I am moved....

What devotion and passion speaks through this letter! I cried while reading it only because I feel Jesus at work in the lives of John and Noel as well as in Bethlehem Baptist. The Pipers are greatly loved and it shines through the writing of John's letter.

It's T'ball season again!

Somebody wants her friend to come home.

Hurry home, Cowans!

We'll miss you, KP!

In the matter of one week, my friend, KP, found out she was finally pregnant, her husband was offered a position at his dream job, and a contract was pending on their house. So, to celebrate our friendship, some of the ladies from our church took her out to eat tonight and spend a few last moments with her, because....well....you see, her husband's dream job is five states away. KP will be moving in ONE WEEK!


I love you, KP. I'm so thankful God gave us three years of face-to-face friendship. I know that we will forever converse, whether it by via phone, email, or FACEBOOK. Your parents also have a sweet place in our hearts and we will miss seeing them twice a year. I am so excited for you and MP. God is certainly the giver of all good things. How grand that he's given you each other, a job to provide, a house to live in, and a sweet little baby in your family. I wish I could be there to celebrate the baby's birth but please, please, please call us over here in Georgia when he/she decides it's time to make an appearance.

Some of my memories of KP:

eating PB&J sandwiches together
traveling to St. L for a week long stay at her parent's house
learning about our cameras together (can you say "manual"?)
gift of the stuffed frogs
conversations after the worship service
giggling & crying on the phone
talking about pregnancy and motherhood
apartment horror stories
SCRAPBOOKING 101

We love you, KP.

"Living with one leg is still living."

Encouraging stories of Haitian amputees, as well as others who have lost limbs and are thankful to still be alive.

Release date May 7 ?

Babies: The Movie....It's coming out on Mother's Day weekend! Perfect!

ONE TRUE GOD!

Luke: "Mom, who are those people walking through our neighborhood with their Bibles?"

Andrew: "Oh, I know. They are telling people about God."

Me: "Well, how many Gods are there?"

Both boys: "There's only ONE TRUE GOD!" (children's catechism #10)

Me: "Well, those people are telling others of.....

Luke, interrupting: "...a pretend god?"

Me: "Well....yeah."

Andrew: "'Since we know the one true God, does that make us better than them, Mom?"

Me: "Certainly not. Our hearts are just as dirty as theirs...but what do we have that we could share with them?

Andrew: "Jesus! A savior!"

Me: "Do we deserve Jesus and his grace?"

Luke: "Nope, but he died on the cross for my dirty heart anyway, right, Mom?"

We had this conversation in the car tonight on our way to a Jews for Jesus presentation of the Passover meal. What a great reminder of God's love toward me! How encouraging to hear the gospel gripping my boys' heart, softening it, and molding them through the asking of questions. Praise God!

Muscle time

Overwhelmed by His goodness

I am just thrilled to tears that, after much heartache, Abraham and Molly Piper are expecting twins! As I read about their ultrasound, I continued clicking link after link on their blogs as well as on Abraham's mother and father's blogs. Abraham's story of "coming home" brought such joy to my heart, encouragement to my soul, and more love for our ALWAYS good and caring Father. I sat in front of my computer and cried, hoping and praying to be a mother who daily trusts in God to teach these truths to my own children...and watch how God moves.

The Christianity Map

Want to know where certain denominations are most prevelant? Go see the Christianity map.

Editing in progress

Although she'd take no credit, Holly has been teaching me loads of stuff about photo editing in PSE8 (Photoshop Elements 8). Even though she's a CS4 user, she waltzed her pregnant self right on up in my computer space and taught me some tricks of the trade. Thanks, Holly! How am I doin'?

BEFORE
(Straight out of camera = SOC)

AFTER

Craft boxes

My children are ALWAYS asking to do something crafty and creative. Often, this leads to arguements over who gets to use the twisty crayons, the fat markers, the skinny Crayolas, that coloring book, those scissors, and this colored paper. So, I've decided that I'm gonna surprise them each with their own craft box. This way, they can keep all their own items stored in one place and, at the same time, have ownership over some of the art supplies and materials. Of course, my two year old daughter won't have exactly the same stuff in her box that her four and six year old brother have, nor are the craft boxes large enough to hold everything on the list...I'm gonna try to start small, I promise!

When thinking about items to include in their boxes, here's what my brain (and the Internet) spit out:

Selection of colored paper & cardboard
hole pucher
glue sticks
Kiddie scissors
Crayons
pastels or Cray-pas
Acrylic paint
Watercolor paint
Brushes and sponges
Glitter and/or glitter glue
Pipe cleaners
Beads
Tissue paper
Cellophane
Sticky tape
String
Stickers
Paper clips
Paper punches
Chalk
Sequins
Pencils
Contact (clear)
Straws
Cotton balls
Googley eyes
Colored feathers
Styrofoam
Colored popsicle sticks
Pom poms
Old fashioned wooden clothes pegs
Felt squares
Fancy scissors
Origami paper
textured paper
Wool scraps
Fabic scraps
Lace scraps
Bits of ribbon
Bits of rick-rack
Collection of odd buttons
Box of pictures cut from magazines
Pieces of Styrofoam
Bubble wrap
Sequins
Egg cartons
Cotton reels
Cardboard rolls
Small square boxes
Wooden skewers
smooth rocks
Plastic bottles
Bottle tops

Life is the issue

I've been waiting for this....Thank you, Dr. Mohler.

Justin Taylor writes:

Albert Mohler echoes my thoughts and approach exactly (though more eloquently):

I have refrained from extended comment on the health care reform bills—not because I do not have multiple concerns about the bills, but because I recognize that committed Christians can and will disagree over the political and policy issues involved. The trip-wire for me is the issue of human life. The current bill spells disaster when it comes to abortion. I cannot remain silent in this crucial moment where the sanctity of human life is at stake.

Read his whole commentary, where he quotes Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, who argues that the bill represents “the single greatest expansion of abortion since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.”

Studying, writing, and reading....outside

I've noticed lately that my children love to take their books, writing tables, clipboards, and artwork outside to complete. It's been sweet to see them do this on their own and to do it together! We spent one afternoon last week just sitting in the driveway singing, drawing, coloring, reading, and sipping sweet tea.

I've got a new look

If you're a regular reader of this blog and often venture outside of your RSS feed to lay eyes upon my layout, you'll notice that it's been changed....again! I've been playing around with different designs but just couldn't find that ONE template that I loved....until now. Thanks to my sweet friend, Melissa, I now have a look that I adore and plan on sticking with for a long while. I also hope that this will jump start my new photography business venture, creating a more professional look.

Please be patient with me as I'm still updating some of the features. The slideshow is the hardest part of this new template so be on the lookout of familiar faces flashing through soon. Thanks to Cinnamon Girl Studio for this fabulous design!

Where's my cell phone?

I couldn't find my cell phone so I used the free service at www.wheresmycellphone.com and heard it ring.....five feet away from where I was standing.

No, I don't have a Droid....I just liked the picture.

It's wet & soggy here

It's been raining a lot here lately. Our water gauges are full and hail was reported in Columbus this morning. My lawn is soggy and all my kids are begging to do is to go outside and get wet! Go away lightening!

First hugs, now Pugs!

My friend, Pat, owns an eight year old pug (Yes, Pat is aware that she has more hair on her head than her dog does). "Hey, Betty Boop!"

My brother and his wife own a pug as well. "Hey Einstein!"

So, I think it's a sure thing to say that my children have their heart set on their first dog being a pug. As a family, we are still a few years from making that happen but, in the meantime, we will love on those cute snorty little dogs!

So many hugs

While teaching my kindergarten art class today, one usually hyper little boy kept getting up from his station to give me hug after hug after hug. The first and second hugs were cute and I reciprocated by giving him gentle squeezes in return. The third hug he gave (around my leg, mind you) was beginning to get old and, by the fourth hug, I was getting extremely tired of being interrupted as I was trying to give instructions to the class about the art project at hand. So, with gentleness I said, "I appreciate your hugs but right now is not the time since we only have a few minutes together this morning to complete our project. Now go back and sit down and don't get back up again, please." His response? "I can't help it, Mrs. McGinnis. I'm a lover."

I 'bout peed my pants.

The funniest moment on THE BIG BANG THEORY ever!

Oh, my....how I have laughed and peed my pants while watching this segment over and over. Sheldon is by far my favorite character on TV right now. I love this show!

For my Canadian friends, Jonathan & Coralie

How toilet flushing is determined by hockey.



Who keeps up with this stuff?

9 months of joy

It was time to photograph Cheesedoodle once again. Those three-month-marks come quickly!

So so so sad.

I am in shock.
Speechless.
Unbelievable.

What horror.

Our life this past week in pictures

We had a baby in the house one evening last week while his parents went on a date. This is the area where he sat at the table (corn and blueberries).

Of course, he was surrounded by two 2-year olds who also made a mess in their area.

Basketball is one of Luke's favorite games. He's thinking of entering next year's slam dunk contest - neighborhood entries only, of course.

Some artwork by my third grade students that I teach once a week. Bak-Bak!

A friend took Abigail through the Starbucks drive-thru for her first time ever. She fell in love with her hot chocolate...it also made her nose run. (DON'T CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE...it's GROSS!)

Andrew has been turning his nose up at play-dough lately because he thinks it's for younger kids - but he found some toothpicks and designed his own centipede this afternoon. He was proud and said, "Mom, go grab your camera, please!".

A.C. came over to play one afternoon this week. She mastered her skills on the scooter.

Andrew is enjoying one of his activity books that has alot of written codes, mazes, and word finds. He loves to learn, sound out his words, tell me what letters he sees on road signs, and stick his nose in a book.

This morning before church I just had to capture my sweet little girl on camera. She brings such joy to me heart. PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE DIRTY FINGERPRINTS ON THE DRYWALL. Didn't you hear me? Don't look!

Hey, friend!

Come on over and play with me anytime!

My kids' favorite movies

Currently my children's favorite movies:

May I get the door?

My Facebook status a few days ago read something like, "I'm missing three doorhandles on my Toyota 1999 mini-van. Anyone else having problems with their Toyota doorhandles or is it just me?" . It's now a HUGE hassle to get in and out of the van, but the engine works great!

Just wanted to show you the proof.

driver's indoor handle:


sliding door behind driver's seat:


Sliding door behind passenger's seat:

Orphaned no more

In the story of Arno Pet we find a picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How great the Father's love for us!

The Stamped Envelope discount code

My cousin, Kelly, is a graphic design artist and I'm simply amazed at her talent (she went to THE best design school in the nation!). Kelly's business, The Stamped Envelope is closing shop so she's offering 15% off any order with the code 004728 by March 31. You won't be disappointed!

BTW, if you'd like to take a look at Kelly's newest endeavor (partnered with her mom), you can see some of her work at Kalos Photography.

We Are the World (harmonious!)

I appreciate differences in voices and this video made me smile.

Keepin' 'em busy

I knew it was gonna rain tonight so I got the bag of sand out today, poured it into a container, and let my children enjoy their last dry afternoon for a while.

Materials:

one plastic container (large is good)

a bag of sand ($5 for 50lbs)

small toys

hand shovels

interested kids

They absolutely loved doing this. I've seen others use this inside the house with dry beans and/or rice.