Mardi Gras / Pancake Day!!

What a great day to celebrate , (1) because pancakes are the best breakfast ever and (2) a chance to take Ashley's Grandma to a Mardi Gras party.

Grandma made a mask last week on Friday in preparation for the party and needed a date :). We hung out with the rest of the residents in the main dining hall for a little party. They had the place decorated with the masks and served cake and punch. Grandma gave me the cake and she drank the very sugary koolaid. We had a good time.

After my visit I headed to IHOP to celebrate pancake day. They gave away a short stack and in turn customers were given the chance to donate to the Childrens Miracle Network.


Pancakes were good, must I must say...mine are better. If you think I'm kidding....find yourself at our house on any given Saturday and I'll prove it to you :)

Great friends!

Saturday was a great day with our friends! I started out at a baby shower for Emily. Little Tommy will be making his appearance sometime late March & we can't wait to meet him! I had a great time catching up with Emily & Leslie. Leslie scooted out to check on her precious little twins before we could get a picture. They are doing great & growing little by little every day!






Later that night we went to a cook out to celebrate Lindsay's 30th! We had a great time! It was so good to see everyone. Laken loved playing with baby Cayden, the girls gabbed for hours, and the boys hung out. We got to see preggo Laura one last time! Mac was due to make his appearance 2/19, but he decided to wait a bit longer! He is making his appearance per doctor's request 2/26! We can't wait to meet him! Such a blessing to have such great friends!

no new posts...what gives??

what's new??

* My Ipod was returned by the detective. Apparently it's a kid in this neighborhood who stole my stuff as well as others. There was a gps in the bag he recovered but it didn't match my serial number. He said there was some form I needed to fill out for my loss, I'm hoping for a callback on the next steps if there are any.

* I attended a Men's Group meeting at church and signed up to help our on the Valentine's dinner. On Saturday, Kevin and I mashed, blended and made Sweet Potato cassarole. We traveled back down to Wilson's Mills for the dinner on Monday. It was quite good, and we received many compliments :) . I had also taken a few of the potatoes that were cooked and not used and made a Sweet Potato Pie just for kicks. It turned out pretty good. :)


That's all I could think of right now....

We are going to our first Hockey game this season on Friday ( skipped all last year)....I'll be sure to post some pictures....stay tuned.

(created pictures with some effects on Befunky)

lock your doors

I headed off to work this morning and when I reached to select my destination on my GPS, I realized it was missing. Shock, disbelief, and then your heart starts racing trying to figure out how. Well I had unlocked my car on my way over..or so I thought, I must have left the door unlocked last night. I drove to work and about halfway there decided to call the Sheriffs office. I didn't want a car in front of our house at 4am and breaking up Ashley's sleep. I was about to dial when I looked down at the center console. I then remembered I had also left my Ipod in there...and now it was also missing.

I searched online for a while trying to see how each company (Apple and Garmin) could track a stolen product, and all came back with the same result.....they can't, or choose not to. Homeowners covers loss of stolen property but the deductible exceeds the value.

--This post might be rambling but hold on..there is a point--

I was trying to deal with what was stolen, and then it hit me. Let me rewind a bit. This weekend I was blowing leaves and spreading pine straw for a long couple of hours, all the while listening to my Ipod that I hadn't used in a month. I had it on shuffle and some of the songs I came across reminded me of music I've long since listened to. Songs and Artists that don't resemble Christian values or thoughts. I told myself I need to sit down and remove these, and clean up my collection. It's amazing that God can take our task lists and move priorities....I guess I don't need to worry about cleaning that up on my Ipod any more :) ... Ashley said I saw the bright spot to the loss.

Sunday Surprise!

The alarm had gone off, I had pressed snooze twice, & just didn't want to get up! The phone rang & that finally got me out of the bed- you all know how much I love mornings! It was a great surprise- my big brother! Tyler & the boys were on the way to Garner to visit Grandma & wanted to meet for lunch. After church we headed to the Laurels, visited Grandma, & then we all went out to grab some lunch at Zaxby's- Granny got to pick! Cameron got WikiSticks in his kids meal & I made him some glasses- Ty is showing them off for you! Grandma had 2 Slinkies in her room, someone had won them at bingo- they party hard at the Laurels! The boys had a blast with them- you just never know what kind of fun you can have in a rest home! Of course all the little ladies thought the boys were precious & they all wanted to talk to them- if they only knew! =) Grandma's room was fun of grandkids & great grandkids- what a great way to spend the day! What a great Sunday surprise!

Mom said there is no denying we're related- but who do we look like??! It could be worse! I do love my big brother! Thanks for a great day of family fun! Becca- we missed you, hope you feel better soon. We missed you too Matthew- someone had to work today while we all had fun!

Prince Caspian

We watched Prince Caspian last night, a birthday present from Seth. Great movie! I will have to admit of all the books I’ve ever read The Chronicles of Narnia are by far my favorite. Yes, Karen Kingsbury, Beth Moore, Nicholas Sparks, John Eldredge, and many others are amongst my favorites, but none compare to C.S. Lewis & Narnia. You have to read the entire series in order, but you’ll love them! I know they are “children’s books,” but we could all use a little childlike faith!

One of my favorite parts of this book, it is better in the book than in the movie too- of course, is Lucy’s encounter with Aslan. The children are back in Narnia, trying to find their way to Prince Caspian, trying to find Aslan, and trying to save the day of course! Lucy sees Aslan from afar, at least she thinks she does. The others, well they are too big to believe & their doubt causes Lucy to doubt that it was really Him. He appeared several times, trying to lead them down the right path, but since they don’t see Him they won’t follow. They complicate their journey by going their own way, it takes much longer, is much more dangerous, and the stress of it all causes several quarrels amongst the children. In time Lucy finds Aslan, but He confronts her and her doubt. Though she spoke up for Him, she didn’t follow, she let others lead the way & cause her to doubt. She made it to her destination, but how much easier it would have been if she had of only believed & followed Him from the beginning.

Faith like a child, so precious, yet so hard for us grown ups at times! We have our path mapped out, we think we know the way, yet we miss Him, the glimpses of Him, and His provisions from time to time. As He talks with Lucy the feeling is bittersweet- you smile because she found Him, because His presence warms your heart and hope has returned, but there is also that feeling of guilt- oh how we can relate. How we have doubted in our own lives, but rejoice because His love is eternal & His forgiveness is much more than we will ever deserve. He is ALWAYS there, though we fail to see Him at times, & we fail to follow at times. His plans may not be ours, but they are always the best, we just have to believe & follow- faith like a child.

What a great series! Read the books, then watch the movies! Sad to say that Disney canceled plans to make more movies in the Narnia series- guess you’ll just have to read them!

Snow day!

It is still snowing! We'll post the final count when it is all over, but the flakes just keep coming! It is beautiful! Time to go make some snow cream!
Check out our snow day!

Happy 63 Dad!!

Dad and Mom stopped by for a night on their way back from visiting Grandma in Fla. We celebrated with a a great meal, and a special carmel cake that Ashley made.



This is starting to be a tradition :)