Fall Festival

The public school that Carter attended last year, Mt. Laurel, had their Fall Festival last Friday night. I love Fall and festivals and everything that goes with it, plus it was a great time for Carter to reunite with friends.

Carter & his best friend Evan


Boys favorite game of the night. Throw the ball into the jar to win a fish. Great game, but really what would we do with a fish if we won?



No, really, what are we going to do with a fish!?!



Fall festival food...yummmm



Daddy got a funnel cake & it was the kids first time to try one. I know first time, what is wrong with their parents they should have tried one a long time ago!



Last picture of the night right before the camera battery died. Almost got it.

View of a 3 yr old

While the boys are I are busy having school, Isabel comes in and out of the school room. She does have her own desk and her own "work", but if I'm really focused on teaching the boys she doesn't stay put and she always seems to have a question which distracts her brothers. The other day to give her a project of her own outside the classroom I gave her my camera. There were lots of interesting pictures taken. Here are a few.













The boys and I were able to accomplish a lot while she was out taking pictures, this may become a weekly task for her.

Not me Monday

I do NOT have to start my day out with a Diet Coke. Coffee just never made the cut for me.

Today's Task

The big task for today was taking all three kids to the dentist as well as getting my own teeth cleaned....all by myself! Something I would not have even thought of doing a couple of years ago. I realized today that either I'm getting braver or the kids are getting bigger (sniff, sniff) and it's just getting easier to do things of this nature. It also helps that my kids love the dentist.
I have mentioned before that my kids LOVE Ms. Susie. We'll here is yet another example of why.



Big brothers missed out because they went first, but when Izzy got up there she asked Ms. Susie if she had a bigger "napkin" because she was cold. She didn't have one, but notice the blanket. Then the light was way too bright, so Ms. Susie found some purple (as close to pink as she could get) shades.
We also came home with three great treasure box prizes as well as three cute suction cup toothbrushes. When checking out & I was making the address change they asked if we still wanted to make the drive to Chelsea for our cleanings or if we were going to find someone closer. To this mom it's worth the drive!

Are you moved in yet?

The popular question now is "are you moved in yet?" To which you would think I could reply, why yes, yes we are, BUT the true answer is no, not yet. As of Saturday we have both PODS unloaded into the house. So we have lots of boxes to unpack.



Rooms full of boxes!



I have been getting things ready, like this before picture of Isabel's room.



To a very pink, princess pink actually. I let them each pick one thing they wanted special for their room. Izzy's was obviously a pink room. The boys are both wanting loft beds. To that we had to answer....we have to finish paying for the kitchen first, but in time.



We also had to clean the floors. It's not child labor if you make a game out of it, right? :)



So you still may be asking, ok you have boxes, the painting is finished, why are you still not in? Well....this is our kitchen.



Hopefully just a couple more weeks and we'll have cabinets and appliances. Then we'll officially move in!

Not Me Monday

You never know what a day has in store. Some days there is plenty of time to put makeup on and other days I'm good to get a shower in.
On makeup days....
I do NOT have to make a total mess of my massacra to get it to look the way I want



Then go back with this



to get this



Many days that is just too much trouble! So to use my time wisely, it's shower & no makeup.

Just Be

We are back in the USA! Correction from my last post. We were on a plane for exactly 24 hours! That's right 24 LONG hours. We did have a couple of plane changes, but in our changes didn't even have time to stop at the Toilet (as they call it in Thailand). My back issues were ok. Every plane we ended up being in the back so I was able to stand and stretch some and not feel like I was in anybody's way. Also my issues I had with flying like feeling dizzy and uneasiness, well just put yourself on a plane for 24 hours and you'll become a pro at flying. Even though the plane ride back was still long, it didn't bother me to be on the plane at all.

I now know why there were so many different little obstacles before we left for this trip to Thailand. It was so amazing to see the faces of not just children, but also adults as they heard the name of Jesus Christ. Did they understand everything we said, probably not. Did we share with them anyway, of course! The missionary that we worked with all week was born and raised in Thailand but is an American, so he was the cool white guy that spoke the language. He was able to present the gospel in their language and relate it to them in a way they could understand. There is also a pastor in the nearby rural area that works with the school, he is the one who set us up to come and teach English. It was a first time for the 7 of us to teach English to students who speak a different language and it was the first time for these students to even see Americans. Our white skin amazed them! Just like we "white" people go to tanning beds and use tanning lotions to get darker the Thai people use whiting cream and powders to whiten their skin. How funny we all are to want what God did not give us.

There is so much that I can not begin to write how the trip went and what all we experienced. Even though we were there 10 days so much happened it felt like we were there no less than a month. I do have lots and lots of pictures which you can view here khob.shutterfly.com I know that most pictures do not have captions and I would absolutely LOVE to share with you about our trip. If you have questions or want a narrated version with the pictures just let me know :)

The main phrase of the trip ended up being "Just Be". So many times we head off to another country, city, new neighborhood, etc. with our own agenda. We have a plan to share the gospel. Before we even stepped foot on the plane Dwight, our missionary contact/tour guide, told us to "Just Be". To put all our expectations behind us. God had an agenda for this trip and with us all "just being" I feel (hope) it went just as God had intended. There are no words to describe our time there, but I will tell you that I have already set up a Thailand savings account and will be back on a 24 hour plane ride when the Lord leads. I truly have a heart for the Thai people. I now have faces & names so that when I pray for the lost in Thailand I am praying for my friends by name.

This is a blog by one of the guys who went with us, more of a day by day while we were there. clydesjustpassinthru.blogspot.com

Sitting for 17 hours

Some of you may be wondering with the back pain post I made just how a 17 hour flight (few stops along the way) will be possible. Well I didn't think it would be. I actually had a backup person to go in my place if the need be. When asking around about back doctors to visit we honestly only heard one name. Trey Lott. There is a reason his name was the only one recommended. I am a new person!
I saw him on Wed. and he told me that I had jammed my back. He pulled my legs, literally, and pops were heard in the next room. I did get a nice massage after wards though and he told me to come back the next day and then I would be ready for the plane on Friday. So Thurs. morning I went back. Again, he pulled my legs, not as much popping, but enough. I am sore don't get me wrong, but NOT in pain. I can actually sit in a chair and not hurt.
Before looking for a doc to see I made the statement that I did not want to see a chiropractor. I have always just had the thought that they always want to see you again and again and again without truly fixing the problem. We'll Trey is a M.D. and a D.C. pain management is in his title. He totally gets my recommendation!

Unreached People Group

Several months ago Ben and I were approached with the idea of traveling to Thailand. This was also the same time we were selling our house & moving in with parents until we found a house of our own, entering into the new world of homeschooling, and knowing that we would soon be living in the East Lake area of Birmingham (totally different area of town than we are used to).

Reminder of why we are moving to EL....to put our faith in action to address urgent spiritual and physical needs right around us where we are living daily. Too many times we have given excuses of why we aren't helping others & telling the good news of Christ, no more. Our PODS are set to be delivered on Sept. 17th.

Even with all changes approaching quickly upon us, we focused prayer about traveling to Thailand. Besides the fact that Ben and I both have a huge heart to one day maybe adopt a little girl and for awhile now praying that where from even be Thailand. Even more than that this country is an unreached people group. What is that you ask? An unreached people group (UPG) is a people group in which less than 2% of the population is Evangelical Christians. Globally there are approximately 6,400 UPGs.

Knowing that estimated 45,038,000 people live in Thailand and only .23% are Evangel Christians, primary region being Buddhism. Knowing this we prayed. This was going to be an expensive trip. Not only that, who would we get to watch the kids? And for 10 days! Very quickly we got answers. As I went to the checking account and started adding numbers, the money was there. How? We hadn't been saving for this trip? We had already planned a cruise & a trip to the beach. We couldn't have enough for both of us to go to Thailand or could we? God will provide and he did. This was one time that money was NOT an issue.

That day is here, well almost, in just 2.5 hours our flight takes off.

10 years Together

Happy 10 year Anniversary to us!!
Married Sept. 2, 2000

Jan 2001


June 2010