Monday, October 31, 2005

Trick or Treat ~ for the first time ever!

I decided this year I would take the boys trick or treating for the first time in their lives. They had a blast. In the past we have always attended whatever church functions are taking place but this year we didn't really know of any since we are so new to the area. I have to be honest, I have never been into Halloween and especially not the whole trick or treating thing but it was so fun to see their reactions as the bag got fuller and fuller. Jackson was the most animated about the whole thing and kept telling me how he doesn't mind throwing it all away. See, for those of you who don't know, I do not give my kids sugar at all so I guess this was just a cruel joke. Not really since they totally understood they just cannot possibly eat all that candy and still have any teeth left or not be scraped from the ceiling. I let them each have one piece and the rest of it has been set aside for only very special treat times, rarely I might add. And as for those of you who do know our boys you know they are better off without the sugar. ;)

Getting ready to leave. Jackson is Batman and Jayden is Darth Vadar





This dog was so cute, dressed like a frog








Here they are with the good witch

Going door to door

Saturday, October 29, 2005

WHO DAT???

DAT BE...FLAVA FLAV!!! Or Brian dressed like him as he headed off to work today. I guess it was Halloween dress up at Joe's and this was the quickest thing we could come up with. Doesn't he look great??

All I can say is...good luck gettin' it all off. HEE HEE!

Thursday, October 27, 2005

In a Word...

Busting, overjoyed, happy, blessed, PROUD!!!! My children are so amazing. This past Friday Jackson and Jayden's school had an awards ceremony and Jackson received an award for Academic Excellence and Jayden received one for Exemplary Behavior. It gets better. Jared came home yesterday with his first report card of the year. He had 3 A's and 3 B's. That isn't all. One of those A's was in Math. Jared hasn't had above a C in Math since 4th grade. Still, theres more. He also made the Highest Honor Roll. This is truly b/c he made the right choices with regard to his school work. He has been rewarded handsomely too. We got him his own cell phone. He is thrilled and has been on it constantly. God is so good!!















Thursday, October 20, 2005

Shannoning with Shannon

I have kind of let blogging go for a while since life has become very crazy. However, yesterday I made time to go and hang with my good friend Shannon in Orlando. Her husband, Adam was on business there. It had been almost a year since we saw each other and it was so great. I am pretty sure we laughed all day long. We started the day in downtown Disney where we ate at Planet Hollywood, visited Lego Land and shopped. By 4 o'clock we spontaneously decided to go hang at Magic Kingdom and ride some rides. We had a blast. We rode Space Mountain, Pirates of the Carribean, The Haunted Mansion and Thunder Mountain. We even rode Buzz Lightyear and the Tea Cups where Shannon and I came up with a strategy to spin as fast as possible. We really got that thing going which the pictures below attest to.

Anyway, I am so thrilled we had this chance to hang and look forward to doing it again soon. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Here we are at the beginning

Entering Lego Land, see the sea monster made of legos?

Spot the Shannon

Shannon stealing Lego steering wheels

Uh...Shannon that's a girl

Are we freaks??

She is soooo GOOFY!!!

Jelly Belly teeth

Gettin' ready to spin

That Shannon, she is one crazy chicka

Can you see my tonsils??

We laughed all day and it was awesome

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Thinking about MOM

My beautiful mother who lost her courageous battle with lymphoma celebrates her birthday today with the Lord. She would have been 55. I like to sit and think a minute what we might have done. Nothing over the top, dinner at her favorite restaurant, dessert at her house with presents. Just being with her family was enough for her. We were her everything. She was my everything. Somehow though as I look at the way things turned out and how her life was taken from us too soon I still have peace. Peace to know God DOES work all things together for the GOOD of those who love HIM and are called according to his purpose. I learned how to trust Him fully even in the face of turmoil and complete devastation. I still miss my mother everyday but as I draw closer to my heavenly Father I still feel the closeness with her I once had on this earth.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

A Purple Celebration

Last Friday was my mother-in-law, Virginia's (Ginny) birthday. Since Darin, Brian's brother, was out of town we decided we would celebrate last night. Purple is Ginny's favorite color of all time. So, I had to go all out. We had purple napkins, forks, plates, glasses, balloons, and a purple cake. Even the salad bowl was purple. As a present from the kids we got her a sun catcher with purple rhinestones around it and a heart in the middle with the word Grandma on it. From us she got a frame with of course our picture in it. It was first time in over a month we were all together, we had a really nice time.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINNY!!!

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Nothing to say...


It has been more than a week since I have even attempted to blog. I just really have nothing to say. Life is going on and we are really in a nice groove. Brian has the greatest schedule he has ever had. He is surrounded by the most amazing staff who have embraced him wholeheartedly and are not only accepting the changes he is making (for their benefit) but complimenting those changes. He is the most relaxed he has been in 5 years. I think it's because he no longer bears the weight of the world on his shoulders for a company who could care less about him, only what he can do for their bottom line. He is able to take the kids to school and pick them up almost everyday, go eat lunch with them at school, help with homework, play football, eat dinner at home at least 4 nights a week and also meets me for my breaks at Starbucks regularly while indulging in his favorite drink of the week. This has been the best career move I think he has ever made.

The boys are growing like weeds. I seriously can't keep up. They are really shining in school. We are so proud. Jared has brought his D in Math to a B and works hard to maintain all his grades. He is highly involved at church and is constantly inviting his friends and encouraging them to also get involved. He hangs out alot with our student pastors, Brad and Aaron. I am thrilled he has some great mentors, truly godly men who want Jared to experience as they are all God has for him. Jackson and Jayden also love church and look forward to it every week. What they learn really sticks with them and they remind us during the week what that was. They are also becoming great encouragers. I will sometimes find them helping each other with their spelling words and then really cheering for each other when they get it right. It's so cool.

I am now a certified Barista. I took my test Friday and so I can officially make coffee. I am loving my job. The majority of our customers are regulars and it's great to call them by name and know what they want when they walk in the door.

I ran Race for the Cure yesterday with my friend Kara which was such a huge accomplishment since after blowing out both my ankles a year apart the Dr.'s told me I should find something else to do to stay in shape b/c my injuries were too severe to ever fully heal. Well, sorry but that just doesn't cut it for me. My GOD is way bigger than that. I ran the whole race and my time was 31 minutes which I was very pleased with. The pic below was taken when we got home since Brian left the camera in the car.

Our new church is also incredible. They are still running like 300 a week which just seems insane considering we're only 3 months old but people are really being reached. It's such an exciting thing to be apart of. We had our first student outreach last Sunday and over 30 kids showed up to eat pizza and play ultimate frisbee. It was very encouraging. Our goal is to start weekly services and small groups in January. Aside from volunteering with the students I recently joined the vocal team and am having alot of fun fulfilling my passion.

One more thing to add. There has been alot of self discovery taking place and it has been an amazing thing. The kids aren't the only ones who are growing like weeds. It's not always an easy process and to be honest there have been some painful revelations but I really want to embrace my new attitude. I am so thankful to be surrounded by godly friends who are there no matter what. I am not just talking about ones within a five mile radius either. There have been several conversations take place recently with people I know truly love me and don't run the other direction b/c I say something off the wall. You know who you are and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know there are sesons for everyTHING but friends aren't THINGS, they are people with feelings and emotions and you should never cast that aside and I know it sounds simple but always remember you reap what you sow and you have to treat others the way you want to be treated.

Well, I guess I did have something to say after all. This wasn't supposed to be a life update but somehow that's what it turned into. I hope you enjoyed it and weren't too bored. Be blessed.

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