glad he chose me to be Miles' mama. Happy birthday, sweet Miles!

Update

• Number of us who caught the stomach "bug" : 3
• Number of us who did not: 1
• Number of us who slept in the master bedroom, quarantined: 3
• Number of us who slept on the couch, to avoid above 3 of us : 1

There is good reason, I guess, why I can count on one hand the times he has been sick since we've been married. Lucky? Smart? He says he wills himself not to get sick. I tried pretty hard to will myself not to throw up just before I did Wednesday night, and every 30 minutes after, until 4:30 a.m. Didn't work so well. Yuk.

Here's to a vomit-free Sunday! Hope yours is great!

Pitiful

Ok, I really am just a pitiful blogger. I admit it. I have such good intentions of writing a cute post, along with great pictures, on a regular basis. Life just gets in the way, and before I know it, it's been almost a month since I've posted anything. Perhaps I have a New Year's resolution after all! Well, to catch up a little, here are a few thoughts from lately, and an update from my last post..

• Santa came through for the boys, big time. Reed got the Nintendo DS that he dreamed of, even though I had no intentions of getting it for him. Yeah for Nanny Judy! And Miles... remember that off-the-wall request for a toy robot, that I had never heard before he sat on Santa's lap? Without knowing he had asked for one, his Uncle Nick bought him a cool robot for Christmas. Score!



• I took Miles to the doctor this morning. He has been vomiting since yesterday at 4 a.m. Even though I was pretty positive it was only the same virus that has been circling our church, I wanted to be sure he wasn't getting dehydrated, since he hadn't been able to keep anything down in over 24 hrs. Well, surprise to me: he has strep. Again. No sore throat, but strep nonetheless. I remember getting strep throat pretty often as a teenager, and I recall a throat that felt like razor blades. So, it seems both of my boys have unfortunately inherited my susceptibility to strep, since Reed had it several times in 2007 as well. Anyway, Reed started complaining a little bit about his stomach hurting at about 6:00 this evening. It is now 7:09 and he has thrown up 5 times. Fun times here at our house. Pray for us. Pray that I can steer clear of that, even though I am smack dab in the middle of it all. Yuk.



• Reed has become quite the little chess player! I don't have any idea why he became interested in chess in the first place, but he has been learning with his Pop, and is very good. They love to play on Wednesdays when the boys are at Nannie and Pop's for the morning, and, shhhh! Reed wins. A lot. Pop has skills, though, and won today. Go Pop!



• Miles will be 5 at the end of this month. I'm afraid we're going to have to have a SpongeBob birthday party. He loves that stupid sponge, and I can't figure out why. Oh well, he is kinda cute. Last year we were in Disney World for his birthday, so I think we may have ruined him, as far as the celebrations go. How do you top Disney World? He did mention Hawaii, but did I mention Miles says some crazy stuff? He is funny.

Well, that's a rundown on our little corner of the world. I'll try to do better with posting, and hopefully it won't be February before I write again! Until next time...

Thanks, Santa

Dear Santa,

Thank you for saying just the right things yesterday when my boys and I visited you at the mall. Even though Miles talked non-stop in the line, boldly announcing to all within earshot that he was asking you for a Nintendo DS for Christmas, he froze once he finally got to sit on your lap and blurted out that he wanted a "toy robot". Huh? Never heard anything about a robot until that moment. Oops.

And Reed, who clearly does not believe in you, was trying to be very cool and stay with me while Miles made up things to ask you for. But you didn't take "no" for an answer and Reed ended up on your lap, confidently asking for his own DS.

I'm writing to thank you for your answer to them. You said it was awfully close to Christmas, and if you couldn't find those presents, would it be o.k. with them if you left a few surprises? Well, yes! Yes, it would be! Thanks for bailing me out, Santa. You rock.

Love,
Reed and Miles' mom

Christmas Tour of Homes

Welcome to our home! If by some small chance you aren't here by way of BooMama, then let me explain what this open house is all about. BooMama is hosting, for the second year, a virtual tour of bloggers' homes, all decked out for Christmas. I wasn't blogging last year at this time, but I enjoyed peeking into the beautiful homes of many of her blogging friends. So, this year, I'm welcoming you into my home. This first picture is the snowman wreath on my front door. He's the first one who will greet you when you come to the door. My friend, Syndi gave him to me a couple of years ago and I think he's cute, with his hat, mittens and scarf. Come on in!

Next is my dining room... you might guess that I really like snowmen! You will fiind them all over my home this time of year. This is a picture of my buffet with some of my collection of cute snowmen. This red wall of crosses in my dining room is also one of my favorite things in our home. The framed print directly below the largest cross in the middle says "Wise Men Still Adore Him"... love that one, too. The snowman picture frames have photos of our boys thru the years at Christmastime, and one of Jay and me from last Christmas.

Finally, we come into the family room and you'll see the Christmas tree. I have a smaller one with white lights in the dining room, but this one has colored lights. Jay and I agreed when we first got married that we would alternate lights, from colored to white every other year. My family always had white lights, his family always had multi-colored, so we thought we'd compromise and make it the best of both worlds. We've been married 12 years and this tree has always had multi-colored... oh well, the kids love it, and it does look pretty when it's all lit up, even though you can't see any lights in this picture! There is a mix of many different ornaments on this tree. Lots of snowmen, of course! One of my favorites is our newest addition to the tree. It is a beautiful sketch of our church building, on a pewter ornament. This is our last Christmas in our current building, as we are building a new church and should be in it by Spring of '08. We have so many good memories of the "old" building, and I love that we'll always have this special ornament to hang on our tree and remember with.

Well, our tour has come to an end... hope you'll stop by BooMama's and tour some other homes as well. Merry Christmas, everyone!

You've still got it, baby

Miles is 4 1/2. Miles is hilarious. Since this blog is mostly for me, I really wanted to write down some of his funny moments so I won't forget just how funny he is at this age.

For example, this past Sunday morning I asked both boys to go ahead and get in the car so we could leave for church. When I got in the car, Miles was up in the front seat, leaning forward and looking into the mirror. I asked what he was doing and he said he was making sure his hair looked good. I assured him that, yes, it looked good and told him to sit in his car seat. As he leaned back into his seat he said "Yep, I still got it". Oh yeah, baby, you've still got it.

Thankful...

...that's how I feel tonight. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we have so much to be thankful for. There are so many hurting around us, so much sadness and suffering just in our little corner of the world. We know personally of several marriages in crises, an unborn baby with a frightening diagnosis, a suicide attempt, death of a parent, bankruptcy. I almost feel guilty that our family and extended family are well, healthy, happy. Instead I give praise to Whom it is due:

"The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust Him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving." (Psalm 28:7)

And, I know that in a split second our good health and happiness can be taken away. So, I thank Him for the blessings of today and pray for strength and wisdom to face the days when I don't feel so very thankful.

Hope your Thanksgiving Day is fun and filled with all the good things you love!

Pumpkin Crisp

This is another one of my favorite fall recipes. This one though, is not so low-fat. But, it is crazy delicious, and I always get lots of compliments whenever I bring it somewhere to share. I found it in a Southern Living magazine a couple of years ago. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Crisp

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
1 (5 oz. ) can evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup melted butter

Stir together first five ingredients. Pour into 13 x 9" dish. Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture; sprinkle with pecans. Drizzle melted butter over pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown.

As you can see, I'm into yummy recipes that are also easy. This couldn't be much easier, and so good! Look for more yummy recipes at the Holiday Recipe Exchange at Overwhelmed with Joy's place. Happy holiday cooking!