Weekend Away

This past weekend, Daniel & I had the opportunity to go away for a few days alone...well, over 750 technically!  We attended a FamilyLife Weekend to Remember Marriage Conference in Branson, Missouri.  It was an absolutely wonderful time just the two of us though! 

Something really fun happened while at the conference.  After one of the sessions, I noticed a name tag & recognized the name & she looked REALLY familiar b/c I read her blog all the time!  We ended up next to each other on the escaltor so I worked up the courage to say "I just have to ask...are you Sarah Martin?"  She said, "Yes" to which I responded "I read your blog!"  We both became somewhat giddy.  She was so sweet to visit with & I was so excited to meet my first blogging friend.  We saw each other again on Sunday & were able to get a picture together.

Thank you Sarah for being so gracious to a new blogger who has been reading all about your life for the past few months.  It was so good to meet you! 

We were also able to visit with some very dear friends in Fayetteville before heading to Branson.  We spent Thursday & part of Friday with the Francis' and her family, which we greatly enjoyed!  They took us to some great eating places b/c she knows that is my favorite pastime!  We enjoyed wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches & soup @ Hammomtree's; the excitement of the Catfish Hole then amazing frozen yogurt from the Orange Mango!  WOW!!!  Seriously though, more than anything we so enjoyed our time together catching up as well as giving me time to love on sweet Brody!  Love that boy!

A special thank you to my parents for keeping our children for this wonderful time away!!!  We truly appreciate all they do for us.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter & time with family celebrating our RISEN Savior!

Blessings this Easter!

He is RISEN!!!!

Fancy Nancy

Anna Kate pulled out her dress up stuff & then decided to be the photographer instead of the model.














Happy Saturday everyone!!!

Laurie

Random Thoughts for the Week

I've planned on updating every day this then just haven't gotten around to it. Ill blame it on tje time change. I'm sure that has something to do with it...that's the reason for everything that goes wrong this week right??? Here's our week in a brief nutshell...

Sunday was RA Race Day when the boys build their wooden derby cars then race them. We had a hot dog lunch & the lunch money went to Dixsonville Baptist Church (same church that had the garage sale on Saturday). The boys raised over $400!!! We were so excited! Pics of race day will follow bc guess who forgot the camera??? Not that it would have mattered. We were expecting about 75 or maybe 100 people...we had about 150! It was WILD & CRAZY buy wonderful! Here is a sneak peak of the leaders getting the track ready when we were setting up Saturday!


I took a MHD (Mental Health Day) on Monday. I was looking forward to staying home all day ALONE in a very clean house...except for laundry. So, what did I actually do???? I took Shawn to school then dropped AK off at Stephanie's...quiet day @ home, right? Wrong! Shawn needed to go to the doctor so I called and surprisingly I got an appt for 9:20 so I went back & picked Shawn up from school to head to the doctor.

We were able to actually see our doctor on her first back in the office after maternity & medical leave from her daughter's heart surgeries. We were so glad to see her back in her normal environment & being happy to be there. We've prayed so hard for baby Brooklyn to be healthy! Praise the Lord!

When we left the doctor, I told Shawn we would run one errand since we were in Little Rock then I wouldtake him to lunch. Well, he decided he was hungry so we went across the street to MiMi's Cafe for "brunch." We enjoyed a great breakfast together...Shawn discovered he liked omelettes! Also, here's the proff that he enjoyed some chocolate chip pancakes too!



So after breakfast, we ran a few errands still with the intention of Shawn going back to school. Well, we ended up doing more & more so he never went back. Oh well, we had a great time & he can make up school work! In Penney's, Shawn picked out a swimsuit for me...what do y'all think????


Hate to confess, but I never tried it on! Not sure why??? Just kidding. I know exactly why!

On Tuesday, Shawn had his first baseball practice. They had a great practice & I think their little team looks pretty good! Pics of that to come also.

Here's AK's newest cute hairdo...


Shawn came home from church last not feeling very well & running 99 temp. He never got sick so I think it was probably the 2 cinnamon twists & piece of Mississippi Mud Cake that he had when he got home from school!

This afternoon, we played outside when I got home from church. The Bradford Pear tree stink so so bad!!! And my eyes itch! Then we ended the evening with Chick-A-Fil-A as AK calls it!

Decisions decisions about tomorrow...whether to send Shawn to school or not??? Today was Parent-Teacher conference & we recieved a good report. Also his teacher told me she's out tomorrow so for me to use my discretion!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Going to rest my brain since the benedryl has kicked in!!!

Busy Day

Today has been a very busy day at our house. Everyone has had chores...some more than others. Daniel & I are hosting dinner at our house tonite for some new parents from church who will soon be partiipating in our Baby & Family Dedication Service next month. We've been busy all week getting ready & I used the opportunity to clean out lots of stuff too!!!

My friend, Ashley, who works with me & her husband, Brent, had put together a large garage sale for the little churh where he is pastoring. They asked people to donate their items & they're having the sale in our church's bus barn. The last report was that they were having a really good morning...YAY!!!! They ate raising money for these children & youth to go to camp this summer! So Brent came & loaded up a bunch of stuff which helped us all!

I've been a little overwhelmed this week preparing in my mind for tonite so what did I do???? Started a new project!!!! I painted this bookcase that came from Wal-Mart black. It looks completely different. I forgot the before but just imagine a $30 bookshelf that's probably 15 years old & you'll get the picture.




I'm very pleased!!!!

Here's a picture of one of the tables...again, very please. The pictures are terrible bc like I have time to download real ones & pull of dinner for 12!!!



Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! Pictures of the children will be next time ;-)

Laurie

Die Hard Fans

Today is an very important day...at least for my boys! Tonite is the Duke & North Carolina game. Daniel & I had talked about going to Hot Springs to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings & watch the game, but them we just decided to stay in town since we had spent most of the afternoon cleaning. We went to eat Chinese food then head home for the game.

Needless to say at this point in the game, their loyalty & enthusiasm isn't helping their team much...they're losing by more than twenty points. They look good regardless!



Anna Kate is sporting her Carolina shirt too, but her eye matches team colors just as well as her shirt!


She fell at the park on Thursday so it is making it's way through a rainbow of colors. We have laughed b/c she has perfect eye makeup! She has told everyone she sees what happened as she poits to her eye then pokes her finger on the spot...OUCH!!! She keeps doing it so it must not hurt too bad?!?!

It's been an absolutely beautiful day so I hope you've enjoyed your day. It's been a good Saturday...just not long enough!

Laurie

Pajama Party!

I had mentioned our Preschool Pajama Party & wanted to share a few pictures of the evening. We had such a good time!!! It's one of my favorite events. I'll try not to go into picture overload, but definitely have to share some sweet pictures of my friend, Sara's babies & their family since they were able to join us for this special night. She has been waiting very patiently all week for me to get these pictures posted.  I've been having some picture loading issues so a HUGE Thank You to Jennifer for getting me fixed!  YAY!

This Saras daughter, Lilly!

My wonderful husband came to help out so he & Lilly's DeDe served up breakfast while Lilly's grandpa cooked the french toast sticks & bacon...YUM!

Sara & baby Reid

Me & Miss Lilly

Lilly & her DeDe shaving!

Ella & Brooks

What a wonderful date night when both kids spend the night at grandparents???

We went to eat REAL breakfast food afterwards @ Cracker Barrell...per husbands request for his help :-)

(Kinda hard to see, but my new jammies have coffee & tea on them...maybe that's why I like the pj party is b/c I get new jammies?!?!)  We had a great night though & I am so glad that everyone else had fun too! 

Have a great weekend everyone!  Will have more stories about our crazy family this weekend!

New look!

As you can tell, I have a new blog look. I don't think I'm finished yet bc I would like to add some black & white pictures, but it will have to be a work in progress! It's been a very long day! However, it felt very good to actually start & finish a small project! This was a big deal for me to change the background & set a new banner since Jennifer had set my blog up to begin with! I didn't have a clue but it wasn't too bad!

I was exhausted ghis afternoon so I declared that someone else was cooking dinner! Shawn said TaMolly's so that's where we went! It was good but sometimes it's too much work to go out! I'm still thinking that AK may be working on an ear infection bc she can't get enough of the passy! She's been doing really well but I think the sucking must relieve some pressure in her ears?!?!?

Mom took the kids to the park this afternoon after school & they had a blast with the dirt to prove it! Here's a picture of AK's socks...no kids just dirt! Couldn't get AK to cooperate for a picture of her face & Shawn's a little old to take bath pictures;-)





She also fell & hit her eye. She kept telling everyone "I fall & hit my eye right here" then she points & POKES the purple knot! I just keep telling her to stop poking it! Shawn was covered literally from head to toe! They both had to bathe before we could go eat!

So that's the brief summary of the day! I'm headed to attempt a meeting with Mr. Sandman! Wish me luck!

Happy almost Friday everyone!!!!

Laurie