I am the worst wife today...and I'm laughing about it

My hubs just walked past me and said, "This was my dinner tonight..."

1.A peanut butter sandwich before kids basketball practice(we had no jelly or turkey for a better sandwich)

2.Two waffles (after kids basketball practice and me and Dylan ate finely at mexican restaurant)

3.And a prepackaged thingy of blueberry muffins while watching Boston Legal.

That's not nice y'all. We are dying laughing though. The sad thing is I have been to Wal-mart, Target, Kroger, and Walgreens every day and yet we have nothing of substance.

At least we can laugh. Oh yeah, and he's come down with some crud in his head and we have no medicine either. WHATS WRONG HERE PEOPLE????

December pictures and some randomness

I am going to share some complete randomness with you today that includes some favorite pictures and scriptures. I hope this will bless you as you have stopped by to read what I have to say.....And, let me start with my Christmas card scripture from this year that is powerpacked in one beautiful sentence....

John 1:14 says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us."

WOW! That is huge, and beautiful, and very cool. I can't get my mind around what the Father has done for each of us. I love you Jesus! Happy Birthday my Savior!

Now, onto some randomness and I hope it brings you Christmas cheer as you may feel crunch time, overwhelmed, stressed, sad, depressed, or frustrated. May His presence come in and do things that only our Savior can do.

A few days ago I wrote about my 3rd sons birthday and wrote that he is complete joy to our family. I found this scripture and it blessed me as I thought about my Dylan and I pray it blesses you if you have children..

Psalm 23:25, "May your father and mother rejoice, may she who gave you birth be joyful." Dylan, I rejoice over you, sweet one.


Ok, now onto the other December birthday we have....my hubs!! His birthday is 4 days after Dylan's. And December birthdays are really difficult by the way. So, if you are planning a baby...try November or January. I almost forgot hubs! I wish y'all could have seen my kitchen the day of his birthday....I was cooking up a storm for dinner and even did a giant brownie birthday cake because thats the one thing we all love....ovens were smokin and I was a little frantic...those of you that know me, know that cooking dinner AND a birthday brownie cake is requiring a lot of me.
But, you do it out of love for your family. And, I'm thankful for my family.

Psalm 95:2, "Let us come before him with thanksgiving...."



Also in that same week of 2 birthdays, was our annual Christmas parade. Well, our church does something very cool, I think. We have a hot chocolate station and we pass out free hot chocolate to anyone and everyone. It is a beautiful act of love and kindness to share with others. We simply say, "Have a very merry Christmas."
It was so much fun. It gives me complete joy to give to others....even a cup of hot chocolate. And, then to see some of our own precious children pour and serve to others. That brings a tear to this eye! So, here we are.

Ephesians 6:7, "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people..."



Me and hubs at the parade!



I just love this family right here...oh, do they have a fabulous testimony!




And finally, my dear friend Carolyn and I rode to Victory Ranch which is just north of where we live. Victory Ranch is a christian camp in the Summer for kids but during the winter season they do all sorts of things. This January, this is where our church is having its first ever overnight retreat for women! I am beyond excited! Whenever I have gone to an overnight retreat, I'm changed for life. I desperately want all the women from church to come. I want them to come get away with Jesus. I am praying for God to make a path for them to come. It's hard for us mommas to get away. He will bless the socks off us though. Because thats what Jesus does when we gather together in His name! So, these are some pix that I took of that day. I can't wait. And, for all you prayer warrior friends out there who are outside of TN, would you please pray for the event? Thank ya!

I want to be a Proverbs 31 woman. And, I need time away with Jesus to accomplish this.



Yes, this is a buffalo. There are many to greet you when you enter in the Ranch.



This is where we get fed! How cool is this?!



And, then it was time to go. See ya in January Victory Ranch! I just love the name.
It makes me want to spell it out...V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

Psalm 60:12, "With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies." You go God! You trample down anything that is not of you in my life!

Bye, Victory Ranch.


If you are in need of some hope right now, this is one of my absolute favorites:
Romans 15:13, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

God is awesome. He can do things we cannot do on our own. Give Him everything. Trust Him with everything. He's in the business of hope, love, peace, healing, joy, salvation, restoration, grace, mercy and a million other things.

May God's presence and love be more real to you than you have ever experienced.
Merry Christmas~

Oh baby, it's here!!!

For all of you siesta's out there that I'm gonna cry all over when I meet you for the 1st time...I'm SOOOOOO super duper excited because the wristband came in for San Antonio and Siesta Fiesta next Summer!!!!!!!

I truly can't wait. I am sure I'll be a nervous wreck, but it's a good thing. And, yes I'm strange for even taking a picture (a blurry one at that) and then posting it! :)

Love y'all! Have a beautiful day.

Christmas With a Capital C

I heard about this video this morning. It's too cute. I was singing along and I don't even know the words....and I love the point they are making. Enjoy!
And, Merry CHRISTMAS!

Christmas with a capital "C"

UPDATE!! I figured it out Bethanne!! I am so happy. I am becoming techno savvy! :)



Y'all if you have not seen or heard this, then click on this link below and enjoy. It's fun, and easy to find yourself singing right along with this song you've never heard before! Maybe you have though. :) And, on another note...I want to know how to post Youtube videos without doing this linkything and my brain can't figure it out. Sorry...thats what I really wanted to do, but I'm just a girl from Arkansas living in Tennessee that doesn't know what the heck she's doing! HA!

Merry Christmas everyone!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAckfn8yiAQ

Black Friday...Advent....and some hope

Today was the 1st Sunday of Advent....Advent means "the coming." This is the time on the Christian calendar when we celebrate the coming of Jesus. He is coming! He is coming! We celebrate the coming of His birth. We also celebrate the glorious return He'll make one day in the future.

Let me share something with you that one of our pastors on staff shared last week and it came up again in our sermon that is completely worth sharing in regards to Advent and HE'S COMING!

When you even say those words, "He's coming" or hear those words "He's coming,"your ears kind of perk up a little and want to know more about who's coming and when are they coming??? It peaks my interest in regards to how we, as humans, act when we hear someone is coming. It can be a good thing or a bad thing. Now, I've got a whole new visual of how I begin to visualize the coming birth of that most amazing baby boy named Jesus. Oh, what a special birth announcement in the heavenlies. The gift is coming.

Let's go back in time a week or so. Remember the infamous Black Friday?? Remember how you either were a part of it or saw the people on tv?? Remember the lines of people waiting outside Best Buy or some other store all night long in the cold waiting?? Remember the anticipation, possibly even seeing the gift just inside the door of the store??? Do you remember?? Do you remember how it looked to be close but so far away?? Remember how you felt if you were out there with them??? Were you exhausted, but would wait it out?? Were you anxious, but excited, to get the gift you wanted so badly??? We lost sleep. We woke up early. We sat outside in the cold even. For what???

The gift.

Oh, the gift. Lets think about gifts for a second. Here's a tough question. Can you remember what gifts you gave your family last year?? Can you remember what you received as a gift last year from your family??? I'll be honest....I can't remember much.

But, oh, the gift of His birth. This gift means something huge. It meant hope long ago and it still means something deep into our hearts over 2,000 years later. The gift of hope.

Gifts (not necessarily tangible gifts) are important to me at Christmas. As I get older, I think about the amazing gifts that were brought to baby Jesus when he was born. I want my gifts to others to be just as amazing. We all do. I do not want to get caught up in the crazy, frenzy world of "they don't have enough and they need one more thing." I want to give personal, meaningful, thought out gifts to those people I love. It's also getting harder each year.

Let me ask you a question regarding the season of Advent and the coming of Jesus' birth many years ago......

What if we camped out with that same excitement from Black Friday and that same kind of anticipation of getting "the deal" and we anxiously waited on the doorsteps each time the church doors were to open .......for the gift? Oh, yes.....that most perfect gift. I can see it. I want it. It's just right inside the doors. Do we get that excited over being in worship either alone or corporately?? Ouch.

"Oh Jesus, please Lord please, fill me with that excitement, joy, anxiousness, I can see it just inside the door kind of desire, for YOU. For You Jesus. I want to experience You like no other Advent.....like no other time in my life. May you come in and fill my heart with that hope the people were desperately waiting for as they were seeking out the birth of the Messiah! You are the one. You came Jesus! You came!! You are the perfect gift. I want to experience You every single day.

Hope is defined as: to desire something with confident expectation of its fullfillment

Romans 15:13 says this..."May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

I hope for many things this Advent season. And the things I hope for are not tangible. I pray that you spend some time today thinking about what hope means to you. What kind of excitement do you have this year? Is He waking you up early? Is He causing you to be excited?
Are you anxiously awaiting Him?

I hope that you anxiously await the celebration of Jesus' big day! I hope you cannot wait to get inside church and feel the gift, see the gift, embrace the gift you have received!

I love you Jesus. I want to experience you fully this Advent season. You are unbelievable in what you do and who you are, and I put all my hope in you! May our hope in Him be full all year long.

Merry Christmas! And, Happy Advent season!

The baby is 7 today...

First of all, I guess I need to stop calling him the baby because he is ya know 7 now but, i'm a momma and he is my baby. :)

Oh, this 3rd son of mine is complete joy to this family. I was induced with Dylan because I had 2 other children and having a home birth was NOT AN OPTION! He came quickly that morning and had a HEAD.FULL.OF.DARK.HAIR and was just the most beautiful child I had ever seen. I cried. I knew I was complete and finished. Our family was done. It was finished. We were just beginning as our family of 5. The family God had intended for us was beginning.

Dylan is still the cutest thing to me that has ever lived. His personality increases his cuteness factor too. He is joy. He never complains, whines, cries, or is a booga-boo to deal with. He is joy for us. And.....he makes me laugh like no other. His expressions are priceless. He will put on a show and completely entertain us for days. He can play sports with any 10 or 11 yr old.....the beauty of older brothers. The kid can hang.

Dylan, I love you deeply into my heart. You make mothering a complete joy and an honor that I hold in high regard. We tried for almost a year to "make" you and almost gave up. Oh, thank you Jesus for this gift of this amazing child. May he grow to be the man you wish for him to become. He is complete joy and I love him to pieces!!

Happy birthday Dylan. You are just the coolest. Oh yeah, and I love how you call shorts "short pants." Hee hee.

Love you,

mom