It's nice to be reminded...

Last night at Bible Study my sweet friend Steph came up with a prop (nerd) to go along with our study of Psalms. We chose the Psalm that most spoke to where we currently are in life. I chose Psalm 16:1,5-11:

"Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup.
You have made my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely i have a delightful inheritance.
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With Him at my right hand, i will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

We may not understand why certain things come our way...but our Sweet Father in heaven does. He knows what we can handle and He walks with us through each day. Sometimes, it's nice to be reminded!!!

Warning!!! Long update blog(:

So it has been so crazy the last couple of weeks I haven't had a chance to update the blog....So hold on to your seats, it's gonna be alot of information and of course pictures(:






On October 21st, Emily and I went to Madi's school to join her class at the pumpkin patch. Emily was in hog heaven since she is obsessed with pumpkins this year. She kept running from pumpkin to pumpkin and giving hugs and kisses. It was adarable. Madi was so excited to have mommy and sister at her school. Madi has begun to do model poses in her pictures. It is adorable...and she knows it!! The girls got to meet a Crow (which Emily kept hugging and wanted to take home) and also hear a fun story. It was a great morning for us...poor Daddy was at jury duty!



I had to throw a picture in of Emily and her Peanut Butter adventure. She will actually get the peanut butter out of the pantry, grab a spoon, and bring it to me for her to eat. Unfortunately, on this day she got bored with the spoon and decided to use both hands to get it out...UGH!!












Last Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch as a family. We picked a great family pumpkin and got lots of fun pictures of the kids. They had so much fun in the kid maze and Emily of course was running around hugging and kissing pumpkins. Each of the kiddos also got to choose their own kid sized pumpkin to take home! Then we went to chic-fil-a and had dinner and the kids played on the playground. Even Emily goes all the way to the top of the the playground...CRAZY!! But Madi and Joey both do a great job of taking care of their baby sister(:



October 26th was a very special day as our two sweet girls were dedicated at our church. I am so thankful for our church and the amazing environments that each one of us gets to be exposed to. This day was just about us as parents committing to teaching our children about God and His sweet love for them. It was a small ceremony that was very intimate. Only 8 people could fit at our table and 5 of those of course were taken up by the Sleisters(: But Noel and Cherie and unborn Caleb came as well as Steph and the girls. It was just sweet time of committing ourselves to the our family values and having our sweet friends pray for us and our children. Such a special day(: Of course, as hectic as anything with the Sleister's is we did not take pictures of the kids at the ceremony. But we did get some of them in their outfits that night at home while they were pulling each other around on the sleeping bag...Yep, that's how we roll.



Joey and Daddy both had tacky day this week at school. Believe it or not, their tacky day was on the same day. Don't they make an adorable pair!! It was Red ribbon week at school so Joey learned about the dangers of cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol. Sometimes it just seems so early for them to be talking about that stuff, but the reality is that they get faced with that mess very fast. Better to start that line of communication now than to be too late. Even Madi is in on these conversations and it is so cool to be able to talk to my 6 and 3 year old about their body being a temple for God. They are such cool kids. Joey is even involved in the election. He will ask you if you are going to vote for John McCain or Barrack Obama. It is really cool. He is going to go with either me or Terry on Tuesday so he can see what voting is like. He is voting for Barrack Obama because he likes how his name sounds and because he was born in Hawaii(: Oh, the innocence of a child.







On Thursday Madi had her costume parade and party at school. It was lots of fun and she really looked like a princess!! Joey wore his costume and Emily wore her kitty cat ears. They all had fun trick or treating in the school and doing fun activities in the class. Joey and Madi walked around together and shared the same bag for their candy. It was very sweet and great team work.



Thursday afternoon was spontaneous!! Steph went to see the musical Wicked on Tuesday with her friend Erin and loved it so much that she called me on Wednesday and said that we had to go. I found some tickets on line for the next days show so for our Christmas present to one another, we bought them. IT WAS AMAZING!! I am not usually a huge musical fan unless my sweet husband is playing in the orchestra (oh how I love to hear him play!), but this show was soooo great. It was such a beautiful story about friendship. I was very thankful to be able to share that with my best friend...yeah I cried!! Anyway, if you ever get the chance to see that show-GO!!! AMAZING!!









Finally, Happy Halloween!!! We had so much fun last night. We went trick or treating in a neighborhood down the street. It is mine and Terry's dream neighborhood(: The kids had so much fun and looked so adorable. Emily did a great job saying trick or treat and thank you! She really didn't care much about the candy though...she just wanted to take everyone's pumpkins. Unfortunately, Daddy had to leave before we done to travel to Tennessee for drill. But we were thankful to have him there for the time we did(: Well, that is it...Not in a nutshell. I hope you all enjoyed this and I will try to do better about updating! Love you all and thanks for reading. PS Leave a comment so I know you are there(:

Great weekend adventures!!

We had lots of fun this weekend doing a variety of activities. Unfortunately, Terry was in Tennessee so, of course, we never have as much fun when Daddy is gone. We made some sugar cookies on Thursday that Joey, Madi, and Bekah made from beginning to end. Emily participated by licking the dough off of the spoon...like mother like daughter(:





Madi and Emily had some fun weariing their new matching Halloween shirts. They were so excited to match AND have shirts that had a cat on it like Anni (Joey's cat). Joey got a new halloween shirt too that has a Werewolf on it and says Little Wild Man. It is very appropriate!!



Saturday we got up and met our friends Charile and Christina at the Sawnee Mountain Preserve to go on a Nature Walk. It was lots of fun and the kids found so many nature treasures. Emily was getting very tired towards the end of the hike. When I asked her if she was tired she shook her head yes, laid her head down on a rock and began to snore. It was hilarious. I tried to catch a picture of it but she of course was up and off by the time I got the thing turned on!






Saturday afternoon we had a great time playing golf and football in the back yard. Daddy will be so proud(: Joey did his posed picture for the "other golf players to see." We also had a fun time with visitors Saturday evening. My friend Leslie from middle school and her husband Timmy were in Athens for the Georgia game so they came by to hang out. It was a nice visit with a fun revisiting of old memories(: While we were chatting, Joey and Madi climbed up on me and fell asleep. It was so cute. Joey kept saying he wanted to be glued to me and asked me to go get the glue. Boy they warm your heart!!







This morning I taught in my third grade upstreet class. Steph and I rotate teaching and it is a blast. The kids are so much fun and the environment is amazing. I am so thankful that our family is able to be involved in such an awesome church where they see and hear how amazing they are to God. We learned about self control and how hurtful or beneficial our words can be to others. it is a great lesson in our family right now as Joey has been having some more struggles with his angry outbursts. We don't really know what is going on inside him but we are going to continue to pray and use the wonderful resources in our medical community to help our little man get that stuff under control. He truly doesn't want to be so mean with his words. He just doesn't seem to know how to really express what he is feeling so he just explodes. I have called his geneticist and she has put me contact with another NF Child Psychologist who will be able to help us find the peace we need as a family and the tools to help Joey be successful. Please just keep him in your prayers and also pray for wisdom for Terry and I.

This afternoon is a lazy one. The kids have pained some pictures and are now playing Indiana Jones together. When Emi wakes up we are going to go to Michael's to get some new Halloween crafts. They love doing crafts so much. If only I can get Emily to stop eating all of the supplies...ha ha!





I have the best family in the world. I am so thankful to be able to wake up each morning to my sweet husband and my three beautiful children. God is so good and so faithful, we have nothing to fear(: Just had to share(:

I Love the weekends!!

I always get so excited when Friday rolls around and Ter Bear is going to be home for family time! We had such a fun time this weekend. Friday night movie night we watched Spy kids 2. The kids loved it and it wasn't too bad for mom and dad either. Saturday moring we got up and went on a family hike at Sawnee mountain. It is beautiful with the leaves beginning to change. Emily loves picking up new things on our walks. The acorns were everywhere and she tried desperately to pick up all of them. Her sweet little hands couldn't hold them all. We all walked all the way to the top and enjoyed the view (except for the flying ants that kept landing on us).







Sunday was a fun day of church, video games, and outside playtime! Bekah came over to play and we got some great pics of them playing. The kids had a great time taking pictures of us and each other. They did really well too!

Today is Monday so back to the regular routine. This morning Emily and Madi helped me make some ghosts to hang around the house. When Joey comes home we will make our halloween cookies. I am finding that the only crafts I can do with all three kiddos has to be edible! ha ha!! Emily actually said "Poop...Mmmmm" yesterday. WOW!!

Well I will end with a wonderful verse. "So we don't look at the troubles we have right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever." ~2 Corinthians 4:18. I am so thankful for God's faithfulness and that this world's troubles are only temporary!! Have a great one(:

The Gang Green Lip...Ugh!

So due to a visit to the dentist, my son now has a crazy infected lip that actually makes me a little squeamish to look at! Ha! He is on an antibiotic for the next 10 days and stayed home from school the past two days. He will be home tomorrow too! Enjoy the pictures! He is a trooper though. He takes his medicine that tastes nasty without complaint and hasn't fussed about his lip hurting. He is such a big man(:




It's been raining here for two days so there are lots of puddles of water. We have a little water table out on the back porch that got full to the rim with water. Emily decided to treat it like a pool. Luckily she was already naked, as usual, so her clothes didn't get wet!! That's my girl.





Poor Ter bear was so exhausted today, he cancelled lessons at the college and was in the bed by 8pm. Maybe we stayed up watching Ghost Hunters a little too late last night...I know, I'm a little addicted!

On a sidenote, I really hate politics...but Saturday Night Live makes it totally worth having to deal with an election year!! I love these imitations. I can definitely stay up and watch these debates...HA!!

Funny things they say!

The kids have been cracking me up lately with the things that they say and do! I figured I would dedicate a blog update just to that(:

Yesterday at the library Joey chose a movie that I thought might be a little too scary for him. He said, "But Mommy, remember, I'm not afraid of anything." I said, "Well why do you think you have been having bad dreams?" (we pray for angels to surround his room and protect him from bad dreams). He says, "Well, the angels go to five other houses before mine so they don't get here until in the morning."

Madi was describing her nature walk last night at dinner. Each of the kids had a bag that they could put their treasures from nature in. Madi began to tell Joey that she had a bag but a snake ate it. Joey asked her if it bit her. She said No because it was a nice snake. I asked her what color it was. She said it was gray and pink and its name was Madi. The snake also came into her school but no one was afraid because it was nice. This story went on for a while and she was completely serious.

Emily is stinkin' hilarious. Every night when we say the blessing, she folds her hands and closes her eyes really tight. while we are praying she is mumbling out loud (like she is praying). when we say amen she shouts Amen really loud with a huge smile. We also pray as a family in the morning before we all leave the house and the other day when Terry was praying, Emily was mouthing words quietly like she was imitating him. It was so funny(:

They keep us in stitches!! Please pray for Joey's lip. He went to the dentist yesterday and apparently bit his lip while it was numb. It is now swollen and discolored. We have been keeping ice on it today and I am going to take him to the doctor this afternoon. he looks like he got in a fight with Mike Tyson. Leave to the Sleister's to have some weird medical issue after a dentist appt...ha ha!!

Fall Time(:

Oh, it's our families favorite time of the year! The leaves changing,the cool breeze, the fair, the pumpkin patch and of course, HALLOWEEN!! This weekend we began our fall festivities and went to the Cumming Fair. We met our friends Sandy and Tim and their adorable little girl Riley there. The kids had so much fun. They got to ride the Ferris wheel, the carousel, a Nemo ride and a huge slide. They also got to go to the petting zoo and feed the goats and even hold baby chicks. The baby chick thing was fun except that Emily is still learning the word gentle so you can imagine how the holding of a baby chick went(: Terry got his famous Turkey leg and I had to get my corn dog! The fair is so much fun but wow is it expensive.



Everything else is going great. The kids are getting so big. Madi went on a nature walk today at school and picked up all kinds of cool things in the woods. Joey had to have some work done this morning on his teeth before school. He was so brave! He loves the dentist because when they are done they give him coins to go put in the machines for toys. Emi even got a prize for waiting(: Emily has had a fun couple of weeks. She had a great time the other day putting my lipstick and mascara all over her and the bedroom carpet! She also had a blast with some powder she found under our bathroom sink. A picture of the powder incident is attached. Oh, they keep us busy but all of these things really help me to focus on what's important. It's not about the nice things you own or how clean your house is!! It's about how you impact the lives of those around you while here on earth. My family certainly impacts me daily and I can see the sweet love of Jesus shining through each one of them. I am so thankful to have the opporitunity to serve them(: