Snow!

Believe it or not we received about 6 inches of snow last Friday. It snowed for over 18 hours straight and we were out in it for at least 8 of those hours! The good thing was, it wasn't too cold. The wind wasn't bad and as long as we stayed dry we were o.k. But we went through a TON of clothes that weekend! I'm just now caught up on the laundry. Enjoy the pictures!

A Quick trip to Picayune....

Earlier in January we made a last minute trip to Picayune to attend the funeral of Mr. H.I. Harris. He was such a great man and a wonderful father to my mom's best friend. We were glad to go and help Aunt Kathy (KK) through this time. It's so wonderful to have such friends in our family. The neat thing is...Tink has been praying for KK and her mom daily since the funeral. She prays that KK and her mom are comforted through this difficult time. Tink has a sincere heart for others and I pray that she is always led by the Spirit to pray for others.

A New Year, A New Look on Life

I know I haven't been the best at keeping everyone updated with this blog. Honestly, I've been so busy trying to get my family responsibilities accomplished that I haven't had the time. I don't and won't ever complain though. I may get tired, grumpy, and need to sneak away for a nice long bath every now and then but I feel blessed beyond measure that the Lord has provided a way for me to stay home with our precious angels and homeschool them.

I'm so in love with life. I love waking up in the morning cuddling with my babies, knowing that I don't have to rush out the door to get them to the school by some unGodly hour. I love the family breakfast each morning (well, minus Daddy) followed immediately by our Bible study and the rest of our school day. I love knowing that I don't really have to get dressed except for church on Wed. and Sundays. ;) I love seeing the light spark in my children's eyes when they understand a new concept or remember something we've already learned. I love the nap time that comes after a long day of teaching. I don't always get a nap but I do always have a rest time. I love the afternoons where we get ready for Daddy to come home and the kids help me make supper. I'm so blessed. Blessed beyond measure.

But most of all I love knowing that come 6 o'clock the man of my dreams is going to walk through that door and our family is complete. We've really taken the time the past couple of months to focus on our family and our family time. Our kids beg for "family nights" and the funny thing is...we have it nearly every night. Jeremy has just started a new family Bible study and we're having a lot of special moments with it. The kids gather at his feet and hang on his every word. Of course, this is after the wresteling, tickling, and giggling that goes on with Daddy the moment he gets home. He's their hero and the best Daddy ever. I thank God that our children have such a man to model their future husbands (for the girls) and themselves (for Christian) after.

As the new semester and new year starts I pray the Lord will let us continue to grow our family into a tighter, closer bond. Most of our day is spent in His Word or work and the kids expect nothing less. God is first in our lives. He is the reason for living. He is the rock our family relies on. As the college comes back and our responsibilities with that ministry increase I pray that above all else, we are where HE wants us and no where else. I pray that our special family time remains the constant in our lives and that we are able to balance our lives with the priorities that HE wants for us.

Thank you Lord that you are a God of love, compassion, forgiveness, mercy, and hope. May we always be focused on You.

Happy 2010 everyone!

Jill

Disney and back!

What a magical trip to Disney World we had! The kids woke up on Thanksgiving morning to yet another "Tink gift" which had mysteriously been appearing for the past week. This gift was a bit larger than the previous gifts. Inside cute Mickey Mouse boxes were pillowcase dresses for the girls (to wear to meet Cinderella and Prince Charming) and Mickey Star Wars shirts for Prince and Tink. It was Mickey holding a light saber for them to wear to Hollywood Studios. There were also a few other items I'd picked up for them. The kids still had no idea so we told them to close their eyes and we put their Mickey Mouse ears on them. When they opened we asked them where they thought they'd need these.  Tink sheepishly chimed in, "At Disney World!"...I think she was afraid to say it thinking it wasn't going to be true. But yes, we told them that the next morning we were going to Disney World. They were so excited.

We spent the rest of Thanksgiving Day with family and watching the Macy's parade and doing Minnie pedicures/manicures on all of the girls. This is a tradition I started last year on our first trip. It really makes us feel like the trip has really begun.

Prince got sick on the 8 hour trip from Montgomery to Orlando. We though it was just car sickness but he started running a fever that night as well. We were worried but after some Motrin and much prayer the next morning he was ready to go. That fever never reappeared!

We checked into the Port Orleans Riverside and our room was ready! I wasn't expecting it to be ready that early so this was a nice surprise. We were able to unload our bags and head to Epcot! This was our first time in the World Showcase and I'd really been looking forward to it. I knew there was so much to learn about different countries and since it was Christmas time there were different storytellers in each of the countries telling of some of their Christmas traditions. I was impressed that all of Disney was unashamedly full of CHRISTMAS and the true reason for Christmas! There were Angels on top of the trees (large ones!), the Voices of Liberty in the American Pavilion sang Christian hymns about the Messiah, there were nativity scenes, etc. I was proud that although most of the country takes Jesus and Christmas out of this time of year, Disney of all places has choses (at least for now) to make it obvious what the holiday is all about.

We had a wonderful trip and the Christmas decorations were so georgeous. We ate lots of food from different places including Africa, Polynesian, German, and Asian. I'll try to post some pics later but I have to upload them first.

Now we are back and settled in for our Christmas holiday. It's not quite as busy this year for us! I'm loving that! We can take time to enjoy each other and truly focus on the fact that this holiday is a celebration of the birth of our Savior! God bless and Merry Christmas!

We're getting close!

Well, we have just two more days until we leave for our Thanksgiving trip to Montgomery and our surprise trip to Disney World! I can't believe we've been able to keep it a secret this long. The kids have no idea. I'm still able to pack and everything b/c the kids know we're going to Montgomery, so that helps. Although, Tink did wonder why I was taking all kinds of snack foods, etc. to Nana and Pawpaw's! lol!

I decided on a way to tell them, I think! Starting yesterday morning I started leaving little "Tink gifts" on the kitchen table. I picked up some $1 Disney gifts at Michael's and that has worked perfect. Yesterday morning before the kids woke up I left a puzzle that you color in front of each child's seat. Princess got a Princess puzzle, Tink got Tink, and Prince got Toy Story. They were all excited but it drove Tink CRAZY all day! She kept bugging us and worrying about who gave her the gifts. We explained to her that she should just be grateful and thankful, and that she'd probably find out one day.

This morning I did the same thing. In front of each chair was a box with rolled up Princess, Tink, and Toy story posters to color in it. There was also a brand new box of Princess, Tink, and Toy story crayons. This morning they were even more thankful and grateful. They even each (well, the two oldest ones) wrote a thank-you note to whoever was leaving the gifts. Tink drew a fairy in the clouds and wrote thank-you. Prince colored a Christmas tree pic and had his sister write thank-you for him. How sweet is that!?

My plan is to leave two more mornings of "Tink gifts" on the table. That'll get us until Wed. Then on Thurs. morning (we'll be in Montgomery) we're going to leave a large Disney box that I bought for each of them. It'll be filled with some shirts I bought for them to wear, dresses for the girls with Princesses on them, the personalized pillowcases that I had made for the characters to sign, etc. That's when we'll tell them. This is our Christmas present for the kids so we wanted to make it special. I may even wrap the gift items if I have time.

We'll be gone from Fri. to Fri. We leave Montgomery the Fri after Thanksgiving and we'll stay somewhere off-property that night. Then we'll check in Sat morning and head to Epcot for day 1! We're excited, but I'm a little stressed right now. It's nerve wracking trying to pack for 5 people for 9 days! Ugh! I'll write more when we get back!

Pumpkin Time!

I must admit that Halloween is my least favorite time of year. I love the weather and I love watching the kids dress up and go Trick-Or-Treating but other than that I really would rather skip this day. Tink (dd7) asked the other day if I would celebrate this "holiday" if I didn't have kids. I told her, "No, honey, the kids make it o.k. but other than that it's just a holiday for Satan." Obviously Man-Man (ds5) was listening because when we went to Wal-Mart to get a pumpkin he loudly proclaimed across the store, "Mom, I though we didn't celebrate Halloween because it was for Satan!" I had to laugh. It's true, but nonetheless the kids wanted to carve a pumpkin. So we made it happen.

We host a group of college students from our church every Tuesday night and I seized the opportunity to have the college students assist my children in this task. Everyone had a wonderful time! It started out as a selfish request on my part but turned into a wonderful night full of memories.

We started out the night by eating and celebrating one of our student's birthdays. Then we had all of the "kids" (ours and the college kids) draw a picture of what they would like the Jack-o-lantern to look like. Tink was the judge of the contest and the top two designs were then drawn onto the pumpkins. To help our kids feel more a part we let them color in the face with markers before we carved it. This was a great idea because Princess (dd2) had her own baby pumpkin to color the entire night.

Above are pictures of the finished products. What a wonderful night and a fun way to get the pumpkin carving done.

Jill

Double Fun, Double Trouble!

It was a wonderful day full of cake, friends, and fun when we recently celebrated Prince's 5th and Princess's 2nd birthday parties! Happy Birthday Angels!