Excited....calling all mommies of special needs kids in the Atlanta area!

Pete and I have been praying for a while about starting something for  parents of  special needs kids.  We never could figure out what we wanted that to look like or what to do UNTIL NOW!! 

I'm excited to announce that we have something on the calendar for the end of this month.

I'm going to host a "get together" for mommies of special needs babies/children at our church!!! 

If you are interested or know someone that may be please have them contact me through my email Hollie3h@comcast.net.

I have a friend that I have known for about 7 years that is a Developmental Specialist and she knows SO MUCH about children with special needs.  She will be there to answer questions and give suggestions!  

We are just going to get together, hang out, eat (of course) and meet other mom's that struggle with the same things we do on a day to day basis!

WILL YOU JOIN US??

Dad with the Catalyst Road Trip........

Today LV and his crew made a visit with Dad....check it out HERE!

Here we are back in August......

Nicholas Sparks

He is definitely one of my all time favorite authors! I'm always excited for a movie to come out based on a book I have read ESPECIALLY Nicholas Sparks! 

Pete and I went out on Friday night and saw this movie! It was just like I had imagined it while reading the book!  Pete said he enjoyed it too (not sure if he was just being a sweet husband!)

I was even more excited to see that he is releasing his next book on September 30th!! Yay! That's tomorrow:) I will be at the store to pick up my copy!  

Bull rider?

Our week ended with our second visit to the North GA state fair........

It was a great night with friends and family.  The highlight was definitely watching the boys and a couple of brave girls competing on the bull (or riding the himalaya)

Just as a follow up from my last "fair" post, Yes, Pete won the girls some stuffed animals this time! We came home with our hands full of those fabulous toys!!  (Next time I will just buy them at Wal-Mart)   

Check out my man riding the bull......What do you think? Should he stick with his day job?

I've been Tagged!

by my sister-in-law, Heidi!

Here are the rules.....

1.  Post the rules on your blog

2.  Write 6 random things about yourself

3.  Tag 6 people at the end of your post

4.  If you are tagged, just do it, and pass the tag along!!

Here we go.......My 6 RANDOM things that you may or may not know about me.......

1.  I can burp (belch) like a man!  OH YEAH. I have skills.  There is only one person that has ever beat me in a burping contest and it's a guy that is over 6 ft. tall!!  It still bothers my mother whenever I burp around her (like in the Nordstrom ladies dept.)  

2.  I was 19 when Pete and I got married!  

3.  I have a small obsession with buying designer blue jeans......at a discount of course! (Most of the time)  I like to find the ones that feel like they have been washed 400 times and so soft that you could sleep in them!

4.  I cannot stay awake at home and watch a movie if it's dark outside!  I can go to a movie theater and even see a late movie and stay awake!  Pete loves it when we rent a really great chick flick and I fall asleep in the first 30 minutes then he is all into this girly movie!! Yes. I'm kidding:)

5.  I went on a mission trip to Africa when I was 16 and would love to go back soon! It was the most amazing experience.

6.  I am a beauty school drop-out! I started when I was 17 and finishing up high school to do nails....a few weeks into it we discovered I was allergic to the acrylic!!  Oops.  I would break out in a rash from head to toe after being around it for a couple of hours! 

Now I'm tagging..........Katie, Deanna, Ainsley, Jennifer, Brandi, and Sarah!!!!

Happy Tagging!

Milestones, Donuts and Jeeps

This week Hope has hit a milestone and we are so proud of her.  As most you know she has low muscle tone especially in her legs and has always needed to be pushed on the swing.  Well, now she can pump her legs and swing all by herself and oh so high!! She was so thrilled about this and the weather has been nothing short of beautiful this week, so she has been outside alot swinging all by herself.......I just wanted to take a minute to celebrate the little things:)

Today was "Donuts with Dads" at Addie's preschool! She has been talking about this for 2 weeks.  Pete has a cute post on his blog about it.  Here they are this morning on the way out.  She insisted that they coordinate their clothes.....I love it.
The "gas shortage" is really a BIG deal around here.  I experienced this first hand on Monday while driving around in my ginormous Yukon XL (gas guzzlers) with my fuel light on.  I tried three different stations and had no luck!! I did find some on Tuesday morning and got half a tank for $65.00!  

I was watching the girls drive around in their barbie jeep tonight and thought....wouldn't it be nice to just be able to plug in my Yukon in the garage!! If you see me around town driving the girls jeep, hopefully you will understand.......

Was it really worth all the hype?

YES.  The fair did not disappoint! Obviously from my post last night, we could have seen that and just gone home being happy!  

The weather is just perfect this week for being outdoors.  

Say Cheese!!

Hopie is loving the caterpillar while sissy is holding on tight and posing!

His very FAVORITE food!!! 

Daddy, you HAVE to win us a "woody doll" from Toy Story!  I'm sad to report we went home empty handed:(  It's too bad I don't have a video of the drama that took place when he did not win that toy for her!  Let's just say there were bite marks:) Smile.

YES, she is licking the pole on the carousel!  Sanitation at its BEST.

We enjoyed our evening with Nana and Pap-Pap!

Why we go to the fair

Parking- $3.00

Rides for the girls- $30.00

Food for our family of 4- $35.00

Seeing this- PRICELESS

Mommy bloggin'

Funny quotes from the weekend straight from the mouths of the little ladies....

 

Hope- "Are we having two churches today or just one?  

Addie -"Every time we go to someone else's house....we get hurt."  

Addie- "I made this (holding up a craft from church) at "real church." 

Hope- "Addie told me my heart would be saved from Jesus"

Kids are the best! They provide us with hours of free entertainment! 

Pets.

As I've shared before, my girls are (mainly Hope) begging for a dog! She has been quite happy for the past couple of weeks because we have had the neighborhood cat hanging around.  Here's the cat while we were having dinner last night on the patio hanging out on the kids playset!

This morning on our way out to go to church....here's the cat again....at our front door!  Pete has told the little ladies over and over "do not feed the cat!"  Well, this morning they have confessed to me that they have been feeding it just a little:)  
I have started getting used to the fact that we are going to probably have a dog soon, so I have been doing a little bit of research and I am just really drawn to little dogs like this......  Pete insists that whatever kind of dog we get it HAS to be a boy.....and about 40 lbs. heavier than this one........  
I guess for now we can continue with pretend pets!  I know.......it's going to be a lot of work when we DO get a dog and I'm sure I will be running my Dyson (favorite thing in my house) at least every day because all of you know about my clean freak issues.  Send on your suggestions of good dogs to have with kids.   
This picture has nothing to do with this post or pets, but I thought the little ladies were so cute this morning as we were talking with people after church and they were singing at the top of their lungs on the stage.  In the background, you can see the painting that our friend, Brian Daniel, painted during the worship today that was very powerful.  

Refusing to grow up!

ADULT SKATE NIGHT! FOR REAL. We had a blast and I'm considering renting the place out for mine and Pete's b-day!  

FIREPROOF

We were able to see a showing of Fireproof this week at the conference! It was a great movie and it starts next Friday in the theaters.  It's a story about marriage.  The only thing missing was Shannen Fields (from Facing the Giants) ANYWAYS, I'm a big Kirk Cameron fan and grew up watching him.  Check it out!

Jesus is WHAT?

AWESOME!!!!  Yep! It's really Danny Lovett. We (all the Liberty Peeps) could not miss this photo opportunity with Eric and Danny! And oh yeah, he is still saying it!!  If you attended LU for any amount of time then you know what I'm talking about!
Pete was talking to someone and missed our initial photo! I know...shock!
Brian and Pete in the back of my Yukon.....we had 9 people in there going to the movies one night.  Just another reason I refuse to get a smaller SUV.  The more.....the merrier!
Bless his heart! Do you see this plate? He was so hungry, he licked it!

It's back!!

My macbook that is........I made it almost 4 whole days without a computer!!! I'm a happy girl now that I have it back!

We just arrived back home after a great Timothy/Barnabas (Pastor's school/conference) in another area of Atlanta.  We had a great time catching up with a some friends in ministry that we rarely see and meeting some new friends as well.  

The conference was great and my parents did a fantastic job putting it all together!  

Our girls were well taken care of and "spoiled" while we were gone! Thanks Katie, Hannah, and Carrol!!  

I'll post a few pictures later this weekend......

I'm so behind on the blog world....gotta catch up and see what all I have missed this week:)

HAPPY WEEKEND!!!

It's just another manic monday!

I hope everyone has had a HAPPY Monday!

I'm sad to report that I will be signing off the blog for several days:(

My macbook has an appointment tomorrow because it has been a little under the weather for the past week or so with some battery issues.  They sent me a new battery that arrived today and it's still giving me troubles.  They said it could take up to 7 days!!  7 DAYS!!!  Thank goodness for my iPhone.  Hopefully I will be able to survive:)

I may be able to get a hold of Pete's Mac in the evenings! So, no I will not be M.I.A. just computer-less for several days!  Who knows....I will probably get so much done!!

*************Update on Hope's lip***********************

It is doing and looking so much better! She does not act like it's bothering her at all! 

I ran into one of the parents from her school today at Publix, and apparently she had told her mother ALL about Hope's lip and how it scared her to death just watching it!  I used to be concerned that she was going to cut her hair off...now apparently I have other concerns!

Tonight, I was just getting ready to fix dinner and my dad called and said he had some free time and wanted to take us to dinner.  Of course, I happily decided I could fix those tacos tomorrow and we had a nice dinner with him.  Addie had called him yesterday on our way to church yesterday to inform him that we never see him anymore! I think it had been 2 weeks.  She got her Papa fix for the week!  

It's a GREAT week here in Atlanta.....the North GA state fair starts Thursday! Yes, you all know that we have been counting down!  If tonight is any indication of the weather for the next week then I am sooooo excited!!  It was so nice outside today! The air is so crisp!!

We will see how long I make it with out blogging!!  

Never a dull moment...part 2

I guess we are starting a series here on the blog!  

Friday started as a great day......Pete and I went to the spa for the morning, had lunch together then we got a phone call from Hope's school when they were just about to dismiss telling us that she was in the nurse's office and she had cut her lip with scissors!!  OUCH.  We hurried to the school as fast as possible and YES, there she was with her shirt covered in blood, holding ice over her mouth but SMILING and HAPPY!  

The nurse recommended us taking her to the ER to see if she needed stitches, so Pete said he would take her since there was no need to take an extra child (Addie) to the ER.  Two hours later, they arrived at home with three stitches or whiskers as she called them and a new stuffed animal!  Pete said it was a pretty dramatic experience at the ER trying to get the numbing cream on her lip, then her having to get a shot there as well, THEN the stitches.....

Well, they got home and within three hours the stitches were OUT.   We called the ER doctor and she said "Oh yeah, I was afraid of that!!!"  She told us just to keep an eye on it and it should be fine. It's healing very nicely so far!!  Once again.....NEVER A DULL MOMENT! 

Here's a picture of her after they got home.....her stitches were covered up with the band-aid!!

I heart Fridays!

I couldn't resist this cup of coffee with the heart shape sugar:)

Everyone loves the weekends, but I especially love Fridays!

It's Pete's day off and we have made it our day to hang out together! I guess I could say, it's my "day off" too!  I try not to plan any appointments, run errands, clean the house, but just chill for the day! If you go to VL....it's the day I "unplug." 

Most Fridays, you will find us at a yummy breakfast joint (ususally The Flying Biscuit)

or we will skip breakfast and go to another Hixson favorite for lunch spot (Theo's Brother)

Today is a really good Friday and we are off to the spa for massages!  In the afternoons, we try to do something special for the girls if they have had a great week at school! 

There you have it....why I HEART Fridays!

Enjoy your weekend......What's everyone doing?  

So What do YOU do??

As a pastor's wife, I often hear this question......What do you do in the church?

Well, let's see......Do you play the piano?   No    

Do you sing?  No  (not on stage....only the karaoke stage) DR (our worship guy) is begging to get me up there....i'm kidding!

Do you teach ladies Bible Studies?  No

Are you your husbands office assistant?  No way.....Rhonda is way too good at that!

Here is my answer?  I love and support my husband 100% .  I stand behind him with the decisions he has made for our church. My next commitment is to my 2 girls and raising them to love Jesus:)

 I love the place we are right now where I can be myself and I'm not trying to be someone that I am not. 

Yes, I am involved in things in our church....just not the leader or director of anything specific.  

Sure, I would love to be gifted in singing or teaching, but that is not where my gifts are!

I used to think that was such an intimidating question, but I'm cool with it now!

I learned from the absolute BEST.....my mother is such a great example of a Pastor's Wife! 

 

His needs.....her needs!

So, today I was blow drying my hair and I noticed all of my man's hair products!! Who would have thought that he uses more than me?  

In his defense.....he does NOT use all of them at once!!!  So, girls tell me...... who uses more product on their hair in your home?  

Oh, I must say he has GREAT hair:)

Girls Just Wanna Have FUN!!

The BEACH was nothing short of fabulous!! It is still really HOT and we all got sunburned the first day!! We had a great time eating, shopping, dancing, laughing, READING, and chillaxin'.......

Jen, Hillary, Me, Christy, Katie

We are all obsessed with "Twilight"!!! It was nice to bring Edward and Bella along to the beach....

AHHHH!

Christy & Jen at the Back Porch

Katie and I

The other "HHH "and Jen

Katie being VERY brave after having her nose pierced.....SO CUTE, but ouch!! I could hardly watch!!

Thanks to my man for watching the girls this weekend! They had a fun time with daddy!   

Thursday 13

My random 13 list for the day!

1.  I love to make a list!!! 

2.  Yesterday I vacuumed out my Yukon and I accidentally vacuumed up my grocery list! Oops.  I did pretty good.  I only forgot one thing!

3.  Happy Birthday to my BFF Katie! I can't wait to celebrate this weekend:)

4.  Sarah Palin had my vote in the first 10 minutes of her speech while talking about parents of special needs children and they WILL have an advocate in the White House!!  YAY for Hockey MOMS!

5.  Hope loves the bus so much that she wanted it to pick us up for church on Sundays! 

6. I have gone "cold turkey" off of all carbonated drinks.  I have not had a diet coke in 36 hours, but who's counting.

7.  I'm excited about leaving this afternoon for a weekend girls trip to the beach!!

8.  I'm hanging with my "no-kids" girlfriends! I'm the oldest one and the only mom going.  I'll be sure to leave my "mom" jeans at home so I don't embarras anyone.

9.  Some of our friends got together for the premier of the new "90210" on Tuesday night.  The show makes me feel old now.  The new cast are 15 and 16 year olds.  I'm going to give it a few more weeks before I say if I'm hooked or not. 

10. So much technology....my head is spinning.  Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, Email, Text Messages!!!   

11.  Addie thinks that her daddy's full name is Pastor Pete.  Not Peter John Lawrence.

12.  The girls have the weekend planned with daddy.  Pizza, movie, popcorn, candy and staying up all night!

13. I would love an ice cold diet coke OR diet DP.

Join in on the Thursday 13 Fun!

Labor Day on the lake!

We had an awesome time at the lake with the entire Hixson crew today! We all (almost all of us) had our share of tubing! That is just NOT my thing.  Larry (Pete's dad) was hilarious on the tube looking like he did not have any legs!!  About 30 minutes before we had to turn our boat in, Hope decided she wanted to give it a try with Carter and she LOVED it! They were so cute- laughing and bouncing around!  FUN times.

After the lake, we stopped by my Aunt's house where they had tons fried fish, homemade ice cream and a mini family reunion!  We were introduced (by my mother) to a new backyard game.....LASSO GOLF! 

Pete is hooked!! I will be purchasing this game this week to go along with all of our other games at home. This will be just another reason we need to have a backyard cook-out sooner than later. 

I hope you had a nice, relaxing weekend! Can you believe it's already September?

Country Music, Cornbread, and Sweet Tea!

I admit.....I'm pretty redneck. Sometimes I just can't help it! I love all kinds of music, but I just always come back to country.  On Saturday afternoon, I got an invitation to go to the Craig Morgan concert! It was so much fun! Thanks Rhonda..... I'm glad we are now members of the Redneck Yacht Club:)  

Sunday was a such a great day at VL.....Pete wanted to do things different, so we had an "Unplugged" day.  I'm sure he will have more on his blog about it.   He talked about the Sabbath and our need to "unplug" on a regular basis.  

On to the cornbread........

Our friends, Mark and Starrla (that we miss dearly) were in town this weekend from Dallas and they wanted to go to one of their favorites....Mary Mac's Tea Room for some good southern food on Sunday night. Hope remembered that before they moved, Mark taught her the proper way to drink tea!  She had such a fun time drinking her sweet tea with him!   She informed Mark that he is her sixth boyfriend! There is a pattern here.  All of her boyfriend are in their mid 20's AND married! I think we need to have a talk!

Katie, Me and Rhonda....YES, Katie and I are sporting a sunburn from spending a little too much time at the pool on Saturday while everyone was at home watching football!

Craig Morgan

You think our tractor is sexy?

 

Mark and Starrla 

Hope with boyfriend number 6 drinking tea!

Mimommy and the girls!