"It has given me great joy...

to find my children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us" 2John 1:4

This week I have seen witnessed two separate instances when both of my girls are 'walking in the truth' and I don't think that there is anything else in this world that makes me happier! The first time was Monday morning... we were making our daily journey from home to Denise's house and I had K-Love on and I was just singing away! Usually both of the girls sleep until we arrive however, Monday was a little different! Avery has this terrible cough that wakes her up (alot) and so she had just gotten over her coughin spell! This song from Mercy Me "FINALLY HOME" came on and I love it because it reminds me so much of my momma...so I sing it even louder!


I'm gonna wrap my arms around my daddy's neck and tell him that I've missed him and tell him
all about the man that i became and hope that it pleased him there's so much i want to say
there's so much i want you to know.

[chorus]
When i finally make it home when i finally make it home.

I replace all the words that need to be replaced to fit my situation...I'm gonna wrap my arms around my momma's neck and tell her that I've missed her, etc...

I was just singing away and when the song got to the chorus...I heard this little voice behind me singing even louder than me..."WHEN I FINALLY MAKE IT HOME"


...and it made me smile! what a wonderful imagine that I had in my head...When we finally get to heaven and my momma FINALLY gets to meet my kids! Oh my goodness...it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it! I mean don't get me wrong...I am EXCITED about seeing Jesus for the first time...I CANNOT even imagine that, but I also CANNOT wait to see my momma-and for her to meet my kids! So exciting...and to hear my little one belting out about finally making it HOME...to heaven! She has lots to learn, but I fully believe that she is on her way to grasping even a little about the truth!
On Sunday, Brenly brought home this envelope that was sealed and all she would say is that it was for Grace (her cousin) I kept inquiring what it was and she just kept saying, we need to mail it to Grace! Well yesterday Avery found it and decided that she was going to be just as curious as her momma and she tore it opened...Brenly found the paper on the floor and was distraught that we couldn't mail it!

I promised her that I would bring it to work and mail it...so since it was already out of the envelope, she decided that she would add a little to it! She found a sharpie marker and started asking me how to spell all these different words...None of which seemed like they went together...words like to, from, swing set, grace, more, cross...I finally asked her what she was writing and she said "I'll show you in a minute...and how do you spell "O"...I snickered to myself and replied "O"...frustrated she gave me a look and said, no I mean, like OH YEAH!!!...I responded by telling her, "O-H"...so after a while she brought me the paper and this is what she had come up with all by herself...


It originally said
to grace
from Brenly
Love you

then she decided that she was going to draw her swingset (or sVing in Brenly's case :) and draw her and Grace playing on it...and then she decided that she needed to tell Grace this:

OH one more thing (I had to add the word 'thing' because she had forgotten to write it in) Jesus' cross for Grace (although the for was after Grace's name! AND nevermind the fact that her J and her S's are backwards...well worry with details later:)

Is that not the cutest thing ever! That she would think all by herself to remind Grace that Jesus' cross was for her (and everybody else...) but what encouragement!
Do you realize that Jesus cross is for YOU ?!?!

It just made my heart happy yesterday! To know that both of my children are hearing the word and absorbing it...even though they may not FULLY understand!

Lord, grant me the wisdom to continue growing my children for your glory! I pray that you bless our efforts and that you would allow them to live life to the fullest, praising your name forever!

Girls weekend...

to see NKOTB...AGAIN! So what if this is the 2nd time that Misty, Amber and I have gone to see them :) We HAD to go again so that Wendy, Shannon and Ashleigh could have the full experience of the reunion tour...right?! So Saturday, Wendy and I head up to Nashville so that we could spend a few days, shopping, eating, playing Wii, etc. We had such a fun time...Then on Monday we waited for Amber, Shannon, Misty and Ashleigh to arrive so that we could be on our way!


On the awy Ashleigh thought we were all crazy for being so stinkin excited about going to see them...I mean, she was happy about it, but there was no real joy about the fact that a) she was going to spend an evening with all of us and b) that she was about to witness a wonderful moment in history...a NKOTB concert! So this was her on the way...

and then we had Amber who is OBVIOUSLY the queen of fashion, who had to get dolled up the entire way there...She looked amazing :)


We decide to eat at Logan's on Charlotte Pike so that we won't be in the middle of downtown NKOTB traffic!





I will admit that I was alittle apprehensive about our time...i HATE to be late anywhere, especially if it is to a New Kids concert...I mean we CANNOT be late...so I rushed everyone through dinner and we got in the car to head to the Sommet Center. We arrived at almost 7:00 sharp! So now what do we do for 30 minutes...we all went to the bathroom since it wasn't very crowded and as soon as we walked in, we heard people outside screaming...We all run out of the bathroom and we look at the balcony right above us and Danny Wood is standing there waving to all of us (there were probably like 100 people out there :) As soon as he had walked to the other side Donny and Jordan come walking out and then Joey...We were all screaming like school girls...even Ashleigh got into it a little, she was excited...I don't care what she says :)(and what about my perfect timing...everybody was grateful that I rushed them through dinner...heartburn and undigested food didn't matter to them anymore...they have just SEEN the New Kids On The Block for cryin out loud! Such a fun memory...to know that we were that close to them for even a few minutes...and didn't have to pay the big bucks for front row tickets (although that wouldv'e been fun!) I hate it that NONE of us had our cameras (on our ticket stub...IN BIG BOLD PRINT, it said NO CAMERAS OR CAMCORDERS...so us, being the rule followers that we are left our cameras in the car and missed out on some REALLY GOOD PICTURES! But we will forever remember them in our minds! So we party through 2 hours of the most amazing concert (the Jabowakeez were the opening act...I didn't know who in the world they were, but Ashleigh sure did and she LOVED them...they were really good!) and just as soon as they started, it seemed to end...it happened just that fast! But we had so much fun! So afterward we find out that Ashleigh has become a HUGE fan (its amazing what a couple of hours with the New Kids can do to a girl :) and she and Wendy were ADAMANT about finding them... They kept trying to hang out in the Sommet Center seeing if they could catch one more glance of them...After about 30 minutes, we all finally got kicked out...they were locking the place up!
So we head to the car and Wendy and Ashleigh are still very sure that if we wait long enough we could at least see the buses leave! Wendy had heard that if we could go find the tunnel that go under the Sommet Center that we maybe could catch a glimpse of them...and that was all it took! We WERE GOING TO FIND THEM! After about 30- 45 minutes of driving around the block we finally come to a stoplight and we see this group of girls on the corner and all of a sudden, they start screaming! Wendy, Ashleigh and Misty JUMP out of an almost moving vehicle and start running down the street trying to catch JOEY MCINTYRE'S bus! Oh my goodness, what a sight...


and you might need to see these girls faces...were they happy or what?!?! See the difference b/t Ashleigh's before after concert pics...SHE LOVES THEM NOW!!


so after we saw the first bus...Ashleigh thought that it was imperative that we wait for the others! After standing in the streets of nashville for over an hour and a half we FINALLY saw them...Danny and Donnie's bus was the first

and he even made his bus driver stop...He opened the door (Wendy was actually close enough to hold the door open...and brought someone on board and gave her hugs and kisses (that's another post in itself!) We were extremely close and I got some pretty good pictures of him



The Knight Bus (Jordan and Jon was the last one...) and they didn't care to open their door...One of them (I think is was Jon) was already in his recliner..in the front of the bus with his house shoes on , propped up in the window...
WHAT A NIGHT!!! Such fun times with such fun girls...that I love very much...May we have many more wonderful and funny memories!!
And where is the next NKOTB concert...surely we should make another one...and maybe have meet and greet tickets :)

My girls are growing up!

I can't believe that within the past month...Avery turned 2 and Brenly turned 5! Where has the time gone? We have been so blessed by two amazing girls...God is so good! Brenly decided MONTHS ago that we were going to celebrate BOTH of their birthdays by having a "Pump It Up" party! and I promise that Brenly was the one that was adamant that she wanted to combine Avery's birthday with hers! I was all for it...the fact that I can get away with ONE birthday party for the year...The trend will continue until one of them has a fit :)So after MONTHS of counting down the days, we FINALLY got to have our Big 'Pump It Up' Bash and we ALL had a ball! I am not sure if who enjoyed it more...the kids or the adults :) Thanks to all of you who came to celebrate these two precious angels who have blessed our lives so much!

Put a bone in my child's hair...

and call her "PEBBLES"....






(Aunt Nay, I apologize for the outfit and the mismatched shoes...but she did dress herself...and was quite proud of it, I might add! You have alot to teach this child about fashion!)

So Avery walks out of Brenly's room and was dressed in a bright blue leopard vest that someone had given Brenly, one black shoe and one white shoe...I just couldn't resist! We rummaged around until we found a bone that goes to one of Brenly little dogs and we quickly did her hair..and I mean, She looked just like Pebbles!! I proceeded to take her picture and she wanted to look at everyone of them...finally after I took several, she looked at the camera and said, "Mommy, I am "Fe-Fa-Ful" (which in Avery-ese in BEAUTIFUL!!) I must admit baby girl, you are "Fe-Fa-Ful" even dressed like this:)

What is that?

was Avery's question when she looked at Ray with glasses on (he wears contacts and very rarely ever puts on his glasses!)
Ray: "They are my glasses!"
Avery; "What for?"
Ray: "so that I can see better"
Avery "I onna tie" ( I want to try!)

So he placed them on her face and you have to admit...this is just plain cute!!!

Brenly and Uncle Chad = TWINS...

** disclaimer to this post...Uncle Chad has requested not once, but twice that I make this post...Me, I am personally OVER him encouraging such disobedient behavior...but I will give in just this once!

Uncle Chad called the house the other night and Brenly answered the phone...after several questions...I heard Brenly tell Uncle Chad that she was sending out her "announcements" to her birthday party at Pump it Up! (Most people call them invitations, Brenly just wants to announce it:) Uncle Chad proceeded to tell her that Pump it Up was his FAVORITE place to have a birthday party and that he really wanted to have his party there...Brenly quickly agreed and said that her favorite thing at Pump it Up was the big slide...Uncle Chad quickly agree and said the slide was his favorite as well...Uncle Chad says...then we are just alike because we like the very same things...Brenly says, "Yeah Uncle Chad, AND we both LOVE Alavama too! That makes us REALLY alike (at this point, I am completely over the conversation...He knows that we have already forbid her to like such NONSENSE..and he continues to encourage such disobedient behavior!)
So later we head to Walmart (before the snowstorm) and we park in front of this car that had a silver license plate that had a big maroon B-A-M-A on it! Brenly quickly noticed the trash on the front of the car and asked, "mommy, what does that spell" I look at her and said...It spells POOP! She said, "NO it doesn't because POOP starts with a 'P' and a 'B'...(side note...I HATE the fact that my child is getting TOO smart and I can't pull simple things over on her any more, what am I going to do when she starts school in the fall!) Anyway, I proceeded to tell her the truth "it says BAMA...the team that we DON'T like and she starts snickering and said...Me and Uncle Chad do...cuz we are JUST ALIKE (heaven help me if you have a minute...me raising a child that is just like my bro...could send me over the edge...It did for momma!) SO in case you didn't know it...I am raising my my brother's twin!

SNOW DAY!!!

What a crazy week in Memphis, as far as weather is concerned! Last week is was 70, this weekend it was FREEZING and snowing like crazy! It started Saturday afternoon and at around 7:00, Brenly just couldn't stand it any longer and she was ready to get out in it! We all get bundled up (Brenly, Avery and I) and headed out the door! The wind was so strong and it was still snowing pretty hard, so Avery was NOT happy about it! She was fine for about 5 mintues and then she was ready to go back in side.





I put Avery back inside with Ray and that made her mad (she did NOT like it outside, but did NOT like it that we were still out there playing...Its hard to make decisions when you are only 2 years old!)





Brenly and I had a big time...we immediately had to start making a snowman...and the 'we' in that statement ended up being an 'I' real quick! She was excited about it, but was over how long it took to get it made!




Finally after being out in the elements, I told Brenly that is was time to get inside...She was very apprehensive to go inside, because she feared that all the snow would be gone before morning...Let me assure you...IT WASN'T...








I am convinced that it just snows alot more out in the country...or maybe that it's just that I have never lived out in the country when there has been a snow storm...we got at least 12-14 inches...and there were places where it was up to Brenly's waist!





Avery struggled just to walk in it, it was way over her knees


...so she was again frustrated with all this white stuff! Because church was cancelled, we were able to play all day, although it was necessary to come inside and put EVERYTHING in the dryer and suit back up to go enjoy all of the snow again!





Thank you Lord, for all of the beautiful snow...and thank you for the fact that it is suppose to be 72 degrees in 2 days :) The best of both worlds...and because of it, we should all have the flu by Friday:)