Gettin' Down!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Oh, I love fall so much. The cool breeze, the beautiful leaves, fires in the fireplace, apple cider, big piles of leaves to jump in...the list goes on and on! Right now I am snuggled up on the couch with my sweet little Emily sharing a warm, down blanket. Snuggle time is always good. It definitely reminds me of how thankful I am for my sweet family!!

Today will be a fun day. We are going to have lunch with Joey at school. It's pizza day so everyone is excited. Terry is home this weekend (YAY!!) so we will have our regular Friday night movie and Daddy will get to be here too. We love to camp out in the living room, build a fire, and watch a family movie. The kids have so much fun.

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and it has been so much fun doing things with the kids. Madi had her Thanksgiving program and feast at school on Tuesday. She made a beautiful Indian. They sang songs and even did sign language along with the songs. It was so much fun. Emily had the most fun afterwards at the feast where she tried to climb onto the blow up turkey they had set up in the gym. That's my girl. Her class made a book where Ms Nancy asked each child how to make a turkey. The answers were hilarious. Madi's answer was "She puts cookies on it. Princess ones. Then she puts it in the oven cold for just a minute. It tastes yucky." Needless to say Ms Nancy said she would not be coming to any of the kids houses for thanksgiving.


Emily is getting ready to pounce!


I don't know where Emily gets making faces in pictures from!


Pretty princess!!




Joey raced in his first cubmobile with his cubscout group. He was so brave and had so much fun. It was a very fun date for Joey and Daddy. Joey said he kept running into the bushes. He gets his driving skills from his Daddy who had totaled a car by the age of 3...ha ha ha!!


Such a big boy!!


Joey's cubscout troop!!

I hope everyone is well. We are looking forward to going to Augusta for Thanksgiving next week. If I don't get to write before Thanksgiving (which is probable) I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Enjoy your sweet families and God's wonderful provision!! I love you all and am thankful(:

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(:

Catching you up....

Boy has it been a busy last couple of days. Madi came down with the stomach flu on Thursday and Sunday the rest of us came down with it. Poor Terry got hit the worst with it as far as how long it held on. He's back at work today but still dragging! Sunday we were all piled out on the floor watching all kinds of movies.

In the midst of the icky, there was a very sweet moment with Madi though. Sunday morning when I was upstairs in the bed (trying not to puke) Madi came in the room and sat down beside me and said "Mommy I'm sorry you're so sick." Then she put her hand on my head and said "I am going to keep my hand here to make you feel better. You make me feel better so I'm gonna make you feel better." It was so sweet. She stayed with me for a while but finally got bored and went downstairs to play. Our kids are so great!!

Yesterday when we were all feeling better (except for Terry), I took the kids to go get their halloween costumes. They were so excited! Joey knew exactly what he wanted to be-a ninja with red dragons on the front. He looks like a real ninja! Madi, on the other hand, has gone between snow white, bat girl, super girl, and tinkerbell. After looking for a while she finally decided that she wanted to be Belle (of course none of the above mentioned choices, ha ha). She looks beautiful in her yellow dress and she loves it because it is so long. Emily did not care at all. She just wanted to play with the pumpkins (her new obsession). So we decided that she would be a cute cat since she loves cats and is great at meowing. It was lots of fun and the kids are very excited for Halloween in 31 days!!

Joey has his cougar run today at school where they run to raise money for the school. So at 12:30 the girls and I are going to go and cheer him on. He is very excited. He wore his new shirt today that I couldn't resist getting him. it is a Halloween shirt that says "Little Wild Man." I know, it's perfect.

Time to go clean up all the sick germs!!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Marilyn

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Grandma, Happy Birthday to you!! So two days late, I know, we would like to wish Grandma Marilyn a very happy birthday. We hope you had a special day(: You and Pop Pop are in our thoughts in prayers!!!!

As I watch them grow...

I have really been in awe the last couple of days as i sit back and watch my sweet kids. they are all growing and changing so much that sometimes it is easy to miss something. Yesterday Emily had gone down to Joey's room and was playing with the teddy bears. She was talking to them saying the same words that I say to her when we are getting dressed and when i tuck her at night. I see the same thing when Madi is playing with her princesses. She plays out a conversation and uses the same words that i use with her. It is a huge reminder of how much our children look to us for guidance. They mimic what we do and say because of their sweet innocence that just naturally believes that what Mommy and Daddy do is Right. What an amazing responsibility and gift for us parents.

It is also a huge reminder that now is the time to "seize the day". What we do and say now will form our kids character and values forever. What they see will forever affect them whether for good or bad. Now is the precious time that God has given us to seek His wisdom for ourselves and pour that wisdom and unfailing love into our sweet childrens lives. I am so thankful that God chose me to be the Mommy to the three most beautiful and awesome kids. I pray that mine and Terry's choices today will show our children how amazing they are and how amazing God is. I pray that they will see that they can depend on God no matter what(:

Just some thoughts...

This morning in my quiet time I read Psalm 108. It is a great Psalm and 2 verses really spoke to my heart. Psalm 108:1,4 "My heart is confident in you, O God...For Your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. You faithfulness reaches to the clouds." This beautiful truth makes life seem so simple. Our Father is full of unfailing love and faithfulness for us!! Not because of what we do but because of Who He is! In a broken world where we can't have much confidence in anything, we can have full confidence in Our Lord. It just puts things into perspective for me and I am so grateful to our Heavenly Father. I just wanted to share what was on my heart this morning. I hope everyone has a great Monday(:

CRAZY but fun weekend(:

Well Terry had drill this weekend so the kids and I did our regular Friday night tradition of movie night. We had a fun dinner of tostitos with melted cheese, black beans, guacamole, salsa, and sour cream. They LOVE having chips for dinner. The movie started great but unfortunately I missed most of it. It all started when Madi clogged the toilet so badly that it overflowed and covered the whole floor in the half bath (she is her Daddy's daughter!) While I was on my hands and knees cleaning up that mess, Emily brought me a present of a nice ball of poop...ugh! So into the bath she went. Luckily Joey got to enjoy the movie and quickly let me know that I had missed the whole thing...HA! Needless to say, we all went to bed early that night(:

Saturday morning we got up and the kids decided that it was time to put up the Halloween decorations (they are a little excited about this holiday). So on September 13 the Sleister family has up all of its Halloween decorations. The kids are jazzed so its all good. I'll post pictures later of them in their masks. They have had so much fun putting on all of the different masks and running around growling at everyone or trying to convince me that there is an alien in the house. Even Emily has started joining in. It's pretty creepy when your adorable 2 year old puts on the mask from Scream and starts growling...

After the Halloween decorations we went on a fun adventure called "The Search for Gas." We found some and sadly we were excited to pay $3.95 a gallon. Joey also bought a globe for $.50 while we were on our adventure. It is so cool to see his excitement about learning. He loves to look on the globe and see where other countries are located in relation to us. He even paid for it with his own money from his piggy bank(:

Emily just started the most adorable thing. I have got to catch it on film. When we say the blessing at dinner time, she will murmur words while someone is saying the blessing and then say AMEN really loud. She is so stinkin' cute. It kindof makes up for her obsession with poop(:

Madi is like a little Momma. If somebody gets hurt or something, she'll say "that's why we don't play that way." It is so funny. She is so serious about it too. Oh the kiddos are getting so big and they change so much everyday. They truly are a gift from God and I am so blessed to be their Mommy. It definitely gets overwhelming...often, but I know that this is such a short season and it's important to enjoy each stage. On that note, I am going to sign off and get some sleep. You never know what tomorrow holds.....

The Wilderness

Psalm 106:13-14 "Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done! The wouldn't wait for His counsel! In the wilderness their desires ran wild, testing God's patience in that dry wasteland."

I read these verses this morning in my time alone with God. We all walk through the wilderness at one time or another in our lives...actually many times in our lives. Do we wait for His counsel or do we lose our patience and take matters into our hands and build an idol? I know that I am currently in the wilderness and I must say, God is so good. i am certainly praying that I wait for His counsel and do not take matters into my incapable hands. It is certainly a day to day task that I continually need His help in. I just thought I would share my thoughts today. Hope all is well with everyone(:

The weekend was great and Terry won the soldier of the year in this category. He will now compete in the higher level which competes against soldiers of units from all over Tennessee. He is honored but not so excited about it(: It's just one more thing on his plate, but it's all good(:

How the Sleister kids do things!!!

Today was a fun day, but boy am I pooped! Terry headed out for Nashville today around 12. We forgot to set the alarm this morning so I got up a few minutes after 7am...we usually leave to get Joey to school at 7:10. I was still pretty impressed with us though since we were showered and out of the door by 7:25. Unfortunately we were still 5 minutes late for school. Joey is my kids though so being late should be expected! HA!

I guess the most notable thing of today was the great idea I had to do a fun painting craft with the kids. I decided since Emily is so messy that we would do it outside so I could just spray them off and it wouldn't be as big of a mess as inside. It was a great idea in theory. It took Emily about 5 minutes to realize it was much cooler to paint herself than her picture. Of course, the big kids joined in the fun. So instead of just 3 painted pictures, I ended up with 3 painted pictures, 3 painted children, a painted table, and a spotted deck. It was memorable.

I have to say that lately I have really been realizing how fast this time with my babies is passing by. I am so grateful to be able to stay at home with them and enjoy these moments. What an amazing blessing children are. Our area younglife director used to always ask us, "Where have you seen Jesus today?" I have to say that my answer usually has something to do with my sweet kids. They truly are a gift and I want to treasure every moment with them...even the bad moments(: Those bad moments just remind me of how patient my Father is with me when I am "acting out".

"Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name."

~Psalm 103:1

He's a Keeper(:

Just had to put up a pic of my very handsome hubby dubs(: He has been a great listener through this time and sacrificed valuable video game time to listen to me talk and pray with me. I am thankful for you Ter Bear!!!

Everybody don't forget to pray for him this Saturday as he does his "Soldier of the Year" interview(: