There's nothing like a best friend.

My middle child will tell you the same thing every day if prompted...."My best friend is AC. I'm gonna marry her and we're gonna have babies for God." I adore AC's mom and I think it would be AMAZING and FANTASTIC if we were able to show this picture at our kids' possible future wedding reception.

God can do anything he wants.

Losing the joy of mothering....

Oh, someone understands!

Forgive me, Jesus!

Our sweet girl

I look forward to every new morning that I get to see her rise from rest. We love her so!

"Dirt" is gone....

Our Beta fish of three and a half years, DIRT, finally passed away last week. He simply died of old age, the PetSmart fish expert told us. He was a good pet....low maintenance and fully house trained. We've already got another, though. This time a female named LISA (again, Andrew chose the name....don't know where or how he comes up with his decisions!). It seems fish will be a constant pet in this house.

Happy 6th birthday, Andrew!

Six years ago today, my oldest child was born.
It's been a marvelous six years.
I'm so thankful to be his mommy.
God is good.

I love photographing my friend's babies!

Suzie, I stinkin' love you. It brought me joy to look through all the images of your children this past week. Praying for you and missing you immensely. Wish I could sit and drink coffee with you everyday. Wouldn't that be delightful?

Happy Easter

I was busy while Mitch had a moment to pose
with our children after church this morning.

Then, Mitch tended to other duties while I got this picture with the kids.

Once we were both available, there was no one around to take the family shot. I have a remote but no tripod. That's ok, I need to work on my Photoshop skillz anyway.

Spring Fling

We took the kids to the fair for the first time. They loved the lights, the smells, and the sounds. They walked around the first hour in amazement, never really asking if they could ride anything (well, one of them persisted) but just wanting to see what these big lights and sounds were coming from. Eventually, they were able to get on a few rides.

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