Happy Birthday Richard

Happy Birthday Richard!

I love this man. He works hard and he plays hard.

The man knows how to have fun! He is also tender-hearted and wise at the same time. He cares about the difficult things of the world and isn't afraid to stand up for what is right. He is gentle when needed and tough when it is required. He loves his family entirely unselfishly. He is not lazy. He provides not only for us physically, but emotionally and spiritually. He is a strong rock for our family and when he is away we all feel it. He is sincere:

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
Romans 12: 9-12

Counting my blessings...

Another Teenager in the House

Happy Birthday Erin!

It's always going to be Spring Break...maybe raining, maybe snowing, maybe sunny on Erin's birthday. As a teen, she'll be choosing to stay home or go on Spring Break trips. Last year we threw a huge birthday bash and left the next morning for Mission Arlington. This year we celebrated with a shopping trip with me (!) and a steak dinner with the family. And this morning...in the flurry of Sunday morning...she left with her friends for Mission Arlington again.


I'm so thankful for this smiling, maturing, funny girl God has given us. She is making bigger decisions about friends, family and God...and making them with the same confidence as she used to make with her art projects at home! I'm so thankful she wants to be a godly girl and she recognizes the everyday traps of the world. She recognizes she's not perfect but also recognizes the Perfect One and asks Him often for help.

Welcome to the teen years, Erin!

Assistant Principal for the Day!

Congratulations Sheridan, who earned 100 Accelerated Reading points at school and got to be Assistant Principal last Friday!! She got an awesome All Star Reader medal and got to help the principal (with two other 1st graders) hand out reading awards!


What a HUGE day!!

Spring in my step!

I bought a pedometer. They were $5 at WM. I owned it for 5 days and it didn't make me walk. I just kept moving it around on the kitchen counter out of my way. I've heard all about taking 10,000 steps and changing your life. I have a friend who has dropped 45 pounds walking 3 miles each day since June.

I dream about walking. I think about walking from my house to the church and surprising Richard. I think about making it around my block a couple times a day. I think about walking downtown, and at the nature trail, and going hiking. I think about all this extra weight coming off while I walk. But I don't do it.

FACT 1: I'm going to Hawaii in one month.
FACT 2: I'd rather not be this size when I go.

Yesterday was my first day to walk for real. I took two walks pushing my calves until they were screaming. Knowing the whole time, that I should have been able to go farther. I was happy and felt good when I went to bed.

Last night I had a dream about running. I was literally pulling up the sidewalk trying to make progress. I woke up in a sweat. What is that about?

Next week we are going to Mission Arlington. It would be so much more fun if I were smaller. I would be so much more fun! I hope to keep up my walking, my smaller portions, my right thinking. I need to do better in a lot of areas to make a difference in a month. I don't like to see myself in pictures, I don't even recognize myself...and I WANT to be in my Hawaii pictures.

Switching Seasons

Lauren: Swimming to Soccer





Ryan: Football to Baseball

Erin: Track, hurdles to be exact...but no pictures of her FAST shoes yet.

quote of the day

"Faith unchallenged is faith unchanged"

I saw this on a church sign recently.

Last Sunday morning during the Bible Study hour I sat with a friend in the hospital who is losing her fight with cancer. She's been given about 2 weeks. We were quiet. Talked just a little. I sang her favorite hymn to her. It was sobering. It was precious.

When I went to church I ran into a new friend who has a 4 week old baby. I had talked to her a little last week at our sale and they are having a hard time with their baby, a lot of crying and not a lot of sleep for anyone.

We sit in front of them in service so I asked if the baby fussed if I could take her out instead of one of them missing the sermon. She lasted about 15 minutes and then I was surprised, but they let me have her! I held this little precious baby out in the hallway for almost 30 minutes. She has this huge shock of hair on her head that stands straight up, she has blue eyes and loves to look at you while sucking the life out of her paci. It was precious.

Faith is knowing that God has everything in control, no matter what.

Great Girls

I've been teaching the Sr High girls Bible Study class for about a year. There is this real special group of 11th grade girls who I really enjoy! Most of them play on our girls bball team and recently we traveled to watch them play in the district tournament. I'm not related to any of them, but I sure felt like a mom as they played their hardest.

For a number of reasons, I'm not teaching right now. It was very hard to give up my class, but it was what I needed to do for now. I miss these girls. They are FULL of potential for the Lord and His work. The girls are fun and confident and strong. They are interested in what God's very best for them will be.

I'm thankful Ryan is spending time with this particular group of kids. In fact, he's going to prom with one of the sweet girls from this group. With so much pressure on our kids to make bad decisions, I'm glad this group is accountable to one another for making good decisions at school and on the court.




Parker, Anna Grace and Sheridan cheer on the Panthers! I'm so thankful for her sweet friends!


Counting our blessings in small town living...

4th time around

We set up our event in the cleanest 10,000 sq feet in Russellville on a Friday. By Saturday afternoon the store was over halfway filled. By Sunday night our toys must've had babies because we were FULL with Fisher Price! On Monday we opened the doors to the first shoppers at 3:00. Volunteers, consignors, Moms-to-be and guests rounded out a wonderful Pre Sale event! For a funny story check out my post on our company blog.










Our corporate sponsor...provided shopping totes for our first 500 shoppers!

I'm so thankful to be finished. It's a lot of HARD WORK! However, handing out great checks to my consignors, checking out happy shoppers, and finishing the entire event with nice weather and compliments is awesome!

Thank you DAD who stayed the entire week and did so many random things I couldn't even list! Thank you MOM for working so hard (on your feet) for 3 days...including being the door keeper on Pre Sale night. Thank you Richard for being there whenever my brain just couldn't make any more decisions and for your many extra trips back and forth down I-40 bringing all the things from our house! I couldn't have done it without you all watching my back.

self employment

Not extremely proud of this, but just wanted to have a picture of what my house and car look like before a sale. My family learned to live around my things. I tried to leave at least one couch open at all times!