You Say It's Your Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. I was totally spoiled. Mike was off work so I didn't have to do anything I really didn't want to. He and Rachel made me "Breakfast in Chair" since I was already awake and out of bed... you know, cause I couldn't have "breakfast in bed".... since I was already out of bed. You get the picture. I sat in the chair in the living room, Rachel draped me with my blanket, she and Daddy brought me the breakfast tray complete with Strawberry Mini Wheats and coffee. Apparently Daddy needs another lesson in how to make coffee.... WOW. And I got to watch GMA, as is my morning ritual. It was very nice. Michelle came over and brought Katie and they brought me a birthday basket. My two favorite things in the basket (which held LOTS of fun goodies) were pickled okra from her granny's garden and a travel sized Trivial Pursuit game! I was so excited!! I love baskets of things - or bags of things - just lots of little things. Those are my favorite gifts. My big birthday present from Mike and the kids was a bicycle!! I got a mountain bike! I'm so excited! It's just a plain Jane deal from Wal-Mart, but it gets me around the neighborhood. My legs, on the other hand, had a very difficult time getting me around the neighborhood. Holy Lord, I'm out of shape. Hopefully this new bike will help in that. My quads aren't very happy about it, but they'll get used to it eventually - if they don't decide to go on strike. Other than that, I was pampered all day and had a great time. Tanner came over yesterday as well and got to open her Christmas gifts from us. Santa brought her Guitar Hero and I'll need to post some pictures of the hilarity that little treasure has given us.

Just so Annie won't kill me, here is a teaser picture from Christmas morning. I'll post more on that later.

I have no idea what Porter was trying to say here, but it just cracks me up to see this picture. He's such a stinkin' doll!!!

I Didn't Win...

I didn't win tickets to see the production of the Wizard of Oz at the Walton Arts Center. :( I'm bummed. I want to take Rachel to see it. We'll see. I guess I should go ahead and buy my tickets now, though, huh? Just wish I'd have won those things...

A Tacky Christmas

Our Sunday school group from church at our Christmas party....
Mike was dressed as Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation and I was in an 80's style sweater with a side ponytail....

Oh yes. We did. And it was TACKY!!!

Twilight

I'm officially reverting back to my teenage years by reading these books, but Oh My GOSH, they are good! I'm completely hooked. I started to say, "they've sucked me in", but that would be a little pun-ish, considering their theme and all.

I've finished Twilight and now I'm in the beginnings of New Moon. I've heard this one might take a while to get through some not-so-engaging moments, but I'm willing to perservere. I gotta find out if Bella will ever get what she really wants and if Edward will somehow give in and make Bella a vampire. I cannot even believe I'm reading these. I roll my eyes at my husband every time he brings any kind of vampire movie or book into this house and now it's ME bringing the stuff in here! Ridiculous, I know. But I can't help it...

Team Edward Rocks!! :)

Double Coupons

K-Mart is doubling manufacturers coupons up to and including $2 coupons. This is the haul I got today, each item only being purchased if I had a coupon. I got all this stuff for $34.02, including tax. Oh yeah! Let me say it again.... OH YEAH!!!

Happy, Happy Birthday Baby

Today is Mike's birthday. He's still out of town. :( Regardless, I love you Babe and hope you have a good birthday! We'll celebrate this weekend, ok? :) Mmmmwwaaaa!

A Rock and a Hard Place

Do you ever feel like, no matter what you do, someone always thinks your wrong? Doesn't matter what you do, how you act, or what you say, regardless of how right it is, you're still failing? Yeah. Me too.

Redeeming Love

If you haven't read this book by Francine Rivers, run - don't walk - and get it right now! Holy cow, I dare say that was one of the best books I've read EVER. There are those certain ones that just grab me and this was definitely one of them. I don't typically read books more than once because it takes me so long to read one and there are so many I want to read that I just can't justify taking the time to read one twice. I might just have to nullify that little rule because of this book, though. No kidding, I'm thinking of opening to chapter one and starting that little gem all over again. Man, that was good!

EARLY is for the birds....

Yes, I'm one of those nuts who was at the stores when they opened. I got most of my Christmas shopping done before 6:30am today. I was at Kohl's at 3:30 and the first to get my hands on the item we choose for Rachel's big Christmas gift. Then Michelle and I got all our other deals and headed for the already ridiculously long check out line. We were out of the store within 30 minutes of arriving. We decided to head to Wal-Mart. I'm usually a Target girl, but we'd have had to wait an hour and a half... no thanks. So we headed to WM. Holy mother, that was crazy! I have never been to Wal-Mart when they first ripped the packaging off the palates of Black Friday merchandise and Michelle and I just stood there wide eyed, shaking our heads at some of these people. We're all for getting our groove on and getting to business, but these people were crazy. Then, once we'd made our WM purchases, we headed on over to Toys R Us, because at this point, Target still wasn't opened. TRU has a CRAZY policy where they only allow so many people in the store at a time. So, we stood in line, though the store was opened, for a good 20 minutes in hopes that the items I wanted were still in stock. THEN, we stood for another 30 in the check out line. They were extremely inefficient, I felt, but had great customer service, I must say. I left TRU and headed to Target thinking I might get a thing or two. Um, NO! The lines were a hundred miles long and I was not about to stand in those just for a couple DVDs - so I came and got my family and we headed back... hehehe. We actually did really well this morning and I shopped in total for over 9 hours. My feet are sore. I'm so sleepy. But by golly, I will get this Christmas tree up in my house and get in the Christmas spirit if it kills me!

A Message From My Mom

I received this email from my mom last week. It made me cry. Thought I would share...


Friday would have been Rich and my 16th wedding anniversary. Little did we know last year that it would be the last one.
Kids, I just want to say to all of you, please don’t take each other for granted. Don’t neglect spending time with each other just the two of you. And Jill I don’t mean after the kids are in bed. Jamin and Kim, you need to take a weekend together just the two of you.

Don’t get so busy with the kids, jobs and other things and forget about quality time with each other. God forbid that your marriage will be cut short like ours was. Stephen and Susan I know you have to be away from each other a lot. Make the most of the time you are together. Steven and Vicki, just don’t take each other for granted.

You never know when your health or life could be taken. Do everything you can so that you don’t have regrets. Rich spent the last year of his life in very bad health and I spent it taking care of him and I don’t regret one minute. I just wish it could have been different for him.

I love all of you and want the best for you.

Sara, Stephen, Jamin, Jill, Steven; you all have great spouses. Treasure them and take care of them.

Don’t get too busy.

Love to all.

The Difference A Day Can Make

I feel much better than what I did when I posted my last post. It's amazing what a difference a day can make. Today is sunny outside and that's kinda my mood today.

We had MOPS today at church and the founder of Kingdom Kidz Club, Kim Norton, was our speaker. I've been using her music for Miss Jilly Bean time at Kids Day Out and teaching her songs to our little ones. It was very exciting to meet her again (I'd met her very briefly back in April) and get to visit with her about all that God is doing through her songs in our program. It's so amazing and wonderful to see all these little children learning God's word through song and so fantastic to know that these are things they will keep with them for the rest of their lives. I'm praying that as these kids learn these songs that the scriptures from which they come will emblazen themselves on their little hearts. They are learning songs that have taught them to Trust in the Lord with all their hearts, God's Telephone Number which is Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you do not know", John 3:16, the Disciples, the Ten Commandments, and others. When you ask any of my older kids in the program what God's telephone number is, I'm pretty sure they can whip out a loud "Jeremiah 33:3!!" And to get to visit with Kim, who wrote all these songs, was such a blessing! She is one of those people that just make you feel good after you've been in her presence. Oh to be that way to other people.

Now I'm heading to choir practice. THAT is always a blessing. No matter what kind of day I've had, being in choir rehearsal and singing praises has a way of melting away everything else. Plus, our worship leader, Kim Noblitt, is just gifted beyond words. Not only is he a fantastic leader and director, not to mention he can sing better than most people can speak, he's got such a heart for Jesus and you can't be around him very long before you just feel closer to the Lord. His desire is that we meet with Jesus each Sunday morning (and Wednesday night rehearsals), regardless of if we sing 5 songs or one - as long as God has met with us. Thank you Lord for a leader like that!

Off to sing some Christmas songs at choir... It's the most wonderful time of the year, you know!

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Nope. Still didn't help.

help....

I need someone to watch Rachel and Porter on Friday afternoon from about 2pm until sometime around 3 or 3:30. I have a doctor's appointment and my husband was going to watch the kids, but had something come up at work that prevents him from being able to be home. I called to try and reschedule only the next available appointment they have is for the 3rd week of December! Not happening. So, I know most everyone is picking up kids right at that glorious time, but if anyone isn't and could watch my two for a couple hours, I would be incredibly gratful!!!

New Blog Name...

I'm trying to think of a new name for my blog. I'm never creative at this sort of stuff, so when I started the blog, I just did something quite unoriginal. Now I want something new, something creative.

Mikes suggestions so far are:
Living with Awesomeness
Thank Goodness I'm Not French

I'm thinking neither of those really fit what I'm trying to convey with this blog, thus I will not be renaming my blog either of those options. However, if any of you out there in the blogging world have suggestions for me, please feel free to comment and let me know.... keeping in mind (Jeremy) that I will not be titling my blog with anything having to do with the awesomeness of my husband.

Pumpkin Patch 08

Mike and Rachel being crazy at the pumpkin patch.







Porter just being cute.






Porter and Rachel






Posing in front of the photo site






One of my faves from the pumpking patch. I feel like such a model in this picture... ha!






Could a kid get any cuter?

Tis the season for snot...

Lord have mercy... If I sneeze one more time, so help me...

If anyone has any tips on getting rid of the congestion, nasal pressure, and all that good stuff, please pass it along. I've about had it! I can't breath, my head is splitting, and I've sneezed a bazillion times in the past 24 hours. I do NOT have time for this!! CALGON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Bible Story with Rachel

This morning, I was sitting in my chair doing my Bible study and Rachel got up quite a bit earlier than usual. I asked why she was up so early and she said she was scared - that "Rackshack", Meshack, and Abednego had been thrown into the fiery furnace because they wouldn't bow down to the golden bunny. :) I wasn't quite finished with my study, so I asked if it was ok if I finished the little bit I had left to go and then I'd read her a story out of the Bible. She said she wanted to hear a story about a unicorn. I said I didn't think there were any stories about a unicorn. Well, what about a princess riding on a unicorn. Nope, pretty sure I couldn't find that sort of story either (if anyone knows a princess riding on a unicorn story that I can't remember, please let me know). I did tell her that I would find a good story to read to her.

I finished my study and turned over to Daniel and began reading about the fiery furnace... she said, "That's just like the story!" and was so excited that what she'd seen on Veggie Tales was actually in the Bible. So we read along in the story and it came to a part about the men getting thrown into the fiery furnace. The exchange went something like this:
Rachel: "There were four men!" *holding up four fingers
Me: "No, there were three - Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego."
Rachel: insistant - "NO! There were FOUR! Rackshack, Meshack, Abednego, and the Son of God!"
Me: "Rachel, you are absolutely right." :) Smart little cookie.
Rachel: "They got thrown into the fiery furnace because they wouldn't bow down and sing the Bunny Song, but God saved them."

Thank you, Veggie Tales. My day has been made because my baby girl, though it's via a bunch of vegetables, knows the story of how God delivered the men from the fiery furnace.

A Misunderstanding

I need to preface this story a bit.

First of all, my husband has been traveling quite a lot lately. He's been leaving on Mondays and coming back on Fridays. It's rough during the week without him. He was home last week and has been here this week except he's leaving tomorrow for an overnight trip down to Dallas. That's the first part of the story.

Also, our family has been injected in the financial hardships everyone is facing right now. We're really praying God will show himself to us mightily right now and that He will be our strength. We are trusting him to take care of us.

Next, our church is reading through "One Month To Live". Good book. I'm a little behind where we're supposed to be, I think, but that's beside the point. Since I've been reading that book as part of my quiet time, I'm also reading a chapter in Proverbs each day - Chapter 1 for the 1st of the month, chapter 2 for the 2nd of the month, and so on. Today was supposed to be chapter 7.

Now, on to the story. I got up this morning and made my coffee and sat down to read my chapter in Proverbs. I have to go ahead and confess right now that I didn't read my chapter Sunday or yesterday (yesterday because I WAY overslept), so I was a bit behind, but I was going ahead with the schedule and reading the chapter according to today's date.... or so I thought. So I read the chapter in proverbs, pen in hand, underlining some of the great wisdom I found today. It seemed to be exactly what I needed to read today. Isn't God good that way? The title of the first section in the chapter was "Financial Entanglements" and gave advice on getting out of those entanglements. Then once I finished that, already knowing that I needed to share that with Mike this morning, I went on to read some in my One Month to Live book. I'm confessing again that I'm behind on this book. I don't get to read a full chapter every morning as I would like to. So, I read the next chapter in the sequence and started flipping through looking at chapter titles. I came across one that talked about God still being in the miracle business. Man, God was being good to me this morning and giving me so much encouragement given the circumstances we're in. I knew for sure at this point that Mike needed to read not only the chapter in Proverbs, but also that chapter in our book. I'd just been blessed and as we're seeking God's wisdom in what to do, I knew God would bless Mike today as he'd already blessed me. I finished the book, marked the chapter I wanted him to read and as he was fixing his breakfast, he was sitting at the snack bar flipping through his bible trying to find a good place to read today. I said, "Here. I just read this today and I think you need to read it. Read Proverbs chapter 7 and then this chapter in the book." He replied that he would and I went to the bathroom to begin getting ready.

After about 4 minutes, Mike came to the bathroom door in a very confused, somewhat disturbed state asking, "What chapter did you want me to read in Proverbs?!" I said it was chapter 7. He walked back into the kitchen and I followed him, wondering why he wasn't seeing how appropriate that was for us today. He said, "Are you sure this is the right chapter? It talks about the adulteress!" I said, "Well, yes, but not that first part...." and then I looked at the chapter that I'd told my husband to read....

Let me remind you that Mike is leaving tomorrow on a trip. Let me also say right now that I actually read Chapter 6 in Proverbs this morning, thinking it was Chapter 7. I told my husband to read Chapter 7....
"A Story of Seduction" is the title to the major section in chapter 7.
It talks a lot about the seductress...
Then - I nearly peed my pants laughing at what I'd just done to my husband - it says in verse 19 of this chapter...
... the seductress, "My husband isn't home; he went on a long journey." ...vs 21 talking about what the seductress is doing while her husband is away - "She seduces him with her persistent pleading; she lures with her flattering talk. He follows her impulsively like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding toward a trap."
I pretty much just inadvertently told my husband, via a chapter in Proverbs, that I would be cheating on him when he went on his "long journey" tomorrow!!!

I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard! Boy, what a mistake I'd made! Here I thought I was being such a good wife and sharing these wonderful spiritual truths that God had given me this morning and instead, I just scared the life out of my husband who thought that was my not-so-subtle way of telling him of my cheating intentions. Thank goodness he has a good sense of humor or we might be in more than just financial strain in our marriage this morning!

I Was Tagged

I've been tagged.... by several!

Annie, Kate, Shelly, and seems like someone else, but I can't remember. Anyway, here goes.

1. I grew up in a town with less than 400 people.

2. I graduated 3rd in my class of 19. I know, that's not saying much, but still...

3. I went to college at the community college in Harrison and got my Associate Degree. I received a vocal scholarship to attend Ouchita Baptist University but the summer before I was supposed to go, I decided not to attend college, but instead move to Fayetteville and manage the first Christian Book Outlet in the area.

4. I'm a procrastinator. I hate that about myself.

5. I was a cheerleader in high school (you can stop laughing now) and the first game of my 11th grade year was our blue and white game, not even a "real" game. The cheerleaders were warming up and doing some jumps on the sidelines and one of the other cheerleaders was spotting me while I did one of my jumps. As I was supposed to be landing, I ended up with the outside of my ankle kissing the gym floor. I was in a cast for about a month after that from a severe sprain. I still cheered even with my cast and a walking boot.

6. I'm extremely cheap. I mean, really. I do not buy any clothing unless it's on sale. I hate getting groceries without saving AT LEAST $5 in coupons. It turns my stomach to buy expensive things. I don't mind purchasing things for other people and in fact, I really enjoy that, but can't stand to do it for myself because I feel like I'm being too selfish.

7. I'm really good friends with my husband's ex-wife, although I think of her more as my step-daughter's mom than the "ex". :) It's really weird to think that she was married to my husband at one point and I usually DON'T think about that because it does sometimes weird me out. It definitely weirds my husband out. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't imagine how life would be otherwise.... well, I can and that just would suck!

Now I think I'm supposed to tag other people. The only problem is I don't know of seven other people that either I read their blogs or they read mine that haven't already done this. So, I guess the tagging ends here.... unless you take it upon yourself to tag yourself. Would there have been a better was to phrase that last sentence without using "yourself" twice? Does anyone even care?

I had too much fun on yearbook yourself the other night. Then I got REALLY freaked out when I looked at my 1964 picture and saw MY MOTHER! Oh my word....

Here's me in 1960

Here's me in 1964, aka "my mother"! I swear she has a picture that looks just like this!

Here's me as if I'd graduated with my mom in 1968.


This is me, circa 1984 :)

This is me in 1990... and I DID have that hair do.

And this is the kicker... This one looks EXACTLY like me the year I graduated! I think my hair was shorter, but oh my granny. I should find one of my pictures just so you can compare.

Now, go have fun and yearbookyourself.com. :)

Mike is home - thank you, Jesus!!

You wanna hear the latest? Boy, oh boy, life just isn't boring, that's for sure!!!

Thursday - I tried to go get my van, thinking it was fixed. I got all the kids out of the little car, loaded car seats, kids and stuff all in the van. Got about a mile down the road and wasn't sure I could even get it off the road! It just stopped wanting to work. So I went back and reloaded everything I'd just unloaded from the little car and took off in it again. Come to find out, it was the transmission (like I'd said from the beginning) and thank GOD it's covered under our warranty! So, we're driving the little "gray ghost" for a while longer. You should see us try to fit all 5 of us in this little 1990 Toyota Corola! It's pretty funny, but it can be done, just in case you were wondering. :)

Friday - on Friday afternoon, I was on the phone with Mike. I'd just found a dead possum in our back yard that our dogs thought was their new toy. I told Mike he would be handling that when he got home because I was NOT going to be touching it. He was just laughing about it and I said, "That's just par for the course this week. There's no telling what else could happen. Oh, nevermind. I don't want to know." I swear to you, it wasn't 5 minutes after I said that until Tanner called crying and said she'd fallen as she was walking home from school and hurt her wrist. I just thought it was her being a bit dramatic. Oh no. Her mom came over and thought she better take her to have it x-rayed, just to be sure. That child BROKE HER WRIST!! She's got it in a splint now and will see the orthopedist Thursday to determine whether or not they will put a permanent cast on or if they'll just keep the splint.

Sunday - Porter was HORRIBLE in the nursery! I mean, that child was absolutely screaming his head off! He never does that and I figure something was wrong, but oh my. I had to go get him because he'd been screaming for over half an hour without anyone being able to calm him down. That is so not him and he was fine after we got home, but heavens. That kid can wail, let me tell you!

You know, that old saying "when it rains, it pours" could not be more true. I hate to think of what else could happen, but I tell you, it wouldn't surprise me. I'm not even going to vocalize (or type) anything worse that could happen for fear that Satan could take it and use it against me. :) No, no. We're only thinking happy thoughts in the Langham house today! We're thankful that we had a vehicle to drive, regardless of its age or condition. As long as it gets me from point A to point B, I'm cool with that. I'm thankful that we just got the van back today and so far, it's working like a charm, and praise Jesus, that transmission was under warranty! Hallelujah! We're thankful that Tanner has such a great attitude about her arm and is doing so well figuring out how to still do almost as much as if she hadn't hurt that arm at all. We're thankful that I made some extra money at the consignment sale this past weekend as well as getting Porter and Rachel a few needed winter items. I'm thankful for my friends Tami and Robbie that are doing some redecorating in my house and figured out a way to use what I have and save me from having to buy an additional piece of furniture that I really couldn't afford right now. I love creative people! And praise the Lord, I'm beyond thankful that my husband is in town this week!!!

Today, I got to rearrange some of my furniture and get it ready for my creative geniuses to come back and do some more decorating. I went tonight to our sorority function and had a great time with girlfriends. Tomorrow night is children's choir and praise team try-outs (pray hard for my nerves!!). Thursday night is our Holiday Preview Sale for Mary Kay with my director, which I'm very excited about, and Saturday is a Hogs game and we're having some smoked brisket and will be doing a bit of Hog calling. I'm praying this week turns out better than last. It's looking like it's headed in that direction...

I'm going to start with something positive. This is the one thing today that made me not want to crawl in a hole and not come out. This is our Kids Day Out "Miss Jilly Bean" time. I go into each of the classrooms and have some music time with all the kids. I have so much fun and today realized just how much this kids have learned just in the past couple weeks of me spending 15 minutes or so with them twice a week.

This is one of the smallest "people groups" I have. They are all just one year old and it only takes about 3 minutes, if that, to totally loose their attention. I get about 1 song in and it's time to move on to playing something else. There's one little girl sitting on the floor in this picture that just sits and stares at me the whole time I'm singing. She loves it and doesn't want to move. It's hilarious!

I think I was singing "God's Big 10" in this picture. It's a song that tells the 10 commandments. Ask me any of them. I can rattle those suckers off in no time. So can my kids at KDO! We rock!!

I've got no clue what I was singing here. I was apparently trying to do some sort of face contortion.

A big thank you to Annie for taking these pictures. They are precious and I love all those kids!

Now, to vent a minute. Where to even begin? This past week, I notice my van was on the fritz. Saturday, the gears were jumping. Mike thought he had it fixed Saturday night. He did not. Thought I could drive it through this week and take it to the shop next Monday. Nope. Not in the plans, says the demon of vehicle destruction. So, after being sicker than crap yesterday, my hubby leaves town first thing this morning for the fourth week of travel out of the last five. I think my van will make it this week and we'll try to get it to the shop next week when Mike is back home and I have an extra hand. No can do when I get in the car line to pick up Tanner and the thing starts jerking on me again, push the gas peddle and the thing just revs but doesn't go anywhere, and then the lovely check engine light pops on. I got on the phone right then with my mechanic and said, "yeah, you know how we were going to bring in the van NEXT Monday? Yeah, never mind that. I'll be there in 30." Then before that little jaunt was finished, my car stalled right in the middle of the street at an intersection. There were several, "Help me Jesus" prayers that went up in that 10 second span until my car caught into gear. Our dear friends, the Thompsons, have an extra vehicle which just happened to be at the shop I was taking my van to. So after having them follow/meet me at the shop, I was able to borrow one of their vehicles so at least I would have wheels for a few days. So I left the shop and headed to put my clothes in the consignment sale in F'ville. I was driving a little Toyota car and felt like I was absolutely sitting on the ground and thought my booty was going to drag the pavement at any moment. Boy, did I forget just how much higer up I sat in that van. Hallelujah that I have a vehicle to drive and by no means am I complaining, but that was a funny feeling. Anyway, I got to the consignment sale and realized I'd left a bag of stuff to go in the sale sitting on my kitchen table. UGH! Oh well. I then took Tanner back over to Shelly's (thank you for the stuff! It has been my saving grace tonight!!!). We got home about 6:30 and had a bit of dinner and Porter was in bed by 8pm since that child has only slept for about 45 minutes total today. Rachel was in bed by 9pm. All that was good and fine. Then I got to go to the bathroom, finally, and found out that I have a visitor this week. For the love of Pete. I just really want to find that hole to crawl in. Either that or a few hours of nothing. I mean, absolutely nothing. No children or husband, no phone or internet or TV, no other people - just NOTHING. If I don't get some alone time soon, and I mean, SOON, I may loose any sanity that I'm desperately hanging on to.

Miss Jilly Bean

Today was my first day of doing Miss Jilly Bean at Kids Day Out. It was really fun! The older kids caught on really quick, but there were a few in the "little" rooms that liked to sing, but could only be capitvated by it for about a second and a half. Hopefully before too long, I'll have those kids spouting off the 10 commandments and a couple other verses.

Annie says I need pictures on here. Papaw is probably thinking the same thing. :) I'll get to that soon. I promise.

For now, there is much rejoicing in the land.... Penny is back with Grandma Lynn. Oh glory hallelujah!!

Swimming in the Rain

Mike mowed the yard soon after we got home from church today and told Rachel that they would swim after he was finished. They hadn't been in the pool for more than 5 minutes until the downpour came. Didn't phase either of them a bit. They stayed in the pool laughing and splashing. Those are the moments you just want to savor forever...

Dogsitting

We are dogsitting for one of my "granddogs" while my mother-in-law is on vacation. She gets along great with Kramer, but Copper must not remember her at all because there is a bit of a dominating female rivalry going on. Right now, they are all roaming around my kitchen and living room wondering if they actually lay down, will one of the other two pounce? Probably.

As of now, here are the stats:

# of days we've had Penny - 4
# of days until Penny goes back home - unknown (not sure what day G'ma is getting back)
# of days my husband has been out of town - 3
# of days until my husband gets back - 2
# of days next week my husband will be gone - 5
# of turds I have cleaned up out of my house since Penny's been here - at least 10
# of farts I've just heard very LOUDLY come from that dog while I've been sitting at the computer - 4

I told my neighbor that with 3 kids and 4 dogs, if she sees me walking around the backyard aimlessly, all liquored up, she would know why. :) Really, it's not been horrible..... except for cleaning up the turds and smelling the farts. I could do without that.

Entertainment by Rachel

Rachel is sitting on the couch right now having a conversation with someone imaginary on the other end of her pretend phone.
She just said, "You. Are. Kidding. Oh my....... goodness."
"Ruby, I'm so glad you're coming! Louise's birthday and Max's? Today? It's a dancing party? Ok. Bye."
Now she's talking to her pretend friends.... "Louise, I've GOT to talk to you. I need you to clean up my bedroom, ok?"
"... as I was saying... me and my dad and mommy and sister were there and we saw a BIG GIANT SNAKE!"
Now her attention is diverted to Blue's Clues. See why I am so entertained by her and laugh constantly? She is her own little movie!
"Now, what did you saw at the museum? OH! There's my dress from last week!"
"Ruby, Max is wearing my dress and I have to get all beautiful! See, he's wearing my dress! SEE!"
"Ah ha! There's my wedding dress"... as she's pretending to get something off a very tall shelf.

Gosh, I love listening to that girl!!!

Emelia is here!

I don't have pictures of her yet, but baby Emmi has arrived! Our good friends, Josh and Angie, just had their first baby tonight. I was able to go by the hospital and take some much desired McDonalds and got to see the little sweetheart. I was able to help the new mommy out a bit with some nursing tips, which was awesome. I could so be a doula. That would be so much stinkin fun!!! Everyone is healthy, but obviously very tired. The same doctor that delivered Porter was the one to deliver Emmi. SOOO great! I love her.

Our other baby friend is a week old today - baby Lillian. I got to see her today for the first time and she's just gorgeous!!

Seeing these little ones didn't have an effect on me as far as wanting to have another baby. Nope. Mama is done!! I'll just live vicariously through other new mommies and help when I can, but I can send those little critters home with their mommies and I can come home to a house where the children sleep through the night, thank you Jesus!!!

Leaving My Babies

I'm leaving early in the morning for our Mary Kay Seminar in Dallas. I'll be gone until Saturday night. I have never left Porter overnight and I'm really anxious about it. Mike will be here with the kids and I know, next to mommy, that Daddy is the best person to take care of the kids, but still. Porter is so easy and I know he'll be fine, but it's me I'm worried about. I left Rachel with Mike overnight when she was a year old and then went to Seminar that same summer when she was just about 17 months old. She had a blast and that is a time that Mamaw will always remember, I know. This time will be great as well and I know it will be special for Daddy to get that bonding time, but my heart is aching knowing that it's going to be four full days away from my sweet baby boy whom I've never been away from at all. I sat for the longest time holding him and rocking him before laying him in bed tonight. I'm afraid I'm going to miss something. He'll probably have a tooth break through or he'll finally figure out that he can actually go somewhere on his hands and knees without scooting on his belly. I know I'm going to have a great time, as I always do when I go to anything Mary Kay. I just have to focus on that, focus on learning everything I can, get in some good "me" time with no responsibilities, and look forward to lots of hugs and kisses on Saturday. Just pray that I can keep my composure when I get overwhelmed with missing the kids. :)

Mice - God's Most Loathsome Creature

There is a mouse in our house right now. I can't even begin to express how much I HATE mice!!!!!!! I mean, loathe probably isn't even a strong enough word. Mike saw it last night about 10:00 run behind the TV from the kitchen. Needless to say, I got on top of a chair in what could be considered stealth speed. We didn't have any traps, so I left within about 3 minutes and headed to the store to get traps. I brought home 8 traps. We set four of them around the TV because Mike said it hadn't moved from there. I told Mike to try and scare it out from there so it would run into one of those traps. That little varmint passed every one of those traps and ran under the couch. From there, he ran behind the computer. Then he came out of there and now I have no idea where he is. When he came out from under the TV, we let Kramer into the house, but he's no hunting dog, that's for sure, and the most he did was sniff around and get mildly curious. All three of the dogs are in here right now and two traps are still set. I'm in shoes because I can't stand the thought of walking in bare feet when there's a possibility of a mouse running around here. Know of anyone who enjoys hunting mice?

Off to Reunion

We're heading out tomorrow for Mike's family reunion. I'm so excited to go!! I've been looking forward to this for weeks. Now that all the prep is mostly done and we're leaving tomorrow morning, there's nothing on the agenda for the next 4 days! Gosh, I love it. Nothing to do except hang out with family and enjoy catching up with some folks we haven't seen in two years. We'll play cards, probably some Hold 'Em, maybe some Risk, we'll eat a lot, we'll take a nap here and there, and do a lot of just relaxing. Man, I seriously cannot wait!!!!!

We'll have lots of pictures when we come home, so I'll post those when we return. Everyone have a super weekend.

Sparkler Bomb

Last I heard, the 4th of July was supposed to be about celebrating our nation's independance. It's a day where friends and family get together, eat some traditional American cuisine (i.e. burgers and dogs and the fixins), and shoot off fireworks in celebration. Somehow, my husband and our dear friend Jeremy have decided that it's a day to make their own explosives, Arkansas style. Thus we have...... the Sparkler Bomb.

The beginnings.... 600 sparklers.

The assembly..... duct tape.

The getaway....

we're waiting....

And we have the explosion....

Trying to put out the fire....

Had I known exactly how high those flames would have gone, I'd have backed my camera up so that I could have gotten the full effect. Jeremy took some video of the spectacle and after watching the replay, we're pretty sure the flames and sparks reached at least 30 feet in the air. We're going to see about getting it on youtube, so if that happens, I'll be sure to post the link.

Otherwise, we had a very safe 4th and really enjoyed our time with the Thompsons and my mom who got to be here for the weekend. I'll post more pictures of the non-explosive fun later.

New Camera

We got a new camera last Saturday.....and I've already taken over 700 pictures..... yeah. Sad, isn't it? I love love LOVE my camera!! I'll download pictures soon.

We had a great visit with Mike's folks in KC this past weekend. We got up there on Wednesday night and stayed until Sunday morning. We got lots of stuff in over the few days we were there. Amazingly enough, I got pictures of all that, too. :) I'll post those later as well.

And just a side note, I love watching Barefoot Contessa. Not that I would ever make anything that she makes, but for whatever reason, she's just the most calming person. I get so relaxed just watching her and listening to her talk about whatever gourmet thing she's making.

Tonight is the final four of the Bachelorette. It's hometown dates tonight. I've got my favorites and I'm going to go ahead, just by what few previews I've seen for tonight's episode, and say that Graham is who she's sending packing. She's got major physical chemistry with him, but I think she's gonna see that she needs more than what he can give her emotionally. Just my guess. We'll find out for sure in a few hours. Be sure to check out Lincee's recap tomorrow at www.ihategreenbeans.com. Absolutely freakin' hysterical!!!

I watched Fool's Gold on Friday night and Juno last night. Fool's Gold was ok. Of course it has my Matthew in it and he's just eye candy for any girl. Juno was surprisingly good. I found myself getting really caught up in the story. Mike watched it with me just because he likes the music of the movie. I'm pretty sure he hated the movie, though. Oh well. I had to sit through most of Meet the Spartans with him until I just literally was bored to sleep. I've got more movies on my list of things I need to see and since I have the house to myself (except of course for the little people running around here), I'm going to get in a movie or two before my other half returns and reclaims the TV.

More later, Peeps.

....It's Pouring.....

That old cliche, when it rains it pours - yeah, well - welcome to my world right now.

Saturday night after I downloaded all my pictures from our hike, I had my camera sitting on the arm of my chair...... yeah, you know what's coming. It fell. I'm not sure what happened to it, but it no longer works. I get a "zoom error" message when I try to turn it on. I'm going to have to take it to the camera shop here in town to see if they can fix it. I'm hoping it's something simple, but I'm sick about it.

Yesterday, I locked my keys in my car. That would be the THIRD time I've done that since I've had this van. The first was 4 years ago about this same time and Rachel was in the car. The second time was last year about this time and Rachel, again, was in the car. Yesterday, because God decided to take it easy on me, Rachel (nor any of my other children) were locked in my car along with my keys and cell phone. I was at Wendy's with some friends I'd brought with me. We were getting lunch for my girls and a couple other ladies. I used Wendy's handy dandy cordless to call Tanner's mom (who works at the police department, which has been a helpful tidbit more than once) and beg for her to send a nice officer to my rescue. Said officer was apparently the only one on duty then who had the tools for unlocking vehicles of idiots who'd locked their keys in their car - and he was clear up in Bentonville getting a prisoner. So, I got to spend a little extra time in the Wendy's parking lot doing some serious people watching. I do have to say that a college age girl was the only one that offered any help. She asked if I needed a ride and said she noticed I'd been there for quite a while. There are still nice people in the world and this day it came in the form of a young girl. Oh, and another thing that makes this even better is I called up to the church to see if someone could come get my other passengers so they could get back to VBS preparations and so my girls could get their lunch and after 15 minutes had passed, I again used Wendy's handy dandy cordless to call back up to see if they'd sent anyone yet. They had........ to the other Wendy's in town. As I was on the phone figuring out what to do, another one of our teachers walked in the door and saved the day for my passengers. Thanks to Julie, the lunches weren't frigid when they were delivered to the hungry people back at church. The nice officer arrived after I'd been enjoying Wendy's for about an hour or so (should have gone back inside to get a refill on my Diet Coke now that I think about it) and went straight to work on trying to get my car unlocked. He tried his first tool and worked with it for a few minutes and seemed to be having quite a time getting it to do anything and about a minute into him working with the lock he got a call from I'm assuming his wife. They had a discussion for a bit and once he ended the call, I realized that little tool was stuck in my door. He left it in there and said I could work on it if I wanted to and that he'd come back to get it out later. He was supposed to come by my house last night, but didn't. Was supposed to come by my house today..... didn't. Shelly (Tanner's mom) had to find another officer on duty tonight to come by the ball fields where Tanner was playing to get the gadget out of the door. He was successful, and we all said Hallelujah! I no longer have to drive with a Slim Jim sticking out of the driver's side window. Thank you Shelly for all you did to help! Don't know what I would have done without you!! Yeah, I do - I would have had to call a lock smith and dealt with all that crap. Ugh. SOOOO glad I didn't have to do that. Plus, the Slim Jim sure was a conversation starter and a fun story to be able to tell now.

And then today, I was working on some bill paying. I'd been using a trial version of Microsoft Money to see if I liked it. I'd had another version, but it was on our old computer that we gave to my mom. I didn't have one on our new computer, so I had to download something or buy something to retrieve all my files from our previous version. The trial expired yesterday, so I went online today to download the actual product so I could continue with my finances. I hadn't used the particular version to the extent I thought necessary to spend that much money, so I decided to buy the most basic version. Only now none of my files from the trial version will download to the basic!! UGH!!!! So, I can't get to any of my files right now. I've gone online to cancel that request to use the basic and will go back and buy the fancier version.

I guess you could say I've had better days or series of days. I'm hoping that things will start to work themselves back out. I'm tired. I'm drained mentally. Things definitely could be worse, but gosh, I hope I don't have to go there.

Looks like Obama clinched the Democratic nom. Apparently things are still pouring.........

Here are a few pictures from our hike to Devil's Den today...

Porter rode in his little backpack behind Daddy and did a GREAT job!

Rachel climed up on this rock and when she turned around and saw my camera, this is what she did. You think that kid's had her picture taken a time or two?

And let me just say that this 12 year old little diva thought she was all that and then some getting to walk ahead of the rest of us. She attempted to go in a couple caves, but didn't make it very far partly because of fear of the dark and unknown and then also because of the mud. And this was the only picture I could get of her that wasn't from the backside. She was not about to stay put for too long or, God forbid, walk with the rest of us. Oh, no, dear friends. It's all about being 12 and being "mature" enough to walk ahead of the pack to "check things out".

And then before too long, Daddy says, "I've got a head down here - a head down..." The little man had seen his last tree for the afternoon.

Also we had a garage sale here this morning. In total, we did really well. It was a nice time visiting with girlfriends while getting rid of a TON of junk. Although you know what they say about one man's trash being another's treasure. That sure was the case today. You see ALL kinds of people at garage sales. For as much as I enjoy people watching, it was total pleasure for me to see and visit with all the various people that came by to take a gander at our offerings.

So with the garage sale and getting up early for that and then leaving shortly after all the leftovers were packed up and donated to the Salvation Army to go hiking a Devil's Den for a couple hours, Mommy is one tired lady right now. I'm watching "13 Going On 30" on TV and am about to hit the bathtub for a little relaxation. Tomorrow will definitely be the day of rest for this chick!

It's All Good

Had a blast at Worlds of Fun this last Saturday. Dancing with the Stars and Idol have HUGE finales this week and there wasn't any lag time between the Bachelor and the Bachelorette!! Life is good people!!

For incredibly fabulous/witty recaps from the Bachelorette, check out Lincee's blog at www.ihategreenbeans.com. She's AWESOME!!!!! But don't read it with a drink nearby. There is a danger of it getting spewed!

Mother's Day Blessings

We've had a great Mother's Day weekend around the Langham house. Yesterday, my mom and Mike's mom came over and got to spend the weekend with us. I got to go out shopping, sans children, with my mom yesterday afternoon which was such a treat! We just went to a couple stores, but it was nice to look around without having to watch which rack my kids were crawling under!

We decided to go ahead and give the grandmas their gifts yesterday because we just couldn't wait any longer...

They loved their plates. Tanner and Rachel decorated these and had a great time doing it. Tanner is with her mom this weekend enjoying Mother's Day as well. We hope you guys have had a super day!!!

The grandmas also got recruited to make brownies. They were delicious!! And notice Porter was in on the action, too. :)

This morning, Mike got up and made breakfast for us all (with just a bit of help from Rachel). We had banana pancakes and bacon. Delicious, Babe!! Great job! Then we went to church for Porter's dedication. We have Baby Dedication twice a year at our church, Thanksgiving weekend and Mother's Day. It's always a special time. I've gotten to dedicate both my babies on Mother's Day and it's been such a wonderful blessing.

And for my gift, Mike allowed me to hire someone to come clean my house last Thursday and then he and Rachel detailed my car today. I'm the type of person that if someone cleans for me, that means as much or more than getting an tangible present. It was the most wonderful feeling to walk into my house on Thursday and just smell the clean and look at my house and know that someone had come in to clean all the things that take me forever to do with a 4 year old and a 7 month old running around all the time. Knowing that I didn't have to clean anything to get ready for my guests this weekend was more of a blessing than I can even begin to express! I was elated!!

I've had the privilege to spend time with my moms (mine and Mike's) this weekend, had a girls movie night last night with them, see my baby boy be dedicated to the Lord this morning, and now, I'm sitting here this afternoon, just being lazy, enjoying my children and my husband. I'm blessed beyond measure and thank God every minute for the joy of being a mom.

Dang Fireworks....

Are the Naturals going to shoot off fireworks every time they win a home game no matter what night it is?! Oh my gosh!! It sounds like we're under attack over here! It's worse than the 4th of July!!!!!!! I mean, COME ON!!!!!!!! I have dogs in the house that are going nuts and my kids are both asleep! UGH!!!!

In other news, the Bachelor just said, "I desperately want to kiss you..." Every woman needs to teach that line to her husband. Wow. And the picks tonight - no surprise. The prank that Amanda pulled on Matt.....absolutely "brilliant"!

Screaming Legs and Other Things

I. HATE. SQUATS. Hate 'em. I think I hate lunges more. I'm not sure. Maybe I loathe them equally. Either way, my legs hate ME right now and therefore have gone on strike from supporting my body. This all comes after I decided to endure Body Pump tonight at the gym. I haven't been in that class since before I was pregnant with Porter, aka a long freakin' time! And to add to the loveliness of that experience tonight was the way-too-chipper instructor. I'm sorry, but I'm really not in the mood to whoop and holler as I'm doing a clean and press. "Power!" she tells us to yell. Seriously? Yeah, no. But I had to remind myself the whole time I was doing it that I was burning calories and that my butt sure as heck better look more toned after I do this a few times. My hubby said today that back when I was going to class frequently, my legs looked really good. Hmm. I've never known my legs to look really good. Maybe it's not completely in vain after all.

I got up this morning about 30 minutes earlier than normal thinking I would have plenty of time to get done everything I wanted to get done. I'd already gotten as much stuff ready last night as I could and even got to spend a bit of extra time on my Bible study this morning thinking that my day would run smoother as it usually does when I get to spend quality time with God in the mornings. Well, apparently the devil was all too keen on my idea and wanted to spoil all that right off the bat. I ended up running a few minutes behind schedule, not late, but behind what I wanted to be. I was very snippy with Rachel, whom I had to apologize to - and bless her sweet heart, she said, "It's ok Mommy. I forgive you." Talk about breaking a mother's heart! Geez. Then just some other stuff came through my day that just kept me off kilter. The day just didn't turn out quite as lovely as I'd hoped.

But I do have to say that my day turned around at the last minute when Matt the Bachelor sent Marshana and Robin packin'. I could have done a bit of a jig! Finally this boy picks who I think he should pick. I've been quite surprised by him thus far keeping some of these chiquitas. He did me proud tonight, though. And next week promises to bring a brilliant recap from my favorite Bachelor commentator, Lincee. Holy Lord, if you watch this show (or even if you don't) and haven't read this girl's recaps, you simply must do it! She makes me cackle! In fact, I'm pretty sure I've snorted a time or two while reading her writings.

And can I just add that I would LOVE to dance with Jason Taylor on Dancing With The Stars. I mean, seriously. I'm sure I look like a drooling fool when I watch him dance. Good heavens.

Totally!!

The other day, Rachel was watching some dancing horses on YouTube. One of the little girls I baby-sit said, "That horse can dance!" To which Rachel replied, "Totally, she can." Huh? Where'd she get that?

Today, she and I were painting our toenails. I said, "Rachel, that sure is a pretty color isn't it?" Her reply..... "Totally, it is."

Yeah, totally. Flashback to the 80's anyone?

Which Roller Coasters Should We Ride?

We're planning a weekend trip in May and are trying to decide where exactly to go. We've decided that we want to go to a theme park within a few hours driving distance. Our options are now Six Flags in Arlington, Six Flags in St. Louis, and Worlds of Fun in KC. We've never been to St. Louis, so that would be fun. We could see some sights there that we haven't seen. We could also go to Arlington which has a lot of fun looking rides and the tickets are about $15 per person cheaper if purchased online. Both these places would require us to go as a family of 5 and tote Porter around with us, stroller, diaper bag, and all. Then there's Worlds of Fun. There are a few big benefits to going here. We would be able to leave Porter with one of the grandparents that live there which would free us up to be able to ride some of the rides all together. We would be able to stay with family rather than at a hotel, which to me isn't that big of a deal since I don't travel a lot and don't get to do the hotel thing. It's old hat to Mike, so I'm sure a couple nights without a hotel wouldn't hurt his feelings. Also, we are planning on going back to WoF later in the summer with friends. We could buy season passes and use them again during that trip and also any subsequent trips we would take to KC throughout the rest of the year. But then again, we did want a little "family" getaway and WoF wouldn't be really "getting away" too much, but would be pretty convenient. We're still very open to one of the Six Flags parks, though. I don't know. I need some other opinions. What do you all think?

On a side note, I'm watching Criminal Minds and that show has a way of spookin' me. Why in the world am I watching this crazy thing in this house, at night, when my husband isn't here? I'm a glutton!

A Case of Mistaken Minnies

Today is our little friend Katie’s birthday and I told the kids we were going to make cupcakes this morning to celebrate. When I told that to Rachel, she said, “What are cupcakes?” (of course she knows, but she just had to ask because it was a question and we have about a million of those every day). I told her that cupcakes are like mini cakes. She said, “Oh Mommy! I want a Minnie Cake! And I want a Mickey Mouse cake too!”

Classic.

Precious Moments

Tonight, I was asking Rachel what she wanted for dinner and giving her a few suggestions. Usually on Sunday nights, we "snack" on whatever we can pull together. So, tonight she said, "You know, I didn't like those potatoes and I didn't like the green beans (from last night's dinner), so I think I should just eat "N a Mim's" for dinner! (all with a big grin on her face). Nice try, Kid. We didn't end up having M&M's. She had yogurt, a banana, and some strawberries - a bit more healthy than N a Mim's, wouldn't you say? :)

Then after dinner we were sitting in the floor after she got her PJ's on and we were stretching like she does for dance class - which that needs to be a whole 'nother blog on why I love that she's in her dance class at our church. Anyway, we were stretching and she was being the "teacher" and telling me what I needed to do. Then she showed me some of the moves. It was pretty cute to listen to her spout off dance/ballet terms and actually do them correctly. I love it! So then after we danced, she decided she wanted to play school. She was the teacher and her name was Bella. I don't think I had a name. Oh, I forgot, while we were stretching, she was talking to the supposed other kids in our class there on the living room floor and their names were Emily and Chester. I was informed Chester was a girl. Chester is probably bitter at her mom for naming her that, but I guess that's neither here nor there. On to playing school. She pretended to have a board behind her and the subject for the day was dolphins. "Ok", she said, "do the dolphins jump or swim?" I answered, "they swim". Apparently that isn't correct because she said, "noooooo" in such a way that she was fishing for the other answer. So I said, "They jump?" And that answer got a big grin and a hearty "That's RIGHT!" Then she proceeded to ask me several other questions about the dolphin and she also asked our imaginary friends Ella and Tyler about the dolphins. That little child has an amazing imagination and I love playing with her. She is so entertaining.

And then Porter decided that right before I got all his clothes off to change him into his PJ's, it would be an ever so lovely idea to vomit all over his floor mat. Nice. That was pretty gross, but he was grinning so big that he must've thought it was great! Thankfully it was on something we could throw in the washer.

I'm watching a show right now on Lifetime called "Your Mama Don't Dance". It's a show where mothers and sons are in a dance competition against other mothers and sons. I must say that all the sons I've seen so far are a little less than masculine.

Time for bed. This time change junk is for the birds!!

And the winner is.....

David Archuleta - winning it all on American Idol!! I'm telling you right now, this kid is amazing!!! I'm going to be watching AI via DVR for the rest of the season and fast forwarding to David Archuleta's songs. Oh my granny.

Here is a video link of him singing "Oh Holy Night". The video quality isn't that great, but the singing is fantastic. LOVE HIM!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIg5D7aAtic

On the baby front, I have new pictures, but not much time to download and post them. Hopefully in the next few days, I'll get a good update on here. We just went to the doctor yesterday, though, and he's a big ol' boy. He's in the 75 percentile for his weight and all the way up in the 90th for his height. Long and lean my boy is. Cutie patootie. He still hasn't giggled for me. I keep waiting anxiously every day for him to do that, but he hasn't humored me yet.... or maybe I'm not humoring him. Could be why he's not laughing yet. Ha.

Remembering...

I haven't posted an update since my last entry about my step-dad, Richard. He went home to be with Jesus on December 21st and we had his funeral Christmas Eve.

This is Poppy with Rachel a couple years ago. This is one of my favorite pictures of them. Rachel was certainly "Poppy's Girl". He would always have some kind of treat in his shirt pocket for her every time we saw him. It was "their thing".

It's so hard to believe he's not with us anymore. In a sense, I'm happy for him that he's in heaven with Jesus. That's what he's longed for for years. But, on the flip side, I'm so sad that he's not still here, still being corny and joking, still there to be a partner to my mom. I think the hardest thing is knowing my mom will be lonely. She and Rich were about joined at the hip. They were always together. They were great friends above all and loved just having conversations about everything in the world. My heart aches for her that she's lost her best friend. I can't even begin to imagine how that must feel.

2007 has certainly been a trying year. We lost a dear friend of ours in May, my husband's stepdad passed away in July, and then Rich left us just over a week ago. I would have never imagined all that would take place during this past year....

We found out we were pregnant at the beginning of 2007 and having a precious new life enter our world in October was the biggest blessing and definitely a sunny side to all the dark days of the past year.

We are totally in love with our baby boy! He's our angel.

I'm hoping 2008 will be a year of joy. I feel like, literally, we have walked through the valley of the shadow of death in 2007. I'm praying for a few green pastures in 2008...