NEVER TO YOUNG

Yesterday when I picked Jada up from school, she jumped right in and started a conversation about something that happened at school. I could tell she had been waiting to tell me this all day. During Science, which is her favorite subject, they are learning about minerals and yesterday they got to look at different crystals. At one point she said her teacher was talking about trees and that they come from the earth. One little boy that sits behind Jada raised his had and said "No they don't they come from God, God created everything." Jada agreed with the little boy. The teachers response: "We need to take God out of it and just say that trees come from the earth." (I am not sure if she is a believer or trying to be careful as a teacher) I am just so proud that there are children, including Jada, who would stand up and tell what the bible says. I told her that through her life there are going to be people who don't believe and say things didn't come from God, but that she has to stand strong in her beliefs and look to the bible for the answers. It was funny because my husband, who is the outreach pastor at our church, told Jada that she could reach out to her teacher (if she is an unbeliever) . He told her that when she gets to eat lunch with her teacher, Jada could pray, and that would be a ministry opportunity! We forget so many times that no one is too young to tell others about Jesus!

This morning Skyler prayed before we ate breakfast and here is a little of what he said, "...help no one hit me, push me, or kick me today." There must be a child who is doing that, so he just prayed and asked God for help. I just love that he prayed that all on his own. We have tried to teach both kids how important prayer is! One more cute story about Skyler. We were playing with his lincoln logs and they build into a jail. He was the sheriff trying to catch the bad guy. So, he pretended to catch the bad guy and put him into jail. Then he started telling the bad guy he needs to do good things and read the bible. Then Sky just started preaching to the pretend bad guy and telling him about Jesus...a 4 year old. (His uncle does prison ministry, so that is where he learned that from. YEAH Uncle Kevin!!) So again, you are NEVER to young to minister to others. Our pastor always says, "You are made to serve, not to sit!" What are you doing to minister!

Update

Fay has now passed us, It is still raining, but no wind today. Yesterday we had the worst wind and rain. We had gusts up to 55mph. We sat on our back porch and just watched the wind blow yesterday. We are in prayer for those who had the worst of the storm. So many people with damaged homes by tornado's and flooding. It is unreal how much damage Fay did.

Jada's school did cancel today for flooding. Her first week of school and already two canceled days, but we had a fun day. We met some friends at a place called Kangaroom. It is a warehouse that is filled with inflatables to jump in. All the kids jumped for 4 hours! We came home and daddy had dinner made and it was yummy! The kids got cleaned up and watched a movie before bedtime. They were both worn out from all the jumping.

Another Big Day

I am going to try and type this if I can see through all my tears! I just dropped Sky off at his first day of preschool. He is just the joy of my life! He came in the kitchen this morning with his eyes shut and stumbling trying to get to me and said, "I am ready for my first day of school!" He has been looking forward to this day for a while. He insisted on taking a bath this morning (even though he was clean) because he said he wanted to smell good at school today. He just makes me smile! I know he is going to love it and had no problem when it was time for me to leave. Part of me wanted him to cling to me and the other part was so thankful he feels so comfortable going to preschool! Right now it is eerily quiet in the house. I really miss all his giggles and that BIG SMILE of his! I can't imagine what it will be like when they go off to college...I know that is a long time from now!

Sky and his big smile before we left for school!


Sky and his big sister walking to the car ready for school!


We stopped by daddy's office so daddy could walk with us to Sky's classroom!


Sky had to find his name and turn over his card. He has to do that every morning when he comes in!


Then he hung up his backpack and lunch box.



Then he found his name on table and started playing with puzzles as all the other children were coming in!


I am so proud of him! He is such a big boy and will be in my prayers all day!

Back to School

Today was Jada's first day back to school. She woke right up and was ready to go. I thought, "wow this is great!" I walked her in to school and that is when it really started to hit her. She did good about finding her teachers name and sitting in the right spot. When it was time for me to leave, her face broke my heart. I gave her a HUGE hug and told her it was going to be okay and I would be praying for her ALL day! Her eyes began to fill with tears as her class walked into school. I had to turn around and walk towards the car, because I didn't want her to see my eyes filling with tears.

She had so many people praying for her and anxious to see how her day went. I picked her up and she had the biggest smile. She had a great time! She said her day was an EIGHT (from 1-10) What an answer to prayer. She even made a few friends today! But, the most precious thing was what happened at lunch. She told me that she prayed silently in her head before she ate her lunch. I AM ONE PROUD MOMMY!

Tomorrow her school has been canceled because of hurricane Fay. Skyler is disappointed too, because his first day of preschool was tomorrow. This hurricane thing is all new to me. We are prepared though, with our water, batteries, and flashlights! I am just thankful that for today, Jada had a wonderful day first day!

Jada before she left for school!

This is Jada after school eating her snack.

Jada was so excited about her daily planner. She is responsible for writing down her homework assignments each day!

Pool Party!

Today was Jada's pool party for her birthday! The girls had a lot of fun. They swam for the first hour. Part of that time they were in the hot tub because they said a "Bee" was in the pool. Jeremy went to get the bee and it turned out NOT to be a bee, but a HUGE bug that was the size of half my hand! No wonder all the girls were in the hot tub. Then the storm started rolling in so we went under the covered part of the pool area to eat pizza and cake. The rain was okay until it started lightening. Yes, you guessed it, all the girls began to scream! So, we went back to our house for the rest of the time and the girls played and we opened presents. Misty, Jada's hamster, was a hit at the party. They all had so much fun playing with it. They kept making Misty a new house in every little container in Jada's room. Such a fun day!!!

Blessed

This is a poem I came across yesterday, when going through some old papers. I just love this poem!

Blessed Be Children

Blessed be innocence, smiles from the heart.

Small dimpled fingers that take things apart,

Noses that wrinkle at spinach and such.

Eyes filled with wonder for they see so much.

Blessed be question with no easy answers,

Bubble-bath swimmers and mud-puddled dancers,

Climbers and diggers and builders and bakers,

Dreamers and gigglers and up-at-dawn wakers.

Hearts that are gentle,

Wills that are strong,

Minds learning left from right,

And right from wrong.

Blessed be hugs that wrap round your knees,

Sweet angel voices that sigh, "Once more, Please?"

Blessed be, "Read me a story," and then,

Blessed be each whispered, "Bless me...Amen."

Blessed be sleepy eyes,

With each little yawn...

Blessed be childhood

Before it is gone.

Thankful for Today!

I am so thankful every year for August 11. 7 years ago my precious daughter, Jada, was born. It is truly a miracle that she is here with us today and is celebrating her 7th birthday. I previously posted the story of how she was brought into this world and her struggle to make it through each day. I am thankful I got to wake up to her beautiful smile this morning...she brightens my day!

Last night when she was asleep we put balloons in her room for her to wake up to. I got that idea out of a magazine and Jada loved it. She was so excited! After fixing her favorite breakfast she decided from several options what she wanted to do. She chose to go to the scrapbook store and get things for her new scrapbook. YEAH! It was a fun scrapbook day together. She wore her birthday princess hat everywhere today. She has had it since her first birthday and we always take her picture wearing it every year.

When she was finished scrap booking, my son Skyler, escorted her to another room where we had a little fun surprise. We had is set up like a boutique, with all her dress up clothes and dolls all around. Skyler served her a snack while I painted her toenails and finger nails. This was a special day with her family. Saturday she will be having a pool party with a few girls from church! I am thankful for my baby girl!!!

It is almost that time!!

Today was our big back to school shopping day. We always make this day very special. Today was even more special because my youngest is about to start preschool. So, BOTH of my children got to do this together. It is so hard to believe that they are both going to be in school. Time goes by so fast...I am not ready yet!

First we went to Super Target (one of my favorite places) to get all the school supplies on their list. They didn't have too much to get because their Nana took them when she was here last week. Thanks again Nana! Skyler was so funny he kept sticking stuff in our cart that HE thought he needed, but was not on the list. Jada still could not understand why she couldn't have the cool notebooks instead of the black one that was on her list. But, they were both so excited about gathering all the supplies and putting them in their basket.

Every year after we shop for supplies we let them pick where they want to eat. We just make a day of it. Hopefully that gets them excited to head back to school! They chose to eat at a place called Ferkins, I think that is how you spell it. Anyway, it has a lot of games in it to play and you can bowl. So Jada and Sky played games while daddy ran home to get all of our socks. We forgot we needed socks to put on with our bowling shoes. We bowled two games and the kids ate pizza, fries, and Sky ate a hot dog.

When we got home they divided all of their things and looked through everything we bought for school. What a fun day!!

8 YEARS TODAY!

Eight years ago today I married the man of my dreams! I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was so excited to walk down that aisle. As I began to walk down my husband began to sing to me. It was the sweetest moment in my life. He sang the song "Forever I do." I wish I could down load it to my blog because it was beautiful!

I am so thankful God blessed me with such a wonderful husband that loves the Lord and his family with all his heart! God has taught both of us so much in the past 8 years and we have grown stronger in Him together as a couple. I am so excited to see what God has in store for us this year. It has already been wonderful. Jeremy, I know you are reading this and just wanted to tell you that you are the love of my life and I love you!

This morning I woke up to this...

My husband is so romantic! Roses are one of my favorite flowers. When we first got married we would eat turkey bacon (at that time I did not eat red meat) and biscuits for breakfast. You guessed it...I had turkey bacon and biscuits this morning.

That is not all! My husband called this afternoon and told me to be ready by 3:00 that he had a surprise for me, but would not tell me what it was. So, after he picked up me and the kids we pulled in here...

We were at Animal Kingdom Lodge. This is one of my FAVORITE places!!! When you walk in it is so amazing. The pictures do not even begin to show what it really looks like. You really have the African feel when you are there. I was so excited. He made reservations for us to eat at the restaurant Boma. When we were waiting for our table we walked around outside and saw Zebra's, giraffes, and all kinds of other wildlife that would be found in Africa. For those of you who do not know, it is my dream to go to Africa and tell those children about Jesus! Jeremy is so thoughtful and made the night so special.

When it was time to eat the waitress treated us very special. She handed us these...

We had special buttons to wear and throughout the entire night, everyone we saw who worked there would tell us "Happy Anniversary!" They also gave us an anniversary card signed from the staff at Boma. It was signed in the different languages of Africa. That is when I got a little weepy. Again, Jeremy made this day and night so special for me!

When we were finished and I thought we were waiting on the check the waitress brings out this surprise...

WOW!!!!! The surprises just kept coming! What a wonderful night and way to celebrate the last 8 years!

AND THE WINNER IS.....

Here are your random numbers:10
Timestamp: 2008-08-02 02:05:05 UTC

Congrats to Amy! Thanks to all of you who wrote your favorite recipes for me. I can not wait to try each and every one of them.

Today we went to the beach all day with my family that is in town. We had a BLAST!!! It is so much fun when company comes and we can share with them the things that we like to do. This afternoon we saw about 5 dolphins swimming in the ocean. It is so amazing to look out and see all the things that God created. I am amazed everyday. Me and my family are truly blessed and God is showing me everyday why He moved us here and is making this home. We spent 6 hours at the beach and then we came home, ate dinner, and went out to grab some ice cream at marble slab. What a wonderful day and night!

My Beautiful Jada!

Sky about to hit some waves!

Jada and her Aunt Abby trying on some shades!

My sweet sister, father, and mother-in-law!!