We've prayed for this day since we have known about his existence. Today, my son asked Jesus to come and live in his heart.
**my heart swells with JOY**
Jackson has been asking questions for months. We've had many good conversations about God and what it means to become a Christian. At our church's last baptism, he was upset when Daddy didn't baptize him too. We didn't think he was quite ready at the time. This past week he asked me on two separate occasions when he was going to be a Christian since he believed in God.
Mike and I finally were able to sit down together with him this afternoon. We asked him some tough questions about sin, why Jesus had to die, what it means to be a Christian, why he wanted to be one, etc. His answers were simple, yet dead-on. He was ready. He prayed and told God he knew he was a sinner. He told God he believed that Jesus was His Son and he died to take away the sins and so that he could have a relationship with God. He asked God to live in his heart and help him live a good life for Him.
This proud mama had such tears of joy.
Afterwards, he called his grandparents to share the news and ask them to come to his baptism on September 18th.
We are so proud of you, son!! This is the beginning to a long and beautiful journey with God.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
hannahisms
"Pizza Dust" = pixie dust; aka anything with glitter
"Pony Tails" = my little pony figures
"Noonals" = noodles
"I'm a Bad Guy Guwl" = I'm playing the "bad guy", but I'm a girl.
"Lion Hair" = when you take her hair down from a pony tail and it sticks out all around like a lion's mane.
Also fun tidbits...
- When the Royal Wedding was all over the TV and news, I casually showed Hannah the new princess. Now, anytime she sees a picture of Lady Katherine she squeals with excitement. Yesterday at the grocery store she had a fit during checkout because she wanted to "read the pwincess book" (aka a tabloid magazine with Lady Katherine on the front).
- She is the clumsiest little thing. Trips over her own two feet all the time!
- She loves reading the Bible storybooks or watching Bible story cartoons, BUT for some reason she gets MAD when she doesn't see Jesus in them. She has no tolerance for Old Testament stories lately!
- She wants to "Pway Tea Party" 24/7. And playing with dolls doesn't cut it - has to be with us. Mommy is not so sure how many more times in the same day she can take it! :) (Incidentally, do you know how adorable it is to watch a daddy and his little girl play tea party together????)
"Pony Tails" = my little pony figures
"Noonals" = noodles
"I'm a Bad Guy Guwl" = I'm playing the "bad guy", but I'm a girl.
"Lion Hair" = when you take her hair down from a pony tail and it sticks out all around like a lion's mane.
Also fun tidbits...
- When the Royal Wedding was all over the TV and news, I casually showed Hannah the new princess. Now, anytime she sees a picture of Lady Katherine she squeals with excitement. Yesterday at the grocery store she had a fit during checkout because she wanted to "read the pwincess book" (aka a tabloid magazine with Lady Katherine on the front).
- She is the clumsiest little thing. Trips over her own two feet all the time!
- She loves reading the Bible storybooks or watching Bible story cartoons, BUT for some reason she gets MAD when she doesn't see Jesus in them. She has no tolerance for Old Testament stories lately!
- She wants to "Pway Tea Party" 24/7. And playing with dolls doesn't cut it - has to be with us. Mommy is not so sure how many more times in the same day she can take it! :) (Incidentally, do you know how adorable it is to watch a daddy and his little girl play tea party together????)
Saturday, August 13, 2011
My kids lately...
One minute my kiddos are cracking me up, the next they make me grab my head in utter dismay. Ah, parenting. It can be so hard!
Lately Jackson's favorite phrases are "you can say that again!" and "you've got to be kidding me!". He strays into the area of sassiness and is learning the hard way on how to be respectful. He DOES, however, say "Yes, Ma'am" very well. In regards to my last post, he now gets off the bus, ignores us and bolts up the hill to beat us to the house. Oh well. :) He loves first grade and can't wait to start taking spelling tests - he's weird like his dad that way.
speaking of testing...
Lately Hannah is completely headstrong and wants to be 100% independent (wonder where she gets that from?). The battle of wills is daily, and I'm pleased to say that we are winning. I think. :) However, I am unsure about how much of my wits will be intact by the time she is 3.
Did I mention that she went through a spell last week of INTENTIONALLY having potty accidents to get attention or let me know she was mad at me?
[Did I mention I am starting to find gray hairs?]
Jackson has taught Hannah how to do a somersault and she "fwips" all over the house. When she's not doing that, she is jumping off of something or hanging off of another. We might have a gymnast on our hands. Her new phrases are "To the rescue!!", "Come play with me!", "I want sisstick [lipstick, aka chapstick], please!", and she's started the constant where/what/whys.
Lately even Daddy is not himself. I came back from my trip and he had a Mac laptop. Also, he decided to run a 5K - you know, running without a ball - and began running 2 weeks beforehand. The race was today and he did great, beating his goal to run it under 30 min.
So how do I make it through the chaos? Every day my darling little girl says, "I lub you, mom!" and showers me with kisses. (And is back to being accident-free, by the way). My sweetheart of a son has decided that telling me he loves me "to the moon and back" is too small - he now loves me "to Pluto and back". My husband and best friend surprises me with coffee dates for much needed quality time.
But most importantly, I cling to the mercies that are new every morning! I've needed extra doses lately!
Lately Jackson's favorite phrases are "you can say that again!" and "you've got to be kidding me!". He strays into the area of sassiness and is learning the hard way on how to be respectful. He DOES, however, say "Yes, Ma'am" very well. In regards to my last post, he now gets off the bus, ignores us and bolts up the hill to beat us to the house. Oh well. :) He loves first grade and can't wait to start taking spelling tests - he's weird like his dad that way.
speaking of testing...
Lately Hannah is completely headstrong and wants to be 100% independent (wonder where she gets that from?). The battle of wills is daily, and I'm pleased to say that we are winning. I think. :) However, I am unsure about how much of my wits will be intact by the time she is 3.
Did I mention that she went through a spell last week of INTENTIONALLY having potty accidents to get attention or let me know she was mad at me?
[Did I mention I am starting to find gray hairs?]
Jackson has taught Hannah how to do a somersault and she "fwips" all over the house. When she's not doing that, she is jumping off of something or hanging off of another. We might have a gymnast on our hands. Her new phrases are "To the rescue!!", "Come play with me!", "I want sisstick [lipstick, aka chapstick], please!", and she's started the constant where/what/whys.
Lately even Daddy is not himself. I came back from my trip and he had a Mac laptop. Also, he decided to run a 5K - you know, running without a ball - and began running 2 weeks beforehand. The race was today and he did great, beating his goal to run it under 30 min.
So how do I make it through the chaos? Every day my darling little girl says, "I lub you, mom!" and showers me with kisses. (And is back to being accident-free, by the way). My sweetheart of a son has decided that telling me he loves me "to the moon and back" is too small - he now loves me "to Pluto and back". My husband and best friend surprises me with coffee dates for much needed quality time.
But most importantly, I cling to the mercies that are new every morning! I've needed extra doses lately!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
First Day of the First Grade
On any given morning, Jackson does NOT like waking up. I went in to wake him up on Monday morning and he BOLTED out of bed and said, "I am so excited!". We met his teacher last week and she is very southern, which made me smile. We've heard only the best things about her. Fourteen of his classmates from Kindergarten are also in his class this year. His 4 closest buddies are all with him again. He is so happy about that!To his delight, we are allowing him to ride the bus this year. What is it about seeing him get on a bus that makes him seem so BIG?? Hannah is enamored by the big yellow bus and cried to get on and go to school with Jack. She looked for him and asked about him all week.
As he stepped off the bus Monday afternoon, he yelled "Mom!" and came running to me with a big smile and bigger hug. :) He had a great day and REALLY likes his teacher. In fact, he has told me several times how pretty she is and how pretty she talks... uh-oh! A crush??
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Summer Track Out - GONE!
The big finale - he and daddy had a den camp out while I was on my girlfriends' trip. The picture above is hard to see, but Hannah started out with them... then went to bed at 8. Daddy and Jack set out a ton of pillows and sleeping bags. Then, they stayed up until MIDNIGHT enjoying junk food, Wii, watching movies and telling ghost stories. The ghost stories was something Jackson had begged and begged for so Mike was creative and showed him a Andy Griffith episode where Barney got spooked. :) Pretty tame! Jackson had so much fun and hasn't stopped talking about it!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Girls Weekend 2011
The Lord blessed me with incredible friends at App and I'm so grateful that we have made it a priority to stay connected post-college. I've known these ladies for 17 years! This year the six of us (Heather, Ashley, Rebecca, Jenny "Weez", Shannon and myself) opted to go to Charlotte for our annual trip. We stayed at Ashley's house while her hubby and girls stayed elsewhere.
Friday was our adventurous day, which is fitting in that these were the girls that I hiked, camped, rappelled, skied, etc with so many times in college. We went to the US National Whitewater Center. It was a first time for all of us and we had so much fun despite the 100+ degree weather. We went Whitewater Rafting, did the 1,123 foot Zip Line, jumped off the 45 foot Mega Jump Free Fall, and flat water kayaked. Friday night we ate dinner at Vida Cantina in downtown and hit Amelie's bakery (the most adorable french bakery!) for dessert and grab breakfast for the next day. Yum!
Saturday was the girlie day! We got pedicures, shopped at Concord Mills, ate lunch at Macadoes (of course!), caught a chick-flick, and then went to the adorable Birkdale for more shopping, live music and dinner at Red Rocks.
It was too short of a weekend. We laughed so hard we cried. We were silly. We sipped coffee and shared about our lives. In a word - PERFECTION.
So grateful to my awesome husband who gladly took on the kids for the long weekend!
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| Seesturs take on the US Whitewater Center |
Friday was our adventurous day, which is fitting in that these were the girls that I hiked, camped, rappelled, skied, etc with so many times in college. We went to the US National Whitewater Center. It was a first time for all of us and we had so much fun despite the 100+ degree weather. We went Whitewater Rafting, did the 1,123 foot Zip Line, jumped off the 45 foot Mega Jump Free Fall, and flat water kayaked. Friday night we ate dinner at Vida Cantina in downtown and hit Amelie's bakery (the most adorable french bakery!) for dessert and grab breakfast for the next day. Yum!
Saturday was the girlie day! We got pedicures, shopped at Concord Mills, ate lunch at Macadoes (of course!), caught a chick-flick, and then went to the adorable Birkdale for more shopping, live music and dinner at Red Rocks.
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| My first pedicure. |
It was too short of a weekend. We laughed so hard we cried. We were silly. We sipped coffee and shared about our lives. In a word - PERFECTION.
So grateful to my awesome husband who gladly took on the kids for the long weekend!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Ocean Isle wrap up
The last night at the beach we went down to the beach for a little photo time. Hannah has an inability to look at the camera no matter what. Jackson has an inability to open his eyes due to the setting sun scorching his eyes. Fun times.
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| finally a smile once we turned away from the sun. |
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| 30 seconds after this shot Hannah soaked us both with a potty accident. Photo shoot over. Awesome. |
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Beach Week
We are having fun on the annual family vacation. We returned to Ocean Isle Beach for the 3rd year in a row. Sand, waves, sun, pool, hanging out with cousins... so fun!
It is confirmed... both my kiddos LOVE the beach. Jackson's favorite is still the boogie board. He's so good at catching those waves all on his own! Hannah runs around in the waves the whole time, grabbing chunks of sand and shells from the beach and throwing them back into the ocean. Squealing with delight the whole time!
For a special treat our friend Michael and his son, Mills, came up and took Daddy, Jackson and Granddaddy out fishing on his boat. Jackson is very proud of the "good sized" Spanish Mackeral he caught and brought back. Granddaddy also hooked a 3-4 foot shark while they were out!
For a special treat our friend Michael and his son, Mills, came up and took Daddy, Jackson and Granddaddy out fishing on his boat. Jackson is very proud of the "good sized" Spanish Mackeral he caught and brought back. Granddaddy also hooked a 3-4 foot shark while they were out!
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| Celebrating Granddaddy on his birthday! |
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| The Sumo wrestlers |
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| Fun Daddy! In the "hot tub" with the kiddos. He also bowled them down the slip and slide. :) |
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| Granddaddy and GranDee on the pier |
Friday, July 8, 2011
Potty Chronicles - part 2
It's true what they say, girls are a MILLION times easier to train than boys!
I can say that she is finally there! No accidents for several days. She communicates the need to go - even at a McD's play area with friends and the movies...AND was dry when I took her. I'll probably still put her in a diaper while we are out and about for a little while - just because I don't want to deal with an occaisional accident.
We have had some funny antics I wanted to share....
As I stated before, we do the "bare bottoms" routine for the first few days. Worked great with Hannah... except for the fact that she liked it a little too much. I had several days of HUGE tantrums because she did NOT want to wear any panties or diapers or pants. Sigh. Problem now fixed, though. Thank goodness!
Jackson has been dubbed my 'training assistant' now that he is home. When she refuses to go when I ask, I just him to ask her. She wants to do EVERYTHING he does, so I'm using that to my advantage. He has also been assigned to giving her the candy.
She knows the difference and the words for each, but for some reason she usually says, "I need to toot!" when she needs to go potty.
She LOVES her potty seat. She graduated from the little learning potty (with annoying music) to a potty seat on the big potty. Problem is, she loves the little Elmo potty seat and doesn't want to keep it in the bathroom. She wants to carry it around the house with all her toys. (For the record, I do NOT allow her to!).
I can say that she is finally there! No accidents for several days. She communicates the need to go - even at a McD's play area with friends and the movies...AND was dry when I took her. I'll probably still put her in a diaper while we are out and about for a little while - just because I don't want to deal with an occaisional accident.
We have had some funny antics I wanted to share....
As I stated before, we do the "bare bottoms" routine for the first few days. Worked great with Hannah... except for the fact that she liked it a little too much. I had several days of HUGE tantrums because she did NOT want to wear any panties or diapers or pants. Sigh. Problem now fixed, though. Thank goodness!
Jackson has been dubbed my 'training assistant' now that he is home. When she refuses to go when I ask, I just him to ask her. She wants to do EVERYTHING he does, so I'm using that to my advantage. He has also been assigned to giving her the candy.
She knows the difference and the words for each, but for some reason she usually says, "I need to toot!" when she needs to go potty.
She LOVES her potty seat. She graduated from the little learning potty (with annoying music) to a potty seat on the big potty. Problem is, she loves the little Elmo potty seat and doesn't want to keep it in the bathroom. She wants to carry it around the house with all her toys. (For the record, I do NOT allow her to!).
Monday, July 4, 2011
4th weekend
Mimi and Granddaddy Pete came for a visit this past weekend. We had such a fun time with them! Jackson told Granddaddy that he really wanted to do three things with him: go fishing, play Battleship, and play wii with him. All three were achieved! I recently introduced Jack to Battleship and he was fascinated by the fact that Granddaddy Pete used to be on a Destroyer Ship while in the Navy.
On Friday we went to the UNC Basketball Museum. We hadn't been in a few years and I wanted to show my dad. It is so fun to see all the interactive videos, bunches of trophies, pictures, old jerseys, giant shoes, and loads of historical fun. I wasn't sure if the kiddos would enjoy it, but they did! Afterwards we went to dinner at Firebirds, walked around Southpointe, then a quick stop for ice cream.
Saturday morning the boys went to Bond Lake where they rented a boat and went fishing. Jackson tried out his new Star Wars rod that Granddaddy bought him. The girls went shopping, of course. Mike made an amazing Ribs and skillet cornbread dinner and I topped off the 'all-American meal' with apple pie (from our backyard apples!) and vanilla ice cream.
Sunday was church, Salsa Fresh for lunch, then the matinee for Cars 2. Sad to say, Hannah was a pure mess at the movies this time! It will be a while before she goes back. ;) After dinner, Mimi and Granddaddy stayed with Hannah while Mike and I took Jackson to see the Morrisville fireworks. We met up with family and friends from church.
On Monday, the 4th, Mimi and Granddaddy Pete headed back to TN. We took the kids to the "Old Fashioned 4th of July" festival in Apex for a few hours. There were carnival games, clowns, shows, bunches of free inflatibles for them, and a bike/wagon/scooter parade. FUN - but really hot out! That night we went over to some friend's home for grilled burgers and the kids played in the sprinkler.
I think the rest of the week will be spent recovering. :)
On Friday we went to the UNC Basketball Museum. We hadn't been in a few years and I wanted to show my dad. It is so fun to see all the interactive videos, bunches of trophies, pictures, old jerseys, giant shoes, and loads of historical fun. I wasn't sure if the kiddos would enjoy it, but they did! Afterwards we went to dinner at Firebirds, walked around Southpointe, then a quick stop for ice cream.
Saturday morning the boys went to Bond Lake where they rented a boat and went fishing. Jackson tried out his new Star Wars rod that Granddaddy bought him. The girls went shopping, of course. Mike made an amazing Ribs and skillet cornbread dinner and I topped off the 'all-American meal' with apple pie (from our backyard apples!) and vanilla ice cream.
Sunday was church, Salsa Fresh for lunch, then the matinee for Cars 2. Sad to say, Hannah was a pure mess at the movies this time! It will be a while before she goes back. ;) After dinner, Mimi and Granddaddy stayed with Hannah while Mike and I took Jackson to see the Morrisville fireworks. We met up with family and friends from church.
On Monday, the 4th, Mimi and Granddaddy Pete headed back to TN. We took the kids to the "Old Fashioned 4th of July" festival in Apex for a few hours. There were carnival games, clowns, shows, bunches of free inflatibles for them, and a bike/wagon/scooter parade. FUN - but really hot out! That night we went over to some friend's home for grilled burgers and the kids played in the sprinkler.
I think the rest of the week will be spent recovering. :)
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