A little synopsis of our week...

Wow!  I didn't realize how much I used the internet until we haven't had a good connection for the last few days.  Sorry that I have not posted much lately, but between a busy schedule, slow internet connection and being exhausted....I just have slacked off.  Today has started off busy already...but I wanted to take a minute or two and sit down and catch up a little on this weeks happenings.  Plus I am trying to learn how to insert images into a post and not having much luck...so be patient with me and maybe someday soon I will master it.   

I thought I might include a photo of each child showing what we have been working on this week around our house and at school.  This week Mallory's class studied about apples and on Thursday they studied about Johnny Appleseed and did some really cute class activities.  I was fortunate enough to get to go and help out that morning and had a great time.  Mrs. Jackson did a great job and had everything organized and ready to roll when the parents showed up and everything went very smoothly.  The children seemed to love the activites while at the same time learning a lot about apples and about Johnny Appleseed that they didn't already know.  In fact, I learned several things too that I have never heard before.  What a fun day!

Kennedy also has been blossoming lately and wanting to do more big girl stuff...and painting, of course, is one of her favorite things to do. She does a pretty good job of it too.  I took some picture of her playing Picasso this week and trying her had at some watercolors.  She really enjoyed...especially the part about not having to share the paint or the brush with her sister. 

Of course, I can't forget to mention our little man.  He is growing up so fast.  I took some pictures of him last night in his little seat...we are trying to get him to sit and play, but after a few minutes of it he is tired of trying to hold up his head and gives up and wants out.  At least he tries though!  He will get it eventually and I am sure that once he starts to move more and figure things out...I will have my hands even more full and be wondering what can I do to slow him down.  Last night was one of the good nights that he stayed in his little toy long enough for me to get some really cute pictures.

This morning so far we have already had a soccer game and been cleaning up the house.  Shane is out working in the garage and the girls are playing with the Lite Bright in their room.  Parker is sleeping for a little while.  I am enjoying the low hum from the girls voices and the sound of nothing.  Yeah for me!

Actually, we have the windows and the front door open because it is so beautiful outside today and I can hear the birds, smell the fresh air, and the breeze feels great.  What a beautiful world that God created for us to enjoy!

This afternoon we are going to watch BAMA play against Florida.  That ought to be a good game.  We have supper plans for the evening and then hopefully will get the kids down early for bedtime.  I have a few errands to run today and then just some relaxing time at home.  I love days like this!  Hope you all have a great fall day!  More later on...

Ten On Tuesday....just a little late...

I just have to be honest and admit it....ok...here it goes...When I walked in the kitchen door last night, I ate supper with the family and really didn't do much else....and I crashed onto the couch...the next thing I knew it was time for bed.

So Ten On Tuesday had to wait....

Here it is and enjoy!

Top Ten Things You May Not Have Known About Us 

1. Shane has a minor in Astronomy. 



2. Heather lived in Hawaii for a brief time when she was a little girl.



3. Mallory and Kennedy both weighed 8lbs, 3oz and were 20 inches long when they were born.



4. Shane and Heather met through the internet 8 years ago.



5. Shane is a drummer.



6. Shane is a Pittsburg Steelers fan.



7. Mallory has four loose teeth.



8. Kennedy is taking ballet and tap dancing classes.



9. Heather has travelled to Russia, Greece, Israel, and Egypt.



10. Shane is the only one in our family with green eyes.

Wow...that was harder than I thought it would be to come up with ten things....I am sure that after I post this I will think of things that I should have added....oh well

Ok...now it's your turn...give us ten things we may not have known about you and your family.

Can't wait to read about them.

Busy days and nights...

Wow!  Yesterday just flew by and I really don't know where my time went to....but I liked it because I stayed busy and days like that I just feel so much more productive.  Last night I went to Ladies Bible Study and had a wonderful time...as always.  Ginger did a great job!  I learned several things about "What Do You Communicate" with my husband....I know, I know....before you all sit there and start laughing.....but it really was a great chapter in the book and Ginger did a great job of bringing out some things I had never thought about or looked at....or maybe I have but just not in the way she proposed it.  Great job Ginger as usual!

After class I ventured to the local Wal-mart....it wasn't too crowded....but I still seemed to spend way too much time in there.  Why do I always do that?  I mean....it isn't like they are going to have some life changing item that they didn't have TWO days ago when I was there....but still I lingered.

By the time I got home....I was much too tired to post to the website....in fact I didn't do much more than watch the local news and fall asleep in the recliner.

So I am just now getting to post for the day.  I had planned on posting on the topic of Milestones for Monday yesterday….but never got to that….so I will try again next week.  Today however, I am aiming for Ten for Tuesday. 

I am off to finish dinner and the chocolate chip cookies that are baking…yum, yum…..and will be back later to give you my Ten for Tuesday.

Hope everyone has a had a good day….here is a little quote from my flip calendar that sits here beside my computer… When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses.  I don’t know about you, but my family makes me happy and I am thankful for them.

Later…

Thought and a great way to start my morning off...

This day has started off just as normal as every other day.

• Woke up
• Packed Mallory's snack for school
• Got out her clothes
• Picked up house and started a load of laundry
• Helped Mallory get dressed and made sure her backpack was ready to go out the door with her
• Fixed Mallory's hair
• Sent Shane and Mallory out the door with a hug and a kiss and a Have a great day!
• Checked my email
• Heard small little feet running down the hallway just as I was reading my email
• Made breakfast for Kennedy and turned on Handy Manny (a new Disney cartoon...which really is pretty cool)
• Made breakfast for myself and a cup of iced tea and decided to flip my calendar and read the thought for today....
• which in turn made me want to share it with all of you
• so here it is:

Father,  My prayer is that I would learn to trust You more.  It's such a comfort to know that my life is in Your hands, and the circumstances surrounding me are in Your control.  Remind me daily that choosing to be happy is an option.  May I find my strength in Your joy. 

I don't always like the thoughts on each day or even agree with them....but this one just made me stop and think about the day ahead and how I should approach it.  Just something to think about.

One thing I am learning with posting on this website and using it as sort of like my journal....is that it is motivating me to write more of my thoughts and feelings.  Which in turn makes me take a look at my own life and to work on some things that I need to work on.  But it also gives me an avenue to express about everyday happenings and life events that I never really took notice of or kept track of before....and I want to be more vigilant in doing that.  I realized that a lot of things that my kids did or said slipped by me too many times.....but this allows me to sit down and record those things very quickly and then go back and reflect on them later...plus I get to share them with all of you.

I mentioned that I am going to organize my posts in some sort of fashion...this is one thing I got from some other websites I have been looking at.  Later today I am going to post about Milestone Monday and then on Tuesdays....I am going to try something called Ten for Tuesday.  We will see how it goes....

Thanks for all the emails and sweet comments about the website.  Hope you continue to enjoy it as much as I enjoy updating it.  Please keep commenting under the posts!  I really enjoying reading them and I try to reply to them as I can.  Also, if you are reading the posts and want to give your answers to the quizzes.....please post them.  We would love to read what everyone else's answers are....and it is a great way to get to know people better.  It is really easy to do....if you can type, then you can post.....just click on the word comments under each post and type your info.  We would love to hear from you!

Have a good morning and a great day....more later....:)

A new week and new goals to reach...

I love Sundays.  Not just because it is the day that our whole family goes to worship together with people that we call friends and family....but because it is refreshing and it signifies beginning.  It is the new week....it is a time for list making ..... goal setting..... wishful thinking for the week to come.  I love Sundays because it is a relaxing day and sometimes even a nap day....not often, but sometimes.  I love Sundays because my girls are so excited to go to Bible class and that excites me and makes me know that we are doing something right as parents to have them more excited about going to class than sitting in front of the television and staring into space.  I love Sundays....because every now and then....when I am not wrestling kids....I can listen to a message and gather a new idea or thought to apply to my life that helps me to grow stronger as a person, as a wife, as a mother, as a friend.  Sundays are awesome!  Life seems to slow down just a little bit and things seem to stand still for just a small moment in time.  Which is just the way we need it to be sometimes.

I have decided to try and organize my posts on a daily theme.....if I can work it out....so stay tuned.....tomorrow should be interesting. 

More later and have a good night!

Quiz #2

1. My current occupation is:  homemaker
2. My dream job is:  my current job
3. If I could live anywher in the world, it would be:  hmmm....not sure on that one....but would like to live closer to my family
4. If I could be someone famous, it would be:  really don't want to be famous, but think Laura Bush is pretty cool
5. If I had a million dollars, the first thing I would buy is:  some things that missionaries in foreign countries are needing desperately right now
6. The best birthday gift I could receive would be:  anything my kids make me
7. Wen I was a teen ager, I thought that at my age I would be a:  missionary
8. The goals I am currently working on are: reading my Bible more, memorizing scripture in Psalm, keeping a journal, being more consistent with my discipline
9. When I am 80, I hope I am doing: Breathing :)
10. The person I'd like to be more like is:  Jesus

Quiz #1

Been reading and looking through a new magazine called Scrapbooking Shortcuts with quizzes and questions.  It is really great and gives some really great quizzes and thought provoking questions to help you brainstorm and get the creative juices flowing.  I am going to attempt to include some of these quizzes periodically in my posts.  So for tonight .... here is the first one that I did.  Please feel free to post a reply and answer the same questions to help everyone get to know each other....it is only ten questions and these are pretty easy:

Quiz #1

1. The last person I sent a card to : I believe it was a thank you card to the Smith’s
2. What I ate for lunch today: Chicken nuggets and a coke            
3. Something I just learned: how to BLOG
4. My favorite song this year: Believe by Brooks and Dunn
5. The last book I read: My bible and Lisa Bearnson’s third book
6. What I am wearing right now: plaid fleece pajamas
7. The last phone call I made: to Shane in Wal-Mart from my cell phone
8. Inside, I don’t feel very different from when I was (how old)? 20
9. The last restaurant I ate at was? Chik-fil-A
10. My favorite TV show is: Law and Order: SVU

It is still raining here this evening...but I am not complaining.  Thank you God for the wonderful sound of the rain hitting the roof.  We needed it so badly and it is such a refreshing sound. 

I think it has pretty much been raining all day here.  What about where you are?

Just want to say thank you all for all the kind words, comments, and emails that you have been leaving about this website.  I am really enjoying developing it and hope it becomes a tool for my family and for yours.  I have already met several new people and am hoping to get to know many of you better. 

Also, thank you to many of you who have emailed or asked about our friends that were mentioned in an earlier post.  They are still going through a very difficult time and have a difficult road ahead of them but they are a precious family.  They are strong people.  They rely upon God and prayer and they covet your prayers.  Without being too detailed, please just remember to pray for the Norris family and for God to help them deal with their tremendous loss.  Prayer is so powerful and is the best help we can give them!  Thanks! 

In Honor of my husband...

Can I just say ROLL TIDE????  Can't wait till tomorrow!  It is hard to believe that eight years ago I had no desire to watch football, didn't care anything about it, didn't know anything about it....nor did I want to....now....well let's just say...Shane has converted me!  I really enjoy watching and going to the games with him.  Hopefully tomorrow will be another win for BAMA!

Roll Tide Baby!!!

Happy Birthday To You!!!

Happy Birthday Patty! 

As usual, I am horrible about getting cards out...but this to me would be even better!  Your name in lights!!!  :)  Hope you have a great birthday!  We love you and can't wait to see you all in October!

More later this afternoon!  I have a lot of things I want to add on the website, but just have been running short on time to be on the computer.  Maybe this weekend I can add more pictures and post some thoughts. 

Another fun filled day...

Well, this will be the third time I have tried to post since yesterday afternoon.  I have had a pretty lengthy post typed up twice and both times have made a dumb mistake and lost all of my information...so back to the drawing boards I guess.  It makes me mad too because I had so much to say and now I have to put my brain back in gear and try to remember about it all.  I am finding out that this BLOG is very helpful to me for the purpose of journaling.  I try so hard to write everything down about the kids in a journal, but when I sit down here to type I seem to write more and my mind remembers things that they said or did during the day that were cute or funny and it helps.  It has become a way for me to express myself and to unwind, to catch up and remember what is important in life.  Thanks so far for all the emails and comments about the website.  Like I said, I still have some work to do and I will be adding new stuff daily so mark it as a favorite and continue to check it frequently.  I hope it becomes a great tool for me and for my family to use in many ways.  Oh, and YES DAD....I did do this all by myself! I know you find that hard to believe, but I do have a little bit of brain left even with three kids sucking most of it away from me…  J

There is a bit of a nip in the air today and in fact I would just say it is plum cold outside...but I freeze all the time so my opinion is probably not too accurate.  J I think I read the thermometer to say 63 degrees just a little while ago when we were coming back from the doctor's office.  To me that is chilly!  Even little Kennedy said, "Mama, It is cold out here."

Parker went for his 4 month check up this morning.  He did pretty good considering that he got his second round of shots.  Of course, the doctor was amazed at how much he had grown and said WOW!!  I just laughed.  He was 27 inches long and weighed 20.6 pounds today.  The doctor said that he was in the 95^th percentile on his height and weight…and his head size!  I just laughed then too!  Imagine that!  J  Of course the shots have not been fun for him and now that we are home he is running a low grade fever and sleeping a lot…but that is normal.  He is a little trooper!

I have much more to post about upcoming events and other events that have happened this week, but since this is the first time I have had the chance to sit down to post or even hardly breath today…I will try more later.  I am on my way out the door to go to class.

Yeppers, I said class…I am taking a photography class at Calhoun Community College

two nights a week.  It is fun and I am learning a lot!  Me and my buddy Melissa signed up for it and so far I am so glad that I did it! There are some really cool websites that our instructor has told us about and I love them!  The are full of information and helpful if photography is one of your interests.  I am looking to buy a new camera in a few months and have been looking at a website my instructor recommened.  It is a really cool website that is very honest about it's reviews of a camera.  Also, another one that I am just starting to look at has beautiful pictures and I think is just awesome.   It is nice to get out of the house, but even better to learn how to take better pictures.  I am way into that! 

More later!  Bye!

Love mornings like this...

For some strange reason things are going pretty smoothly this morning???  Shane is off to work and Mallory off to school...which by the way she is loving!  Although this morning she was complaining that her name was still at the bottom of the bee hive....whatever that means???  Parker went back to sleep after scarfing down his normal big breakfast and Kennedy is being abnormally calm this morning.  What is up with all this? 

Got up this morning thinking about some very dear, dear friends of ours that are really suffering right now and need our prayers.  Can't seem to get them off my mind...and don't really want to...I wish there was something I could do for them...but know that right now the most powerful and best thing I can do is PRAY!  Makes me stop and really count my blessings...so funny...the other day at church we started singing...Count Your Many Blessings...and Kennedy in her big, loud, voice says..."I know this song!"  Moments like that are great!  It makes me feel good...like I am doing something right.  Probably most three year olds wouldn't know that song.

How blessed am I?  I could never even begin to number the ways...

• salvation



• loving husband, wonderful children



• great job as a wife and mother



• great family



• health



• warmth, food, home

These seem almost too basic to list, however, I know that I take them for granted way too often!  How about you?  I need to learn to count my blessings more and quit complaining about them.

A New Adventure For Us

Developing this BLOG has been so fun!  I have learned a lot, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.  Shane knows so much more about computers than I do, but he sat back and let me do this one on my own and I am pretty happy with how it is turning out.  Tonight will be a short post to just sort of test out the website and see how it goes...not to mention that I just now am sitting down to eat my supper at 10:30.  It has been a long day and night here at our house.  We had lots of rain this afternoon and we sure needed it.  Very thankful for it!