Yard Sale!!!

Yard Sale is tomorrow!!!!!  Please come find something you need!!!!  Toys, Smocked clothes, antique dining table, oriental rugs, stainless steele glasstop double oven stove, women's clothes, riding toys, leapster and games, books and much more!!!!!  Sat. 7-10!!!!  Let me know if you need the address!!!!

Renovation before and afters

Here are the before shots: The wall on the left behind the sofa is the wall we took down. There was just a hallway in between the den and the living room and it also made the breakfast area tee-tiny!!!!

This was a picture taken as the "support wall" went up because this is a MAJOR load bearing wall!!!

This is the after: taken from the breakfast area!

Notice the 4 columns, I could have done without those, but like I said, this is a major load-bearing wall - I saw the exposed beams myself during the construction!

We love the new openness!!!! We can see the tv from the kitchen and breakfast area and I can see the kitchen when I turn the corner from our bedroom! It was truly worth all the dust and mess!!!!

Yard Sale

I'm doing it...I'm having a yard sale this weekend!!!! We moved 3 months ago and I threw alot of stuff away, but other things I just put in the storage room, thinking "maybe I'll use that again!" Nope, I'm not going to use it, I haven't used some of it in 5 years! So, this Saturday, I'm having a yard sale! Lots of toys (Leapster and games, tot 4 wheelers, and many more), children's clothes, my clothes (small women's/juniors), purses, decorative items/planters. If you're local - please stop by - I'm also okay with early shoppers, so let me know!

Along with gathering and pricing things for the yard sale, I finally finished painting the den/kitchen area!!!! We hung the last of the mirrors and oil paintings last night and I can't wait to show you pictures! We have really enjoyed our more open space!!!!

We spent the majority of yesterday outside - it was BEAUTIFUL!!!!! A perfect Lord's Day that started with an amazing sermon by our college minister, Tim, on Proverbs 3:1-12 - it was geared towards parents, but also grandparents too! My focus this week (and the rest of my life, I hope) is on being more intentional with my children - making the most of every moment! Even the little moments in the car when I would normally put in a dvd and hope that they are all quiet!!!! I now hope to engage all my children and their friends in meaningful conversation!!!! Dinner times will be seen as share time and bed time is the most important time of the day! Because like Tim said, children will talk for hours at bed time if it means they don't have to go to sleep! Ha!!! They are growing up way too fast, and life feels like it's slipping by sometimes!!!!

Stuart Little, then Halloween!!!!

The weekend before last, Emma Claire was in Tuscalooosa Children's Theatre's production of Stuart Little! It was a fabulous week of shows! Emma Claire was a River Creature as well as a neighbor, passenger and spectator!!!! The River Creature costumes were definitely the cutest!!!!

Here she is with her dear friend, Mary Alice

and me

and my mom and dad

some cats from the show

her buddies at Mug Shots for dinner between the 2 Saturday shows - it's a tradition!!!

matching dresses and hair!!!!

Emma Claire with her cousin, Chandler who was Margalo!!!!

And then we went straight into Halloween week where we had something nearly every night!!!! This is at Will's work trick-or-treating!!!! Henderson was scared of the warewolf, so he would not get in this picture!!!!

This is all 3 dressed up before we went trunk-or-treating at church and then trick-or-treating in the neighborhood!!!! We now have enough candy to open up our own candy store, it's quite ridiculous. I'm just thankful my brother-in-law is our dentist :)

Wilson decided to go as a dragon/crocodile/dinosaur since he had already worn batman 5 times last week!!!! It's the costume he wore when he was 2 - still just about fits!!!!

On Saturday we worked really hard on the yard and the interior renovations. The painting is ALMOST done, but it might be next weekend before I can finish. Emma Claire auditioned for the next play, Winnie the Pooh, A Christmas Tail, and made it and practices start TONIGHT!!!!! No rest for the weary!!!! We are loving our new, open space though and I'll be sure and post pictures as soon as it's completed!!!!

Emma Claire's Baptism

Yesterday, Emma Claire was Baptized!!!!! She accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior a while back and then recently began really asking questions about walking down at church and letting everyone know!!!!!

It was a beautiful time! Will's parents are on the baptism committee and they work behind the scenes helping those being baptized get in their gowns and showing them what to do, so they enjoyed being back there with Emma Claire during this special time. I chose to be in the back with her too, so I could take pictures and see her up close and then dry her off in the end.

Here is Nana helping her into her robe.

Do you notice Emma Claire's new glasses - you can hardly see them!!!!! She LOVES them and we do too!!!!!

Here she is with her Nana and Grandaddy Bud

With me

Bro Gil telling her what's going to happen and also telling her she was his sister now - she got a kick out of that!!!!!

Here they are waiting

One last reminder of how to hold her hands!!!

He told her she could look anywhere she wanted. She looked out at the audience the entire time! Afterwards, she told me everyone she saw - her cousins, Wilson, Ga Ga, grandaddy, aunts, uncle and friends! I was really glad she chose to look out in the audience. I mean, that's what it's all about - telling everyone that she LOVES Jesus and wants to live for Him the rest of her life!!!!

I'm kind of surprised she didn't wave!!!!

Raised to life in Christ

I'm so proud of her!!!!

Afterwards, we had my mom and dad, Will's mom and dad, Ellen (Will's sister) and Stan and their 4 children and Katie (my sister) and Matt and Charlie over for a chili and hot dog lunch and roasted marshmallows on the fire outside!!! It was a wonderful day in celebration of Emma Claire and Jesus!!!! Emma Claire will always remember that she got baptized on Halloween :)

October Beach

A couple of weeks ago, we took a break from all the renovations and activities we have going on and took a family trip to the beach. If you've never been to the gulf coast in October , it's a WONDERFUL time to go!!! The water is still fairly warm, the days are warm enough, average 85 degrees - you can actually walk on the sand that's back away from the water barefoot without scorching your feet!!!! The crowds are minimal and it's just a fun time!!!! We took the children on the Pirate Cruise

All the children LOVE this - Henderson is our "slow to warm up" child, and I wasn't sure how he would react on this ship with these "real" pirates!!!! It started out very good - he handed his ticket to the pirate and skipped aboard!!!!


THEN he saw the pirates in action, climbing the ropes to let the sails out and that was enough for him - he kept saying I want to go home, I want to take a nap and then he would hide his face on my shoulder. Just pitiful. My camera card became full after these pictures and it was to bright to try and delete any pictures, so I was able to actually enjoy the fun without a camera attached to my face!!!!

By the end, Henderson had somewhat warmed up and was dancing a little and brave enough to get his own treasure out of the treasure box!!! Everyone had a blast and I highly recommend this for anyone in the area!!!!



I took my camera out to the beach only one day - I really just wanted to relax and enjoy the vacation and the moments without the pressure of taking good pictures!!! Here's what I got:

These are canonball jellyfish - they were out in abundance - the great thing is, they don't sting!!!! Unless you try to kiss them, then they will sting your lips - apparently human lips are the only thing that is sensitive enough to detect their sting!!!! So, DON'T kiss them!! :) They are really neat, and sea turtles feed on them!!!!

Buried alive!!!!

In other happenings around here, Emma Claire is getting new glasses -rimless ones, so she'll have an entirely new look soon!!!! Wilson had his eye appointment yesterday, he has intermittent exotropia (one eye turns out at times and "shuts down"). The fix for this is surgery and as his parents, we have to decide when to have it. Our doctor said the time to do it is when the eye turns out more than it is straight. Whew, what a tough decision. It has definitely gotten worse over the last year, but I wouldn't say it's all the time. Has anyone out there had any experience with this? Also, we are looking into Human Growth Hormone for Wilson also, we have an endocrinology appointment scheduled, but it's not until May 2011, unless they can work us in earlier. He has been off the growths charts since he was about 2 months old, and is still very tiny. With a dad that's 6'4", we just worry about the emotional effects this may have being so small. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm doing my research, but I'm not finding much.

Happy Fall, ya'll!!!!!