O SO FUNNY!!!

Jacob In the Double Digits!!!

2011-07-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

Yes I am late but I finally have time to sit down and blog!!

My dear Jacob turned "10" last month. We had a BLOW OUT NINJA party! Activities included a water balloon fight, Pinata, hot dogs and birthday cake. I am not sure if you have ever tried to find any ninja birthday stuff but it is next to impossible. The NIGHT BEFORE the party we still did not know how we were going to decorate the cake when I ended up calling my sister, who bakes and makes her own fondant, for her recipe. Thankfully it turned out to be very easy but VERY MESSY!!! We had powered sugar and marshmallows EVERYWHERE! Both boys and I were rolling and cutting out ninjas and stars and swords. We had a blast. I hate I did not take any pictures but we were in such a hurry, we did not think of it and the camera would have been covered in sugar, lol. Jacob was excited "HE" made his cake.

Here are some of the pictures:

Listening to the rules for Water Balloon fight. Even our dog Boots was listening, lol.

Granny and Garrett

Everyone trying to pelt Jacob.

Micaylah going after Samantha, Love It!

Can you see the balloon bouncing off Johns back?

John David cooling off with a water balloon of his own.

I did not get good pics of the pinata but here is one.

The cake. Notice the candles. You light the first one and the rest catch from it. All but 2 lit. Pretty cool huh!

GIFTS:

Thanks for looking!!!

Happy Birthday Benjamin!

2011-03-27T00:12:00.000-07:00

It is one o'clock in the morning and I am at work thinking of my sweet Benjamin. Friday we had his Seventh Birthday party. I cannot believe how fast time flies. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. God has continued to provide everything we need. From the little things like having a few extra dollars for a Taco Bell dinner, to the most important things like a Pastor who will stand his ground and not shake on what is right, and friends that will support you when you think you cannot stand.

Here are a few pictures of the party.

Benjamin wanted a handcuff cake. So I made an attempt at a cake.

He wanted to "WEAR" his cake...

I ended up decorating a "backup" cake because I was worried about having enough for everyone to eat. Needless to say we had the whole extra cake left over. ( I do not think the boys were disappointed. LOL)

A few of the presents....

And of course money! I think he ended up with around $64. Not too bad.

Ice Skating!!!

2011-03-01T15:01:00.000-08:00

Last week we went Ice Skating for the first time in a VERY LONG time. Jacob had went for a birthday party a couple of months ago. Benjamin had never been. It had to have been more than 16 or 17 years for John and I.

I must say it was more fun than I expected. For $7 a person it was a great deal. On the second and fourth Fridays of the month the skating rink has a homeschool day from 12pm to 2:30pm. Admission includes skate rentals and a hotdog/ chips/ and drink lunch.

We were there to help celebrate a birthday (Happy Birthday, Donte!) so a lot of the kids from school were there. I think we are going to try to make it a semi-regular thing to do because of how much fun we all had.

Benjamin started out hugging the wall, but before long....

He had the hang of it!!

Jacob just jumped right in.

Alabama's Winter Wonderland!!

2011-01-10T14:50:00.000-08:00

Well, this has got to be the best winter we have had in Alabama since we moved here in 2002. The snow is absolutely beautiful!!! I must admit that when they were saying we were going to get 4-8 inches of snow or more, I did not believe them. When it started snowing last night and we had a good inch or more before we went to bed I was very excited to see what the morning would bring. To my delight, the morning was AMAZING! I have not seen this much snow in a very long time. The first thing I thought of was SNOW CREAM. The boys have never had it and we now have a good clean snow deep enough to make it with. I made so much, we sent some to our neighbors next door and across the street. Even with runny noses and coughs, we all played outside and had a blast. I even gave John the camera to take some pictures of me attempting to make a snow angel in the ice crusted snow and sledding down our neighbors yard. Okay, enough of my chatter and bring on the pictures!!

Christmas in Oklahoma

2010-12-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

We have just returned from Oklahoma where we had Christmas a little early this year. As always the boys get very excited when we get to go visit their cousins and this time was no exception. Benjamin started packing 2 days before we left and since he had to clean his room in order to get stuff to pack we let him! One of the major goals of this trip was to get my sister Alicia's wedding invitations made. I am glad to report that we did accomplish this. I was able to spend some time with my sisters and a friend I had not seen in a very long time. ( I actually used to babysit her and her sisters and since I just found out the youngest of the three is getting married and the middle one has TWO children, I was reminded of how young I no longer am(0:
Here are a few of the pics.

Benjamin's Baptism

2010-10-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Night, October 19, 2010, Benjamin was filled with the wonderful Gift of the Holy Ghost, and was Baptized. The service had turned the entire church into an altar call so we were sitting in the pew and praying when Ben came up to me and whispered, "Mom, do we just go up there and tell them we want to be baptized?" I explained to him that Pastor waits to baptize kids till they have gotten the Holy Ghost so he needed to pray and ask Jesus to fill him with the Holy Ghost. He said "I HAVE been praying!" I did not realize he had been sitting in the pew praying. I told him I would pray with him and we did for a minute but then he wanted to do it on his own. After watching him and seeing that he WAS serious and was trying to pray I suggested he go ask Brother Jeff ( the Sunday School Director) to pray with him. He really liked this idea so we went to where Bro. Jeff was at the front of the church and asked him to pray with Benjamin to receive the Holy Ghost. Several people started to pray with him, including Bro. Randy and Bro. Jordan, and it was not very long before my sweet baby was speaking in Tounges!! When he stopped, he quickly asked, "Can I get baptized now?" He was taken back and Brother Jeremy Baptized him. The grin on his face is like a million dollars. I was starting to wonder if it was the Holy Ghost or the fact he was in his favorite thing, WATER! HAHA. I got a few pictures of him praying afterward and then him getting baptized.

School Spirit!!

2010-10-17T00:58:00.000-07:00

This past week was dress up week for Cornerstone Christian Academy. There seemed to be a little more participation this year, although that may have something to do with having uniforms this year, haha. A lot of good ideas. Monday was Nerd Day and Tuesday was Famous Duos Day. I have not loaded the pictures from Wednesday or Thursday so I will post those later.
Here are a few from Monday, Nerd Day:

Our Principal Sis. Holly

Seniors Dez and Patrick

My Nerdy Boys

And Nerdy ME!

Here are a few of the cute Famous Duos:

Pebbles and BamBam

My David and Goliath

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf

An OREO Cookie and a Tall Glass of Milk!!

Wieght Loss Progress

2010-08-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

April 28th 2010, my life was given back to me. I know it sounds cheesy, but it is true. I had Gastric Bypass surgery. I have officially lost 65 pounds since then. I can only attempt to describe how much better I feel. My feet and knees no longer hurt, I can walk out to my car after work without having to stop halfway there, most of all, my boys can wrap their arms all the way around me when they give me a hug.

This picture was taken on April 4, 2010, Easter Sunday.

This picture was taken at ARC in the same outfit as above on July 8, 2010. Sorry about the quality of the picture it was taken with my husbands phone.

This picture was taken when we went to Oklahoma on July 15, 2010.

I have not had a chance to take a good current picture yet but I wanted to get this posted while I could so I will do my best to get a current picture up as soon as possible.

ARC 2010

2010-07-27T02:31:00.000-07:00

Here are Just a few of the pics we took during ARC this Year. ENJOY!

Benjamin's Birthday

2010-06-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

I was looking through some of my previous posts and realized I have not posted anything from Benjamin's birthday several months ago. He had an army party. John made a cake that looked like a battle field (minus the blood), and he set up an obstacle course in the back yard the kids were to do while we pelted them with water balloons. Brother Jeff and Sister Bridget came and helped us with the course and we think they had fun also. Toward the end while we were waiting on parents to come and pick up the kids, Graci and Lilly found the costumes in the boys room and decided to give them a try. Here are some of the pictures.

Here is the cake.

I used the video when Ben ran the course so I did not get any pictures of him, but here are some of the others.

Here is a picture of our helpers.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BENJAMIN, MOMMY LOVES YOU!!!!!!

Jacob is NINE!!

2010-06-13T01:13:00.000-07:00

Last week, my sweet Jacob turned nine years old. I can hardly believe the time has gone so quickly. We did not have a big party this year. Jacob just wanted to have a few friends over for a camping spend the night party. Gage, Jordan, and Salvador were the chosen few. the boys started off the party by finding a birds nest that had been knocked out of a tree in the back yard surrounded by 3 dead birds and 1 still alive. They then played hard, went whale fishing, had hot dogs and cake, made a campfire to roast marshmallows, then talked in the living room till 1:30am when they finally passed out. John set up the tent out back so they could sleep outside but a couple of the kids were a little scared so they all decided to just camp out in the living room. Gage was a hoot!! When Jacob asked who was having fun, he did not raise his hand and when Jacob asked him why Gage smiled and said "It is OPPOSITE day!!!" They all laughed as loud as they could then that became the motto of the night. At around midnight when John and I were trying to calm everyone down to get ready to go to sleep Gage hopped up on the couch and declared "I am nowhere close to going to sleep!!" He was right, he held on till 1:30am. Everyone stayed the whole night and we considered the party a BIG success!!

Here is the baby bird that was found.

The cake I made.

What was left of the cake.

Gage fishing for whales! (pretzel sticks dipped in peanut butter to catch whale or goldfish crackers.) They all really enjoys this.

Campfire and roasted Marshmallows, YUM!!

Jacobs big surprise was a pair of roller blades. We were quite surprised at how well he is already doing with them.

Fast trip to Oklahoma

2010-04-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a fast trip to Oklahoma and was able to squeeze in a little fun time with the family. The boys got to run a little at a park and then we all went to eat at a place called "Pops" on Route 66 by lake Arcadia. We all had fun the boys enjoyed looking at all the soda bottles in the windows and the giant soda bottle out front lit up when it got dark. I hate that the trip was so fast and the boys really miss their cousins and everyone a little more after they get to be with them but it was worth it to see them playing and having fun making good memories.
Playing by the river walk.
At "Pops" on Route 66.

Posting from my phone.

2010-03-11T16:31:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to try to see if I could do a normal post from my phone and at first I thought I could. Then I went to put in a pic and there was no bar to do that so I was a little disapointed. I still thought it was cool to be able to slip an important or profound thought in as soon as it came to me so I guess that is nice to know. I am ready now when it happens (please do not hold your breath hahaha). I apologize if there is a word that is missing an "o", my phone is very picky at when it chooses to actually place the letter when I press it.

Valentine Party!

2010-02-12T21:12:00.000-08:00

This year we had a contest at school to design a valentine box. The elementary kids were excited about it but the high school kids were not too thrilled about it till I announced that I would give 50 extra credit points to the kids in my class who did one, then they decided to join in. We were so surprised to find out how well they all did. Sister Wilbanks had to award a first, second, and third place winner (cash prizes) and 8 honorable mentions. We had a lot of fun the whole day and the kids really enjoyed the contest.

Benjamin made a rocket. (It looks more like a space shuttle but he was proud of it.)

Jacob made a bird house. John showed him how to make an origami bird with flapping wings.

Third place went to James and his Love Bug.

Second place went to Austyn and his robot.

First place went to Drew and the Titanic.

Here are some of the others.

And then there is mine, The Love Shack!!!

Hands ON Biology

2010-02-05T18:55:00.000-08:00

This past week in my Biology class we dissected pigs. Yes it sounds gross, but we had a lot of fun, and even learned a little while we did it, gasp!! My 10th and 11th graders had the opportunity to see the inside of a pig and they will ALWAYS remember it. It is moments like this when I am soooo glad I am there at Cornerstone Christian Acadamy helping to mold the minds of such wonderful kids. Just seeing the sparkle in thier eyes as they do things and watch the gears in there heads turn making school a not so bad place to be. Here are a few pics.

After looking at the pics and trying to decide which to post I decided to leave out the graphic ones for those who are weak in the tummy area.
I ordered the animals for a website called Home Science Tools. It is a fabulous site for anyone homeschooling or who wants to do some fun experiments with the kids. It has just about everything you need for science from chemistry supplies and chemicals to animals for dissecting. I highly recommend them.

My Little Artists.

2010-01-23T02:02:00.000-08:00

For Christmas I was stumped at what to do for Johns mom for a present and then after going to my painting class I decided to host a painting class of my own with my sweet boys as the students. I was all set up with everything we needed and we had a blast. I created a picture on the computer of what we were going to paint and we went for it. I wanted it to be a structured thing where i would show them a step and then they would do it themselves. Well, it did not quite go that way. Both of my boys LOVE art and ANY kind of project, so when the brushes hit the first color, there was no stopping them.

When I told them to sign their paintings, boy did they. It looks as if Benjamin turned his upside down to write his name but he did not. He DELIBERATELY signed his name upside down AND backwards. Of course the OCD in me wanted to make him start over but John would not let me. I guess it is kinda cute and it definitely shows his little personality.

Granny, of course loved them on Christmas morning!!!

Christmas Time!!!

2009-12-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

Finally got a chance to take pictures of the boys for Christmas cards. I hope I will be able to get cards done soon so they will be mailed in time for Christmas. Here are a couple of the pics.

Me, An Artist!!!!

2009-10-30T23:39:00.000-07:00

I went to a little place this past thursday with a group of friends from work to a place named ARTBUZZ! We had the best time. You get there and the instructor has everything you need to paint a picture. She takes you through step by step to making a very nice painting. We had a lot of fun just getting out of the house to spend time with friends. Christina, Kara, LeAnne, and myself had so much fun we are going to try to make it a once a month thing for girls night out. We are hoping more of our work buddies will be able to make it next time. Here are a couple of pics from the night.

This is one of LeAnne and I just getting started.

Christina and Kara making some progress.

Only 2 hours later our project was complete I must say we ALL did a good Job!

Group Picture!!!

Random Pictures!

2009-09-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would load up some random pictures I have taken lately. The first couple are family pics from our trip. They were taken in Arkansas at the Mid-America Museum. I wish I had more pictures of us all together but I guess you get what you can.

Now here are some pics I took of random things in the yard. The first is a pic of a Praying Mantis on our rose bush out front that John bought during the beginning of summer. The bush puts out Very Pretty roses and there have been a lot of Praying Mantis's out at the house this summer and fall so far. The other two are just pics of some of the roses that had bloomed on the bush. The last one is a picture of the sunset that I just happened to think was pretty one night I was driving to work. It all makes me smile and think of the beauty God has created all around us and how so much of it is taken for granted. We sometimes need to take the time to just smell the roses.

Hope You Enjoy!!!!

My FireFighter Husband!!!

2009-09-12T22:55:00.000-07:00

I am not sure if everyone knows, but John is a Volunteer FireFighter for our town, Fairview, AL. They are given a radio that they keep with them at the times when it is possible for them to go and assist with fires and car wrecks. John has also taken several classes that has allowed him to become a Certified First Responder for medical calls. The radio thing takes A LOT to get used to, especially when it goes off at 2am. It gets even worse when you remember that you are not getting paid for it. There are also times, like just recently, when someone wants to do a controlled burn or wants to burn something big that they call the fire department and they go and do it for them. A couple of weeks ago someone wanted to burn down an old mobile home and John and another volunteer, Harry Knight, went out to do it. The boys really wanted to go watch Daddy burn something so we went out for a little bit and I was able to snap some pictures while we were there. Here are a few of them.

I just wanted to take the time to talk about my wonderful husband! He works very hard and is a blessing in my life and in the lives of our two terrific boys. We are very thankful that we have each other and are looking forward to all that God has in store for our lives!!!!

More of Oklahoma!

2009-08-29T01:23:00.000-07:00

I did not expect it to take so long to post again but at least it was a little faster than past posts. Here are a couple more pics from our trip to Oklahoma. We went to the Wichita Mountains with my sister Alicia and my nephews Zach and Alex. We all had a TERRIFIC time!! If you have never been there, it is in Lawton, Oklahoma. You can see the highest mountain, Mt. Scott, from a while away, it is almost 1000 ft. Now I know if you are from just about anywhere but Oklahoma you are laughing pretty hard right now at me calling that a mountain but trust me, in Oklahoma that is pretty big! LOL! Okay now, on the way in Zach, my oldest nephew, was very adament about wanting to climb it so John took both Zach and Jacob to clib it. It took them longer than John anticipated but the did it. We were very proud of the boys, they did great! The mountain behind them is Mt. Scott.

I hate that I do not have the picture if them at the top of the mountain but maybe I can ammend later. Since Alex has asthma and we did not have an inhaler, Alicia and I took Ben and Alex to climb Little Baldy, a very little mountain but to them it was big enough! Little Baldy is behind them in the picture.

While we were there we also went fishing. Everyone caught fish, that were fishing. By the end of the day we were ALL sunburned and VERY TIRED! But it was all well worth it.

I'm Back!!!!!!

2009-08-07T02:16:00.000-07:00

It has been way to long since Ihave updated my blog but I promise to do better in the near future. We just got back from a trip to Oklahoma visiting family. We all stayed very busy and had a great time!! One of the first things we did was take my nephews fishing. I was off taking pictures of Benjamin chasing geese so I missed Alex's fish (the first catch). But I did get Zach's picture and then some of the boys by the water.

We also went to the Science Museum of Oklahoma (formerly known as the Omniplex). EVERYONE had a great time there!! They had a "Science Live" show that was basically blowing things up and playing with fire, cool huh? The host was very funny, the boys, and John, mimic his "DUST OF DOOM" routine still. We watched an Ocean show in the omni-dome theatre, which is a huge circular screen that makes you feel like you are actually in the film, in our case it was the ocean, very cool! I also got pics of the boys in the same spot in the gardens that we took some about 6 years ago. I cannot wait to scrapbook the two together.

I am going to make this a "to be continued" so I do not overload my home computer if I get the chance to work on it there (dial up internet). I promise it will not be to long of a wait!!!

Benjamin is FIVE!!!!!

2009-04-01T14:12:00.000-07:00

My sweet baby Benjamin turned 5 on March 27th. I wanted to have a birthday party that was inexpensive yet the kids would enjoy. A friend of mine told me about having a birthday party with the Fire Department. She explained that they gave the kids a tour of the Fire Station and let them look at and play on a truck. I thought it was a good idea and decided to give the Fire Department a call. It turned out it was a go and they ended up having a wonderful time.

Here is a picture of the group in front of one of the Fire Trucks.

Here is a picture of the Fire Fighter talking to the group about the new Fire Truck. I think John was having just as much fun if not more that the kids were.
After the talk the Fire Fighter took the kids around the truck and showed them the things that they have on the truck such as the "JAWS OF LIFE" and some really big scissors that are used to rescue people who get stuck in car accidents. Then they let the kids climb in the cab of the truck to try on the headsets and sit in the seats to pretend they were going to go fight a fire. They had a blast.

Finally they let the kids try on the outfit and try to walk around.

When we left the Fire Station we went to Heritage Park for cake and the playground. On the way to the Fire Station I realized, the good picture taking mom that I am, that I forgot a camera. I used my cell phone to take pictures at the Fire Department and by the time we got to the park, my cell phone battery died and I was unable to take a picture of his fire birthday cake. Everyone had a good time and the party only cost me the cost of the cake. Pretty good don't you think?

Bible Quizzing at Cornerstone

2009-03-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that it has been over 2 months since I last posted. I am so embarrassed!!!! I have not been the good mother that takes pictures of everything lately. I have been the busy mother that just wants to rest when she gets home. Anyways, Last month I was able to go with the quizzers to the tournament in Bessemer, Al. and had a great time. I have since been recruited to help, thanks Sis. Kimmie. I am really proud of both the Junior quizzers, of whom Jacob is a part of, and the Senior Quizzers.
The junior quizzers had two teams, Cornerstone 1 and Cornerstone 2.
Cornerstone 2 took Second place, this team included Michayla, Austin, Jacob, Brookelyn, and Makinzie:

______________

Cornerstone 1 took First place, this team included Tyler, Garrett, Anthony, and Tommy:

______________

The Senior Quizzers also did a fantastic job taking First Place. This team included Rebekah, Drake, Louis, Preston, Caila, and Brittany.

We were not able to participate in this months tournament but are looking forward to the next one. GO CORNERSTONE!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Morning

2009-01-06T18:37:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would post a couple of pictures from Christmas morning.
The boys (all THREE of them) actually talked me into letting them open up the Wii on Christmas Eve. Last year we started a new tradition by letting the boys open up one present (which will always happen to be PJs). So here is a picture of that.

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This next one is when they woke up that morning. I thought they would sleep late because I let them open and play with the Wii, the one thing they knew about and were dying to play. I asked John if we should put things out before we went to sleep or just wait until he woke up to do it (he usually wakes up about 4:30am). He said to just wait, we were tired. To our surprise, at 5:10am, we were still in bed, Jacob was awake and asking if he could come sleep with us. We told him no and sent him to his bedroom to go back to sleep. John went into the room with him to let me start putting things out, after about 10 min, John said Jacob was not going back to sleep and we just had to hurry and put everything out. We did have to wake up Benjamin.

___________

The last two pictures are reactions from opening presents. Jacob had just opened a Diego game for his DS (he just got the DS that morning). Benjamin had just pulled out a tube of mini M&M's from his stocking.

__ __

By 7:00am Everyone was fed and ready to play. We spent the evening with a lot of our Church Family and had a wonderful time. We had a Blessed Christmas!

Making COOKIES!!!

2008-12-22T15:55:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to give cookie making with the boys a try. I bought a gingerbread cake mix that had directions for turning it into cookie dough also on it. I do not think the actual cookie tastes to great but the boys did a good job decorating them. We had a lot of fun. I even went out on a limb and let them form the little men. Here are some of the pictures.

Christmas Card Pictures

2008-12-11T07:54:00.001-08:00

I had been worried that I would not be able to get a good picture to send out with Christmas cards but while we were in Oklahoma the boys got to sit on Santa's lap for the first time. We do not really try to make the boys think Santa is real. With Jacob, we explained that a long time ago there was a guy that wanted to do something nice for children that did not have anything and people today still like to carry on the tradition of kindness and thinking of others, using Santa, a guy in a red suit, who they say is magical and has reindeer that fly. We also explained that Christmas is really about Jesus and even though we should want to be kind and think of others, we should want to be more like Jesus and do it all year long like Jesus did, not just at Christmas time with Santa. Jacob was very accepting and we also told him that if a child thinks that Santa is real, he was not to tell them he was not. Well, long story even longer, when it came time to do all of this with Benjamin, it did not work. He is so convinced that since he sees pictures and toys of Santa that he is most certainly real. We finally had to tell him "That even though Santa is NOT real, if he wanted to believe that he is, then he could." Sooooo, while shopping in Bass Pro Shop in OKC, they had free pictures with Santa. John said we could do it so we did. Benjamin was ELATED, not to mention I got some good shots. Since we were in Oklahoma visiting with family, I could not let the opportunity of getting all the boys together for a picture with Santa. The store was open on Thanksgiving so while my mom, sisters, and I cooked, John took the boys by to get one taken. So when Christmas cards go out, the pic inside will probably be of the boys with Santa.

Here are a few of them:

LET IT SNOW!!!!

2008-12-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful way to start off the month of December! It has snowed all day long. The kids at school had sooo much fun. It almost seemed mean to make them do any work. We did let them have a little extra free time to have a good snowball fight. Benjamin and Jacob were so excited. When it stopped for a while Ben asked me why it had stopped. I told him that God decided it had snowed enough and he said "Mommy, please tell God it needs to snow some more." About an hour later it started to snow again. The flakes were so big and fluffy, they made great snowballs. The boys were grateful for what snow came but were disappointed that there was not enough to make a snowman.

Here are some shots of the boys at school having the time of their lives.

While the kids were having a snowball fight outside from the snow that had accumulated on the cars tables and whatever else, the teachers were inside watching them.

It was a wonderful day and we hope it is a sign of maybe having a White Christmas this year!!!

Family Update

2008-11-21T10:10:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that it has been so long since I have updated my blog!!! It has been a very busy last couple of weeks. I have joined face book (like I need something else to take up my time!) so if I get the chance to get on the computer, I have been trying to figure my way around that site. It has been real fun. I have been able to talk to a lot of friends that I have not seen or spoken to in a very long time. I have been kidnapped a couple of times, and I have kidnapped a few people myself. I have set up a virtual Christmas tree so people can send me ornaments and wrapped presents. Like I said I have been having fun with it.

The boys have been real busy also. Along with school, Jacob has joined the Bible Quiz team at church. He has to learn 2 verses everyday. The children have been staying after church on Sunday morning with Sis Kimmie, Sis Camille, and Sis Jessica, (bless their souls), and practicing. Sis Jessica, has picked up Jacob once a week to work one on one with helping him learn his verses. Jacob really likes it, except the studying part... ha ha.

Benjamin had a "Visitor" at school the other day come to tell his class a story. Her name was "Mrs. Esmeralda". The boys, Benjamin, Elijah, And Tyler, had a blast. They had sliced apples and peanut butter to eat while she told them a story about "Grumpy Gracie". Here are a couple of pics of Mrs. Esmeralda and the boys, and Jacob and his teacher SIS I.

We are also getting ready to go to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. We are all real excited. The boys and I have not been there for a year and a half, it has been longer for John. We are also taking Granny O. with us. The boys cannot wait to see their cousins, Zach and Alex, and their Nanny and Papaw. We are planning to take the video camera, if I remember, so hopefully we can get some good stuff on it. I will definitely have some pictures to post. Maybe it will not take me too long to get them up.

PUMPKIN TIME !!!!!!

2008-10-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

Last week the boys and I bought a couple of pumpkins at the store and we were finally able to get them put together. This was the first time either one of them have done this and it was really funny watching them try to clean them out. Both of them were kind of grossed out with that part. I ended up having to finish cleaning them out so I could save the seeds to roast later. The yard got scattered with pumpkin pulp the boys wanted to see how far it would go. After they were good and cleaned out it was time to decorate. Last year I bought a couple of kits that had been clearanced down to a dollar after halloween. If you remember doing the Lite-Brite things as kids, the kits are kind of like that. They are plastic pegs that you punch into the pumpkin and then you place a battery powered light inside the pumpkin to light up the pegs. Anyways, they turned out really cute except that the ears on Jacobs cat did not photograph very well lighting up in the dark. We all had a really good time and I did get some cute pictures.

Happy Birthday John !!!

2008-10-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 27, 2008, My sweet husband turned 33! I was on the internet for about an hour trying to find an idea of what to do for a cake when it hit me, duh, a computer. I am not very good at doing the cake thing but I did want to try. I think it turned out OK and John said he really liked it, although I am not sure if he was just being nice. Tell me what you think!

Trees and Pets

2008-10-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

Benjamin's Apple tree is doing quite well. John says we will have to move it in for the winter and I agree. He also says that we will have to cut about one foot off to trim it, that I am not so sure about. I know that you are supposed to prune them, but how much at one time? Well, here is an up to date picture so far of the apple tree.

On the pet note, we have a new one. On Wednesday of last week (10-08-08) there were three puppies that followed their mother to the school. The owners of the mother do not take care of her and this is at least her third set of puppies in a row. When I found out that the last set of puppies were killed because they could not get rid of them, I called John to see if we could have one, or all, of the puppies. I told him that one of the boy puppies looked like a dog we had previously owned. He agreed for us to have ONE.

The boys were so excited when they found out we were going to take him home. they could not believe that Dad had agreed to us having another dog. They decided to name him TIPPER because of the white tips on his tail, paws, and nose.

Here are a couple of pictures of the boys with our other dog, Boots.

WE HAVE MOVED!!!!!!!

2008-10-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

The Pentecostals have invaded the City of Cullman, Alabama. I am very happy to say that our OFFICIAL MOVE was on MY BIRTHDAY, September 21, 2008. We started off our Sunday morning service at our now "OLD" church to have morning service there and was going to have evening service at the "NEW" church. As the service progressed Bro. Wilbanks, our Pastor, decided that we should just load up in our cars and create a convoy to the new church, so that is just what we did. Here are some pictures.

A. Last service in Eva, Alabama B. Loading up to leave

Convoy led by Bro. Wilbanks

Pulling into Cornerstone Revival Center on Hwy 69 north in Cullman, Alabama

Everyone was so HAPPY to be there. After we all arrived, Bro. Greg Wilbanks preached a wonderful service and for the Evening service Evangelist Bro. Greg Godwin was there to top it all off. My birthday was filled with such memories I could not think of a better way to remember the day I turned 30 yrs old.

A. Going in to First Service B. First family picture in new church

A. Pastor : Rev. Greg Wilbanks B. Evangelist : Rev. Greg Godwin

30 YEARS YOUNG!!!!!

2008-09-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

This past week and weekend were very busy and exciting at the same time. We have spent the evenings at our new church praying and filling it with the presence of God to make it ready for the move today. Each night the Spirit of God was all around.
Today is also MY BIRTHDAY!! I am finally admitting that I have turned 30 years young. I have been having a hard time dealing with that number and it was stressing me out. But know as I am about to go to bed and the house is quiet except for the sound of my beautiful children sleeping, and a husband who has tried hard all weekend to make my birthday special, see I admitted it, and thoughts of a wonderful church dedication service, more to come on that later this week, I am reminded of how much I do have and how I should be thanking God for giving me those 30 years and allowing me to continue to be here with my family in order to praise Him and do His will. I was told by some friends at work that I should be happy to turn 30 because now I have more wisdom and knowledge to share with my children. So with this in mind I will start fresh right now and look forward to each new day, and year, that God has given me.
Here are some pictures of the weekend.

John and the boys took me to Red Lobster for a birthday dinner.

The girls at work tried to surprise me with a little party. They had cake, ice cream, brownies, chips, dip, and salsa for us to pig out on. They had me a present and some very pretty flowers for me also. We were so busy, I ended up having to cut the cake in between cases and we did not really get to sit down and take a bunch of pictures. Although I did get some thanks to having the camera from dinner earlier.

Growing Boys!!!

2008-09-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

Last week I took the boys to the Doctor for a check up and for Benjamin to get some shots for school. I had to tell Ben that he was going to get shots in order to prepare him for it. Last time he had them he went ballistic and said he never wanted to see the doctor again. Anyways, I had him all prepped and we even went to Toys-R-Us and got a post doctor visit toy. We were ready! When we got to the doctor and I talked to her about the shots, she promptly said, in front of Benjamin, that he did not need any and would not until he was 6yrs old. I was surprised and asked her why and she said that they give the last round of shots between 4-6yrs and she preferred to give them closer to 6yrs but we could give them know if I wanted to. Well, since she said right in front of Benjamin he did not need any I was not going to convince him to go ahead and get them. They did however get a finger prick and the Flu Mist, which they were not to excited about. Benjamin also had his blood pressure taken for the first time, he said "Mommy, I did not like that hug on my arm!!"

Jacob is in the 90% in height and weight and Benjamin is in 60% weight and 75% height. My babies are getting sooo BIG!!!!!

Here are a few Pics from the visit!!

First Day of School!!!!

2008-08-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

Wow 2 posts in one day, I am good!!
Today was the first day of school. The boys were so excited. Jacob started 2nd grade and Ben is in Preschool. Both of my boys are in school, I think I am going to cry. Ben was sooooo happy to be in school like his big brother so he could take his lunch and get homework also.
I have been pretty nervous these last couple of days not only because of Both of them going to school but because I am teaching this year at the school. I have 7-11th graders, 5 classes. Now that the first day of school has come and gone, I am little more relaxed. I think it is going to be a year FULL of fun and learning. Here are some pics from the day.

Here Is how we all felt at the end of the day!!!!

Like Father, Like Son!

2008-08-26T05:04:00.000-07:00

Just Thought I would post a fast note. The other day John let Jacob climb the tree in the front yard. The bottom branches are pretty high so Jacob had to use a rope to pull himself up there. Once he was up there I think John got jealous and decided to get up there also. Aren't they CUTE!!!!!!

Jacob at Baseball Practice

2008-08-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

Jacob has baseball practice with our church kids on Wednesday nights and John usually takes him, but since John has been working up at our new church building alot after work he was not able to take him this week, so I did. I will admit that I was not excited about sitting outside in the sticky heat with the mosquitoes for an hour and a half but since Jacob missed last week due to us going to Six Flags I was not going to make him miss this week too. I decided to take the camera because I did not know how many more practices they would be having, that I would go to. I actually got several good pictures, even some with the ball in it. Those kids are so cute trying so hard to play the way the big kids play. There are actually several of the older ones that are pretty good at it. Here are some of the pics.

Here is Jacob hitting the ball. Isn't this a cool picture!!! Here he is waiting to go home and then going for it.
"V" is for VICTORY

Six Flags

2008-08-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hello All! Last Wednesday, John and I and a couple of friends of ours, Rodney and Phyllis, went to Six Flags Over Georgia. We had a lot of FUN! Even thought the heat was completely exhausting, most of the lines were not very long. I think the longest we had to wait was about 45 mins and that was for the Goliath, and that includes about 10 min extra for the front of the ride. Most of the rides were about a 15 min wait with a little extra for the front. The Worst line was for the Batman, The line went through "tunnels and drain pipes" up to the loading area and they did not have any fans on or anything to move the air around and since the space was enclosed it was a miserable 2o min wait. I rode all of the rides but the Goliath and the SuperMan. We all decided that if we go again then it will definitely be during the week, Saturdays the lines are too long. We were able to leave the boys at home with their Granny O since they are not big enough to ride the rides. Phyllis was talking about a park that does not cost much to go and all of the rides are for the kids. I think that we are going to try to do that when the weather cools off some. Well here is a picture of the four of us.

Reunion Fun

2008-08-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was the Russell Family Reunion, Johns Moms side of the family. There was not a HUGE turn out but we still had a good time. One of Johns Uncles nor his 2 Daughters made it. Last year there were plenty of children running around, about 15, this year there were 8 that could run around on their own and 3 that were too little to go around by themselves. They had a lot of fun playing with one another. Everyone likes to see each other and catch up on what we have all been doing the last year. We always agree that we do not get together enough, but nothing more comes of it. It is very hard to plan a get-together with so many people who live so far apart. The Reunion is held in Greenville, Alabama. Most of the people live in Montgomery and south of that.
Last year there was talk of a Cousin Reunion. This year, I am going to plan one. The kids have so much fun playing and the parents have a good time talking.

The Next Pictures are Pictures of the Church that Johns Mom and Grandmother went to church. Johns Grandmother continued to go there until she died and was then buried in the cemetery next to it.

Benjamins Apple Tree Update!

2008-07-31T07:59:00.000-07:00

Benjamins' apple tree is growing so fast. I cannot believe that I am going to have to ropot it again so soon. I would just go ahead and plant it in the yard but I am not sure of how it would last the winter. My gardening sense is not very good. I have always been able to get things to grow but keeping them alive was the hard part for me. Can you believe that you are supposed to keep watering things for them to stay alive? This simple truth works for our lives also. It is so easy to get a bunch of things started in our lives, but it is hard to keep up with the watering, nurtureing, and caring of too many things at one time so it is the things we care about that we tend to give most of our time and affection, ie. watering, for them to continue growing.
One more quick mention. We were at Alabama Revival Conference last week and we were staying at the Sheraton for a couple of nights. One of the times we were getting on the elevator to go up to our room, Jacob started to get on it ahead of us and Benjamin thought he was going to be separated from us so he started SCREAMING "JACOB!! JACOB!! NO DON'T GO!!!" Everyone around us was startled at first and then they started to laugh and say how cute Benjamin was to be scared that his brother was going to be separated from him and get lost. Someone mentioned that now everyone knows who Jacob is. That night after church I could not stop thinking of how simple little children are. Benjamin did not think twice about trying to save his brother from going astray. Maybe we should take this example to help us to remember that we should help, not hinder our own church brothers and sisters and if we notice them starting to stray we should not be afraid to SCREAM out to God to help them return where they should be.

Hot Sun, Cool Water!!

2008-07-17T09:02:00.001-07:00

I have finally gotten around to taking some pictures of the boys in the pool this summer. They turned out really cute. Last year Benjamin would not get in the water unless he had his "Angelfish Ring" on. It has been a journey to getting him used to the pool which is weird since the boy absolutely LOVES water. This might have something to do with him almost drowning not last summer but the year before. We were in the pool ( Jacob, Ben, and I) and Ben was in one of those sit in float rings for babies, I was about 6 feet away from him ( which seemed like a mile when it happened) and Jacob was right next to him. Ben was leaning over to play in the water and the float tipped over trapping him under the water. If it were not for Jacob thinking to grab him and hold his head above the water till I could get there we might have lost him. I praised God for a very smart and fast thinking little boy. Jacob got a lot of attention for that one and still likes to talk about the time he saved his brothers life. Anyway, back to this year, I was able to get Benjamin to use just the arm floats. In his mind he felt safer in the ring because it went all the way around him, in my eyes, he could still fall through the ring and not have any protection, but I was not going to scare him with that fact. Well, he is doing very well, and actually likes the arm floats better than the ring now because he can "swim" like his big brother now. We are working on the swiming part. About Jacob, he is doing very well swimming under water and we are working on swiming with his head out of water. He loves to jump in and try to do a variety of tricks, such as his "cannon bomb" and "belly flop". He is not afraid in the least, which sometimes makes me afraid. While we were swiming I thought it might be fon to bring the small slide on to the deck to see if would work for them to slide into the pool. It took a lot of coaxing to get Benjamin to go down it once he saw Jacob go down and go under the water, but we assured him that if he used a ring he would not go all the way under. He finally did and boy did he love it.

Benjamins Apple Tree!

2008-07-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

Several months ago, Benjamin planted an apple seed in Sunday School, thank you Sis Loretta, and unlike most of the other children who excitedly took it home then forgot about it, Benjamin INSISTED we take care of it each day so it would turn into an apple tree. Nothing came home from his teacher saying what it was or what to do with it. I am sad to say that I honestly did not think it would grow, I do not know why, but I did not, but still we watered it every other day . Much to my surprise, it did start to sprout. Benjamin was so excited!!! I had to go to his teacher and tell her about the plant. Indeed it was an apple seed that was planted. Since then we have re-potted the tree twice, and it is still growing strong. We now plan on planting it in the yard next summer!

Remember When We Did This !?!

2008-07-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

Last week Jacob and Benjamin came running in from playing outside and said that they needed popsicles to put in a cooler to take outside. After quizzing them further, I found out that our neighbor had put together a Lemonade stand for the kids and Jacob and Ben wanted to sell something with them in the stand. It was so cute. I helped the boys fill the cooler and we headed outside. The stand had been up for about 20 min and they had already gone through half a pitcher with no customers. The mail ran and Nathan, one of the neighbor boys ran after them saying "nooooo, stoooop, pleeeeease come back and buy some pink lemonade!!!" His dad said that he was doing that each time a car would come by. They ended up staying out there for about an hour and a half selling to only thier mom and myself. They were so dissapointed that no one would stop that I remebered when I was little and tried the same thing. I remembered how it felt to get so excited about something and then it not turn out how I thought it would. Wait a minute, I think I felt like that last week also!! Well, I decided that whenever I see little ones trying to sell something, I am going to try my best to help them out!!

Happy Birthday Jacob!!!!!

2008-06-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

Seven Years ago today something happened to me that changed my life forever!! I became a MOTHER!!! John and I welcomed our sweet little Jacob into the world. This was something I would not change for ANYTHING EVER! Watching him grow into a smart and handsome little man that loves God has been fantastic.Jacob had a great day at his Pirate Birthday Party! He had a lot of friends over for hot dogs, cake, and a treasure hunt. There was a lot of excitement about the hunt and the cake, which I will proudly say that I made all by myself. He also did pretty good in getting cash. He cannot wait to go to the store to spend it, he asked to go tonight.

Before the party was over someone noticed a big turtle in the front yard. This really got everyones attention. One of the little ones asked where I had bought it at and when I said it just came here on his own he asked "Why?" and I said, "He was just stopping by to wish Jacob a Happy Birthday!!"

TESTING 1...2...

2008-05-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

The last several days have been really tough. Friday night I decided to go into work early to help out since they were so short on people. I left the house on Saturday at noon to do a couple of last minute errands before going to work and at 12:15pm a car pulled out in front of me on AL HWY 69 and I ALMOST missed hitting him. I got the corner of the rear bumper. He said he never saw me until after I hit him. Bro Ricky Morgan and Bro Harry Knight were there to help tow the car home for us (Thank You SOOO much!) although we ended up being able to make it drivable, at least in town. Even though it was not that bad of an accident, I was still shaken up so I asked John to drive me to work in the van. He did, and on his way to come get me on Sunday morning (Mothers Day), the transmission in the van went out halfway there and left him stranded on Interstate 65 and me at work. Well, Bro Ricky Morgan to the rescue AGAIN. This time we definitely needed the tow. Bro Morgan went to get John and Sis Cindy came to the rescue for me. I went home with a friend from work and Sis Cindy picked me up there. What a Mothers Day to remember, or forget!!
I thank God for Bro Knight and the Morgans for there kindness and all they have done.
I Also thank everyone that has, or will, helped me out this week and until this is all fixed. It is really hard trying to get along with only one car, but luckily there are plenty of people willing to help me out if I need it. Thank you so much Kristy for taking me with you yesterday and getting me where I needed to go, you are really a great friend and I am lucky you are there for me whenever I need you.
Though it has been a little crazy I know everything is going to work out fine and my world is not going to fall to pieces because of two broken cars.

Spring Is In The Air!!!

2008-05-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

The weather was so beautiful last night and I have been wanting to take some pictures of the boys in the field next door with the wild flowers, so I did. They turned out very cute, (when I could get them both smiling at the camera TOGETHER.) Is it not funny how you try and try to get kids to pose "just right" for that perfect picture and it never seems to turn out, then you snap a few by accident and those are the ones that are the best. We must have been outside 25 minutes trying to get a shot of them together with them both smiling and both looking at the camera. Jacob kept closing his eyes saying that his "Eyes would not stop blinking" and Benjamin kept sticking out his tongue or crossing his eyes. (Do they not understand the importance of PERFECT pictures. LOL) I Was going to only load the "perfect" pictures and then I realized that the still looked absolutely adorable in the "FUN" pictures as they say.

Yes I am Human!!!

2008-04-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well I am finally up and running again. It seems as if a spam blog blocking ROBOT was not sure if this was a real blog or not so it shut me down till I requested an unlock.

SOOO!!! Yesterday (Friday 4-25) The boys and I went on a hike with Jacobs Contenders For The Faith group at Hurricane Creek Park, and can I say, I am Still feeling it today! OK, we all know that I am not in the best of shape, unless you count round, but I must say, that was a trip. The children had a lot of fun, all 17 of them, and I think all of the adults had fun, despite needing an Oxygen tank at the end if the hike. We went down a steep staircase (Heavens Staircase), played by the creek, went through a long tunnel, and did A LOT of climbing. The scenery was BEAUTIFUL and the weather was really that hot. There was a steady breeze that would refresh us at just the right time, Thank You God!
We had a fantastic time and I want To Thank Sis Kimmi and Bro Grant for heading the trip up.
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to spend time with our children. God is Truly going to do something special in your lives for your loyalty to Him and His kingdom.

Yeah! It's Monday!

2008-04-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

It has been a long weekend at work. For those who do not know, I am a Nurse in the Operating room. I work Friday and Saturday Nights 7 in the evening to 7 in the morning, so I am happy to welcome Monday morning. For the most part,working is not that hard, but the after effects are sometimes crashing. It took all of my being to make it to church Sunday morning and then stay awake while I was there, (Sorry Bro. Jeremy). I was so embarrassed at myself I had to get up and wash my face and sit in the foyer to listen to the last of the service. Some might say that I should have stayed home, but after the last year and half of what I put myself through with skipping church I am not willing to sacrifice my soul for a little bit of sleep. I know that God will reward my obedience.

This picture was taken on New Years Day 2008 at 0001 from the helicopter pad at work. Me and a co-worker Diane, (who is recovering from a broken arm so please pray for her.)

Working as a Nurse in the Operating Room at night, I mostly see Trauma. This June will be 5 years. I have seen and learned a lot. Mostly, that your life can change in a heartbeat without any notice at all. I truly love my job and can be proud that I am a part of helping some very terrific surgeons save lives.

Meet the Family

2008-04-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

This is the most recent family photo. It was taken on Easter Sunday March 23, 2008. Jacob got his first real suit for Easter, he is very proud of it!

All THREE of the boys enjoyed the baskets I put together!!

Getting Started

2008-04-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

I am going to attempt to start a blog of my own. I cannot decide what to dedicate it to except for EVERYTHING. So many things happen everyday that I wish I could share with all of my family and now I am hoping this will help.
This is what happened today:

Are they not the cutest little monkeys you have ever seen!?!