Happy Reformation Day!

He wants to be a veterinarian

Wordless Wednesday

We've been busy....playing!

Afternoons are special in our home. It involves a lot of play time together. Since the weather has been BEAUTIFUL these past few weeks, we have spent most of our time outside.

Playing "school".

When inside, we sort...

...design

...color together,

...and become secret agents.

A sick child

Andrew is sick.

Will you pray for him right now?

Mitch just took him to the doctor.

I'll update with information once they return.

They are married!

I'm thrilled that Ira and Liz are finally married.
Their wedding was a blast!

Ira & Liz

...because I like to tell the story.

One Sunday morning, a new face was seen in church.

Her name was Liz and she had just moved to town to pursue her master's degree.

We invited her to our small group that evening, thinking the new-single-academically-busy-girl wouldn't come.

She did....and Ira was there as usual.


When we finished for the evening, Ira proceeded to the piano.

Liz followed.

Coralie, Allison, and I looked at each other and "called it".

Now, it's a year later and they are getting married tomorrow.

We are excited to celebrate with them!

A God story of adoption

God Story: The Howerton Family from ROCKHARBOR on Vimeo.

9 Quick Takes

Pictures are easier to post than to have to sit down and think of words to type....but these 9 takes came to me quickly.

1. Packing four lunches every night is one of my most dreaded tasks. It's tedious and takes a long time....who gets what sandwich?, which drink?, will the yogurt keep?, did I pack him a fruit?, is that too many sweets?, I forgot to cut the sandwich in half, etc. Ugh.

2. Guess what.....really, guess. What happens to me often? Seriously....think about it. Who do I visit on a regular basis? Yeah, you guessed it. It's that time again. I have another toothache. This is Mitch's way of finding out. My hygienist is coming to my classroom tomorrow to demonstrate to the little ones how to properly brush their teeth. They told me to listen carefully, too. HA!

3. While eating a HUGE waffle cone with a friend this past week, I decided that I needed a spoon so I could eat off the top portion. The ice cream shoppe was too far away for me to walk. That's when I remembered that this handy mother had something useful in her purse! A plastic spoon! NO, I don't know how it got there. It's been keeping company with the crayons, pennies, and silly bandz at the bottom of my purse. Yes, I wiped it off!

4. While sitting on the floor yesterday with my class of four year olds, the little girl next to me wildly sneezed directly onto my forearm. If I don't show up for class tomorrow, Mrs. Principal, you'll know why. *Sniffle*Snort*Cough*

5. I have 7 close friends who are pregnant. I have 2 friends who are waiting on their adoption to be finalized. Lots of baby showers are being planned. I'm limiting myself to only host 4 of them. Deal or no deal.

6. Mitch and I will be celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary this weekend. Two of our good friends are marrying each other on the exact day we wed those 11 years ago so it will be sweet to share that date with them. Mitch is officiating and all three of our kids are in the wedding in some capacity. I just get to watch....what a relief!

It's been neat to watch this couple fall in love and be involved in our church. I think our entire congregation will be at the wedding!

7. The rescue of the miners was on my heart and mind all day today. Even my students were captivated by the rescue process. So much so that I drew a diagram of the drill hole and rescue capsule for them on the wipe board. Then, I heard one of my students say, "Let's pray for them!". So, we did.

8. I like to text people on my phone and I like to receive text messages, too. HINT! HINT!

9. I found a new song to love.

If it’s love

And we decide that it’s forever
No one else could do it better
And if I’m addicted to loving you
And you’re addicted to my love too
We can be them two birds of a feather
That flock together
While everybody else is getting out of bed
I’m usually getting in it
I’m not in it to win it
And there’s a thousand ways you can skin it
My feet have been on the floor
Flat like an idle singer
Remember winger
I digress
I confess you are the best thing in my life
But I’m afraid when I hear stories
About a husband and wife
There’s no happy endings
No Henry Lee
But you are the greatest thing about me

[Chorus]
If it’s love
And we decide that it’s forever
No one else could do it better
If it’s love
And we’re two birds of a feather
Then the rest is just whenever
And if I’m addicted to loving you
And you’re addicted to my love too
We can be them two birds of a feather
That flock together
Love, love
Got to have something to keep us together
Love, Love
That’s enough for me

Took a loan on a house I own
Can’t be a queen bee without a bee throne
I wanna buy ya everything
Except cologne
’cause it’s poison
We can travel to Spain where the rain falls

Mainly on the plain side and sing
’cause it is we can laugh we can sing
Have ten kids and give them everything
Hold our cell phones up in the air
And just be glad we made it here alive
On a spinning ball in the middle of space
I love you from your toes to your face

[Chorus]
You can move in
I won’t ask where you’ve been
’cause everybody has a past
When we’re older
We’ll do it all over again
When everybody else is getting out of bed
I’m usually getting in it
I’m not in it to win it
I’m in it for you

If it’s love
And we’re two birds of a feather
Then the rest is just whenever
Then the rest is just whenever

Love, love
Got to have something to keep us together
Love, love
Got to have something to keep us together
Love, love

Disclaimer: There may be parts of this post that make no grammatical sense. Please forgive me for writing this at 2:22 am. Am I slurring?

It's coming on Friday!

One of our favorite movies will be released this Friday.

Can you guess which one it is?

Bedtime routine turned silly

The "sillies" hit us tonight while ending our day with the bedtime routine of reading, singing, praying, etc. We all love the camera!

OCTOBER! It's still hot here in Georgia.

The weather for the next ten days is predicted to be in the mid 80s. We are enjoying it, although it feels weird since it's October. Isn't it supposed to be chilly?

Wordless Wednesday

Stuck Like Glue

Mitch and I get a kick out of this video. We could watch it over and over and still laugh our booties off!

Scroll below video for lyrics.



MMMM better...MMMM better...
Absolutely no one that knows me better
No one that can make me feel sooo goooood
How did we stay so long together?
When everybody, everybody said we never would
And just when I, I start to think they're right
That love has died...

[Chorus:]
There you go making my heart beat again,
Heart beat again,
Heart beat again
There you go making me feel like a kid
Won't you do it and do it one time?
There you go pulling me right back in,
Right back in,
Right back in
And I know-oo I'm never letting this go-ooo

I'm stuck on you
Whutooo whutooo
Stuck like glue
You and me baby we're stuck like glue
Whutooo whutooo
Stuck like glue
You and me baby we're stuck like glue

Some days I don't feel like trying
Some days you know I wanna just give up
When it doesn't matter who's right, thought about it all night
Had enough
You give me that look
"I'm sorry baby let's make up"
You do that thing that makes me laugh
And just like that...

[Chorus:]
There you go making my heart beat again,
Heart beat again,
Heart beat again
There you go making me feel like a kid
Won't you do it and do it one time
There you go pulling me right back in,
Right back in,
Right back in
And I know-oo I'm never letting this go-ooo

I'm stuck on you
Whutooo whutooo
Stuck like glue
You and me baby we're stuck like glue
Whutooo whutooo
Stuck like glue
You and me baby were stuck like glue

Whutooo Whutoo

You almost stay out, too stuck together from the ATL
Whutooo Whutoo
Feeling kinda sick?
Just a spoon full of sugar make it better real quick

I say
Whutooo Whutoo
Whatcha gonna do with that?
Whutooo Whutoo
Come on over here with that
Sugar sticky sweet stuff
Come on give me that stuff
Everybody wants some
Melodies that get stuck

Up in your head
Whutooo whutooo

Up in your head
Whutooo whutooo

Up in your head
Whutooo whutooo

Up in your head
Whutooo whutooo
Whuthoo whutooo
Stuck like glue
You and me together, say, it's all I wanna do
I said

[Chorus:]
There you go making my heart beat again,
Heart beat again,
Heart beat again
There you go making me feel like a kid
Won't you do it and do it one time
There you go pulling me right back in,
Right back in,
Right back in
And I know-oo I'm never letting this go-ooo

There you go making my heart beat again,
Heart beat again,
Heart beat again
There you go making me feel like a kid
Won't you do it and do it one time
There you go pulling me right back in,
Right back in,
Right back in
And I know-oo I'm never letting this go-ooo
I'm stuck on you

Whutooo whutooo
Stuck like glue
You and me baby we're stuck like glue
Whutooo whutooo
Stuck like glue
You and me baby were stuck like glue
Whutooo whutooo
Stuck like glue
You and me baby we're stuck like glue

Thinking is fun

How can I encourage my kids to think on their own? It's encouraging to see it in action, initiated on their own.

Principal's office

The principal of our school is a sweet, good friend of mine. She's been my friend far longer than she's been my "boss"..... she hates it when I tease her with that title. She is super at her job and I'm so glad she loves working with all of us gals at the school. One thing she has to do a lot is speak with children who have shown disrespect to others.

On Monday of last week, Abigail was taken to see Mrs. Principal.
She was repeatedly ignoring her teacher on the playground and not coming to the gate when called. I love her teacher!

The next day, Tuesday, Luke was taken to speak with Mrs. Principal.
He put his hand on another child when he was threatened of losing his spot in the line. Yes, this is the child that is in my class. After I spoke with him as his teacher AND mother, I took him to the office. He was not happy with me.

The very next day, Wednesday, Andrew was taken to visit Mrs. Principal.
Let me give credit to Andrew, though. He was not "in trouble". There was an incident involving a few students in his class and he was called in to clarify and give his account of what he saw. Whew!

Yep, three kids in three days. You read that right. It's ALWAYS those preacher's kids.

Sin, oh how I hate thee!

I pray that the grace of the Lord speak to the hearts of my children and show them His ways.

Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken

We sang this song in church last Sunday and the people worshiped. Our music director will, hopefully, play it often.



Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee;
Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be;
Perish every fond ambition, all I've sought, and hoped or known;
Yet how rich is my condition, God and heaven are still my own!

Let the world despise and leave me, they have left my Savior too;
Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like man, untrue;
And, while Thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, love and might,
Foes may hate and friends may shun me; show Thy face and all is bright.

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! Come, disaster, scorn and pain!
In Thy service, pain is pleasure; with Thy favor, loss is gain.
I have called Thee, "Abba, Father;" I have set my heart on Thee:
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, all must work for good to me.

Man may trouble and distress me, 'twill but drive me to Thy breast;
Life with trials hard may press me, heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
O 'tis not in grief to harm me, while Thy love is left to me;
O 'twere not in joy to charm me, were that joy unmixed with Thee.

Hasten on from grace to glory, armed by faith, and winged by prayer;
Heaven's eternal day's before me, God's own hand shall guide me there.
Soon shall close my earthly mission, swift shall pass my pilgrim days;
Hope shall change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

Stone Mountain

It's been over 20 years since I was last at Stone Mountain Park, GA. Our good friends took us with them on a fun filled day to the park with the enormous granite rock - and we all had a delightful time! Our kids really enjoyed the cable car ride up the mountain and the 1.6 mile walk back down. After calculating the trails we walked after our hike down, we figured our feet took us on a good 3 mile journey. I was so proud of our kids....they didn't complain once!

There are so many more activities offered at the park than I remember. I think that's what they call "change", Jawan!

I spent a good bit of my time with Luke and Abigail while Andrew and Mitch played together on some of the larger and more dangerous activities. These two didn't want to stop going down the zip line. I wish I could install one in our backyard!

The kids (and Mitch) being silly. We snapped this photo just before eating dinner. Although they were hungry, the kids didn't want to stop playing to eat. We had to force them to eat pizza and cupcakes.
The pumpkin festival is going on at the park. I think they are giving them (The pumpkins) some sort of steroid shot, though.

Hiking the trail along the bottom of the mountain.

Can you spot all three children?

GOING DOWN!

The scene at the top.

Raise your hands up in the air!
Raise 'em like ya just don't care!

Thanks, Jennie and Travis, for a wonderful afternoon with family and friends!