Thanksgiving Day!

Future Astronauts!

Timothy Loved this little slide!

Elijah coming off his first space shuttle ride!

Candice and I with our beautiful pregnant bellies!

This Gigi loves her grandkids!!!

Last week we headed to Alabama to spend Thanksgiving with Bryan's family. Yes, we got to see my parents but we actually spent Thanksgiving Day with Bryan's family. On the way down we stopped by the Space Center and let the kids play. This helped break up the trip and the kids enjoyed it. Bryan's mother's family comes over and there is a house full!! We always enjoy getting to see everyone and eat such delicious food. This year was a different because Bryan's older brother was in the hospital and him and his wife were not there. We were thankful that we did get to see our niece and nephew and that Isaac and Sarah got to spend time with them. I always try to be good at taking pictures but it gets harder because I either forget or I am having to keep up with the little ones. I did get a few pics and I have posted some of them. We are so thankful that Bryan's parents let us stay with them and they are so good to us. Thank you Pop and Gigi for opening up your home for us and for going above and beyond to make us feel at home.

I have posted a pic of my sister-n-law and me with our pregnant bellies! She is about 21 weeks and they are having a boy. They have one boy named Jameson, so this will make boy #2 for them. We are excited about this new baby for them.

On Thursday night I also got to visit with a very dear friend of mine, Wendy. She was headed home after visiting family and stopped by Bryan's parents house so we could see each other. Wendy is one of those friends that will go the extra mile. Wendy and I actually met almost 13 years ago.....can't believe it has actually been that long. She was a Senior in high school and was attending with her boyfriend the church Bryan's was pastoring. I was there when the Lord changed Wendy's heart, when she married that boyfriend (Ben), when she went off to college (and we kept in touch) and then I have gotten to see her become a mother and blossom into a wonderful wife and mother of 3!! Bottom line....I am so thankful to have a friend like Wendy and so glad that we still keep in touch and enjoy seeing each other. I love you Wendy!!

We did have a great Thanksgiving but we are so very thankful to be back home and in our own bed's and back to our daily routine.

Just the two of us!!

My dear hubby planned a two night trip for just the two of us! I love it that he planned it and it was his idea! We had wanted to do something special before the baby comes but just did not know what or how we could pull that off. Well, he did it!! We left Tuesday and headed to Alabama and dropped the kids off with my parents and we went to "Pilgrim's Rest" for two nights! It was so nice and the weather was just right. We stayed in this cute little cabin and enjoyed just being alone. It was so nice to talk and rest and be together. Bryan said that he would love for us to do this once a year...I would like that too! Of coarse my kids got spoiled and I know they were well taken care of. Thank you so much Paw and Maw for making those two nights possible. This is another thing to add to my thankful list, time with my hubby....alone! Bryan thank you so much for loving me and planning this time for us to be together, it was wonderful!! I love you dearly!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

WOW! I have so much to be thankful for and for time sake can't blog all of it. I did want to share with you something we did for homeschool on Monday. I let Isaac and Sarah make a list of things they were thankful for. This assignment was their writing for the day. I was so grateful that both of them put for their #1 thing was Jesus!!! I love it! Their #2 was family! My heart rejoices and I am so thankful that they are thankful for Jesus above all other things! I will share a few of the things I am thankful for, but remember I don't have the time or blog space to share them all....
#1) Jesus Christ who has changed my heart and has given me a NEW life!!
#2) A God who is real and loved me so much that He sent Jesus to die for me so that I could have a realationship with Him!!
#3) A Husband who loves me unconditionally after 14 years and he is so faithful and Loves the Lord!!
#4) Isaac, Sarah, Elijah, Timothy and the new baby who make me so glad to be a mommy!!
#5) Mine and Bryan's parents who are always there for us and would go the extra mile for us!
#6) Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church who has loved us and welcomed our entire family!
#7) The material blessings that God has provided for us...home, car, food, clothes, etc.
#8) Our health, we have been very blessed with our health and healthy children!
And the list goes on!!!

Hope you all have a great and safe Thanksgiving!

Prayer Request: Bryan's older brother is recovering from surgery after swollowing a pill wrong that tore his esophogus. The tear caused liquid and food to enter his body cavaity. He is doing well but the recovery will take a while. He will be in the hospital for a while. Thank you for your prayers!

Take it to the hoop!!

Sarah is playing basketball at the local elementary school. She is on an all girl team and she is enjoying it. Sarah is doing really well, matter of fact she played almost the whole game this past Saturday. I fall in love with her every time I see her! Sarah has this innocence about her that is so precious. When she is playing any sport she is the sweetest thing even to the other team. For instance this past Saturday she was talking and laughing with the girls she was suppose to be guarding. If someone gets hurt she is always there to check on them and is concerned for them. When she played t-ball in the spring she was tagging a girl out and knocked her down, the little girl did get a scraped knee and was just a crying, Sarah felt so bad that I really thought she would never tag anyone else out again. Her heart is so big and she has been such a blessing to me and to others. Yes, Sarah does have her moments and she does get in trouble but all her goods far out weigh those moments that we have to correct or discipline her. She has two more Saturday's of basketball games and then we are done with sports for awhile as we prepare and welcome the new baby into our family!! Hooray, football is FINALLY over!!!

A Mommy Date!

I had a Dr. appointment today and took Isaac with me. I thought this would be a good chance to have some one on one with the bigger kids before the baby came. I will take Sarah with me to the next visit. Isaac and I had a very great time together. He went to my check up with me and we heard the baby's heart beat. The baby is doing great and all is well! Praise the Lord! The Dr. said I was measuring 32 weeks, nothing to get anxious about though. I was 31 weeks this past Wednesday. Have you noticed the baby ticker on the side of the blog? We have right at 60 days to go!! The baby's heart beat was in the 140's. Still no guess of what the baby might be, boy or girl. I just am going to be totally surprised. For those of you who have voted boy would you please submit suggestions for a boy name. We somewhat have a girl's name but not the slightest idea of a boy name. We want it to be a biblical name and the meaning of the name is very important to us. Anyway, we are just getting more and more excited with each passing day! I did get a chance to talk with my Dr. about how she was doing and she seems to be focusing on God and the Truth of His Word! I prayed with her and was very encouraged. Thank you to all of you who have prayed for her. After the Dr. visit Isaac and I headed to Gamestop. He had gotten a gift card for his birthday and we went there to let him use that. Then we went to lunch and enjoyed just being together. My prayer is that he will never forget going on a Mommy Date and the time we had together.

A love for Reading!

When we began to homeschool one of my biggest worries was would the kids learn to read, would they be on the right grade level they needed to be on. Well, God is so good, Isaac and Sarah have come far beyond anything I could have ever asked. They both LOVE to read. Sarah will say that she would rather read than do any other school thing. She is reading books that are for ages 8-12 and does really well. Isaac always ask if he can go and read. He is reading books (The old Hardy Boys; copyright 1977) with 20 Chapters and barely any pictures. Those two love to go to the Goodwill and look at books (we usually always find some good ones). It makes my heart soar to know they love to read. Maybe one day for our school we can have a read-a-thon. Then the two little boys love books! They are always wanting someone to read to them. I know that if I had the time I could read to them all day! All I have to say is "Reading Time" and Elijah and Timothy run to the bookcase and pick out a book or two. When I hear Isaac and Sarah reading out loud I can go and look and they are reading to Elijah and Timothy, that is so great to me. One of the greatest things about the kids reading is they can read the Bible for themselves, not just listen to what we read but Isaac and Sarah can participate. Today Isaac and Sarah had their first book reports due and they did a very good job. Isaac's was on George Washington and Sarah did hers on Charlotte's Web. I am so thankful that God has placed in their hearts this love for reading and I am thankful that He has equipped me and given me this opportunity to homeschool my children! Yes!, they will make it in life!! :)

Champions!

That is Isaac, #4.

Isn't he a very handsome and sweaty football player!

Just when we thought it was over, football that is,....they have one more game. This past Saturday Isaac's team, Shelbyville Eagles, won their Championship game! We were so proud of him and the team. We actually did think that that would be the last game but because they won they will now play this Saturday in a Bowl game. Isaac has improved so much! He has learned alot and has gotten better with each game. He even got to play the whole game this past Saturday, he played offense and defense. He made a few tackles this Saturday also. By the way, he has a couple of boys on his 7 & 8 year old team that are bigger than me. They weigh about 150 and are about 5'5. I fact the Nashville News had a segment where some moms on another team were saying that there should be a weight limit for the age groups. The segment was about Isaac's team playing this mom's son's team, so there was a few pics of Isaac standing next to his team mates that are twice Isaac's size. He loves football, so I am thinking that he will want to play again next year. Things may be different though, he could be playing for another team and they may not make it to the championships. Whatever happens I am glad he has had this experience and that he has learned more about the game of football.

Can you see the fun in Elijah's face?

Isn't that a beautiful butterfly? Sarah makes it even more beautiful!!

I am so thankful for my parents coming and helping me with the 3 children who were not playing football. I couldn't have done it without them!!

By the end of lunch Elijah was one tired boy!!

Since this was the Championship game my parents wanted to come and watch. So we all loaded up and headed to Brentwood for the Championship game!! After the first half of the game we took Sarah and Elijah to the "Fun" area, which happened to be right behind the field Isaac was playing on. Sarah and Elijah had alot of fun on the bouncy slide and other things. Sarah wanted to have her face painted so I think her and my mother stood in line for almost an hour to get her face painted. Then after the game and awards we grabbed us a bite at the concession stand before heading home for much needed rest!!