Paranoia......

Randomness for today....Parking garages completely FREAK me out. I slouch over in my car just in case my vehicle may be too large and it crushes the top of it! Today, I almost had a full blown panic attack (in the parking garage) as I was driving oh so slow being the careful driver I am and someone behind me was honking and yelling!! Seriously, did she not understand I was having a "moment!"

Please tell me I am not the only one that has this problem. Do I need medicine? 

 

Early Voting!

I'm heading out this morning to vote as soon as both of my girls are off to school! Hopefully the line will not be out the door this morning considering it's really cold outside! I had to share this great picture that I "borrowed" from one of my friend's blog!  I wonder what song they were dancing to?  Hmmm...... maybe a little this song!

Check it out!

My Mother-In-Love is so talented and can make some of the most adorable things! I am always looking forward to holidays knowing she is not going to disappoint with something fabulous she has made! Well, she is finally starting an Etsy Store!! YAY

Even better news.......SHE HAS A GIVEAWAY ON HER BLOG!!!!!  It's a mixed media painting and you can read about it HERE.

Go visit her blog and leave a comment for a chance to WIN!

Sunday Morning Singleness and CHAOS!

Today, I had to just laugh on my way to church. I'm convinced that no matter how many hours early I would get up on Sunday's, I still would not be able to manage to arrive at church 15 minutes early!  That's my goal! I can get there on time (most weeks)

I am now being paid back for all the times that my mom would sit in our car and honk the horn until I would be ready for church!

This morning, Hope was trying to find a specific toy in the playroom and insisted on rummaging through the baskets to find it! 

Addie just HAD to have a certain purse filled with 4 cell phones only to have in the car on our ride to church. 

NOT to mention their breakfast that consisted of peanut butter crackers and a banana in the car......... YES, this is what we signed up for! The Life of a Pastor's family:)  I love it.

******please share your Sunday morning secrets for getting out the door!

Fun with my new camera!

I had an excuse to take some photos of my girls today while Pete was doing a wedding! Here are a few......I'm still trying to figure things out....not to mention that Hopie has a HUGE boo-boo on her face under her nose where she fell out of the car and skinned her face on Friday night:(  I covered it up a little in these pictures! 

Spend the night party with Papa

Last night while I was fixing dinner, my dad called and had just flown in from speaking in VA (my mom had left town with my sister's family to go to one of their races) Dad had no plan for the evening, so he decided to come have dinner with us and spend the night! He actually enjoyed my vegetable soup and was quite impressed with my toll house cookie creations.  Pete went upstairs for a few minutes and came back and ALL the cookies were GONE! Sorry honey!

It's always a treat to have Papa all to ourselves................................................

9:30 pm.................it was LIGHTS OUT!!!!
I guess it was a little too quiet in the house last night......................or maybe that's how he can be awake and working at 4:30am?  I don't know about you, but it is not morning until 7am......

Adventures in the Smokies

The staff that plays together- STAYS together...Right? 

Here we are at the top of the mountain during our ATV adventure!

Matt (aka Ray) being Matt

Picture of Kentucky somewhere the right....so our guide said!

The girls stayed in the front of the line far from the guys that were of course breaking any rule that the guide had gone over!

Us in our protective gear.

Hiking to Abrams Falls

Yes, we are having a meeting!!

The Riddle's 

Don't fall!

Competition is on........

Guys and girls are soooo different!

I was laughing as I was looking through some of my photos from this week.  We took these pictures right about the same time and check out the guys....they have to make sure they are not too close together and looking very man-ly...then you have the girls....all snuggled in together!

Thankful THURSDAY!

Today I'm thankful for:

* Time together with our team from VL with no distractions

 *Lots of rest

 * So many good laughs watching the guys act like 5th graders

  *My mom being mimommy all week at our house (this was a treat for the girls)

  *Being Adventurous and actually LIKING it!

  *Friends that are Encouraging

*Prayers being answered

*High School Musical 3 comes out this weekend (deep, I know)

*My new camera (that I don't quite know how to work yet!)

*The pretty scenery of the smokies in October........I'll share a few

In the Smokies....

After church Sunday morning, we headed up to the Gatlinburg area for Staff Retreat! We have had a blast and I'm sad that our time is coming to an end tomorrow afternoon. We've had a blast and our faces hurt from laughing so much! Here is a picture of us at The Peddler (best place to eat in Gatlinburg.)  

"Meet Bill"

Yesterday's service at Vinings Lake, went to the top of my list of amazing, moving services.  I'm sure lots of other people there would agree.  

Bill Graham, one of the men that have been with us since the beginning of the church is in the midst of a trial and he shared yesterday.  He shared about all he has learned and is still learning through his battle with cancer and how he would not trade it for anything.  There was not a dry eye in that room yesterday.

The 3 things that stuck out to me were:

1.  Prioritize your life.

2.  Dig into God's word.

3.  Experience the Joy of the Lord. 

Pete then shared a little from James 1:2-4 about trials and how we respond during and after a trial.  

During the trial that Bill and his wife Pam have experienced they have used it to be an encouragement to so many people.  Please join me in praying for Bill for a full recovery!

glasses, airplanes, and my thoughts on busyness

Here she is in her new glasses!! I love them on her all except that it makes her look older:(  She has done great with them for the past 3 days and is keeping them on all day! I'm glad she likes them too:)

Yesterday we took a little "field trip" to private airport to watch my parents land.  They are becoming quite spoiled these days flying private (thanks to some super nice friends).  I'm really not a huge fan of flying....OK. I'm scared to death.  It has to be a really fabulous trip for me to enjoy getting on a plane, so the last couple of weeks my parents have asked it we would like to come along on one of their trips. ....I have had LOTS of excuses, but after going to the airport yesterday, seeing that plane and talking to a friend of mine that her husband is the pilot....I think I'm going to go in the next couple of weeks! 

1st class up in the sky....my camera died at the airport, so I took these with my iPhone.
Mimommy's girl! 

I was scrolling through my blog from the past couple weeks and it was BORING me! I'll try to kick it up a notch next week. We have been so busy that the blog has kind of taken the back seat.  We have been running non-stop to the point that I started feeling sick! I'm the kind of person that likes to Go-Go-Go, but sometimes I can't keep up!  

This morning my sweet husband got the girls up and ready for school and I slept until 10:00 which never happens! I just cannot usually sleep past 8am no matter how hard I try!

I'm looking forward to joining our staff for our 1st staff retreat next week in the Smokies! 

Also our special needs mommies get together is coming up! I have 11 ladies so far that are planning to come!  If you know of anyone that you think would be interested, please have them contact me!

I hope everyone has a fabulous fall weekend and I'm pumped for the cooler weather in Atlanta!

Sweet poem

This was written by a mom of a little boy with down syndrome.  I think so many mommies of children with special needs can relate to this!

The Waiting Room Mom

She wanted to be a soccer mom.

She even loved pizza.

She loved being outside,

But she's inside -- a waiting room mom.

She's waiting,

Waiting inside

For a doctor's diagnosis,

A psychologist's sentence,

A therapist's treatise,

A tutor's sympathy.

She hates the charade of pretending

That therapy is play,

That the tutor's tools are toys,

That this is a "normal" childhood for her active boy.

Yet she waits

And prays,

Knowing that the most effective intervention

Is the work for the Holy Spirit

In the life of her family.

Then the towhead bursts into the waiting room

Eager to head home.

"Great! He did great today!"

She hears as she's dragged out the door.

She winks at the boy, bouncing in the back seat.

"Hey, buddy," she whispers,

"Shall we pick up a pizza for dinner?"

"That'd be great, Mom," he says. "Just great!"

It was bedtime until......whoopsie daisy!

Last night, Pete was supposed to be out late, so I had decided to get the girls in bed early since we had a pretty crazy weekend.  We had already had dinner and things were quiet and they were calmed down and just about to head upstairs for bed and then........DADDY WAS HOME!! YAY:)  The next thing I know, there is music blasting and this is what is going on! It was all fun and games until the second video........it was broken into like 50 pieces:(  

There is NEVER A DULL moment with this crew!!

******Pete reluctantly gave me permission to post this in spite of his white boy skills! 

My friend Elizabeth with EBS photography captured these photos yesterday! This was too good not to post!

I've been working on updating my blogroll today, so hopefully I will have everyone back on here in the next couple of days! I felt the need to re-organize something, so the blog it is!!

Fall Festival and Catalyst

Today we had a fun time at the annual Fall Festival @ VL! The weather turned out to be beautiful this afternoon after a few sprinkles during our 11 o'clock service. 

The festival was complete with hot dogs, burgers, cotton candy, caramel apples, popcorn, apple cider.......

Then we had our share of moonwalks, games (with prizes) but the favorite attraction was definitely the dunking tank! Pete started off in there then a couple of the other staff guys got their fair share of the wetness!  

Addie with her friend, Jasper!
Hope enjoying her caramel apple!
Soaking wet Brian with his cutie wife, Jen!
It was a black and jeans days for the girls!!!

CATALYST

This week was the Catalyst Conference that I attended with Pete and a group of friends from the church.  I loved it again this year. We learned so much and were challenged in many areas. Here is a photo of the African children's choir that sang on Friday and lead in worship.  It was just precious and so powerful!

We were walking to our car on Thursday afternoon and I heard someone calling my name.  It was Nathan Emert.  He used to be in our youth group when we lived in Arkansas.  He was in the 8th grade and we had not seen him since then. He's 22 now, married and has a baby!! We couldn't believe that.  Of course, this was a KODAK moment:) Time flies....when you're havin' FUN.
Have a happy Monday!!!!!!

Warning! Mommy Post!

Funny Story:

I picked Hope up from school on Tuesday and she begins to tell me that there was a little girl on the playground that was being mean to her and called her the "S" word! Well immediately, I began asking her questions.  Why, where, when, who was there, what did you do........I'm going to have to turn this car around and go "talk" with this child!

Then I asked her to tell me which "S" word.  She then proceeds to tell me that she cannot tell me the word because it is a very bad word and she cannot repeat it! I tell her for this one time she is allowed to tell me the word, so I would know what she is talking about.  

Finally very quietly she whispers......"Slushy!"

SLUSHY? I asked her, "where in the world did she get that from?" Hope says....you know, like the slushy you got me from Target and that is a VERY BAD word!

Why would I think it was any other "S" word?

Wow! I learn new things from my children daily.

Great Blog!

I love seeing Meghan McCain's side of her father's campaign by reading her blog! Now this is my kind of political discussion.  She throws some fashion in there along with a glimpse behind the scenes of the campaign trail:)  

Check it out.

Really....for a seven year old?

First of all, when I typed that title, I can't believe I have a 7 year old! I'm like a "real mom" with two children that depend on me....scary!

Moving along.

Yesterday, I took Hope to the eye doctor! We made a day of it.  She had some issues with lazy eye as a baby and even had glasses for a while (they were adorable) so we went back for another visit.  The Doc told us that she really needed glasses again especially when reading and at school. I was not surprised by this, so he handed me a prescription and off we went to pick out some frames.

I was completely overwhelmed and asked for some help. I asked the nice man helping me if he would let me know what the trend was for a 7 year old.........He proceeds to tell me, " Oh, definitely the Sarah Palin glasses!!"  I was laughing and thought he was just joking! I was like, "no really...what about for kids?" Then he goes and gets them!! We did try on some frames similar, but I was just not really into that look for my little girl.  Very Cute on Palin, but not the look I was going for on my daughter.....maybe in like 10 more years!  

We decided on a spunky frame that fits her personality and TRUST me....there will be photos next week after we pick them up!!

Pete's pumpkin work-out!

As I mentioned in a previous post, we went to Burt's Pumpkin Patch on Friday and Pete got himself an intense work-out with these rather large pumpkins! He managed to get it into the wagon as the girls and I stood there and watched him:)  It has to be at least 100 lbs!!

I was so impressed with the great selection of pumpkins! Maybe it's because we didn't wait until the end of October to hit the patch!  

My mother-in-law made me these adorable arrangements for my door! She is super talented and can make anything!  I just asked her to do something cute for fall and I loved them:)

Target issues!

OK, I went to Target this morning just to get some soap, paper towels, and to look for a sweatshirt for one of the girls!! Well,the first problem was......both of the kids were at school (no distractions) Next problem, I WAS at Target...oh, should I even mention that I had just come from working out looking lovely and just so happens that I run into several people I know!  Of course, not on a day where I have showered and looking half way decent!! ANYWAYS, I should have just gone to Wal-Mart to resist the temptation!  Everything in the store today was just so stinkin' cute.  I went down every isle! I found myself looking at all of the cute fall decorations, costumes, home decor, make-up, clothes.....you get the idea! Needless to say, I left with several more items than I intended to get!!  I did pick up the new Chris Tomlin CD.  I'm just going to have to limit my visits!!  I heart Target:)  

Is anyone else with me and willing to admit to their issues with Target?

Family Fun in the mountains!

We had a great couple of days getting away in the North GA Mountains! We played games, ate smores, watched the girls run around, went to the pumpkin patch, amicalola falls, and enjoyed the outdoors!  

The weather was perfect:)  I took tons of pictures and here are some of my favorites.................

Hopie.....my cutie!

Yes, they climbed a tree!

Our little photographer, Addie, took this!

Just the girls!

Sweet sisters...at the moment!

She's got him so wrapped!

The trail to the falls

A butterfly on the trail

Amicalola Falls

Ads at the falls

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I'll post some pictures from the pumpkin patch later this week.  Pete picked us out a ginormous pumpkin that took two people to get into our car!! 

My little pumpkins

Thankful THURSDAY!

Things I'm thankful for today:

My big girl can read so good!!

The weather is just fabulous!

I love the fact that we had a yard full of kids at my house yesterday.

We are going to the mountains today and do the "fall thing."

My man brings me coffee made just right every morning! 

It's the time of the year that I can make chili and soups.

I'm also thankful for our friendships!

What are you thankful for today?

YUM!

The girls and I were home alone last night and I really didn't feel like pulling out my gourmet skills in the kitchen last night, so very last minute I decided to try out some Ramen Noodles on the girls! They LOVED them! They told over and over how it was their new favorite!  Then they proceeded to say...."Daddy has to try these!"

TRUST ME...he has eaten Ramen Noodles on more than one occasion!