Thankful Thankful Thankful

and Blessed Blessed Blessed.
Seriously, I have had a hard time writing this post. The words that come out never seem like enough to express just how blessed I am. I could start now and fill another years worth of blog postings about how thankful I am for all the many many blessings in my life.
To start, I have great friends. Friends that I know would be there for me in a minute and friends that I may not talk to for months, but we can pick right back up where we left off. Friends that I miss greatly and don't get to see nearly as much as I would like, but that I love still all the same. Michael and I have also been blessed with a great group of friends from our church family. I know I can send out an email regarding a need, and there will be knees on the floor praying immediately. There is great comfort in knowing that you are surrounded by a prayer powered group.
I am also so Thankful to be part of a wonderful family. Both my parents and in-laws have set such great Christ-like examples for Michael and me. They love us unconditionally and do WAY too much for us. We could never repay all the hard work, late night drives, miles traveled, and child keeping they have done for us. They have shown us how to love and how to be good parents and how to have FAMILY. I truly enjoy spending time with them and my sisters and all my 7 nieces and nephew. I love them so much, that before I had kids I honestly wondered how I would be able to love my own children as much as I love them. They are all so different and unique and I learn something from them each time we visit. I do wish we all lived closer and could spend more time together.

I am not sure how I got so lucky, but the Lord gave me the best hubby in the world. He is such a wonderful provider for our family and is a very hard worker. Although I know he stresses about work, it is because he loves and cares about his job and I am so thankful he works for such an amazing company. All of his hard work is for us as a family and to help his company grow and succeed. I am just so proud of him. He is an amazing dad. Our children ABSOLUTELY ADORE their father. He is also the best husband. He loves me and spoils me to death. I want for nothing. Not to mention, he does dishes, laundry, changes dirty diapers, and gives the kids baths without thinking twice about it. Ok, so he may think about it, but he doesn't SAY anything to me about it. He makes me laugh everyday and I am reminded just how much I love him and how lucky I am to have him as a husband and father to our children.

And then of course there are my children. I look at them each day and am just so thankful for their health, their smiles, their pure innocent joy. They truly light up my life each and every day. Michael and I say often to ourselves, "How did we get such adorable, smart, funny, perfect kids?" And to think, we have another one on the way! I am so thankful that God has given me great pregnancies so far, and I only hope it continues and that we have another perfect healthy baby.

Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite holidays. Besides all the yummy food (and I must say, that my family has THE BEST thanksgiving meal around), I love the time spent with the family, the turkey pokey, the hayriding and smores making, and the one movie we get to see a year outing. :) This year it was the Blind Side. This was an excellent movie by the way, and even better now that Morristown has new theater with stadium seating. I loved that my dad got to go with us this year too!

In order to keep me from continuing to ramble, I am just going to show you some pictures from our Thanksgiving weekend. I was so sad when I realized I did not have my camera when we got to see Carrie, Baylee, and Rileigh. I still love you girls....SO MUCH! Happy 12th Birthday Carrie, my 2nd oldest niece!
Happy Thanksgiving All!!

First Haircuts

On the 18th, believe it or not, Lila and Graham had their first hair cut at the same time. I use the term hair CUT loosely, because although it was technically a cut, there just wasn't alot that was cut off. We actually got a lot more off of Graham's than Lila's. Her poor sweet hair is, well, what is a nice word for her hair. Let's just say, we all hope it grows a lot more. In the meantime, we will have to go often for little trims to help keep it from getting too crazy!
Here are some sneak peaks at her true mullet. THIS is why it stays in pigtails!
Can you even tell her hair was cut?

BEFORE PICTURE!




AFTER PICTURE!


Notice the little long hairs over my boys ears. It was time to get those snipped. Now he looks even more like a little man. I was a nervous wreck and thought I was going to cry during the whole thing, but I did really well. I was too busy chasing Graham around the store and worrying about them loosing it. They did GREAT! They both were perfect thanks to lollipops and airplanes.





They really do grow too fast...now if only Lila's hair would! :)
Oh, and I guess I should mention that I too saw the hair stylist this past week and I am no longer a blonde!!!

Sweet 16

My baby niece who was born when I was just 15, turned 16 years old!! I just can't believe it. She had an awesome Sweet 16 hoe down birthday party. It should have totally been on MTV's My Sweet Sixteen if I do say so myself.
There was line dancing in the barn, smores roasting by the fire, and a SPOOOOKY/Foggy hayride.
Here is the beautiful birthday girl!

Lila and JayBoy had a great time dancing! For some reason, my photos didn't turn out too well, so not everyone was captured on film.



Aunt Karen dancing with the kiddos.








My sisters, mom, and I after a long day of hard work and celebrating!

Good Ole' Smokey Mtns.

Approximately one year ago right after I had Graham, our home phone rang and after I answered I was immediately sucked in. Actually, I told them to speak to my husband. Before I knew it, we had booked a trip to good ole Gatlinburg, TN with an added bonus trip of our choice for ONLY $99.00, as long as we attended a 90 minute presentation. Yes, we fell for it. I admit...we did. However, we DID NOT buy into what they were selling. I won't lie and tell you that we didn't spend an hour and half there too long because we were actually considering it. However, when I saw a girl from HS that I use to cheer with as one of the sales people, my mind was pretty much made up!
It just took us a year to actually take the trip. We did have a great time, but it wasn't the romantic weekend I envisioned in my head either....but really, when is it ever?
We started off the weekend attending the UT homecoming game with some great friends. We had a really good time and it was a beautiful day. On Sunday we headed up to the GREAT SMOKEY MTNS. I was determined to do some hiking since we did not have the kids with us. We ventured into Cade's Cove and had a great hike to a nice little waterfall. We worked up a sweat, so that in itself was good.


Michael and I neither one had been to Cade's Cove in ages, but I will admit it makes me a little batty. Going around on one road in a circle waiting for cars to go about did me in. It was these things that brought us to a complete stop.
I mean...COME ONE PEOPLE, I almost hit 4 just last night.

Now, a bear...a bear is a different story. I will stop for a bear. We even turned around and went back to look for one that was perched on a fallen tree. Michael and I are the awesome bear spotters. One crossed the road in front of us in Yosemite. We literally, on foot, chased after it.
We spotted 3 grizzly's in Alaska, and now this one in Cade's Cove. YEAH FOR BEARS...not for deer.

At least we had these 3 little girls in front of us that were hanging out of the back of their car making faces at us. Michael kept pretending that he was going to run in to them, so that was fun. I still wished I would have taken their picture, but I don't think their parents would have appreciated some stranger snapping their kids photo.
When we ended up letting a car get between us, you would have thought we ripped the girls arm off. We have never heard such a loud, pitiful, "NOOOOOO." Michael felt really guilty after that.
After driving back and forth from Gatlinburg to Pigeon Forge 500 times because of a hotel mix up, we ended back up at our hotel room. They claimed we were staying in a 5star resort.....yeah, not so much. I was almost ready to go pack up and get the kids and drive home. However, we had our 90 minute presentation commitment to keep the next morning, remember? :) We did try finding a movie theater, but we discovered something new in all the years we have gone to Gatlinburg: there is only 1 movie theater in PF. I guess they think there is plenty of other stuff to do.
We went and picked the kids up and did some shopping, and Christmas light looking. Lila and Graham both LOVED the lights.
As you can see..they were much more interested in the lights and looking at this little train going round and round than they were in having a quality photo taken with their mother. Aww well...one day I will have great family photos.





We had planned to go on another small hike for the kids, but it ended up raining..BOO! Lila kept saying she wanted to go to the waterfall. I feel so guilty! One day I will learn my lesson about telling them we are going to do things until they actually happen.
Goodbye East Tennessee...we will be back next weekend! Stay tuned....

Falls Final Hoorah!

So, after complaining all October about the horrible weather and how I wanted to attend a pumpkin patch, I finally got my chance....barely. We found one that was open on Nov. 1st. as most others closed on Halloween. Besides having to deal with uncooperative weather I wanted to find a time when we could go as a family, because really, all I wanted was a family photo at the pumpkin patch! Weeellll, it didn't quite work out that way.
We actually were invited to attend the Titans game (which ended up being an awesome game btw), but I didn't have a sitter and, by golly, I wanted to go to the Pumpkin Patch, even if it meant going it alone. We had put it off too many times and this was my chance. Michael went on to the game and the kids and I found our way to Eagleville, TN at Lucky Ladd Farms. It really is a neat place and they had lots to do, if only there were more pumpkins and a little less mud. They warned on their website that "along with rain came mud, so dress appropriately". I totally thought taking myself and the kids in our church attire was appropriate. Let's just say, I think my shoes STILL have mud on them. Oh no, Lucky Ladd was not kidding about the mud.
None the less, the kids and I had a great time. I even trekked up the "mountain" and slid down the JUMBO slide with both kids in hand. It even took my breath a little, but the kids liked it, but not enough to go again!
Here are some shots from our fun, but exhausting day! Shew...thank you Lord for giving me a very involved wonderful father to my children. I don't know how you single moms do it.

TAGGED!

SOOOOO...for the first time ever, I was officially "tagged" with an award, from awesome Mama Brown! I only hope I will be as wonderful a mother as she is.
About 4 weeks ago when reading her blog, I actually blushed a little when I saw that my blog had been tagged. I kept telling myself that I had to really think about this challenge and make it a good one. Well, in my world these days, there are not extra minutes for thinking of things about myself. As part of the tag, I am suppose to tell you 6 things about myself that most people don't know. I am pretty much an open book and everything that I did happen to think of, I figured most people already knew. For example, I am really not that organized. Yeah, well...most people know this. Or that cheerleading was my life in high school. Well, if you didn't know that you could probably guess it. Not to mention that my children usually get cheered to every day!
So, here are 6 things that maybe not everyone knows about me. Boy...this is hard.
I will start off easy:
1. I am the baby of 4 girls. I love being part of a large family! Although we are all so different, it is kind of scary how alike we all are.
2. I took piano lessons for 9 years. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot to show for it. My love for cheerleading and gymnastics took precedence over practicing my piano. One year, due to finances I had to quit either gymnastics or piano. My mom chose for me and guess which one had to go? She told me that when I was 40 I would still be able to play the piano, but I wouldn't be able to do a round off backhandspring. I wish I would have listened to her. Although, I am now going to make it my goal to still be able to do a round off backhandspring when I am 40! YIKES!
3. My nickname when I was little was "white lightning" because I could run so fast. Many times I was the only girl racing against the boys in field day and in the 7th grade I broke our school record for the mile run. Things changed in the 8th grade when my 200 time considerably slowed down after I "developed", in the words of my track coach. I still like to pretend that I can run really fast. However, when playing adult league flag football a few years ago, I realized that just isn't so. If you can't already tell, I LOVE sports!
4. Michael and I went to elementary, middle and high school together, but separate colleges. We never dated until after we had both graduated from college and saw each other at my sisters wedding. (His brother was a groomsman.) Our parents live .8 mile away from each other and when we were little Michael would ride his bicycle over to my neighborhood. We did go on one date in high school to a hayride and bonfire after a football game. Michael said it wasn't a date and doesn't even remember. I can tell you what I wore. Sebago's, my Guess jeans, and a cream colored sweater with a hot pink rose that covered the whole front. GEEZ...no wonder he doesn't remember. I would block out something has horrible as that outfit too! :)
He did announce to the whole lobby after a basketball game that we were going to "get hitched" as he carried my suitcase out of the varsity room for me. Really we were just on our way to a church retreat in Gatlinburg. Everyone else had gone up early after school, but since we had a basketball game that night, we were going later.
5. After writing all these details about high school, that brings me to another thing about myself. I tend to remember every detail or nothing at all about an event. Mainly I am just weird with remembering dates, especially birthdays, and especially people that have been in my life for a long time.
6. I have a strong desire for missions. There is so much I want to do, and I don't always know where to start. This is hard for me right now, because of having 2 young children and one on the way. I want to GO, but I also want to do so much right here in our own town and surrounding counties. Showing houses in very poor conditions and seeing how some people live just breaks my heart. I also want to adopt. I am not sure Michael is quite there yet, but we are definitely praying about it. It is such a scary path, but I know that there are SO many children out there in search of a home. I just pray that God will use us the best way needed.

So there you have it my friends. I hope you learned a little something about me that you didn't know.
So, here are my tags. (I hope these people even read my blog to know they are tagged!)
My sweet friend, Jenny, who surprised us all and is expecting a baby boy in March! Her Belly Blog will be sure to make you giggle. She is one of the funniest, most creative people I know.
Miss Pam on the run. I just can't wait to hear what she will come up with. What can I say? This girl just makes me laugh.
Our dear "Miss Rachel" She has been such a blessing to my children and I am so thankful they have her in their lives. We also are expecting number 3 together right around the same time!
Awesome Amanda over at One Sweet World. She is the best I know with keeping up with this whole blog thing, especially having 2 young ones close together of her own. I am hoping that Will and Lila work out, but if not, G is going to have to step it up and make some moves on Caroline!
I am adding my friend Allison! Go check out her site, as she is super creative and has lots of cute stuff on her etsy site.
I am not sure if anyone else actually reads my blog, so consider yourself tagged if you are reading this!