Happy Birthday, Celine!!

Celine is more to me than just a child I babysit. To us, she is a part of our family. We love her so much and it was wonderful to help her celebrate her FIFTH birthday. I can't believe she's already five. Even though she acts sixteen sometimes.

Celine is full of fun and life. Always buzzing around and bringing smiles to those she's around.

WE LOVE YOU, CELINE!! You're a precious, wonderful part of our lives and we're so thankful the Lord brought you to us.

Amanda ordered Celine's cake from Amy. She did a cake to resemble cotton candy, which I thought was soooooo cute! Amy has such a talent for cake decorating and I always get excited to see what she's done "this time!" Isn't that cute?


The tables were decorated pink and blue with cotton candy taped to the back of each chair for the children to take home and skittles were used as confetti. Cute idea, Mander!!


There was a blow up slide...

...and one of those air bouncy things. Both of which were quite popular with the kiddies.


There was a brief moment of devouring cake and ice cream.


And then it was present time. Let's see, she turned five, so for five years she has LOVED music. She knows the Sons of Faith CD by heart. When I watch her from the choir, she's singing every word right along with us. It's so sweet. She likes to listen to my iPod when we're traveling somewhere, so we bought her an MP3 player and her daddy is going to load some music on it for her. She seemed really happy with it, as well as all the other wonderful gifts she was given.


Happy Birthday, Celine. You're a sweetheart!

A Na-na-na-Boo-boo Lunch!

Today was Mander's birthday. One of our friends treated us all to lunch at Ham's. It was so delish and we had a good time. I hope you did too, Mander!


Carissa enjoyed her special Ham's chips and dip. As you can see she was wearing the dip.





Celine enjoyed her chips and dip too.




I'm not sure who started it, me, but someone, me, got Carissa saying, "Na-na-na-boo-boo" on top of sticking her tongue out. So we all joined in on the fun with her.....great role models, I know.

Just who ARE these people and why am I out in public with them?

It was an interesting lunch to say the least. Especially when Carissa started running through the restaurant yelling, "Na-na-na-boo-boo" while her mother chased her between the chairs and tables. LOL

Happy birthday, Mander! I love you!!

The youth group went to Carowinds today. Originally I would have gone, but Thursday is my babysitting day now. Mander didn't have to work, but I didn't find out for sure until Wednesday night. So I just ended up skipping this outing. These are some pictures of Cassie that Hannah took on the van. This girl is slap nuts.

The girl in the pink is Taylor, Cassie's best friend. These girls are always getting into something. Usually mischief. LOL

Hannah said they had a wonderful time. Justin said it was the BEST day he's had in a long time.

We went to Brian and Amy's tonight for a cookout. It was nice to sit in the living room and just chill while the guys grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. OH! While we're on the subject of food....does anyone out there put cucumbers in their potato salad? Just curious.

Batman flew through the house to the kitchen to drink his power juice. The commissioner had a job for him and away he went.

Unfortunately, Amy and Pam were still in Na-na mode. Will these two EVER grow up?

This and That and This

Bruce and I ate at Showmar's Friday night. We love their gyro dinners. While we were out, there were little babies everywhere. I mean brand new babies. It made us wish we had another one. Then we went to Wal Mart and saw a bunch of screaming toddlers and whiners and were glad we didn't. LOL OK, THAT WAS A JOKE!!!!!!!

Truth is, we were thinking how nice it would be if there was another little bundle to cuddle and kiss. We decided that even though it was late we would stop and pick up Celine and Carissa if they wanted to come, since Celine is always begging to spend the night. But she was acting all weird about it, wanting to stay with her mama. I think she was afraid her daddy wouldn't pick her up the next morn to take her to grandma's house. Carissa said she wanted to go, which shocked all of us. She ran and got her shoes, grabbed her little bag that her mommy packed for her, kissed her daddy, and then walked to her mother, grabbed her hand and said, "I bwing my mama wif me." We just died laughing. Needless to say, we had no little ones in the house that night. But Hannah and Harrison were glad to stay up and eat ice cream we brought back home while waiting up for their brother to get home from the Melting Pot. He had a great time. Thank you, Mike, Kim, and Taylor. He had a blast with y'all and Madison, Jonathan and Jenn.

This is an old picture of Bruce's mandolin in progress. I haven't taken another picture of it since he finished it Saturday. Honestly, we were both expecting it to have a box sound, seeing it's the first one he's ever made. But it was loud and beautiful! I am so proud of him!! I'll have a picture with a video of him playing it soon.

Celine and Carissa did come over Monday afternoon. It's always fun to have them here. And of course when Bruce came to sit down in the living room, Carissa found her spot on the couch next to him and there she stayed until he got up. I don't know how many pictures I have of Bruce and Carissa in this same spot. Except for different clothes, they're all the same picture.


Justin helped his dad change the bearings on my car the other day. I'm not sure how he got those grease marks on his face, but it cracked me up. I guess Bruce neglected the lesson on never touching your face when your hands are covered in grease.

Justin worked yesterday. I dropped him off and really hated to leave him knowing there was no cool place to rest during his lunch break. But he assured me he would all right. Isn't that just like a mother?



Hannah is dog sitting for her piano teacher this week. Well, she's our church pianist also. Anyway, her name is Trixie. She's a minature Datsun and spoiled rotten. But isn't she cute?

Harley is less impressed with Trixie than the rest of us and has let her know it under no uncertain terms.

As you can see, Yogi is about as big as Trixie. Yogi isn't as long as Trixie, but they weigh about the same, if Yogi doesn't weigh more! They seem to get along all right. Just curious of each other.

To See the Mommy!

With Amanda being in the hospital, some of us in the church are helping her and Brother Chris with the girls. It's been especially hard on little Carissa not being able to see her mommy.

Hannah put the tent up for them the other night and she liked that. Around 2:30 am, she started screaming for mommy. Poor thing. She was so pitiful. She woke up again Wednesday night, about the same time, but this time she only cried for a few seconds before drifting back to sleep.


Being sweet


Hannah enjoyed having the girls to mother. She's really the one that took care of them the whole time. Not because I asked her to, but because she just kind of took over tending to their needs. It was really sweet watching her "mother hen" the little ones.


Carissa LOVES Bruce and when he's home sitting on the couch, you'll find her snuggled up next to him.


And eventually, you'll find the two of them napping.


Mrs. Janet was taking these beautiful flowers to Amanda from the church today so I asked if the girls and I could tag along so they could see their mommy. Plus I knew Amanda was needing to see them too.


Amanda's sister Kaylynn and their daddy rode with us on the church van. Look at Carissa's face. She was so happy we were going to see mommy. She started singing "Driving up the road, driving up the road, Driving up the road...." LOL


Celine was ready to give her mommy a great big hug and the cookies Mrs. Tammy helped her bake when they stayed with Mrs. Tammy Monday.


The trip to Charlotte is always an experience. There are so many one way roads that it is easy to get turned around. Mrs. Pam also went with us and offered to take the GPS, but Mrs. Janet printed instructions from Map Quest so she declined. But like I said, it's very easy to get turned around there, so we ended up here.....


...and here...


...and here...


..and many other places before Mrs. Janet finally figured out where we were and we made it to the hospital. Julie and Emily were following us, poor girls! I just knew they were wondering what in the world we were doing. But come to find out, they were just as lost as we were. LOL

Look at those beautiful eyes. She can look straight into your soul, this one can.


Amanda is still on a clear liquid diet, progressing to solids little by little. They brought her lunch, which included chocolate pudding with whipped cream. Celine was happy about that, knowing that her mother does not like chocolate. So that it wouldn't go to waste, she was happy to eat it for her mommy. She told her mother a while ago referring to chocolate, "If you'll just try it and try it and try it, eventually you'll like it!"


Celine couldn't get close enough to her mommy today. She sure did enjoyed seeing Amanda, snuggling up next to her, and having serious discussions. :)


We ate lunch at the hospital cafeteria and ran an errand before heading home. Carissa was asleep before we left the first level of the hospital parking garage. Seeing her mommy put some fears to rest and she was able to sleep the long ride home.

Celine was happy to listen to my iPod on the way home. Here she is singing God Is Bigger Than the Boogie Man. She doesn't know all the words, but the words she does know, she sings. HA!

Worknight

Our Pastor's wife asked if I would be in charge of our Valentine Banquet this year and I told her yes. What was I thinking?? Ha, just kidding! So last night was our first worknight. We had some nice winter decorations up at Christmas, including our very large snowman, so I thought a wintery Valentine would be pretty. I chose white, silver, and two shades of blue for my colors.

Yesterday afternoon I dropped by the church office and Mrs. Janet printed out some things for me that I had done on the computer. I ran them to the Education Station where they had 21 of these things laminated in about 45 seconds. Boy, was I impressed with that! Yes, I've been homeschooling now for 11 years and have NEVER had ANYTHING laminated. Can you believe that? Anyway, I picked up a few window clings while I was there, rushed home to check on the kids because Hannah was babysitting Celine and Carissa. We had a small situation (not with the kids) but with the pets that needed to be dealt with and then I was off again to Party City to purchase my table ware. After leaving Party City I ran back to the church fellowship building to start on our decorations. Several showed up for that and I was happy to see them there.

Thank you:
Taylor
Diane
Gary
Brenda
Amy
Rebecca
Jamie
and Justin
for showing up to work. I really appreciated your help and input!
Thank you, Brother RJ, for coming down to turn the heat on for us. That was very kind of you.....cause it was COLD outside!
And thank you, Brother Harmon, for being home so I could borrow your saws. Which, by the way, are still at the fellowship building in that side room where the cabinets are, on the floor, under some trees, in front of the puppet stand. I can draw you a map if you want, or I could just give them back to you Wednesday night at church.

Mrs. Janet has been scrambling around ordering different decorative papers, finding men in the church to cut down trees (oh I can't wait to see the trees!!) and shopping around for cardboard, concrete, and 10 feet tall wooden dowels. I know what you're thinking....doesn't sound like things for a Valentine's Banquet....right? There's big plans for this stuff, folks. I don't want to reveal too much or share my pictures yet because I don't want people at church to know what they're coming into. But it's going to be very, very pretty! I'm getting a wee bit nervous and excited all at once.

When I got home, after a quick trip to Wal Mart, Mrs. Amanda had called and said that she and Brother Chris were on their way to pick up the girls. So Celine, Hannah and I quickly worked on one other project for the banquet before they got here. Celine looooooooves to help, you know. Carissa was passed out in her jammies, slippers, and coat waiting on her mommy and daddy to get here. Slumpped over on her side, she looked rather uncomfortable, and yet she never budged. In fact, she woke up and smiled at her daddy.

It Is Natural To Pray

Amanda's mother is still in the hospital and had a pretty bad seizure yesterday. They decided to do a CT on her this morning. We haven't heard back from them on that yet, but Amanda and her sister decided to stay with their mother at the hospital last night. They got about an hour and a half of sleep, but Amanda said she wouldn't trade that time for anything in the world. They just had a slumber party together. Since she stayed there and her husband had to be at work early this morning, I kept the girls for her. If Bruce is anywhere in the house, Carissa will be wanting to be with him. So when he's on the couch, she's happiest snuggled up next to him.


Celine is happy all the time. She was so excited to find out she was spending the night. She told Kelly Turner, from church, "Pray for my mommy, her eyes are so red."


T-R-O-U-B-L-E


Now tell me, is this a peaceful picture or what? Like I said, she's happiest snuggled up next to Brother Bruce.

Last night's revival service with Brother Beckum was on why it is natural for a Christian to pray. So here are those notes.

1. Galatians 4:6 "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father."

It is natural for a Christian to pray because the Holy Ghost dwells within. If you don't have a desire to pray, the Holy Spirit does not live in you, and if the Holy Spirit is not in you, you are not saved. Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." You might say you don't pray because you don't know how. But the Spirit helps our infirmities. When we don't know what to pray, He does.

2. Luke 9:23 "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Not yearly, monthly, or weekly. But daily. It's natural for a Christian to pray because we follow God. We need to swallow our pride and deny ourselves. We need to repent and PRAY! I John 2:6 "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." Jesus preached. Jesus was a soul winner. Jesus was a teacher. But Jesus also prayed. If we're going to walk with Him, we must pray like Him.

I John 2:4 "He that saith, I know him and keepth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." We are commanded to pray. If you're not praying, you're not keeping His commandments. If you're not keeping His commandments, you're a liar. John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:" The church is hearing His voice, but we're not following it. If you're not following it, you're in rebellion. There are goats in the sheepfold. Are you a stubborn goat or a humble sheep? Are you following Christ in prayer? When we follow Him, we want Him to teach us to pray. Hebrews 7:25 "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Christ lives to pray for us. He prays for us continually.

3. It's natural to pray because we love the Lord. John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments." You say you love God, but do you really? John 14:21 "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him." If you don't keep the commandments, you don't love God. Are you keeping the commandments or just bringing them to church? Where in the Bible are we commanded to pray?

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Matthew 6:6 "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Matthew 6:9 "After this manner therefore pray ye:

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Luke 18:1 "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;"

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Ephesians 6:18 "Praying ALWAYS with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

I Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing."

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

I Timothy 2:8 "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting."