Bringing your children UP

One of the heaviest burdens I bear is making sure that my children know the Lord and have a personal relationship with HIM. We have been working on memorizing some memory verses. This has been great for me and Brian too! It is kind of like going back to the basics. Looking at God's word in a simple way that you can ponder and apply.
Lately, both of my children have provided moments of joy to confirm that what is being taught is clicking! Not too long ago, LM and I were talking about communion. He wanted to know when we were going to "drink Jesus's blood" and "eat his body" at church. I laughed, but began to cry. He is listening and learning!
Can't forget P...you should listen to this girl sing her praise and worship songs. It is hilarious and precious all rolled into one!

Family Fun...Halloween Party?

If you are a parent of young children, you MUST subscribe to the FAMILY FUN magazine! It is like Christmas for me every time it arrives. I like to pick and choose a few activities that I can do with the fam and/or my students. I have been getting it for the last several years and I KEEP EVERY SINGLE ONE! It is filled with wonderful ideas.

Today, I got the Halloween issue. Now, I am not into all the ghosts, goblins, witches, and demonic stuff...BUT...I love to dress the kids up and love FALL activities. For the last two years, we have had a kids' costume party. I was thinking this year that we wouldn't do it, but LM saw all of the Halloween decor in the stores and wants to do it! What to do?

It actually is a lot of fun. We work together to do a goodie bag invitation. Then we dress in black and deliver the invites...only we never let anyone see us! We run to the doorbell, drop the bag, and speed off in the car. SO FUN and quite an adrenaline rush! At the party, the guests bring their own spooky treat to share, we play games, and then have a Halloween parade (trick or treat at designated houses). The kids and adults love it. Now, I just have to decide if we should go for it or not? I want to have the Christmas Brunch again too, but don't want people go get sick of us!

HELP ME DECIDE! SHOULD WE OR NOT?

Flower Factory and Peanut don't MIX

I have a real love/hate relationship with a local store called Flower Factory. It is filled with some great bargains...kind of like a Michael's or Hobby Lobby...just bigger! When LM was around Peanut's age, one of the workers got on to him because I let him walk outside the cart. I know children have a tendency to induce havoc, but this wasn't the case with LM on this particular day. I left there so irritated and embarrassed; thinking I would never return. Well, I had to return because I am addicted to good deals.
Not too long ago, I took Peanut in to get a present for my mom's birthday. She had to use the restroom! My little buttercup was afraid of the restroom and couldn't go! Later that trip, she stood up and urinated everywhere including the items in my cart!!!!!!! People...if you know me...I am a germ freak and get easily embarrassed in these kind of situations. There was a huge PUDDLE of PEE under the cart. This left me in a panic and with a decision to be made. What to do? LEAVE or do the right thing. I opted to clean it up the best I could and to my dismay, ask for help! I just recently went back to Flower Factory in search of some items for a shower I (with bridesmaids) throwing for a friend. I had my mother-in-law and the kids with me this time. Peanut said she needed to go potty, so Debbie (MIL) took her. Again, she wouldn't go...afraid of the maroon toilets, I guess! Near time to check-out, she did the potty dance again. I took her in the restroom to find that she was carrying merchandise. While trying to figure out what to do with this item (that is not to go into the restrooms), Peanut wet all over herself and the floor. There was no way that I could leave with pee all over her. So, I did what every good mom does...gave her bath in the sink while she was standing up! I had to laugh when I looked into the mirror to see her little tooshie shining back at me! The trip ended with me leaving the store with Peanut wearing nothing, but a little tank top. Good times!

SOUTH CAROLINA: FAMILY

Okay, so keeping up with this blog with my new schedule is proving to be more difficult. SORRY!
I just had to add a few more pics that re-emphasize how important family time is to me. Since we don't go to SC often, we try to cram everything into a few days. That is a hard task when my daddy is the youngest of 10. Yes, you read that correctly. I have cousins that are actually close to my father's age. In the pics below, you will see 6 of the 10 Jones bros and sisters.
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Aunt Myrtis with her granddaughter, Janna!

She was actually pregnant at the same time as my grandmamma was pregnant with my daddy.

Uncle H.L., Uncle Wayne, Aunt Esther, and Aunt Myrtis...

Daddy too!

The oldest of the 10...Aunt Florence

That concludes our trip to SC which brings us back to the future!

See you in a few...

SOUTH CAROLINA: BOAT RIDE

We are nearing the end of our trip to South Carolina, but had to include some photos from our boat ride on my cousin, Marty's boat. What a blast and super relaxing...I could have totally gone to sleep, but I didn't want to miss anything! Shocker, I know! More shock to come and a few miracle people too!

OUR FEARLESS CAPTAIN

OUR CAPTAIN'S WIFE, my cousin! She is one of our miracles. Health can be an issue, but she is a stinking fighter! She also is quite organized and introduced me to some great bags...SCOUT.

CAPTAIN'S DAUGHTER...she helps keep me young!

My cousin, Caroline, with a precious "cuz" munchkin! I love to find out what she is reading and she dresses the girls in such cute outfits!

SHOCKER: Bev is on a boat in the ocean and she is convinced that she can't swim. She was the first to snag a life jacket before we even got on the boat. Mommasita is a living miracle too! The Lord continues to work in her heart, mind, and body everyday to overcome her health battle!

DADDY:

Why is his life jacket pink and why is he wearing one? So, stinking cute...this is a classic face!

WHO is that HOT guy in the hat? I love when Brian wears one~

***I just realized that I am in a lot of the photos...sorry!

THANKS, MARTY! We had a blast!

SOUTH CAROLINA: BEACH

Lots of other pictures, but this one is the one that means the most to me!

I LOVE MY FAMILY!