It's News.. The Good With The Bad!

I don't even know where to begin. I guess I will start with the good. Adam has been offered a position in Hot Springs, Arkansas to serve as Family Minister!! This came as a surprise to us. Adam has been searching for a job of and on for a while now (ministry job). The pastor of this church.. Leonard St. Baptist Church, is John Graves, a friend of Adam's from Mid-America when we were in Memphis. John and his later wife, Crystal went to church with us in Olive Branch, MS for a short time before they went to be a pastor of a small church not so very far away. We attended their wedding, etc. etc. Anyways, this church is a small country church that only had John and a music guy on staff. They are at the point that they need to bring another staff person on to help organize, outreach, and teach children, and youth, etc. etc. John and Adam was talking on the phone and Adam was just joking with him a while back about giving him a job and John said "we actually have a position open.. but wasn't sure if you were interested. It is a part-time position so Adam would have to get a 2nd part-time job. Anyways, we prayed about it and started making plans to visit the church "in view of a call" to this church. We felt like this was Adam's opportunity to get paid experience and to work right with a great friend and family.

We didn't tell hardly any one that we were going to Arkansas this past weekend. The church wanted him to preach on Sunday too.. which he did. We drove about 10 hours there and back and I have to say it is the longest drive!! Esp. with snow in the forecast going and coming!

The visit went great! We stayed with John and Crystal and they have a 3 month old.. Zoe, and 21 month old.. Josiah. Grace had so much fun playing with Josiah. We LOVE their family and had such a good time with them! The church was very welcoming to us. A LOT of work needs to be done at this church and they have a long way to go.

So with that said, we have a HUGE set-back in our house here in Louisville. We HAVE to sell it or rent it out before we can make plans to go. We are planning on our real estate agent doing an open house while we are gone to GA next weekend for my Brother and his fiance.. Kelly's wedding. We plan on freqent open house in the next month and if nothing happens to sell it we will have to see about renting it. We are looking at renting through our real-estate agent because he does property management. We are just putting it in the Lord's hands to sell or if meant to be, rent it out, to make it possible for us to go. We feel like if the Lord wants us in Arkansas.. he will work all of this out.

Leonard St. is not in a huge hurry to get someone in the position. They have a month or so for us to try to sell our house and then go from there to see what it is looking like. So please pray!!!

Oh and by the way, On our way to Hot Springs, We have to go through Memphis, TN. It was VERY WEIRD to us to go through all the areas that we used to go through while living there. We honestly NEVER thought we would be any where around that area again! So we stopped on the exit that we used to get off on to go to our house.. Whitten Rd. for a potty break and couldn't resist going by our old house there. I am attaching a pic of it.. they have removed most all of the landscaping we put in.. but besides that, it looks about the same!:) REALLY weird, going back!




At John and Crystal's and around the city..












THE BAD>>>>
On our way to Arkansas we got in a major wreck! We didn't tell ANYONE besides John and Crystal till after we got back because we didn't want every one worrying! Adam had worked the night before we left and so I was trying to let him sleep and occupy Grace at the same time.. quietly. She was in the back seat picking at the DVD player and I was worried she was going to break it. I reached in the back seat to get the DVD player from her and when I turned back around I was going off the Left side of the road (I was in the Left Lane). I immediately over-corrected and jerked my wheel to the right and went across the lanes and hit the gaurd rail on the Right side of the road and then over-corrected AGAIN and ended up going ACROSS THE MEDIAN AND ACROSS TWO LANES OF THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC!! I completely freaked out! I lost control and didn't know what to do! I think I hit the gaurd rail twice. Anyways, I came to a perfect stop on the side of the road facing oncoming traffic. PRAISE THE LORD.. there was NO cars beside me or oncoming when I crossed those lanes. 5 more seconds and there would have been!! THANK GOD we walked a way with not a scratch and I didn't hit any body!!

IT WAS THE SCARIEST SITUATION EVER!!! All I have to say is that I CRIED AND CRIED PRAISING THE LORD for his protection on us that day. I realized the Lord is NOT done with any of us YET! He definitely spared our life and for that I am forever grateful. Now, it makes me wonder what big plans he has for our lives!!:)

I definitely learned my lesson about reaching in the back seat and about driving that day! Since then, Adam drove the car the rest of the way and later ran in to snow in Arkansas on the way. (we were around Jackson, TN when it happened) The snow was scary at one point but we made it there and then drove that car home the whole rest of the way back. It is amazing because after the insurance guy looked at it he said our R passenger tire and wheel was curved in and the seal had been broken between the tire and wheel and there were rocks in there. He couldn't believe that we didn't have a blow-out or at least a flat tire. The Lord was with us!! Our car has been TOTALED out due to so many areas that were affected. NOW.. we are car shopping for a used Van or SUV..

I am attaching pics. I took them while the car was in the garage so I couldn't get really good ones.. but you get the idea!

Winter Days..

As most of you all know, Grace has been terribly sick with the stomach virus. She vomited for 3 days/ nights and had diarrhea. She was getting really weak and we were beginning to worry about dehydration. On Sunday, we were giving Grace pedialyte by the spoonful and she finally started getting better. She is now back to herself!!

In the last week, we have played in the snow (before she got sick) and just had lots of cuddle time, esp. with her being sick. We have had plenty of snow to play in this year but I found Grace a pair of snow boots at my favorite consignment shop for 1 dollar last week. So we had to get some use out of these boots!:)

I am attaching some pics of her drawing and her picture (on the L of the page) that she colored. She has got to be so good at drawing and coloring. She just amazes us. Her drawing is supposed to be Papa Bear and Mama Bear (Bernstein Bears) and she is copying the page beside that. The one on the left is Papa Bear and the one on the right is Mama Bear. On her head, she has a hat!!:)

My Wednesday nights now consist of a women's book study on this book~



It has already been so great! This book really helps me look at marriage in a different way. All the while, Grace just loves her Honeybees class and then I have choir after that! I hate I will miss today because I have a baby shower for a close friend at work tonight, but am excited about her shower.

Loving Wednesdays!!~

A Day of Messes

I finally figured out how to get that template off of our blog. I am happy!

We had a day of messes yesterday. Grace had two accidents (wet) in our house yesterday and one included on our couch! This is a first and a first of accidents since the first week we started potty training. I was a bit discouraged when she did it a second time on the kitchen floor and walked in it!:) So back to the grind today and she is right back on track.

Also, all of the snow has left our yard a big mess this year. The snow finally melted yesterday in what seems like over a week and then the ground turns to mud. Needless to say, after carrying Allie (our Pomeranian) out, her paws are very muddy. We have to bring her in and take her straight to the tub to wash her paws off so she doesn't track in the house. Today, we have another 2 inches of snow that came in over the morning hours so we are back to snow covered grounds. It seems like since the day after Thanksgiving we have had snow on the ground about constantly.

I think we are all ready for some warm weather!! It won't be long..

Here are some random pics. She is looking at her new boots in one of the pics. She is proud!:) I got these and a lot of other stuff at my favorite consignment shop (Buttons, Bows, and Britches) the other day. I got the best deals that day! I got like 7 pairs of shoes~ some for Grace (inc. snow boots for Grace) and others for our nephew, and neice to be:), and socks, Old Navy pair of p.j.'s (with tags still on them), safety first item (in the package), a Dumbo stuffed doll for Grace, etc. for 19 dollars for all of that!! They all look about brand new too if not new with some great name brands too! Love me some deals!!!

Ugh... Blogger

The template on our blogger got messed up a while back and I can't figure out how to get the blogger template off and just have the cutest blog on the block background. It is like it meshes all these things together now and I can't figure out how to get the old stuff off. Also, when I upload images the code only pops up (in words) on blogger so I can't see the pics on the blog till I publish or preview them after uploading. I get tired of messing with it so if any of you know what we did and how to change that.. I welcome your advice:)

Puzzles and Fun..

I took Grace to Puzzles Fun Dome last Friday for some 'out of the house' fun. We just love this place. It has bouncies, a preschool play area, arcade, art area, a little theater, mini golf, and a bowling alley (if you want to pay extra for the mini golf, bowling, and arcade). I was amazed at how brave Grace has become because she didn't hesitant to climb the mountain of a slide and go down it. It is huge!! Thankfully, it wasn't very crowded either and I noticed some adults getting in the bouncies and going down the slide. I asked the guy if it was okay if I got in because Grace was asking me to bounce with her:). He said "sure!" so that is just what I did. I even climbed the big slide and went down twice behind her. She just LOVED me getting in on the action and it WAS fun! She played an arcade game (where she tried to race a car) and colored a picture before we left in the art area. She even brought some pages home with her to color and I am including a pic of her sponge bob that she colored. Look closely because she colored his legs, arms, and all of the details you see all by herself.. in the lines!! I am amazed at how she can concentrate on an area and color so well. I will have to post some of her drawings too on here some time, where she is drawing real pictures!!

She was good and tired when we left and it was loads of fun for the both of us:)

Wednesday night activities have started up in high gear and Grace is back in Honeybees, I am doing the Mom 2 Mom again this semester and of course, choir practice. We just LOVE Wednesdays! Adam is in full swing with school. He is unable to help with Awana this semester since he is taking 3 classes this semester and working full-time. They are split in terms and he is doing well with all of it so far!

Around the House..

Since Christmas, I have spent a good bit of time just catching up around the house, with work in between. We have had two couples from our church have babies lately and we are providing meals for them. I will take the 2nd meal tomorrow. Also, our DEAR friends the Frasure's have been going through some tough times right now. They discovered right before Christmas that their 2 month old baby had hydrocephalus and required surgery. They were visiting family in GA at the time and had to come back here to Kosair's hospital for her to have the brain surgery to have the shunt put in to drain the fluid off of her brain. I know it was very scary for them. Praise God the surgery went well but they have to keep a close watch on her and are having to keep her away due to her risk of infection after surgery. I was able to go see Evie in the hospital after surgery and she was doing well. Resting pretty well because they had her on pain meds. Still praying for them daily as they learn to care for her, etc.

Also, still praying for my step-sister Tracey who will have her LAST radiation treatment tomorrow and possibly no more chemo unless the oncologist decides to do more before or after surgery. The cat scan is in 4 weeks and surgery 2 weeks after that.

I also found out that my Dad's cousin Charles, died Sunday night. He was like a best friend to my Dad and was there so much for my Dad when he was sick. He spent a lot of time at our house. I am SOO glad we got to see him when we came to AL and talk with him about salvation. I pray that the Lord will use this to further His kingdom! Very sad though to lose such a soft spoken, and friendly man! He had been through so much though.. renal failure, etc. etc.

There are many other requests out there and I know a lot of people are dealing with all kinds of things.. Please remember these..

Besides this we've had some great quality time around the house. I am going to post a pic of a video of Grace singing and dancing with her Dora microphone (that she just loves)!

It has also been very cold and snowy lately. It snowed again today and is tonight. We did take time to play in it a little bit. We made snow angels, threw snow balls, and Grace helped her Daddy shovel the road:)

My Darlings~:)

Potty SUCCESS!!!

In the past week in a half or so we have stayed around the house a good bit. We got right on potty training again. We had tried potty training with her a couple of times before but Grace was just NOT interested or just didn't get it and was resistant to it. (Didn't even want to SIT on the potty--she would cry to not have to..). I first tried to put her in panties and then a pull-up on top and this didn't work for her. She didn't like the wet feeling of the panties against her skin but it didn't stop her. So I decided to go straight to bare bottom. After wetting the floor only once she decided real fast that she did NOT like it! So I continued to let her go around the house bare bottom with a gown or shirt on and it was a constant reminder that if she had to "go" she HAD to sit on the potty. We remind her a lot that if she has to go she has to use the potty because she will wet or get the floor dirty:). IT HAS WORKED!!!! We are SOOO proud of her! It was obvious that she was absolutely ready this time! With in a week she was having NO accidents except while sleeping. Besides that the only accidents was when I was real busy and unable to consistently remind her or when she had a pull-up on (during the first week). She can wear panties now all the time when she isn't sleeping and even told us when she needed to go while out at a restaurant after church on Sunday and went, and didn't wet her self the whole time we were out last night. She is all business and this has included poops!

Her reward system has been either a m&m, piece of chocolate, marshmallow, etc. AND she had a poster that she got to put a sticker on each time she used the potty. She got a certificate when she completed it:) and now she started a new Elmo calendar that came in her Elmo potty coloring book. We let her put a sticker wherever she wants when she uses the potty. Such a big girl!!

Christmas Day in KY 2010

As you all know we were back in KY for Christmas and had a great relaxing Christmas with just the three of us. On Christmas Eve I made some Christmas goodies to snack.. sausage balls, cheese dip and chips, corn dip with chips, baked ham and rolls. We went to the Christmas Eve service at our church that evening which I just LOVE! I love pausing on Christmas Eve to actually reflect on what Christmas is all about! We came home and Grace and I made Jesus a chocolate birthday cake that we had planned on having on Christmas Day. We are going to try to make this a tradition and make Jesus a B'day cake every year for Christmas and sing to him.. to take our minds back to this very special day in history and what it means for us in the future!

Later, I took our big dog on a long walk in our neighborhood to give him some exercise before the snow came and it was so peaceful and a great time of reflection for me on Christmas. Then the snow came and we had a white Christmas.. not a lot just enough to be white:)

Christmas morning, we told Grace that Santa had come and she was so happy. I think she was a bit overwhelmed at first by every thing AND she had just woke up.. so she was a little slow processing:). She had a blast all day playing with her new toys, etc. and crashed at bedtime that night. We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and shared chocolate cake together. Yum! It was a pretty lazy day and ate leftover goodies and watched a Christmas movie.

I am going to share some pics and videos from our day.. as you will see in one of the videos.. Grace had asked for a "brown" baby:) Is that not the sweetest and cutest thing!! We gave her a name now though=)








Here is our white Christmas:)


Santa has made his visit=)






Lets just say I won't be going into cake decorating any time soon! Ha!



Playing with her new play-do and cookie cutters