A Life of Gratitude

My husband is a big Carolina fan, always has been. My son, however, is a Duke fan, mostly because his cousin is a Duke fan and he wants to be just like him. As an early birthday present for Bryan, Dylan and I dressed up in "tarheel fan attire" and surprised him with tickets to today's game. Dylan said, "Daddy, this is the only day I'll be a Carolina fan!" So, we celebrated Bryan's birthday and New Year's Eve at the Dean Dome. (Evan got to stay home with his Grammie and Popsy.) Everywhere we looked the screens screamed, "Happy Blue Year!" It was a really fun way to end 2013! During time-outs the screens showed different players sharing their New Year's Resolutions. We discussed what a resolution is with Dylan and he said he'd like to read a chapter book by himself during 2014. As the game continued, I thought seriously about my resolutions. Of course I'd like to lose some weight..that's a given ever...

We went to a family reunion/Christmas party tonight that was held at my late Pawpaw's church. We enjoyed lots of yummy food and fellowship. The kids had a blast playing together. At the beginning of the night Evan found 5 or 6 little Bibles. He began carrying them around, "reading" them, and passing them out to family members. I put them back where they belonged while we ate dinner and I thought he had forgotten about them. As soon as Evan finished eating and climbed out of his seat, he came running back with those Bibles!  He carried those Bibles around for the rest of the evening. He was asking everyone to read the Bible to him and even standing at the pulpit with his Bible like he was preaching! He knelt at the altar with the Bible and even laid down with the Bibles. As I watched him, Deuteronomy 6: 4-7 came to mind. It says:  " Israel, listen to me. The  Lord  is our God. The  Lord  is the one and only God.     Love the  Lord ...

I believe there are some prayers that God answers right away, without hesitation. For example, over the past few months I've been praying that God would give me eyes to see others the way He sees them. Since I began praying that prayer, my heart has become abundantly aware of the needs of others and I have had a burning desire to help them, whether its my best friend or a complete stranger. Its not that I never cared in the past, I was just blissfully ignorant, I guess. Lately, however, God has allowed me to truly see what people around me are struggling with.  Today was no exception. As we were driving through Greensboro this afternoon, Bryan and I noticed a tent community within the woods near a busy a intersection. I've heard of these communities before but I've never actually seen one. There must have been 20 tents or sheets hanging in the trees, lots of large boxes that are used for beds and probably 50 people or more crowded around. It absolutely blew my mind. No...

I love Christmas. I really do. But this Christmas has been odd for me. Being at my mom's while we look for a new home has made this Christmas seem a little weird. I don't know, its just different not having a home to celebrate in with my little family. I've also found it hard to get everything done that I normally do during the Christmas season. There are certain foods I haven't had time to make and certain activities I haven't had to time do. I accidentally packed our advent wreath and the family devotions that went with it. So, I printed off family devotions for us to do each night this month and we never got around to doing even one of them. So, today, as a last ditch effort, I made a little nativity scene out of paper and we read the Christmas story together. My boys know why we celebrate Christmas but I just wanted to focus on Jesus for a while, as a family. It started off good. Bryan was reading and everyone was listening. But, after a few minutes one boy was...

I attended another funeral today. I've gotta say, I'm getting really tired of funerals. As I sat in the church, waiting for the service to begin, my heart was burdened. Not so much for the man that passed away or for the family that was in the church but more so for the family that wasn't there. You see, this family has had a lot of heartache over the years. There have been many hurt feelings and difficult situations. So, at the end of this man's life, some of the family members chose not to come.  As I think about some of the families I know, I can see the same thing happening even now. Difficulties and poor choices are causing divisions and broken relationships. I know everyone makes mistakes. In fact, some people make HUGE mistakes that impact lots and lots of people. And sometimes those same people make the same mistakes over and over again . On our own, we often can't find forgiveness in our hearts. We choose bitterness and anger. And in the end, it does a...

My little family had a wonderful morning with my best friend, Melissa and her son, Shane. They came over to make some very special, handmade ornaments. While the kids were screaming and running around like crazy, Melissa and I were rolling out dough for handprints. It was so nice to spend a few moments with our friends, even if the boys were wild. Once we were done with the ornaments we ventured out for lunch at Speedy's BBQ. This was Melissa and Shane's first trip to the big town of Lexington so, of course, we had to let them taste our world famous BBQ. Believe it or not, all three boys ate their hotdogs with the buns! That is a Christmas miracle for our boys! After lunch we walked around downtown Lexington. We enjoyed seeing the pigs singing by the enormous Christmas tree and visiting the Candy Factory. The kids had a great time together! Dylan making his ornaments Melissa and Shane making ornaments The ornaments turned out so cute! I'm lovin' this ph...

Tonight we celebrated Christmas with my dad and stepmom with a ride on the Handy Dandy Train. My boys love anything that involves trains so this was a very exciting evening for them! We got to ride in the caboose and see all the beautiful Christmas lights. After the train ride we visited the petting zoo, rode some ponies, and toasted marshmallows. Tonight's weather was perfect, not too hot or too cold. It was definitely the perfect evening for celebrating Christmas in the country. My little family waiting on the train Dylan and Evan with Grammie and Popsy Evan loved seeing the Christmas lights through the train window Evan loved holding the chicken!  Dylan thought this rabbit was funny! The pony rides... YUM! During the train ride, the train stopped so the passengers could watch a short film. Guess what?!? The film wasn't about Santa, elves, the North Pole, or even assorted holiday traditions. This film was about the birth of Jesus! It was so ...

We went to the park this afternoon with some friends. Dylan and Evan had a great time playing and believe it or not, the weather was wonderful! I didn't even need jacket! Evan is only 2 years old but he thinks he is as big as his brother. He was all over that playground. He wasn't afraid to climb the steepest ladder or slide down the biggest slide. Once he got to the top of the slide he would yell down, "look out below!"  It was adorable. I kept trying to get him to play on the little slides but he didn't want any part of the baby stuff...he is a big boy! Look out below! Check out that hair! After he mastered the stairs and slide, he noticed another child sliding down head first. Yes, I said head first! The slide he was about to go down was very high and I didn't have the chance to climb to the top and stop him before my sweet little baby went head first too! He nearly gave me a heart attack. When he got to the bottom he was grinning from ear to ear...

We had a Christmas Party with our Sunday School class this evening. It was hilarious because we all wore our tackiest Christmas sweaters! It was so much fun to see everyone wearing such gaudy sweaters! We also ate a lot of yummy food, played  fun games and all took a "Rednack Santa" gift home with us. This is our version of "Dirty Santa" but instead of buying a gift, everyone brings something from home they no longer want. Bryan ended up with a lingerie bag and I ended up with a 3 foot Christmas tree. You've gotta love "Redneck Santa!" Our Sunday School Class (minus a few) in our tacky sweaters Games! Redneck Santa.....there's the lingerie bag! Me and my hubby!  Wow, those sweaters are ugly! After looking at these photos, I'm sure its no surprise that Bryan won the Ugly Sweater contest! He did have some competition though! All these sweaters were hideous! Bryan won 1st place, Carly (in red) won 2nd place, and Halley (in ...

Every year as a little girl I would go to my grandmother's house to make moravian cookies. It was a Christmas tradition for everyone in our family. When Dylan was born, I began taking him each year to make moravian cookies with Grandma. He really enjoyed using the cookie cutters and helping her roll out the dough. Last Christmas, after Grandma passed away, I begin making her recipe for moravian cookies. Dylan helped me some last year but his attention span was pretty short. This year, however, is another story entirely! He is having so much fun making these cookies. He can do the whole process with almost no help. It is so cute to watch him rub flour all over the board, pat the dough into a ball, roll the dough with the rolling pin, add more flour, roll a little more, use the cookie cutters and place the cut-outs onto the pan. Tonight he told me that he was the pastry chef and I was his sous chef. I was so proud to watch him making those cookies! We made 8 pans of moravian coo...