Happy Birthday Man Man!

My sweet precious little boy turned four years old today. It's hard to believe that he's so old. I really love this precious age. He is such a sweetheart! He loves to cuddle up in my lap and read books or watch movies. He wants us to lay down with him at night and sing songs as he goes to sleep. I know these days won't last forever and I'll look back on this age with sweet tears. I am trying to live each and every moment....soak it all in. As a mother I don't want to turn around and wonder when my babies grew up. I pray each day that God shows me the joy of motherhood and the beauty of my precious children. Thank you Lord for my precious angels. May they always be precious in Your sight!

Here are some cute pics of Man Man over the past week...

Disney Detox

We're back safe and sound from a wonderful DisneyWorld vacation. It was everything we dreamed it would be...and then some. This was the kids first trip and my first trip since I was 6. We ate with Winnie the Pooh and friends at the Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom. We also ate with all of the Princesses in Cinderella's Castle! Those were both amazing. We took lots of pics and got lots of autographs. Tink is a bona-fide thrill seeking roller coaster riding girl!!! She rode everything we did. She loved Splash, Big Thunder Mtn, and Rockin Rollercoaster the best. Those are the fastest in the parks. The crowds were minimal and we hardly ever had to wait more than 5 minutes for a ride. The weather was windy and not very hot (well, compared to MS summer weather). We just had an amazing time. I'll post more info and pics later. DH has all of the photos on his work computer so we have to transfer them first. Thanks for the prayers! We were guided safely there and back...and except for the kids having a small virus now we are fine. Oh, well, at least they weren't sick at Disney!

Jill

Christmas in September!

I am an adult leader in the college sunday school dept. at our church and this past Fri. we were all asked to host parties for our S.S. classes. Paula and Stephanie and the girls decided to host a Christmas in Sept. party. I don't know how many of you are able to quickly put your hands on all of your Christmas decorations but I assure you I am not!!! Every year it's a big ordeal that DH hates....getting up into the attic and unloading tubs upon tubs of decorations. O.K. so I enjoy Christmas a little!

Well, I did not have to get up there this weekend because sweet Paula hosted this party at her house. All I had to do was help cook. We made our girls a wonderful Christmas dinner with Christmas plates, cups, music, a tree, and even caroling (o.k. we only caroled to church members houses so that no one would call the cops on us :) ). We played Dirty Santa and they even baked cookies and did crafts. I had so much fun and I really think the girls enjoyed it. I told Paula to just go ahead and leave up her decorations...Christmas isn't too far away!!!

Jill

Go State!

We were able to go to the State game on Sat. at the last minute. Friday night a good friend called and asked if we wanted tickets. It took about 10 seconds to say..."yeah! Of course!" This was the first time the kids had ever been to a State game. Last year we got season tickets to the local high school games. But this is STATE! They all LOVED it! Tink and Man-Man were so excited and really into the game. Even baby SV would clap when we got excited and she would shake her head "no" whenever we got mad. I'm so glad they were able to go with us. It was a great family day!

Hurricane Gustav!

Well, luckily we missed the worst part of hurricane Gustav. Our church housed over 400 evacuees and numerous pets during the past week. We were fortunate this time. We were able to assist others, instead of needing assistance ourselves. Above are some pics that were taken at our church shelter. I did not take these excellent pics. These were taken by Erica Harms...but I am so proud of my church family for allowing God to use them to minister to these men, women, and children in need.

These pics below show what we did during Gustav. My children love playing in the rain. It's one of their very favorite things to do. What kid doesn't enjoy getting soaked in the rain and stomping in puddles. So we spent most of the afternoon sitting under the garage or on the front porch watching our kids have fun. When life gives you lemons....!

Now even though we didn't get very bad weather with Gustav, we did get lots and lots of rain. I mean LOTS! I think it rained for four or five days straight. On Thurs. the sun came out and we were all so excited. I don't think I could live in places like Seattle where it rains all the time, or in Alaska where you don't see the sun for long periods. Thank you God for the sun and the rain. Thank you for Your protection over us. Now we watch Ike...knowing that God is the One in control.

Jill

Happy Birthday Sweet Princess!

Today was my baby's first birthday. Princess turned ONE! We had such a sweet, wonderful day. A few friends came over to help celebrate as we played and ate AWESOME cake made especially by Nana! Princess's cake was a huge cupcake piled on top of another larger sheet cake. We also had a cupcake tree...I bet you can guess what the theme of her birthday was...cupcakes. We decorated, of course, and had balloons up with streamers. There were four different cakes in addition to cupcakes and chocolate puffs. We get very spoiled when it comes to birthdays at our house. DH's mom makes the most amazing desserts. And yes, she's opening her own business soon...but in Montgomery, AL.

Princess was so happy to celebrate her first birthday with many of her family and friends. Even Lucy, our dog, joined in on the fun. She was especially happy to clean up after Princess ate cake! :)

After the birthday party (and an extra long nap) we went to Toys R Us so that Tink and Man-Man could pick Princess out a present. We decided it would be a special addition to her birthday. We also ate supper at Cock of the Walk on the Reservoir. Princess loved watching her brother and sister feed the ducks.

After such a long and happy day we have another exciting day planned for tomorrow. Tink will be walking the aisle tomorrow in church declaring to everyone that she has accepted Jesus into her heart. Praise the Lord!!! The angels are singing! We are so proud of her. I'll update more on that later. Please pray as we all prepare for Hurricane Gustov...we all still sting from the bite of Katrina three years ago yesterday. It's pretty chaotic around here right now. But one of Tink's Bible verses that she has memorized is Isaiah 41:10 "...do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strenghten you and help you..."

Jill

Almost a year!

O.K. it's really starting to hit me that my baby is about to be ONE! I feel like we just brought her home from the hospital. Princess has been the most amazing baby during this first year of her life. I think she knows she has to be....being the third child. Two weeks from tomorrow we will celebrate Princess's first birthday. The year has truly flown by. She is such a joy and blessing in our lives. I look at her at times and wish I could freeze this moment. Watching her explore new things and learn new words. Seeing the joy light up in her eyes when she does or sees something new. Hearing those baby cooes and babbles, oh, if I could record it all! It's such a fun fun time.

Princess hardly ever fusses, honestly. If she's fussing then there's something wrong. She's either tired, hungry, or dirty. She goes to bed at around 7:30p.m. and she lays right down. It's so cute to put her to bed. She grabs her blanket and just cuddles up with it. She likes to lay her head on the baby bed bumper that wraps around the bed. Then she just smiles up at you as you tell her "night night! We love you!"

In the morning she wakes up around 7:30a.m. As long as she gets her breakfast immediately then she's good to go for the day. While I do school with Tink. she and Man-Man play around in the school room. It's so neat to see the two of them play together. Man-Man is pretty patient with her. I do have to remind him that she's a baby though. When she knocks down his blocks or pulls everything out of the drawers/cabinets he gets upset. I just tell him he used to do the same thing.

I love being a mother of three. It's a blessing and a joy each and every day of my life. God has given me so much more than I could have ever asked for or imagined. I pray that I will be able to "train them up in the way they should go" and guide them daily to our Lord.

Jill