Drinking from My Saucer...

Thinking Back, Moving Forward

2011-02-01T00:00:00.005-05:00

John David was home from school today because he ran a fever over the weekend. I pulled up the blog to show him pictures of things we had done together and realized what a great job I had done of documenting his first few years. And now I'm sad that I haven't included more of moments with Olivia in the blog. So now it's catch up time. It's late tonight so I'll start with a few pictures. I can't believe that tiny baby in the pictures above is the vibrant little girl that jabbers all the time and just showed me her "camera" which is acutally an old mp3 players she found and has been "taking pictures" all day. Can't wait to tell you all about her!

Olivia Kate

2009-10-02T00:13:00.004-04:00

I can't believe I haven't posted here about our newest addition. Olivia Kate Lindsey was born on June 3, 2009. She has been an awesome addition to our family and is just the cutest thing I've seen since John David was a baby. I'll post more about her and even add a picture, but just thought I'd go ahead and give her a mention here.

John David Goes Fishing!

2009-02-02T13:55:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to find a healthy balance of doing things I should and things I want to do. So in an effort to both get the things on my "to do" list done and still blog a bit, I offer you this short post.

John David got a fishing rod for Christmas and on Saturday John took him fishing for the first time. Nothing was caught but a good time was had!

The Don't Song

2008-12-17T13:15:00.001-05:00

Okay, I'm really going to get on the Christmas wrapping and laundry that I have awaiting my attention, but I just saw this on another person's blog and thought it was really cute! So I decided to do 2 posts in one week and share this with you. Enjoy!

The Don't Song

8 Things

2008-12-15T13:05:00.003-05:00

I have been in serious need of updating this blog. I wasn't even sure about publishing the last post and now it's been on there WAYYYY too long. Just out there. Hanging. But I have been super busy lately and even though I should be doing things like wrapping Christmas presents and laundry, I'm going to take a few minutes and publish a new post. There is a lot to catch you up on, but that will have to wait. Well, actually, I'll use the following to give you one big update on our lives, in case you haven't heard.

8 Things
I was tagged by Ami, a former co-worker at MTW, several weeks ago...and I'm just now getting around to posting my answers...here goes!

8 TV shows I love to watch
1. The Office
2. Biggest Loser
3. Law and Order
4. Design on a Dime
5. Ready to Sell
6. The Today Show
7. Deserving Design
8. Extreme Makeover Home Edition

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Salt Water Grill (Panama City Beach, FL)
2. Athens Pizza Kouzzina
3. Cafe Istanbul
4. El Malecon (Dominican Restaurant in New York City)
5. The Flying Biscuit
6. Another Broken Egg (Tallahassee and Panama City, FL)
7. Phuket (not sure if it's still open)
8. Journey's End

8 Things that Happened Today (I'll do yesterday since my neighbor stopped by this a.m. and even though it is 1:30 p.m., nothing much has happened)
1. Had the opportunity to go grocery shopping without John David
2. Had the oppportunity to go Christmas shopping at Discover Mills sans John David
3. Attended the annual homeowner's meeting for the condo we own in Buckhead
4. Was "color-matched" at Bare Essentials, only to find out I don't really like the way the make-up does on my skin...scratch that off my Christmas/birthay list
5. Went to Toys r' Us in Buckhead
6. Filled my car up with gas (in Buckhead and it was .30 more/gallon than in Grayson)
7. Talked to my friend, Karen, on the phone
8. Put John David to bed

8 Things I Look Forward To
1. The expected arrival of our little one around the end of May/first of June...here it is, the "big" update for you. I'm 15 weeks and feeling great.
2. Getting our defunct tenant out of our rental house
3. Getting our rental house rented again (know anyone who wants to rent a house in Grayson?)
4. John David's first Christmas performance Tuesday night
5. Getting bookshelves for our bonus room
6. Getting our bonus room organized after getting said shelves
7. Decorating the nursury after we find out the sex of the baby in January
8. Learning how to knit...one day.

8 Things On My Wish List
1. Bookshelves for the bonus room
2. Traveling back to Europe...one day
3. Being out of debt
4. A dining room table
5. A community of friends
6. A maid
7. A personal organizer (a real, live person not a notebook)
8. A lawn service for John (just to free up some of his time)

8 People I Have Tagged, please feel no obligation.
1. Denise
2. Heather
3. Heather
4. Candice
5. Melissa
6. Bobbi Jo
7. Diane
8. ?????

Finding Gratitude in the Midst of Defeat

2008-11-05T10:53:00.005-05:00

We had a really fun day yesterday. John David went with me to vote and was a champ standing in line for the 1.5 hours that it took me to vote. I've had fun trying to explain to him in terms a 3 year old would understand what this election bit is all about. Then we met my mom and my nephews at the Yellow River Game Ranch for a fun time seeing all of the animals. It was especially nice for me because John David went in with my mom and nephews and I sat at a picnic table and had a leisurely lunch. It wasn't really planned that way, but it was nice to have a little break to just sit and ponder everything in the woods, with all of the beautiful colors surrounding me. John David is particularly aware of the change of season and I love to hear his enthusiasim when he sees trees that are bursting with color. Anyway, after the game ranch we headed to an indoor water park that was fabulous! I can highly recommend going there if you've never been.

On the way home last night I was listening to some talk radio and thinking about the election. Then I realized that it felt a little like I was listening for updates on a sporting event, wondering if my "team" was going to pull through for a victory. And then it hit me that this is so much more than that. (Just a note, I did realize before that moment that the election is a big deal. It's just in that moment it really hit me.)The outcome of this election is going to change our lives. For better or worse, our lives are going to be changed. I went to bed last night before the election had been called and therefore woke up this morning to the news.

My "team" didn't win and there is a heaviness about me this morning that I don't like. First and foremost let me say that my hope is in Jesus Christ and not in any election outcome. But what worries me is the way our nation is changing. Maybe I've been living in denial; it's a place I frequent. Sunday night on my way home from a friend's house I was listening to the Alan Hunt show. His question was something to the effect of "What role does your faith play in choosing a candidate for President?" There was a caller that called in to say that his faith and his choice of candidates is irrelevant. He claimed to be a man of Christian faith and said that his support was for Barack Obama because he is just like every American - a little bit of everything. Alan Hunt respectfully disagreed with him in that your faith has everything to do with your choice for President. When you are truly a man or woman of faith and your faith is real, that faith changes your perspective on everything. It's not an accessory that you carry around with you, it's a totally integrated part of you. I agree with Alan Hunt. But the point that got to me is the realization that maybe Barack Obama is a representation of what Americans are today.

I didn't vote for Barack Obama because I don't trust him. I don't think he's a man of his word. I don't trust his judgement of people and events. I think he does things out of an effort to please people and not out of conviction. I think his ideas of "spreading the wealth" sound socialistic to me. I don't think it's the public school teachers' responsibility or right to teach Kindergarten children any form of sex education, whether it's meant to "protect them from predators" or not. I find it hard to respect a man who has no respect for life.

Is that what Americans are today? People who can't be trusted, whose word means nothing, people who are without conviction? Do we want to be as rich as the next person (or as poor?) all in the name of equality? Do we want to put the awesome responsibility of the moral education of our children in the hands of total strangers? Do we want to teach that there aren't consequences to our actions and that any "consequences" that might emerge from our actions can be taken care of by being put to death? Well, America has voted and it looks like that's exactly what we are today and what we favor. Makes me all the more glad that this place is not my home.

If you are still reading this post, you may be fuming in disagreement with me. I may read this post in a day or two and decide to delete it. But I couldn't stand these thoughts swirling around in my head and I have to say that writing it all out has made me feel better. And I'm grateful that we live in a country which allows me to write such things with the only fear being the judgement I may encounter from friends and family. I'm grateful that we live in a country which allows us to vote. I'm grateful for technology that allows us to know the "winner" within hours of the polls closing. And I'm grateful that my hope is not in things of this world, but in a living Savior, whose shed blood covers the debt for my sins and gives me the promise of an eternity in heaven.

I won't attach any pictures to this post although I wish I could've captured John David's expression this morning when I shared with him the news that McCain didn't win but Obama did and he replied "Nobama?!?" with a whine and a wince.

Happy Hallo"wing"!

2008-10-23T20:53:00.006-04:00

That's the way John David says Halloween...hallo"wing". Here's the pumpkin we carved. The eyebrows were a special request of John David's. He first wanted mean eyebrows but when I drew several faces out on a piece of paper, he chose the happier looking jack-o-lantern.

Today his school had a little fall festival for the kids and he got to go on a hayride, a pony ride, hear a storyteller tell some stories and pick a pumkin of his very own from the makeshift pumkin patch. It was great and what a great idea to have it all at the school! I just love where he is going to "school" this year. It's a very positive and loving environment and I'm so happy we made the switch. And I learned today that there are 11 boys and 1 girl in his class...now I know how to pray for those teachers!

I planted my garden late in the spring so I've had a late harvest. It's been fun to watch all of the produce in the garden grow and of particular interest was a very tall carrot top. I could see the top of the carrot in the dirt and was expecting something of country-fair-prize-winning-worthiness. I waited as long as I could wait and when I finally did pull it, it looked more like an orange beet! I guess I didn't till the soil deep enough where I planted the carrots. Most of our carrots have been little nubs. Oh well, there's always next year!

Tagged!

2008-09-29T16:20:00.004-04:00

I was tagged for the first time ever by my friend over at Denitra's Den .

Here are six random things about myself:

1. I love to do word puzzles of any kind.

2. Many people have mistaken me for being German, especially when I'm in Germany.

3. I've lived in Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Massachusetts, Indiana, Connecticut, New York, Washington, D.C., England and Germany.

4. When we were kids, my brother and I used to make tents in the carport on rainy days.

5. I have 36 first cousins (34 on my Mom's side and 2 on my Dad's.)

6. I'm a perfectionist procrastinator.

I am tagging:

The Simple Life
The Mino Twins

RULES:
1. Link to the person who tagged you. 2. Post the rules on the blog. 3. Write six random things about yourself. 4. Tag a few people at the end of your post. 5. Let each person know he or she has been tagged.

Three Years Old

2008-09-17T17:01:00.006-04:00

This post is long overdue...I should be ashamed! Okay, enough shame, onto the post. On September 3rd, John David turned three years old. I'm still getting used to saying that I have a three year old! He is such a joy and I'm going to tell you all about him. So if you don't want to read my gush, now would be a good time to navigate away from this page.

Okay, for those of you still with me here goes. John David is one of the sweetest, most thoughtful 3-year olds that I know. When I come in from a meeting or from playing tennis he asks how it went - without prompting. The other day when I answered him saying that my tennis match went well he said "Mommy, tell me more about it." He still loves to cuddle and gives plenty of hugs and kisses. He cares deeply. He will often remind us of people we need to pray for at night when saying our prayers. And he's even been known to ask if we could stop what we were doing to pray for someone. He loves books and is often able to recount the story after hearing it one time. And after we've read it a couple of times he can recite words that we leave out. Among his favorites are "The Little Hero of Holland" (from the Children's Book of Virtues), "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas", the story of Joshua and the Battle of Jericho (from the Jesus Storybook Bible), any books about fire trucks, fire stations, fire fighters, etc, and any books about holidays.

He's also one of most imaginative little boys I know. He loves to play with his "Little People" figurines and his Main Street Fire Station. It's so much fun to watch him play and to listen to everything he dreams up that goes on in the little town that he has imagined. He often gets a story line from a t.v. show that he has watched and will play for hours based on the story line. His absolute favorite shows of all time is "Fireman Sam", a British cartoon on PBS Sprout On Demand. Admittedly, he watches much more television than I ever imagined I would allow. But there are some great shows on these days! We've done several of the projects together that we saw on Noggin'. And about 9 months ago he started asking me what words started with after watching Super WHY on PBS. He has learned so much and his vocabulary is unbelievable. Since he is such a little sponge we of course monitor VERY closely what he watches. John and I feel that it is our God-given responsibility to do so.

According to John David, we live in a fire station, I drive a fire truck and I'm lovingly referred to as the "Fire Lady" of our fire station. John is either "Fireman Elvis" (one of the characters on Fireman Sam) or "The Other Fireman" (that would be the other fire man that lives in our house besides John David). About 5 months ago he started to introduce himself as "Fireman Alex", which is a character in one of his favorite fire books, "Fantastic Firetruck". The first time he did this was when we went to visit a new school for him and we met the Preschool Director. I couldn't believe what had come out of his mouth and she wanted to know how she heard "Alex" out of John David. We both thought it was hilarious. When we went for the "Meet & Greet" at his new school in August she greeted him as Fireman Alex and he just beamed.

Given his fascination (I think obsession is a better description) with everything surrounding fire fighting, it was no question what the theme of his 3rd birthday party would be. We invited our family and some of his little buddies and played fire training games in our back yard. The kids used sidewalk chalk to draw flames on a house that was drawn on a parking pad in our yard.

They then used water balloons to put the fire out.

Then they filled up their water hoses and "put out the fire" in the bushes around the yard.

And those who wanted to participated in an obstacle course to save a kitty in a "tree". I made a cake in the shape of a fire truck, and after a lunch of "Three-alarm" chili, "hot" dogs, and "fire hoses" and cheese sauce (mac and cheese), we headed to the real fire station. We had so much fun and John David is still talking about it.

John David is very articulate and most of the time knows what he wants...and what he doesn't. He is definitely trying to develop his will and independence but for the most part is so very easy going. He goes to sleep between 9 - 10 p.m. and usually gets up between 8 -9 a.m. It still takes him a long time to settle down (at least when anyone besides Grandma is putting him to bed) and he wakes up once during the night and comes in to our room. He gave up his nap in the early spring and for the most part, that's a good thing, since he is going to bed easier and earlier since giving up his nap.

If you are still reading, the last thing I'll reiterate is what a total blessing he is to us and so many people. We thank God for him all the time and pray that one day he will know the love of a sibling. For now, we are living a life far better than we deserve and far more fulfilling than I could've ever imagined. We love our little guy!

Fun With Cousins...and with Trouble

2008-08-25T00:15:00.007-04:00

We went to Nashville this weekend to visit some dear friends, Bill and Donna. John's brother and his family went too and John David was so happy to be "on vacation" with his cousins. Bill and Donna's pride and joy is Trouble, a beautiful, sweet, black lab.
Fun in the pool with daddy
Taking a ride to the creek on Bill's "Little Boy"
Wagon fun
Sweet Trouble! Although John David's not too sure...
Kara gets cozy with Trouble
Enjoying dessert after a long day of fun

Things I'm Lovin' Right Now

2008-07-09T22:16:00.008-04:00

There are some things about my life right now that I'm just not lovin' so much. But then again, there are also lots of things that I am lovin'! So I decided to do a post on the things that are making me happy these days:

John and life with him.

Spending days at home with John David, being able to experience everyday things everyday with him. This particular day we were bringing to life one of his favorite bedtime stories, The Little Hero of Holland, with the homemade play dough we made together this winter.

The discovery of Molly's Blog and how she inspires me. Still loving Soule Mama's Blog and Five Sweet Peas too. Don't personally know any of these women but I love their outlooks on life.

Summer suppers and the tip from the lady doing the demonstrations in Publix: put aluminum foil on the G. Foreman Grill before cooking and clean-up is a snap!

Reading books again and finding some that are thought provoking, namely, "Dumbing Us Down; The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Education" and "Omnivore's Dilemma". I didn't get to finish the second one before it was due back at the library and I couldn't renew it because it was on request for another card holder. Library card, that is. I'm looking forward to reading a book at the beach this weekend that shouldn't be nearly so thought-provoking as these. I'll be reading "Mademoiselle Boleyn ". I'll be reading a book this weekend because I'm going on a girl's trip to the beach with two friends and we are leaving the men and children at home! I'll miss John and John David but I'm also looking forward to the time with old friends.

The thought of pumpkins this fall and John David's excitement about them.

The serenity that a little time working in the garden gives me.

Cooking summer suppers from our garden - this was the first squash of the season (got the seeds in a little late) and it was yummy!

The new perspective I have and the new friends too, after my first project with The Friendship Force came to fruition. Twenty English Teachers from The Friendship Force of Jakarta, Indonesia spent three weeks in the U.S. participating in a Professional Development Program that included time at Anderson University and home hosting with The Friendship Force of Lake Hartwell, GA and The Friendship Force of Charlotte, NC. I work part-time (10-15 hours/week from home) as an Educational Project Coordinator for The Friendship Force. I probably need to devote a full post to my job and the experience with the Indonesians but not tonight! They were all so friendly and appreciative of the opportunity - and dear, dear people!

To God be the glory for all these blessings in my life.

Happy 60th Birthday Grandma!

2008-07-09T22:03:00.009-04:00

Grandma (Karen) had a birthday on June 22nd - I'm a little late getting this post up - sorry! We had fun surprising her with a small party at our house on Saturday and then treating her to a really nice lunch at Maggiano's on Sunday. Karen - we love you and celebrate wonderful YOU!

John David, our little social bug, was so happy that there was a whole weekend of celebrating with so many people!

Travis (Johns' brother), Karen and John

Two Things

2008-06-20T00:55:00.004-04:00

I heard a sermon a couple of months ago and something that the Pastor said stuck with me: "Are you like the rooster who thinks his crowing causes the sun to rise?"

Just found a blog named "Does This Font Make Me Look Fat?". Now that's a good one!

Summer Fun

2008-06-07T22:55:00.012-04:00

We've been having so much fun this summer that I've made very little time to blog. But here's a very long, very overdue update with LOTS of pictures!

We went strawberry picking with Debbie
And with Grandma...

And now we're sad that the season is over! I didn't even get that last 2 gallons that I had planned to freeze for "milkshakes".
We planted a garden...

And we are watching it grow!

We baked our first loaf of homemade "WHO" bread from this recipe...

And enjoyed the bread immensely! I moved to the computer to check something after I got John David started with a piece of the freshly baked bread only to look over and find him sampling the whole loaf! We have since tried the "acoustic"version of the recipe, without the bread machine and I much prefer both the shape and texture of bread made by hand. I'm having fun experimenting with different organic flours that I've found at the new health food store by us - so excited to have this new store less than 5 miles from our home!

We've also been to the pool, to our local library and to the Jimmy Carter Library for a pre-school "story time and garden safari/scavenger hunt". The last sounded like so much fun from the description in the paper but was a huge disappointment. It was a fun outing at any rate since we were with my Aunt Cheryl and her 4 grandsons. We had a great time with them at the library and at a park afterwards.

In addition to fun times going places and doing projects, we've had a lot of fun just being at home. The other night after dinner John David was playing with all of his Fisher Price Little People as he does quite often. He insisted that he put all of them to bed before heading upstairs for his own bath and bedtime. I agreed to let him do that and went about my business, cleaning up the supper dishes. I just couldn't resist capturing the following for you:

Notice how all of them are lying face down...

And the animals are sleeping "out in the pasture", except for the dog, who's keeping a watch out while everyone else sleeps.
At the last moment he grabbed the rocket ship and placed it carefully near the fire station..."in case they need to escape during the night". I just love watching his little imagination blossom!

Hope you are enjoying your summer!

Going to the Beach?

2008-05-26T16:28:00.006-04:00

My parents own a condo in Panama City Beach, Florida, and would love for you to consider renting it for your next vacation. It's on the 7th floor of a 15 story building and all rooms are oceanview. It is a 2 bed/2 bath condo with a full kitchen, washer/dryer, dining area, and roomy living room. It will sleep 6-8 as there is a king bed in the master bedroom, 2 queen beds in the 2nd bedroom and a queen-sized pull out couch in the living room. It would be great for two families to share. It is very conveniently located on Front Beach Road, where Thomas Drive intersects with Front Beach Road.

Check out the pictures below or click here for more pictures and rental information. They are offering great summer specials so I hope you will soon be vacationing at my parents' condo in Panama City Beach, Florida! And by the way, the weather at the beach stays warm until about mid October, so you may even want to consider it for your fall get-away destination. I'm sure they will be offering some specials then so if a trip in the summer doesn't fit into your plans, ask about the fall specials.

Our Little Fireman

2008-05-24T17:46:00.003-04:00

Here's the promised picture of John David's new fire truck toddler bed.

Running My Race

2008-05-24T17:15:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post that entitled "Sing it with me now, "One of these things is not like the other ones.", going on to say that the song was my theme song. Most of my life, I've been the different one. Now more than ever, one of these things is not like the other one...and it's me. I've made myself to fit in with different groups of people and have plenty of friends, but mostly, I feel more different from my friends and family than I feel alike.

After having the post out there for a while and re-reading it several times, I decided to delete it. The post never read like I wanted it to and even when I was writing it, I felt like I wasn't communicating effectively what I wanted to say. It was mainly concerning an organic garden that I'd like to plant and at which I'm making a feeble attempt. The idea has been met with some criticism and skepticism from people in my circle, but it's really not that big of a deal to me, nor have they made it a big deal. John was maybe a bit annoyed at first at the thought of my compost pile but now he puts the shells from the eggs he cooks for breakfast in the pail and even empties the pail for me from time to time. (He did put his foot down when I said I was going to ask our neighbor to collect their coffee grounds for me. Yeah, maybe that's a bit much to ask...) But the bottom line is, I think I made a bigger deal about it than I meant to with the writing that I posted.

It wasn't just my idea for my garden that made me realize how different I am from people around me and it's not a new realization for me. And what a relief it is to remember that life on earth is temporal and that I'm not meant to "fit in" with everyone. I know that I am running the race that God has set before me (Hebrews 12:1)and that's what really matters. I am "fearfully and wonderfully made" by a God who loves me, even with all of my idiosyncrasies. (Psalm 139:14) And God has entrusted John and me with the awesome responsibility of raising John David. It's so important for us to remember that we are making decisons that are right for our family and not for anyone else. And decisions that others have made for their families are just that - decisions for their families, not ours. It's so easy for me to get caught up in the game of comparision and that's just wrong! At the same time, I must guard myself from the sin of self-righteousness, knowing that my decisions or likes and dislikes are not any better or worse than anyone else's, they are simply mine.

So, I'm going to go ahead with my garden, and my composting, and with exploring the traditions of locovores, and with explaning intricate concepts to John David, and with allowing John David to get in bed with us in the middle of the night (gasp!), and with trying to avoid using household chemicals that may be dangerous to our health, and with recycling, and with watching foreign language films with subtitles, and with being conservative (environmentally, economically, politically and religiously), and with whatever else I might find interesting or worthwhile while I am running my race. Wishing each person who reads this confidence to seek out your course and to run with perserverence the race set before you.

What we've been up to

2008-05-06T00:07:00.013-04:00

Lately we have...

Painted a bird house for the birds to use instead of our gas grill, which the poor mama bird, year after year, thinks is the perfect place for her nest. There are two small cream colored eggs with brown speckles on them, so we'll see if she is successful this year in hatching two little ones. Unfortunately, I know this because I lifted the lid to the grill and found them there. Hopefully I haven't disrupted things too much and she will indeed return to take care of her responsibilities. We'll see!

Picked fresh strawberries and eaten said strawberries. We passed the strawberry fields on Saturday and saw people picking, so on the way back from my friend's Thirty-One Party, John David and I stopped by and picked a half-gallon. It's only 5 minutes from our house so I plan to make this a frequent event for the two of us. And at the rate that the three of us (John joined in for the eatin') devoured the half-gallon, we'll need to go back weekly! Any of you city folks who'd like to join me on one of my weekly trips to the strawberry fields, let me know! We would love the company. I didn't have my camera with me since we hadn't planned on picking strawberries that day. But the stain on John David's chin and shirt and arms was still there when we got home so I snapped a few pics for the memories.

We had lunch with an old friend today and her new addition, Mercer. Candice and her husband, Todd, brought little M home and into their hearts in March. Well, he actually had their hearts at their first meeting in February, when he was just hours old, but they had to spend a little time in Colorado while the paperwork was filled out. They got to bring him home to Georgia when he was just over a week old. He is absolutely scrumptious!
John David (and I) painted a little "Welcome" card/sign for Mercer. It was complete with fire trucks (both green and red), ambulances (blue and green), a fire hat and the sun. John David was sure Mercer would love it and said so as we left the house because in his world, who wouldn't love a picture of a fire truck and an ambulance and a fire hat? We got in our "fire truck" and he blared (his new word) the sirens until I had to ask him to quit. So that I could think.

We went to a little league game to watch our nephews, Michael and Malachi, play t-ball. This was their last game of the season and we could see a lot of improvement from the beginning of the season.

John David loves to cheer on his cousins, even though he doesn't quite get the game just yet. He and Kara are the twins' biggest fans.

We also moved John David to a toddler bed (thanks to Grandma) and those pictures are coming soon!

Life is Good...

2008-05-05T23:20:00.008-04:00

I may not have to give up my new Nalgene bottle after all. I received an e-mail today that warned me not to drink water from a bottle that had been left in my car, since the heating up of the bottle from a locked car on a warm day would cause the breast-cancer-causing-toxins from the plastic bottle to seep into my water. So I immediately went to my trusted source for helping me to determine fact from urban legend - www.snopes.com - and this is what I found.

Isn't this just the happiest bottle you've seen?

Not Much Time...

2008-05-01T01:10:00.004-04:00

to blog, but I just had to post these pics. They are from our trip to the beach for Spring Break and they were taken with my camera. Yipppee! I can post my pictures again! John was able to get our desktop back up and running with a monitor that (so far) turns on when we want it to. Enjoy...

Bummer!

2008-04-22T23:50:00.008-04:00

When we were at the beach week before last I saw a Nalgene water bottle that I just couldn't get out of my head. It is so cute and articulates just how I feel and want my attitude to be: Life is Good. It has a daisy on it and just looks and makes me feel happy. I've also decided that except when I really can't avoid it, I will not buy or drink bottled water. I just don't believe it's environmentally responsible to do so. So I worked a stop by the Life is Good store into my errands this afternoon to pick one up and was just so happy to have purchased the water bottle that had was going to encourage me to drink water with a good attitude, all the while doing my part to save the environment.

Shortly after arriving home I washed my new bottle and filled it to the brim with filtered ice water. I sat down at the computer to find a recipe online to cook for dinner and decided to read a couple of blogs when I stumbled onto a blog where the author mentions that she has decided to give up her Nalgene bottles. So I read this article that was linked to her blog this and now I'm so bummed!!!

Happy Easter, Happy Spring!

2008-03-25T16:17:00.009-04:00

Get ready for picture overload! I'm making up for lost time here so get ready... Two cool dudes...

Doesn't he look ready for the runway? He's just as sweet as he is handsome... Three generations of handsome men...
And of course he's just as silly as he is sweet! Can you believe we've been married 4 years? March 13th was our 4th anniversary.
We celebrated our anniversary by going to the beach for the weekend. Thanks Grandma and Granny for keeping John David!

Finally, A Picture!!

2008-02-22T23:11:00.005-05:00

Even though it's an old one, I thought I'd post this picture of John David. Last summer we were visiting John at work and he snapped this picture of John David sitting in the V.P.'s chair "talking" on Mr. Cobb's phone.

A New Pet

2008-02-01T18:20:00.000-05:00

We have a new pet at our house. It's the best kind of pet...one that is loved, cared for, and has no fleas. If you come to our fire station, uh, I mean house, you are likely to meet Sparky, our new fire dog, the imaginary pet of my 2 year old. He rides in our fire truck and likes to sit near Fire Mommy and Fire Daddy. He even likes to go to Fire Granny's house.

P.S. Still no way to upload pictures or videos but hopefully that's coming back soon!

The Almost Famous Reindeer

2008-01-09T09:59:00.000-05:00

Okay, so by now, you know that we went to the zoo in October. I've really wanted to blog over the past couple of months but there was just too much else to do! I was just thinking about what we have done since October and quite frankly, it's all a bit of a blur. Not a bad blur, just a busy blur! In October I launched my business as an Independent Consultant for Southern Living at HOME and in November I re-entered the world of real work on a part-time basis from home. I'm doing special projects working as a consultant from home for The Friendship Force. I get to go into the office about twice a month which is a blessing in two ways - 1) the office is located downtown which is turning out to be a 1.5 - 2 hours commute using public transit and 2) it's kind of fun going back downtown for work again. So while I don't have to go so often I do get to go sometimes. My mom has been a huge help with John David, making it possible for me to have this job. She picks him up from Mother's Morning Out and takes him to her house for the afternoon. John David absolutely loves this arrangement! I was also trying to go into John's office to help him out a couple of days a week, but by December it proved to be too much. So I was able to take almost the whole month of December off from going into his office. I'm hoping to be able to start helping him again, now that I'm getting used to having so much on my plate again.

Now on to the title of this post. John David continues to amaze us with his verbal abililty, speaking very clearly in full sentences about everything under the sun. It is especially fun to listen to him as he is playing by himself - his imagination is already so vivid at the ripe old age of 28 months. In addition to a very vivid imagination, God created in him a love of music. He loves just about any kind of music and loves listening to songs with lyrics over and over again (the same song...over...and over...and over...!) Because of this repetition, he has learned the lyrics to lots of songs. One of his favorites (and my favorite to listen to him sing it) is Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. The version we have sings "You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen, but do you recall the "most" famous reindeer of all? John David sings it: "You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Bixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Bwitzen, but do you call the "almost" famous reindeer of all..." I viedeotaped him singing it and if I can figure out how to upload it to this site, I'll do that for your viewing pleasure!

In all the busyness of the fall our desktop computer crashed. We got it fixed but we haven't reconnected the internet. So for now, I can't post any pictures or attempt the video since all my pictures and video clips are on the desktop.

The Zoo

2007-10-14T00:45:00.000-04:00

On Friday we went to the zoo with my mom, sister-in-law, my niece, nephews and their friends. I don't know what John David was excited about more - the zoo or being with his cousins, but I love how this picture captures his excitement.

Back Again

2007-10-09T10:21:00.000-04:00

I'd like to say that I'm back by popular demand, but truthfully, the only person who has even asked about the blog lately is John. The break I took was due to several reasons, some too private to share in blogland, but mainly because I found I was spending way too much time on the computer. Here's what you missed, in chronological order, not order of importance:

I discovered a delicious cup of decaf coffee - at Walmart for only $2.94! (That's the price for the package, not just the cup!)

I discovered wild muscadines growing in our backyard...

And the butterflies that the muscadines attract

John David had a birthday!

We took a family vacation to Gulf Shores, AL

John had a birthday!

I'll try to post some in the next few days to give some of these events their proper mention.

First Day of "School" 2007

2007-08-14T23:38:00.001-04:00

August 14, 2007, 23 months old
August 16, 2006 11 months old

John David started back to "school" today. Our baby is growing up! He went for the first day of his second year of Mother's Morning Out (or "school" as he calls it) and loved it! He's in the 1-year old class again because of his birthday which falls 2 days past the cutoff, but his buds from church are in the class so it will be fun for him. It's the same classroom he had last year and it's also the same room he goes to for nursery at our church. He walked in like he owned the place and then waved good-bye when it was time for me to leave. He seemed happy when I picked him up, so it was a good first day all around. It's amazing what a difference a year makes...last year when he started he was 2 weeks shy of being a year old and couldn't walk or talk. Today he ran down the hallway when I picked him up and tonight he was actually able to tell me about his day. It's so funny to sometimes what he remembers from situations. As I was putting him to sleep I asked him about his day at school and this is how the conversation went:
Me: What did you do at school today?
JD: Cooper cried.
Me: Cooper cried? Why?
JD: Cooper wanted sit in chair. Mrs. Caudle said nope (with much inflection), time go night-night (in likely the same sing-song voice as she had said it).
Me: Oh, it was naptime and he wanted to sit in a chair but Mrs. Caudle said no.
JD: Yep.
Me: Did you color at school today?
JD: No. They don't have crayons there. (Which actually is something he is remembering from Sunday. He wanted to do something in the nursery besides just play with the toys so I said maybe he could color. When we got to the nursery he asked to color and the nursery worker told him that they aren't allowed to have crayons in the nursery since children sometime eat them instead of just color with them. Wonder what he's gonna say when his teacher pulls out the crayons for their first craft time at MMO?!)
Anyway, I just can't believe what a difference there is from last year to this year! I won't even type the cliche that would fit perfectly here...you know what I'm thinking!

Beach Trip in July

2007-08-02T11:56:00.000-04:00

We went to the beach with my family, minus Lara and Lexi, July 14 - 20. It was so nice to be away and to be with family. John David loved being with his older cousins and as always, learned some new tricks. Austin is 7 years old and is at the stage where he thinks bodily functions with noises are just hilarious. He's not an annoying kid, thank goodness! But he did enjoy trying to make noises by sticking his hand in his armpit and cranking his arm down. That's the newest trick that John David picked up. He now says "Watch me. I do like Austin." and proceeds to try to get his little hand into his shirt and onto his armpit. It was fun watching Aiden try to play with John David. Aiden makes up the rules to any game that he is playing, even those games with rules that have been established well before he was even a twinkle in his mother's eye. John David was really agreeable to whatever rules Aiden explained. Keeping in mind that John David is not yet 2 years old and Aiden was 4 in March, you can imagine how funny it was to watch them try to play Battleship or Checkers or Golf all according to Aiden's rules. You have to be on your toes to keep up when you play with Aiden since the rules often change if he is not winning!
John David watching a "moo-sie" with Austin and Aiden

Austin tried to master the art of the skimmer board and I honestly don't see how the boy could move a single muscle the day after he first discovered it. He fell down and got back up 500 times if he did it once. He was so determined! He is a great big brother and a great big cousin and such a sweet kid all around.

We missed Lexi and Lara but Lexi had dance camp that week and couldn't miss it if she wants to dance on the dance team this school year. She's 11 now which I just can't believe! This picture is from our time at the beach when she did go in February.
John David loved the water and was fearless when it came to going into the ocean. Thank goodness John loves the ocean too because I'm just down right afraid of it! Always have been! I don't like the seaweed or any of the fish that may be swimming around and I didn't trust myself holding John David with the strength of the waves. I did get in the water with them, but basically left them to bond by spending time jumping the waves.

It rained at home almost the whole week so when we got home, there was an eggplant in my little "garden" that was ripe and ready to be picked! I cooked it for supper and it was as delicious as it was pretty.
(The cucumber is also from the "garden" and the salt shaker is their for size comparison sake!)

We Went Camping

2007-07-30T17:02:00.000-04:00

I thought about calling this post "I Survived Tent Camping" or "Three Bears in One Night" but decided to just state the obvious. We went camping...and we had a great time! I was in favor of the idea of the trip from the get-go and really did want to try camping since it always sounds like so much fun when other people do it. But my reservations were a)I'm not a camper b) John David is not a sleeper and c) I'm terribly afraid of bears and other wildlife. Much to my surprise, I am more of a camper than I realized! It really was nice to be out in nature and to be away from the normal distractions of suburban life. John David did great sleeping in the tent. John did an unbelievable amount of work to get us packed and then set-up and then packed up again. He had not been camping in a really long time either so we were both eager to give it a try. There were a total of 5 familes that went and among those families was John's brother and his wife and three kids. They are what I consider hard-core campers - Travis and Susan went on a camping trip out West for their honeymoon and this was their 4 month-old daughter's second or third camping trip. Serious campers! Travis is a chef by training and we always have fabulous meals any time he is involved. In fact, I think the smell of the roasted chicken was what attracted the bear. Or was it the rice pilaf...or the roasted vegetables...or...Yes, you read that correctly. Bear. And Roasted Chicken. And Rice Pilaf. All at our campsite! Just as we were finishing our yummy dinner, my friend Karla went to her car for something. She came running back frantically shouting about her bear sighting. He/she ran away for the moment but came back later, once the excitement had died down and most of us had gone to bed. Travis scared the bear off on the second visit but said that it looked like the bear had been back during the night to scavenge for any morsels of food we may have overlooked. So I guess it wasn't technically three bears, just one bear three times.

We had a really good time in spite of the bear's visits and in spite of the fact that there was no shower or other running water. And John David got to take his first ride on a jet ski with Uncle Travis. Even tonight as I put him to bed he was talking about riding the jet ski with Uncle Travis and how fast they went. And he wants to go camping again...tomorrow. Here are some more pictures from our adventure:

Examining some of the "wildlife" at our campsite

Said wildlife, up close and personal

Susan and baby Kara Lynn

Ready to go again!

Off to the Beach!

2007-07-14T01:09:00.000-04:00

We are heading to the beach tomorrow for a week of vacation with my family. This picture was taken during our last trip to the beach in February. More soon...

Twenty-two Months Old

2007-07-09T16:00:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, July 3rd, John David turned 22 months old. I've said it before and it sounds so cliche, but I can't believe time is passing so quickly. He is such a joy and just makes our life so happy. He is very verbal and will try every word that he hears. Last week it was "bulldozer" which came out like bull-docious. Lots of his word end in cious...like lo-cious which is how he says lotion. His word for "tickles" is ti-cicles, like the ending for popcicles. He is speaking in full sentences and comes out with some doozies. He loves to watch the show "Caillou" on PBS and we are allowing it for now - I think Caillou can be rather whiny - but until he starts picking up on that, I'll indulge him. One of the sentences he said recently was "I ride yellow school bus like Caillou." Which means, of course, that he wants to ride a school bus. He knows all of his colors so he can be quite descriptive when he is stating what he wants or what he likes. He has become really attached to John and askes all the time "Where da-ee go?", even when John is just in the other room. Other sentences that we love to hear are: "I be right back" and "I go get some-en" or "I need go get some-en" when he leaves one of us in the room to go get a toy from another room. He is still just as caring and sweet as he has always been and blesses my heart with the way he expresses himself. Like last night - we had this exchange:
John David: What's that?
Me: Mommy's elbow
John David: El-bow?
Me: Yes, that's mommy's elbow and you have one too, right here.
John David: Mommy's elbow nice. Nice elbow.

He still loves to read books and we realized recently that he has even memorized some of them that we read frequently...like "Goodnight Moon". John was reading it and started hesitating before saying some of the words. Without skipping a beat, John David filled in the blanks. We were amazed! So now I'm going to start teaching him scripture since I know he can memorize his books. He also can count to 10 with some help and he almost has his ABC's down. These aren't things I've been forcing him to learn, he has picked most of it up on his own. I do read him books and count when we are going up stairs, but it's not like I've sat down with him and said "Okay, now we are going to learn our ABC's." I didn't even realize he knew most of his ABC's until he started singing along with his Leap Frog ABC toy on the fridge. It's true what they say, kids are such sponges!!

He's definitely all boy when it comes to play time. He loves his truck that his Grandma gave him for his birthday last year and zooms through the house on it yelling "beep, beep!!" until he intentionally "crashes" into the island in the kitchen or the leg of the table. Then he loves to yell "Mommy, I crash..like this!!" His newest trick on his big wheel that Granny and Papa bought for him is to pop a wheelie, or a "wholly" as John David says. He can't do it by himself yet but loves for John to help him "drive" and pop "whollies".

He's still a bit of a peanut compared to other kids his age, but it doesn't seem to bother him. And since he has been on the same growth curve his whole life, I'm fine with it too. He's been between the 5th and 10th percentile for height and weight at every check-up. He weighs about 23 pounds now (according to my bathroom scales) and is probably about 31 inches tall (at least that's what he measured at the end of May). We love our little peanut!

Thankful Thursday

2007-07-05T16:50:00.000-04:00

Last year after Christmas John was in Hobby Lobby and picked up this adorable "Frosty" for John David for just $20, which was 80% off of the original price. I just love a good bargain! John has a great knack for picking out things that John David absolutely loves. John David had so much fun with it that we have kept it out all year. He gets such a thrill out of tackling "Prosty" as he calls it, and giving him hugs, that I'm glad we didn't banish it to the basement with all the other Christmas decorations. Today I'm very thankful for such a sweet, thoughtful husband who loves our little boy so much. (I feel the need to explain why John was in Hobby Lobby...he goes to lunch with the guys from work nearly everyday. Since they all ride together, John often finds himself "along for the ride" at different stores and errands. I think the mission that particular day at Hobby Lobby was to purchase Christmas trees that the Regional Vice President's wife had requested. They were a good deal too at 80% off...and we now also own one of those!)

Today I'm thankful that my garden is producing fruit! This is the first cucumber that we picked and there are currently 3 more that should be ready to be picked in about a week. It was a little small (short and fat) but it was deliciously crisp and tasty. I also have 7 green bell peppers that will be ready soon if I can find a way to keep the bugs from eating them. And there is a little bud of an eggplant that is just too cute!

We had a fun 4th of July. John David rode his big wheel in a little parade in our neighborhood that morning and then we went to my mom and dad's house for barbeque and some fun in the hot tub. After that we went to church and heard a very inspiring speaker, Dr. Gene Winfrey. He is 85 years old and has led such an interesting life. It is always a blessing to hear one of his messages. After church we went to SONIC for a corn dog and a grape creamsicle with our good friends, Jason, Karla and Jacob. Today I am thankful for our freedom, our family, our church, freedom to worship the one true God, and for our friends. We have so much to be thankful for!

On a very serious note, I am thankful that my friend Meredith survived a horrific automobile accident recently. I thank God that He spared the life of Meredith and her two young sons, Cole and Nolan. Meredith and Nolan are the ones on the left in the picture above.

My 15 Seconds

2007-06-29T16:48:00.000-04:00

Okay, maybe it's a bit drastic to call this my 15 seconds, but...a few weeks ago while playing on the internet during John David's nap, I stumbled across an amateur photo contest...and entered it. Last Friday I received a letter saying that my contest entry has been advanced to semi-finalist! The final competition is this summer and I now have "an excellent chance of winning one of over 114 cash or gift prizes". But wait, there's more...they wish to publish my photograph in a coffee-table quality hardbound book! Of course they offered me the chance to buy one of these books at a reduced pre-production rate and that's where I think the hoax might be. But they promise that there is no obligation whatsoever and all I have to do is to send in the "Artist Proof" stating that the photo was my orginal piece of work. I'm mailing that today and we'll see what happens!

The picture was taken back in November of last year at a baby shower I gave for my friend, Lisa. Gerbera daisies are one of my favorite flowers and I loved the contrast of the creamy gerbera with the vivid purple snapdragon. So I snapped the photo and was happy with the way the picture turned out. I used it for wallpaper on my computer screen for a while and then I used it for a "Grateful Friday" post I did recently. On a whim I decided to enter it in the contest.

The whole thing may be a ploy to try to get my money, but who wouldn't love to hear that "We feel you have a special talent and look forwad to the publication of your photograph."? I'll let you know if it actually shows up in the book as they promised.

Happy Birthday Gramma Karen!

2007-06-25T15:30:00.000-04:00

Karen's birthday was actually last Friday and I've been trying since then to get this post up. As you can tell, I haven't had much time to blog lately. Between play dates, weddings, VBS and tennis matches, we haven't had much down time. No complaints here, just an explanation for the lack of updates! We enjoyed seeing Karen on Friday and John David was happy to get to blow out birthday candles. Of course he was pretty excited too about getting to share a piece of birthday cake with Gramma!

Gas Prices

2007-06-12T14:58:00.000-04:00

The following is not my original idea or writing but I think it offers a good perspective on things. The picture of John David has nothing to do with gas prices but I thought it was cute! I think he was pursing his lips to say phone, which he pronounces "pone".

"Gas Prices"

Do you think a gallon of gas is expensive?

Just put things a bit in perspective.

Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz $1.19 .$9. 52 per gallon
Ocean Spray 16 oz $1.25 $10.00 per gallon
Gatorade 20 oz $1.59 ..... $10.17 per gallon
Diet Snapple 16 oz $1.29 ....... $10.32 per gallon
Whiteout 7 oz $1.39 ....... . $25.42 per gallon
Brake Fluid 12 oz $3.15 . $33.60 per gallon
Scope 1.5 oz $0.99 .......$84.48 per gallon
Pepto Bismol 4 oz $3.85 ... $123.20 per gallon
Vick's Nyquil 6 oz $8.35 .... $178.13 per gallon
And this is the REAL KICKER...

Cigarettes 4.59 a pack.....137.70 per a month (a pack a day)

Evian water 9 oz $1.49....... .$21.19 per gallon?! $21.19 for WATER!

So, the next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on water, Scope, or Whiteout, or heaven forbid Pepto Bismal or Nyquil!

Again, another picture of John David that doesn't have to do with gas prices...it's a picture of my little artist.

Grateful Friday

2007-06-02T01:12:00.000-04:00

Today I'm grateful for:

- baby birds outside our back door

- the fact that we are showing the condo to a potential buyer tomorrow morning

- a short work week for John and the extra time we had to spend together because of it

- finding the website "Mothering From the Heart"

- being able to spend so much time with John David everyday

- having family nearby and being able to see them often

- the prospect of fresh vegetables in my own backyard - my new plants aren't dead yet - yippee!

- watermelon

- gerbera daises

What We've Been Up To

2007-05-30T16:37:00.000-04:00

For the past two days I have been mesmerized by three little birds that hatched in a nest just outside of our screened porch door. The mama bird built her nest in the wisteria vines growing on an arched trellis outside our back door. I have a direct view of the nest from our grilling porch and today John got the ladder out for me to stand on to get a perfect view of the new birds. The mama bird built the nest really well and I can barely see over the edge of the nest, even on the ladder. But the baby birds have been poking their little heads up and holding their beaks open for food so I've gotten great glimpses of the new life just outside our door. And I tried to capture it on film, but as you will see in the second picutre, I had my camera on the wrong setting and the leaves are in focus but the baby bird is fuzzy. But if you look closely enough you'll see the orange ("urnge" as John David says with much determination) beak, grey fuzzy head and a big eye. In the first picture you can probably pick out the orange beak.

In addition to becoming a bird watcher, I'm trying my hand at a little gardening. This past weekend John and I planted 2 tomato plants, 2 pepper plants, an eggplant plant and a cucumber plant. My goal is to one day have a huge garden from which I cook supper every night but first I have to see if I have what it takes to make these few plants grow and thrive and produce fruit...or in this case, vegetables.

I can't believe that even in the middle of a drought our grass needs to be cut every week. John does such a great job keeping up our yard. Like so many little boys I've known, John David loves to "cut" the grass with his daddy.

First Day of "School", August 16, 2006

Last Day of "School", May 22, 2007

Last Tuesday was John David's last day of Mother's Morning Out. They had a little party with an indoor bounce thingy that was just perfect for their age/size. One of his teachers made a scrap book of his experiences at school and it is precious. It's amazing to see how much he has grown over this school year. I didn't get a good picture of him at the party but I'll post a picture anyway.

We spent Mother's Day day at John's Mom's house and his brother and his family was there. My Mom and Dad were at the beach so we didn't get to see them on Mother's Day. John David loves holding his new baby cousin, Kara Lynn, and squeezes her even tighter when she is screaming. I think it's his way of trying to comfort her. And you'll be happy to know that I didn't let him squeeze her too tightly nor did we allow her to stay in her terrified state for too long...just long enough to snap some photos. You will see that Kara Lynn is much more at ease in the arms of her big brothers, Michael and Malachi. This last picture is of John and his Mom. I thought it came out great!

So now we are just enjoying more time outside, longer days and time together. I'll try to update more frequently so that the updates aren't as long.

Grateful Friday

2007-05-11T22:02:00.000-04:00

John David started acting uncharacteristically cranky on Tuesday afternoon and then started running a high fever on Wednesday. Because his temp was so high and he didn't have many symptoms as far as I could tell, I took him to the doctor. He has what she diagnosed as "acute tonsillitis". In other words, a really bad sore throat!Poor guy...he has been drooling all week to avoid swallowing. A sweet surprise from John came at just the right time. For the past three weeks or so, John David has been enamored with a British cartoon called "Peppa the Pig". At first I didn't like it because of the way they treated Daddy Pig in a few of the episodes, but now I can see the lessons they teach and I don't mind so much that John David is in love with the cartoon. John went online and ordered a "Peppa Pillow" and a "Peppa Puzzle". both of which arrived on Thursday, the day that John David felt the worst. The first picture is the way he looked for most of the week. The second picture is a half smile I was able to prod out of him in the midst of his misery.
I decided since it's Mother's Day Weekend I would post a "Grateful Friday" post. I tried to do them for a while since I think it's great to make yourself think about and "write down" things you are grateful for. So many of us take so much for granted. But I started finding that I felt too much pressure to come up with a new list every Friday that I could make public. I know, I know, I take most everything too seriously! At any rate...I'll give it a go today. (You may remember from previous posts that Grateful Friday isn't my original idea - Heather does it on her blog (Five Sweet Peas-link to the left) and it gave me the idea to try it on mine.)

Today I'm grateful for:

- a girls' day out tomorrow with 3 good friends - we are going to laze our way through the Scott Antique Market, go for massages and then have a nice dinner
- John being willing to hang out with John David while I go on my girls' day out
- a sweet card and money from my parents to get a massage on my girls day out
- Tennis and my tennis buds
- John David's fever breaking this morning
- Decaf Community Brand Coffee and being able to buy it at Publix
- The love of Jesus and a reminder to listen to His voice which is truth (that's a whole 'nother post!)
- being able to watch Oprah, or parts of her show, almost any day I want
- being able to stay home with John David
- going to a wedding last weekend that took place in the same church where John and I were married - it was a sweet ceremony and made me remember how blessed I am to have John as my husband
- new perspectives on old friendships and advice that my dad gave me this week
- our family
- Being married to John
- the great daddy that John is to John David

Cotton Candy

2007-05-11T21:23:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday John David got his first taste of cotton candy and has talked about it all week! My brother held a "Family Day" for his sales agents and invited us to join him. The event was actually a reward for a contest he held and so he really wanted to make the people feel rewarded. I think he did a great job! It was a carnival theme with moon walks/inflatable slides, sand art and spin art stations, clowns painting faces - and not just your typical daisy on the cheek kind of face painting, these were works of art! There were hula hoop contests and even a clown walking around on stilts. No carnival would be complete without popcorn and cotton candy, hence John David's first indulgence. To top it all off, there was a cash machine for the top 9 producers, each having a chance at $5,000. It was one of those booth thingies that blows the money around and you have to grab it and stuff it...it was fun to watch but not as much fun as it would've been to be in the booth! The whole day was a kid's dream, - all of it was free! David (my bro) is one of the top guys in his company and I was so proud of him that day. It's nice to think that he is creating a positive, rewarding work environment for so many people.

Meeting Anna and Baking Cookies

2007-04-24T11:24:00.000-04:00

I met my good friend, Christa, in 1996 while working at Friendship Force International, a cultural exchange program for adults. Christa was a volunteer Club President for The Friendship Force of Norderstedt, Germany at the time and eventually became a Board Member. Over the years, we built a unique friendship that I cherish very much. She made the trip to Atlanta for our wedding in 2004 and I was so honored and proud that she was there. Part of the uniqueness of our friendship is the difference in our ages. I won't divulge her age or mine, but there are 40 years between us. I appreciate the wisdom and perspective she brings to our friendship...and she is quite fun to be around!

For our wedding she gave us the most beautfiul silver salt shaker and promised the matching pepper shaker when we had our first child. Yesterday I met her neice, who happened to be in Atlanta visiting her boyfriend who is a guest of CNN for 3 weeks. Anna served as "courier" for my gift and it was a pure delight to meet her. Over the years I have heard so much about Anna from Christa and I've even been to Anna's parents' house in Kiel, Germany. It was really nice to put a face with a name. We met at the mall for lunch and she took right to John David and he to her. They were big buds for our entire visit and he protested leaving the mall until he found out that Anna was going in our car with us. I gave her a lift to the Martin Luther King Memorial Center so that she could continue her touristic visit of Atlanta and John David fell asleep in the car before she could tell him good-bye. He woke up when we pulled into our drive way at home and immediately checked the front seat for Anna. When he realized she wasn't there or anywhere to be found, his little heart was broken. He cried big tears for her. It was so sweet but really sad too!

The outpour of emotion lasted for a little while until I got him interested in baking cookies with me. "Co-kers" as John David called them, a mixture of the words crackers and cookies. So here are some pictures from our first ever baking adventure.

I think he enjoyed eating the decorations the most. I went to take the other pan of cookies out of the oven and came back to catch him doing this:

Fun for Today

2007-04-18T14:58:00.000-04:00

I got an e-mail from a friend of mine that was cute and wanted to share it with you via this blog rather than forwarded e-mail. It will only take a minute to do this and it is cute:

1. go to www.google.com
2. click on "Maps"
3. click "Get Directions"
4. type in "New York" in the first box (the "from" box)
5. type "London" in the second box (the "to" box)
6. press on "get directions" button
7. scroll down to step #23

Enjoy!

In His Grip

2007-04-11T16:38:00.000-04:00

Dada was one of John David's first words and he has used it abundantly for a really long time. He only said Mommy about 2 months ago but went straight from not calling me anything (other than with grunts and gestures) to calling me Mommy, never really using "Mama" as a stepping stone. But for some reason, he has stuck to "Dada" when referring to John...until this past weekend. At first it came out something like "Da-ee", skipping the "d" in the middle. But very shortly thereafter, he abondoned the term "Dada" and came out with the word "Dad-key" when referring to John. It's the cutest and funniest thing!

When I was pregnant with John David and first found out that he was a boy I was so surprised. I just knew it was going to be a girl! There wasn't a sense of disappointment or anything negative, just shock that it was a boy and not a girl. From the time I found out that girls could be mommies I've wanted to be one. And I think it was about that time that I started imagining me with my little girl, someday, in the far off future. (I had no idea back then just how far off mommyhood would be for me! But God is faithful and works everything out on his time and not on ours.) So after I got over the shock that we were having a boy, I started to realize the awesome responsibility given to John and me - we would be raising a man. That concept brings me daily to the feet of Jesus, asking for guidance, wisdom and discernment for John and me as we learn the ropes of parenthood.

The first few weeks of John David's life are sometimes a blur to me. The lack of sleep and exhaustion of nursing a very hungry but lazy newborn often got the best of me. However, there is one memory I have that is clear as a bell. I was nursing John David and praying for him as I stroked his tiny hands and feet. I was overcome with emotion as I realized that one day, his feet would take him places, perhaps far away places, and his hands would do work, hopefully noble work. The Lord was beginning to reveal to me one of my first realizations about parenthood. This child is not my child, but the Lord's. He has given him to John and me to enjoy and to love and to teach and even to learn from, but he is a gift from God and here for the Lord's purpose, whatever that purpose may be. I pray that John David's identity will be grounded in a relationship with Jesus and that John and I will learn to hold on to John David tightly, but not too tightly. And I pray that we will practice what we plan to teach him, to rest in the fact that we are living in the grip of God's amazing grace.

Aiden's Birthday Party

2007-03-28T17:28:00.002-04:00

My nephew, Aiden, turned a year old the day John and I got married. We celebrated his birthday at our wedding reception with cake and song, prefaced by a short speech from my dad all about "firsts". We weren't really sure where he was going with the speech...first dance as a married couple, first kiss as a married couple...until the hotel staff brought out the high-chair and the birthday cake and we saw the connections - Aiden's first birthday. What a relief! This year Aiden celebrated his birthday at an indoor jump place and John David was in on the fun.

Uncle David took John David down the big slide!

Three Years

2007-03-14T00:41:00.000-04:00

Three years ago today I married the man of my dreams, John. (Our anniversary is March 13th, but since it's after midnight, this post will probably have the date of the 14th on it). He is one of the sweetest, most thoughtful and caring people I know. I have learned so much from him and admire so many qualities I see in him.

There were so many years I longed to be married and so many years I felt like God had forgotten about me or wasn't concerned with the desires of my heart. There was even a span of time in which I was so convinced of that, I took matters into my own hands. I started dating someone who was great "on paper" and I just knew God would approve. In fact, why hadn't God already thought of this and let things happen with this person sooner? But pretty soon into the relationship I realized that although his qualities looked good when I listed them on a piece of paper, there was not a real connection between us. And actually, there were some things about him that weren't as they had seemed...but I was tired of being alone and hey, being with SOMEone was better than being with NOone, so I stuck with it much longer than I knew was best. The Lord tried several times to tell me that this guy wasn't the one and that I should be moving on...but I resisted and stuck with it, trying like everything to make the relationship work. Then all of a sudden, it clicked. It was never going to work. And then something else clicked. I didn't really need someone as badly as I thought I did. I'm not sure how I stumbled upon these verses, but they had a big impact on they way I started to look at my life and my singleness specifically. In the New International Version of the Bible, Matthew 7:9-11 reads:

9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

So many times during my struggle with being a single adult I thought I was being handed a stone when I had asked for bread. I had asked God so many times to make a relationship work and was disappointed so many times when it didn't work out. But now I can see how many loaves of bread God actually handed me - all those times the relationships didn't work out were just preparing me and saving me for the one God had intended for me all along. He really was being faithful to me and caring for me and the desires of my heart all along.

Here's a little story for you: One day, a little boy was playing outside with his friends when the smell of freshly baked cupcakes wafted his way. He ran inside and grabbed one off of the cooling rack. "Wait!!" His mother begged. "I haven't put the icing on them yet! Hand it back to me and I will put the icing on it, making it even more delicious." The little boy obeyed his mother, handed the cupcake back to her and waited eagerly but patiently as his mother put the finishing touches on it.

Once those things I mentioned before "clicked" and I surrendered my singleness back to God, I wrote the word CUPCAKES in big letters on a small piece of paper and kept it in my Bible. It was my little reminder that God was looking out for me and the desires of my heart - all I had to do was trust Him and give back to him what I was holding on to so tightly. I never realized God's faithfulness could be so good. These past three years with John have proven to be more wonderful than I could have ever imagined marriage could be.

17 months Old

2007-03-09T00:19:00.000-05:00

This picture was taken on February 3rd, the day John David turned 17 months old. I just never got around to posting it, so I thought I'd play catch-up now and do it. If you look closely, you'll see that his nose is scuffed-up. It's his first (of many, I'm sure!) scuffed-up nose and he got it at Mother's Morning Out. Thankfully, it has healed nicely and you can't really even tell it was ever scratched. The train is the one he got for Christmas and the monkey in the caboose is his favorite passenger.

18 Months Old

2007-03-08T11:38:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, March 3rd, John David turned 18 months old. It's hard to believe how quickly the time has passed. The memory of bringing him home from the hospital is still so fresh that it really seems like just yesterday. His cousin, Kara Lynn, was born in the same hospital as John David and I even recognized some of the nurses and the picture lady when we were there for her birth last week. But he is definitely growing into a little boy now! He is so expressive and so much fun. He is still just as friendly as he's always been but he is starting to exhibit a bit of seperation anxiety that I've heard surfaces around 18 months. He still just keeps us smiling. He can say about 20 words and he signs about 3-5 words. He loves his sign language videos and he does great using the signs that he knows - I just wish I had started earlier with him. He doesn't walk anymore - he runs everywhere! And he loves to tinker with anything that has parts or buckles or snaps. His "Spud Buds" (friends of Mr. Potato Head) keep him busy for hours sometimes! He's such a joy and we feel so blessed to have him in our lives! In the pictures above, he is modeling his bath robe, which he loves to wear around the house, and his new serious face, which he also wears quite often these days.

The Newest Lindsey

2007-02-28T16:06:00.000-05:00

It's a girl!!!! No, John and I are not expecting. Our NEICE was born on Tuesday! Kara Lynn Lindsey was born to Susan and Travis on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 12:39 p.m. She weighed 11 pounds...yes, you read that right! She is 11 pounds even and she is 22 inches long. She is beautiful and already very alert. Michael and Malachi are already in love with their new baby sister. Susan and Travis opted to not find out the sex of the baby until the birth, so it was quite an exciting time when Travis and the baby came through the hospital room door and he announced it was a girl. (Susan was still in the OR). Mommy and baby are doing just great. Aunt Allison is so very happy not only to have a new baby neice to spoil, but there is hope for me to have a girl some day...the Lindsey boys do make girls!

Malachi, John David and Michael, playing at our house the day before Kara was born.

Catching Up

2007-02-27T01:13:00.000-05:00

We hosted a small Super Bowl get-together this year and had some friends from church over after the evening church service. Our friend, Kristi, made this very clever cake and brought it to share with us. Isn't it just too cute?!? It was quite tasty too!

Christmas Continues in January

2007-02-27T00:44:00.000-05:00

Since the holidays get so busy, Kimberly, Meredith and I decided that this year we would get together in January, long after the hustle and bustle of Christmas was gone. So the weekend of January 26 - 28 was our time to visit and exchange Christmas presents with one another. We had fun hanging out together with our babes - Meredith and baby Nolan (12 weeks old at the time), Kimberly and Harrison (9 months old) and me with John David (16 months old). We took them to Walmart to have their pictures made together and they turned out really cute. I'll try to scan and post one of the pictures soon. Cole is missing from our pictures. He's Meredith's 4 year old who stayed at home with daddy for the weekend. John David was facinated with the "babies" and said the word for the first time Thursday night before their arrival. He is still asking about them, now 4 weeks after they were here. I guess they made quite an impression on him! We all hope that our boys grow up to know each other so I'm sure we'll have many more weekend visits with them. In addition to the "professional" pictures we had made (I have to laugh since we had them made at Walmart and it was hardly a professional experience!), we took several other snapshots that I'll share two here.

Sumo Baby Nolan weighing in at 16 pounds at his 12 week Dr.'s visit! Such a sweet and happy baby!

The Swimmy Heads - John David and Harrison had fun posing in their swim diaper hats! They will probably hate us for this one in a couple of years!

It was a fun weekend and great to be with my two dear friends!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2007-02-14T16:25:00.000-05:00

John David and I made valentine cards for his little friends at school (Mother's Morning Out) and he was so proud of them! Just like all of the other holidays, he has loved learning about Valentine's Day. He squeals with delight every time he looks at the valentines he received from his friends and grandparents. And we must've read "Biscuit's Valentine's Day" a hundred times. It's a book he received last year from Nana (John's step-mom, Jackie) and while he enjoyed turning the pages last year when I read it to him, he has loved it this year, being able to ask what everything is on the pages and pointing out the cat, the dog, the girl's hat, her coat, etc. He is such an observant little boy.

John was at home last night with John David while I went to my "Ladies' Night Out" group. I left the art supplies John David and I had used for his Valentines on the table and when I woke up this morning, John suprised me with the cutest little hand-made valentine card that he had made for me. It was precious and I was really impressed with his creativity. Earlier this afternoon I was working on this post and the doorbell rang...it was the UPS man with a package for me. It was a PajamaGram from John! I just love the idea and it came in the cutest package.

I'm really not a huge fan of Valentine's Day because of all the commercial hype and social pressure put on people, making them feel out of place if they don't have someone with whom they can spend Valentine's Day. We should be telling people we care about how much we love/care for them every other day of the year and not just on a day that has been determined by someone else as THE day to do that. If you don't have a honey to share Valentine's Day with then I hope you celebrated yourself today. YOU are a special person with or without a partner, made unique by your creator just to be YOU. Psalms 139:13-14 says "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." God's works are wonderful and you are one of His wonderful works. Happy Valentine's Day!

The Woods of No Return

2007-02-12T13:57:00.000-05:00

When I was little we had some woods behind our house. One day I was playing outside with my brother and the neighborhood kids and we saw a girl walk into those woods...but we never saw her come back out. From that time on, those woods were known as "The Woods of No Return". Truth is, the girl was probably just passing through and we either didn't see her come back out of the woods or she was using our yard as a cut-through to the neighborhood behind ours. I've stayed in touch with the neighborhood kids and we get a good chuckle as adults out of our fear of those woods.

Last April, we moved into our new house and one of the things I particularly loved about this house was the private backyard that backs up to 60 acres of undeveloped land, mostly trees and some pastures. We checked on the plans for that land before we bought the house and were told that an elementary school would be built on the land but that construction wouldn't start for another 5 years. Well, that construction started last week, 4 years early according to our understanding! It was so sad for me to sit and watch as the workers cut down tree, after tree, after tree. John David loved watching the men use the big machinery and constantly waved and said hi to them out the window. But I sat and tortured myself by watching them cut down probably close to 200 trees I would guess - huge tall pines and even some hard woods. Those were the hardest to watch. I imagined how long it had taken them to grow so big and they were gone with one grab of this machine. The machine was kind of neat - it grabbed the tree, sawed it and then laid it neatly in a pile.

Before

After
So instead of having our own "Woods of No Return" for John David to play in when he gets older, we now have "Woods that Won't Return". I'm trying to look on the bright side - maybe it will be a great school and John David will be able to walk to school through our backyard. And at least they aren't building a neighboorhood or a shopping center. And maybe, just maybe, they will plant some new trees when they are finished with the building. But for now, I'm grieving the loss of our our privacy and the loss of so many of God's beautiful works of art.

In the Pantry

2007-01-31T15:53:00.000-05:00

Oops...I left the pantry door open and look who managed to get inside! I realize I'm exposing my unorganized pantry to anyone reading this, but the picture of John David was too cute not to share.

Happy 60th Dad!

2007-01-07T23:37:00.000-05:00

Tuesday is a very special day in our family...my Dad will turn 60! Saturday night we had a surprise birthday party for him and I think he really was surprised! My dad is a very sharp man and you don't get much past him. But this time I think we had him going until he walked in to the room where 65 of his friends and family members were waiting to yell SURPRISE!!!! We held the party at his golf club and it all worked out just perfectly. The music was great, the dancing was fun, the food was delicious and we all had a ball!

My dad has always played a very special role in my life. I am grateful to God for blessing me with such a great family and for choosing my dad to be my dad. I would be a very different person today if it weren't for his love, leadership, discipline, and commitment to our family. It makes me so proud to meet so many people who have so much respect for him. I love you Dad!

Christmas 2006

2007-01-02T16:34:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas season was so much fun! We had a few parties in early December and then our family Christmas celebration lasted the whole week of Christmas. My mom and I both have birthdays right around Christmas, so that adds to the season of celebration. John's dad, Jack, came into town on Wednesday, December 20th and Jackie (John's step-mom) came on the 21st. That night we celebrated the twins' 4th birthday. I forgot to take my camera that night, so unfortunately there are no pictures of that event. The next day, the 22nd, was my birthday. We had lunch with John's family and then dinner with my family to celebrate. After dinner everyone came to our house for cake and ice cream. In the middle of all that busyness I was able to enjoy one of my birthday gifts - an hour long massage which was wonderful.

On Saturday morning we had Christmas with Jack and Jackie. John's brother, Travis, and his family came over as well and we enjoyed "Christmas breakfast" and a time of opening gifts.

Sunday was Christmas Eve and we started the day by going to our church. After church we headed straight to my parents house for Christmas with my brother. My mom played a neat game with the kids called "What God wants for Christmas". That evening we all went to church together at my parents' church.

Christmas morning we woke up and went down stairs and low-and-behold Santa Claus had been to our house!! John David was so excited to see all of the toys Santa had left for him. About 3:00 that afternoon my parents and John's mom (Karen) and step-dad (Jim) came over to our house. We opened gifts with them and then Travis and his family came at 5:00. We had a nice Christmas dinner and then opened more presents after dinner. John David really got the hang of opening presents by the time Christmas night rolled around!

Friday, December 29th was my mom's birthday. We all got together to celebrate her birthday Friday night. Saturday morning we drove to Columbus to have Christmas with my Grandmother and aunt on my dad's side of the family and to see all of my mom's side of the family. She is one of 13 children, 11 of whom are still living. So you can imagine how much fun it is to get together with all of my cousins (36 total) and aunts and uncles. It was great to see everyone.

Jason, Karla and Jacob (our friends from church) and Travis and his family joined us at our house to ring in the New Year. The kids had a blast all being together. We count it a blessing to have so many people to celebrate the season with!

Merry Christmas!!

2006-12-20T20:55:00.000-05:00

A long time ago I heard it said that you are most like the 10 people you are closest to. I decided then to try to surround myself with people who had qualities I admired, people who inspire me, encourage me, love me and challenge me to be the best person I can be. I met Mark Pace about 7 years ago and he is one of those people. He is an incredible person and I am blessed to know him. I received this letter from Mark today and I asked him if I could share it with you. May you surround yourself with people who love you, inspire you, encourage you and challenge you to be the best you can be in the year 2007. And as we celebrate the Christmas holiday, may you ponder and appreciate the significance of Christ's birth, death and resurrection. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Allison, John and John David

Hello to all my wonderful friends and family:

First, I would like to say I hope everyone is having a great holiday as we bring 2006 to a close. The reason for this letter is to say thank you for being a part of my life, past and present. I'll speak to you first from the 17 year, 4 month, and 20 day old Mark Ashley Pace's life. During this part of my life, I woke up everyday with perfect sight, perfect hearing and a whole lot of things going on in my life. I was driving my jeep, a vehicle I had always dreamed of having since a kid starts thinking about stuff like that, I have a great family, I was a pretty accomplished athlete, a ton of friends, believed in Jesus as my savior, and felt like a pretty good caring person. This Mark had a lot of dreams that were all changed on December 20, 1986.

Next, I will let everyone know that today marks the 20 year anniversary of my accident where I flipped my jeep and sustained some pretty severe damage to my noggin. Consequently, I was left with low vision, hearing, and some pretty drastic life altering injuries. One thing that was not altered is my positive optimistic attitude. I have been told that I'm supposed to feel sorry for myself, be depressed, angry, but I think God must have removed that part of my brain in the accident. Mark Ashley Pace is celebrating my 20th birthday of my new life. It's hard to believe that it's already been 20 years, but I have a lot of you to thank for being there for me through thick and thin. As many of you know a part of my brain that God did not remove was my stubborn independence. Its pretty interesting that I need more help then I will ask for, because I would much rather help someone else out physically, spiritually, emotionally, or just lend somebody a shoulder to cry on. Bottom line, I would much rather help someone then ask for help.

Finally, I will continue to celebrate each day of my new life, and I hope that all of your dreams for the New Year come true. We all need to remember that God has given each one of us a story to tell about our time on earth. Each one of you will be remembered as a big part of shaping the person I, Mark Ashley Pace, is today. Please do me a favor this holiday season and say a little prayer to thank God for everything you have and for protecting you each day, protecting your family, and allowing you to live a comfortable life. I'll be the first to tell you that I never thanked God for my sight, my hearing, and other senses that so many of us take for granted. Please be very careful and have a wonderful holiday season. Thanks again for being a part of my life and remember that I love all of you very much.

Sincerely,

Mark Ashley Pace

Thanksgiving 2006

2006-11-30T21:12:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is a holiday that for us, lasts a whole weekend. We start by having lunch at either my mom's house or John's mom's house, go to the other one's house for dinner and then leave for Tallahassee to visit John's dad and his step-mom on Friday. It's always a fun time but I get tired just thinking about it. I'm a person who can get myself very worked up in anticipation of an event, or in this case, a series of events, but this year I was determined not to. I was going to enjoy the time we had with each part of our families and not get too worried about logistics, naps, etc. And I did! We had a very enjoyable lunch with my family and then headed over to John's mom's house for dinner/leftovers. John's brother and his family had been at her house for lunch and then Jim's (John's step-dad) son and his family stopped by, so we were the third set of guests to grace their house that day. Even though we only saw Anna and Lee and the kids for a brief moment, it was great to see them. Anna is the one who set John and me up on our first date so we are forever indebited to her! She and Lee have two beautiful boys and John and I really enjoy being with their whole family. They live in Augusta so we don't get to see them very often.

Our trip to Tallahassee on Friday went smoothly and we had an enjoyable visit with everyone. There was a house full! John's brother and his family drove down as well and Jackie (John's step-mom) was babysitting her son's children for the weekend. So there were 7 kids ages 6 and under. John David loved being with all the big kids and the big kids really took to him as well. We kept up with the tradition of having brunch at "Another Broken Egg Cafe" Saturday morning and getting pictures made with Santa at the cafe which is on a lake. This was John David's second time to visit Santa but the first time he was only 3 months old and didn't really know the difference of who was holding him. Well this year he did!!!! He was okay with seeing Santa from a distance, but once we tried to get him to sit in Santa's lap, it was a different story. We were aiming for a picture of all the grandkids together with Santa and what we ended up with was a classic picture of a terrified 14 month old and 6 kids looking at him to see what the big deal was.

All in all it was a great Thanksgiving and we are grateful to have so many people who love us and want to be with us to celebrate God's goodness and bountiful blessings.

John David is Walking!

2006-11-20T17:24:00.000-05:00

It's official, John David can walk by himself! It has been fun to watch his balance and coordination improve over the past few weeks as he has gone from taking a few steps ever so often to just letting go and taking off. The first day he decided to let go he kept making himself fall down because he got so excited that he was actually walking that it threw off his balance. Other times he fell because he was clapping for himself so much that he couldn't keep his coordination up. He's still a bit wobbly but I'm sure that will improve over the next few days as he continues to practice his new skill. Now if I can just teach him that he still has to back down the steps to our sunken den, we'll hopefully avoid a few busted lips.

John David's First Trip to the Beach

2006-11-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

Weekend before last, we took John David to the beach for the first time. My parents have a condo on Panama City Beach and they were nice enough to plan a trip and invite us to join them. I always love the beach this time of year but it was especially interesting this trip. A huge storm came in on our first day there. I've never seen waves that high and the wind made it almost unbearable to be on the beach. Nevertheless, I was determined to let John David experience the sand. So we dressed him warmly in a cute little "cabana" outfit and headed for the beach. He thought it was great! He liked the feel of the sand between his toes and headed straight for the water. It was too cold to go in that first day but the storm passed and the temperature started to rise and he was able to jump a few waves on Saturday and Sunday. We were able to have dinner on Saturday night with my good friends, Cassie and Benjy and their son, Ben. It was so nice to see them, just too short of a visit.

He has been doing better at walking on his own and I thought that weekend would be the time that he just took off and really started walking. We got a few good video clips of him taking some steps, but it's just been this week that he has been interested in letting go of whatever he is holding on to. His friends at church are younger than he is and are walking so I think he is experiencing some positive peer pressure for the first time in his life.

My mom and dad with John David the first time he saw the ocean.

A day after the storm passed, we were able to enjoy beautiful sunsets again.

Our Little Bumble Bee

2006-11-04T01:26:00.000-05:00

John David was a bumble bee for Halloween this year. I couldn't believe how quickly he caught on to the idea of trick-or-treating. We took him to a few of our neighbors' houses and he was so cute holding his pumpkin bucket out to get the candy. And if I started chatting too much he let me know quickly that he was ready to move on to the next house. Such a difference from last year. He was only 2 months old on Halloween and he slept through the whole thing. Here's a picture of him in his "sweet pea" costume from last year, taken the day after Halloween.

A Picture You Have to See

2006-10-26T00:22:00.000-04:00

There is a picture you just have to see! It was taken by Bobbi Jo Brooks, a former co-worker of mine from Mission to the World (www.mtw.org) and it's on her blog. I just can't get the picture off of my mind. It is so beautiful and unique. All of her pictures are great, but the one I'm referring to is the first one - the orange leaf. Check it out: www.bobbijobrooks.blogspot.com or you can just click on the link to her blog that is on the left of this page. Hope you are having a great week!

Grateful Friday

2006-10-20T22:54:00.000-04:00

Nolan Glenn Holloway was born on Wednesday, October 18th, just a day shy of his due date. He ended up being born via emergency c-section because his heart rate started dropping drastically with each contraction. I'm happy to report that mommy and baby are doing just fine, except of course for the painful recovery that comes with having a baby, and especially a c-section delivery. He is absolutely gorgeous! He has a beautiful head covered with fine dark hair and precious long fingers with fingernails that already need clipping! Isn't it amazing what all goes on in the womb? God even thought about fingernails! He weighed 8 lbs., 7 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. I'm grateful for this new life and for a safe delivery.

And I'm also grateful for:

- A night out with John
- John's mom offering to babysit before we even asked her
- Mother's Morning Out which usually allows me to get out of the house and work at John's office but this week allowed me to spend some time with Meredith and to meet baby Nolan
- A caring, loving family
- John David's jibber-jabber - makes me smile throughout the day. This week he said umbrella, stroller and ball... I have witnesses!
- John David's friendly spirit - he loves to say hi to everyone he sees, especially in the grocery store or Wal-Mart type places. It totally makes people's day and keeps a smile on my face while I respond to their compliments on what a sweet baby he is
- A day out of the house with Karla and Jacob
- A trip to the beach with my parents planned for next weekend. It will be John David's first time to see the ocean and the sand (other than what's in his sandbox!)
- Good lessons and reminders from the book of Ecclesiastes

Grateful Friday

2006-10-13T23:16:00.000-04:00

Can't believe it's Friday already! Here is my list of things for which I am grateful:

1. Time I spent with my Mom today.
2. Opportunities to help some people and a renewed interest in seeking out those opportunities.
3. A good time at a Sunday School Fellowship last Friday night with new friends.
4. John David's relationship with his grandparents.
5. New life - Aaron and Kate were both born this week.
6. A thoughtful husband and the sweet gifts he brought home from a run to the drugstore to get medicine for my aching back (a crossword puzzle book and a magazine on digital photography tips).
7. Crossword puzzles.
8. My brother's sense of humor.

Car, Eat and Brushing Teeth

2006-10-13T00:11:00.000-04:00

"Car" and "eat" are John David's words of the week. I'm sure about his mastery of the word car, but I'm not sure that he is really saying "eat" when the sound comes out of his mouth. But it is usually after I ask him if he is ready for breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc., that he responds with a nod and the sound that resembles "eat". He jibber-jabbers all day long and sometimes I get so tickled at what comes out. Sometimes it sounds like very complicated words that I'm pretty sure he can't really say...like elephant...and zebra. But it's usually when we are looking at pictures of these animals that the sounds come out! So either I'm hearing things or I have a child prodigy on my hands. I like to think the latter is the case! (I don't really think he's a prodigy, but I do think he can communicate well for being only 13 months old...hope I'm not being an annoyingly proud mama!)

Other words he says throughout the day include but are not limited to: hi, dog, mama, dada, out, what's that, thank you, door, bye-bye, and night-night. He enunciates some more than others, but he definitely knows what he is trying to say. For example, he doesn't exactly say "what's that", but the inflection and cadence of his voice communicates exactly what he is asking. And sometimes when you answer he says "oh". It's the cutest thing!

John David loves to brush his teeth. He cut his first tooth a week before he turned 5 months old and now has 8 teeth that fill his smile. So we've been brushing his teeth for quite a while and now he loves to do it by himself. Everytime we are at the sink and religiously after bath time he wants to brush his teeth. And of course we let him! Even if it is more for the taste of the toothpaste than his quest for good dental hygeine, we encourage it.

He still hasn't taken his first step but I know it's just about to happen. Everyone seems very eager for him to walk. The way I see it, Lord willing, he will walk the rest of his life so what's the rush? He's hard enough to catch on his all fours.

Grateful Friday

2006-10-06T16:11:00.000-04:00

There is a blog that I love to read and I don't even know the author personally. But I love the way she writes and what she writes about. Every Friday she posts a blog entry entitled "Grateful Friday". (There is a link to her blog on the left of this page - Four Sweet Peas.)I think it's a great idea to list the things for which you are grateful. So I'm going to attempt to post a "Grateful Friday" blog on Fridays. Here are the things for which I am especially grateful...

1. John and his unconditional goodness.
2. John David's health, growing cuirosity and budding personality.
3. My Mother-in-law for offering to keep John David overnight for us.
4. My Mother for offering to keep John David while John and I attend a couple's Bible study.
5. Old friends.
6. New friends.
7. Good things happening to former co-workers (one got married, several are dating seriously, and one is pregnant after a long wait).
8. Cooler weather.
9. Going for walks in cooler weather.
10. Tennis.
11. Bloggers whose posts challenge me to be more positive and challenge me to be a better person.
12. Jesus' unconditional love for me.

John's Birthday

2006-10-04T11:41:00.000-04:00

John's birthday was September 24th. Karen, Travis, Susan, Michael and Malachi came over after church to celebrate with John. I played in a tennis match and missed most of the afternoon, but John enjoyed being with everyone. And of course John David loved having his cousins over to play!

First Haircut

2006-09-20T13:42:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday John David got his first haricut. We took him to a place called "Just Kids Kuts" and it was the perfect place for a first haricut. They had cute seats for the kids to sit in, a train in the back for them to watch, and videos playing at every station to keep them occupied. He did really well. He wasn't too sure about the whole ordeal and wasn't thrilled about it, but he didn't scream either. He looks so handsome with his new "do"!

John and John David at home in our back yard after his haircut.

Trip to Naples

2006-09-16T00:10:00.000-04:00

We went to Naples last weekend for a wedding. When you read that we drove to Naples, you will realize that I'm referring to Naples, FL. Not quite as exotic as Naples, Italy, but it was a nice trip anyway. We drove down on Friday and back on Monday, which is too quick of a trip, but that's all the time we had. My Mother-in-Law went with us, so John David was entertained the whole time and did really well traveling. We went for Cara and Andrew's wedding. It was great to see Debbie, Scott and Sarah, and for it was nice for me to meet Andrew and Cara. For those of you reading who aren't family, Debbie is a life long friend of John's family. Andrew is her son and I had not yet met him since joining John's family in 2004. Sarah looked stunning. I couldn't believe how much she had grown! She was in our wedding just 2 1/2 years ago when she was 8 and now she's about to be 11.

On Sunday, we went to Debbie and Scott's house and watched Cara and Andrew open some of their wedding presents. Debbie and Scott have a beautiful house in a neighborhood in Naples with a swimming pool in their back yard. John took John David swimming and they had a ball. The first time John David was ever in a pool I let him "jump" off the side into the water. He loved it! Of course he wasn't really "jumping" since he can't even stand by himself yet. As soon as his feet hit the water he was reaching for the side to do it again. Notice the houses in the background of the picture - they are all on a lake that has risen really high with recent rain. Most of the houses in the neighborhood have swimming pools and they are all enclosed in a screened in porch. Such a great idea! Keeps the mosquitos and neighborhood children out of your pool.

We pray for all the best for Cara and Andrew as they begin their new life together as a married couple!

John David Turns One!

2006-09-06T13:05:00.000-04:00

It is so hard to believe that John and I are the parents of a one year old! John David turned one on Sunday, September 3rd, and we celebrated with a party on Saturday night. John's dad and step-mom were in town for the big event so the whole weekend was like a party with John's brother and his family spending a lot of time at our house. John David was so happy the whole weekend being surrounded by so many people who love him. In most of the pictures from his party he looks like a deer in headlights, but he really did enjoy himself!

He is growing so much and changing every day. This weekend he started saying a new word - dog. He got a new book with some doggies on it and he repeated the word several times. Although he correctly identifies dogs as dogs, there are several other small animals that he refers to "dog". He said the word "duck" a few times too, but not consistently. I think he is just practicing new sounds to go with the "d" sound that he mastered a long time ago. And he has started babbling with "m" sounds, but hasn't yet called me by name (Mama). Hopefully that's just around the corner!

We went today for his 1-year check-up and everything was great! He's still on the small side - weighs 19 lbs 5 oz (5th percentile) and is 28.5 inches long (10th percentile), but everything is right on track. I always get nervous when he has to get his shots, but as we were leaving the doctor's office John made a good point...at least we are blessed enough to live in a country where we can get good health care and that immunizations are routine. Thank you, Lord!

Meredith's Baby Shower

2006-08-28T13:47:00.000-04:00

Around about October 19th Meredith, Mark and Cole will be welcoming a new addition to their family. In preparation for the big event, Kimberly and I hosted a baby shower for Meredith. We had a great time visiting with everyone and Meredith received some nice gifts. Harrison (Kimberly's baby), got his first taste of what being at a baby shower is all about. John David has already been to a baby shower and decided to sit this one out (thanks to Grandma Karen for making that possible and giving mommy a chance to get everything ready without little hands helping her!) He did join us at the end for some photo opps.

John David's First Day of "School"

2006-08-15T16:28:00.000-04:00

Today was John David's first day of school...well, it's really just a Mother's Morning Out program two days a week, but it is part of the Pre-school at our church so we're calling it school for him. He did great. When we first arrived, the other little boy in his class had been crying for 30 minutes, ever since his mother left. John David kept looking at him and holding on tighter to me. But after a few minutes we all got down on the floor and got the boys interested in some blocks and the crying stopped. I blew kisses to John David and left the room and he never shed a tear.

When I picked him up, he was just as happy as ever. His teacher said he did great except for nap time. John and I have been curious about how that was going to work. John David has never been a real easy sleeper. At home it takes a rocking chair, room darkening curtains and a sound machine to bring on sleep. So when they put him on his nap mat today, she said he got up and headed straight for the toys. We can't imagine that he will ever lay still on a mat in the middle of the floor and fall asleep, but we will see!

Uncle David's Birthday

2006-08-12T22:34:00.000-04:00

We all live such busy lives that we only found time to celebrate David's birthday last Sunday, August 5. His actual birthday is July 25th. But it's good to get together no matter how belated! We enjoyed hanging out together, ate a good meal prepared by Mama (Granny, Mama C, Pat, etc.) and then John David had his first taste of a cupcake. We are just gearing up for his 1st birthday which is just around the corner.
Hmmm...this is yummy!!

Going back for more....

John David and Aiden "wrasslin'" with Papa

David, Lara, Lexi and Austin

Three Generations of Friends

2006-08-07T14:03:00.000-04:00

When I was little, we lived in a neighborhood full of kids. To this day we are still friends with many of the families we knew from that neighborhood. It has been so fun to gather over the years from time to time to see how everyone has grown and to catch up on life. Last Friday was one of those times. Kim and Kim lived one street over from me in the "old neighborhood" as we call it now. It was always a treat to get to play with them because they were a couple of years older than me and had what I thought were the coolest toys. The one I envied was a Cher barbie doll with long hair. Funny what we remember from our childhood! Anyway, we are all grown up now and have children of our own. One of the Kims now lives in New Jersey, so we took the opportunity while she was in town to get together for a play date. John David loved meeting Aaron, Eliza, Katherine, Logan and Ryan. All of the grandmas were there and enjoyed adoring each other's grandkids. And just like old times, it was a treat to be with Kim and Kim again!

Bath Time

2006-08-01T21:48:00.000-04:00

It's so hard to believe how fast John David is growing up. We took this picture after his bath Sunday night and it reminded me of a couple of others that we had taken a few months back. I'll post those so that you can see how he is growing. On Thursday, August 3rd, he will be 11 months old.

Amost 4 months old

Almost 8 months old

Uncle Travis' Birthday

2006-07-27T23:58:00.000-04:00

Today is Uncle Travis' birthday so we went to dinner to celebrate. (Uncle Travis is John's brother.)

John David had fun playing with his cousins, Michael and Malachi, before the food arrived. They were so sweet to share their toys with him. Malachi is very nurturing and loves to help "take care" of John David. Michael and Malachi are twins and they are 3 1/2 years old.

2006-07-26T00:44:00.000-04:00

Just John David...

2006-07-26T00:43:00.000-04:00

Daddy and John David

2006-07-26T00:33:00.000-04:00

Future gymnast?

Our Little Sport

2006-07-25T22:51:00.000-04:00

John David loves life. He is such a happy baby and he is very content much of the time. His latest showing of his love for something is to squeal with his eyes squinted. I caught him doing this while he was playing with a volleyball the other day. He would get the ball, throw it, squeal and then crawl towards it to do it all over again. It's amazing to me that we never had to show him what to do with a ball. He got a ball from the Easter Bunny (one of the $1.49 ones from Kroger/K-Mart/Walmart, etc.) and immediately knew to throw it. And that was when he was just 7 months old.

He loves to hang from the bar on his play set out back. Of course he can't yet hold himself on it, but loves for John or me to let him hang from it and then swing as if he were a gymnast in training.

On a recent shopping trip to IKEA, we discoverd his love for tunnels. They had one on display and he must've crawled through it 10 times. They were out of ones to purchase, but I found one about a week later at Target. It's in our playroom now and he loves to be chased in or out of it.

Whether he is throwing balls, hanging from the swing set, or crawling through tunnels, our little sport is always on the go!

Apple of God's Eye

2006-07-19T11:21:00.000-04:00

Harrison Charles Springs was born in the wee hours of April 25, 2006 to Kimberly and Jason Springs. A few weeks ago we got to meet the little blessing when he and Kimberly came for a visit. He is such a good baby and really cute too! Meredith and Cole came to see him as did Lara, Lexi, Austin, Aiden and Granny (my mom). It was a full house! He did great with all of the kids running around him, just hanging out in the swing. I have to say Kimberly did quite well too - don't know if I would've been that calm! But it was such a blessing to have everyone together.

You see, Kimberly, Meredith and I are living the lives we dreamed about as young girls - to be married to the man of our dreams and to be blessed with children. I think we all imagined that the children would include some girls, but so far, that hasn't been God's plan. Meredith and Mark are expecting a baby boy in October and that will be their 2nd boy. We have discussed it and decided that it was part of God's plan to bring us closer together and closer to Him - having boys increases your prayer life!

Harrison has a bib that boasts: "Apple of God's Eye". Isn't it great as a believer, to rest in the fact that we are the Apple of God's Eye? He knitted us together in our mother's womb and we are fearfully and wonderfully made. One of my favorite passages of scripture is Psalm 139. In the New International Version it reads:
O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Catching up over the last 10 months

2006-07-19T10:36:00.000-04:00

John David Lindsey - born September 3, 2005 at 10:38 a.m. Weighed 7 lbs., 3 oz and was 19 inches long.

2006-07-19T10:35:00.000-04:00

John David at 3 months old

2006-07-19T10:34:00.000-04:00

Our first family photo, taken December 5th, 2005. John David was 3 months old.

2006-07-19T10:33:00.000-04:00

John David's first Easter Egg Hunt - he didn't actually hunt any eggs but enjoyed the fruits of his cousins' labor. (April 10, 2006, 7 months old)

2006-07-19T10:28:00.000-04:00

My Lil' Rapper...we had gone to the grocery store and the sun was shining so bright that mommy put this hat on me in the parking lot. She forgot to take it off and when we got home, it had made it's way to the side of my head, making me look like a little rapper! (April 21, 2006, 7 months old)

John David's first trip to the Game Ranch

2006-07-19T10:19:00.000-04:00

John David's first trip to the Game Ranch/Petting Zoo May 27, 2006

He loved feeding the animals (and eating a few crackers himself) and wasn't scared of any of them. He is 8 months old in these pictures.

About to Walk?

2006-06-29T10:34:00.000-04:00

John David pulled up to a standing position on his own this week! We had a house full of visitors and I had glanced away from him for a second (maybe two!) and all of a sudden he was standing up, leaning on a big Rubbermaid container. I didn't get a photo of that, but I did catch him on his first time up the steps by himself. That happened the same day. And now he is on the move. He gets everywhere he wants to go by doing a military type crawl - he can crawl on his hands and knees, but he gets where he is going much faster on his tummy. It kind of looks like he is swimming out of water. He will be 10 months old on July 3rd. I know everyone says it, but I can't believe how the time flies.

Giving this another go

2006-04-26T23:21:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I haven't been so great at keeping up with our blog! I've been busy watching John David grow and learn to explore his new world. He is so much fun. Instead of trying to bring you up-to-date over the last 7 months, I'm just going to jump in and start where we are. Just know that the last 7 months have been wonderful, trying, challenging, blissful and somewhat sleepless. But with a smile like this, it's worth everything...

The Count Down is REALLY On!

2005-08-25T14:52:00.000-04:00

Now it's just a week before we'll get to meet this little fella we've been dreaming so much about! Although my due date is Saturday, September 3rd, the doctors are going to induce labor next Thursday, September 1st if the baby hasn't come on his own by then. He weighs about 6 1/2 lbs now and we keep hearing about how long his legs are. I have weekly ultrasounds because I have gestational diabetes and he gets measured every other week. These past two weeks he only gained a few ounces instead of the pound he should've gained, so I'm glad we are going through with the induction.

He is a very active baby and moves all the time. The past few nights he's had the hiccups. It is the weirdest feeling. I read somewhere that hiccups were normal and even healthy because that means that they are practicing their breathing, which I never realized they do in utero until recently. He swallows the amniotic fluid which causes him to have the hiccups.

We'll be sure to post his picture as soon as we can after his arrival. And we look forward to him meeting all of you very soon!

The Count Down is On...

2005-07-28T13:51:00.000-04:00

Just a little over 5 weeks and our little boy should make his grand entrance! We are busy preparing for his arrival and are counting down the days...well, still weeks at this point, but it won't be long! I'm new at this blogging thing, but I'll try to post some of his first pictures, taken while in utero.

Baby Boy Lindsey at 8 1/2 weeks

Baby Boy Lindsey sucking his thumb at 20 weeks

Baby Boy Lindsey sucking his thumb at 20 weeks

Baby BOY Lindsey at 20 weeks (the evidence shot)

Baby Boy Lindsey's foot around 25 weeks

Baby Boy Lindsey's profile around 30 weeks