It's FRIDAY!!!

Random Facts of My Week:

* So happy it's Friday! I can't wait to get home, make dinner, and just relax with all my boys tonight. It's been a long week.

* The weather here has been crazy. It keeps POURING down raining for about 10 minutes and then the sun will come out for about an hour, then it starts pouring again. Weird. I'm quite ready for COOOOOOLD weather! Can't wait to drag out all of my cute sweaters and long-sleeves. And decorate for Christmas- my favorite time of year! I've already gotten out all of my fall decor. It looks great.

* Last night was the first time I've had to audition someone for the worship team. It went well! I was kinda proud of myself.

* The space bar on my Blackberry went berserk soallofmysentenceslooklikethis. Frustrating!

* Caleb's second soccer game is tomorrow, but I think I am going to work so Jeffry can see him play. One of our employees had a death in the family so one of us needs to work.

* Have you noticed that EVERYONE is having sales on fall clothing this week?? It's really making me hate this humidity and 80 degree weather...

* I'm obsessed with coffee lately. I must have it every morning. I've never been like this before, but even the smell of the freshly ground beans makes my mouth start watering.

* We close on our house in 4 DAYS! After almost a year of being on the market and begging God to sell it, we can definitely see the end in sight! So excited to be rid of the extra insurance payments and utility bills!

That's all I have for now. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!

New Music Monday!

Some new or newly discovered artists I'm loving right now....
I'm leaning toward a lot of prophetic worship these days. There is some GREAT stuff out there. I'm spending too much money on iTunes!

Brian and Jenn Johnson- A Little Longer is my fave!

Heather Clark- Live From Lakeland CD and also Exalt the Lord from the Radiant CD

Jake Hamilton's CD is awesome. I especially like Marked.

If you buy any one CD I recommend, BUY THIS ONE! Kim Walker is FULL of passionate worship. INCREDIBLE.

Jesus Culture. An awakening in worship...seriously.

Sean Feucht- love what he's doing with Burn

Hope these will inspire you to dig deep and go to a new place in worship! Awaken the fire inside of you! Wish I could spend my whole day doing just that....

"I've come to start a fire on this earth—how I wish it were blazing right now!" Luke 12:49 MSG

Worth Remembering

My kids are just wonderfully funny.

And I want to remember every little quote that makes every second of my time with them so memorable and hilarious.


Caleb: "Mommy, look my jeans are wet. (Points to a big wet spot on his knee.) But that's okay I'm still gonna wear them cuz that's what cowboys do, right?"

Ahhh, yes, my child. Do as the cowboys do.

We were in the car, and Caleb was playing Brayden's Nintendo DS. Although Bray didn't want to play it, he started whining that Caleb was playing it. My response to Bray, "Bray, it's not that big of a deal, just share with your brother. He'll get tired of playing it in a minute."

His reponse to me, "Mama, I thought you said it cost a hundred dollars and that's a big deal?" (He wasn't being disrespectful, just reiterating how I've drilled in his head NOT TO LOSE his DS!)

Umm, I did say that didn't I? Why do kids have the uncanny ability to throw something back in your face....


A few from our Destin trip:

Upon our arrival at the beach, Caleb said "Look at the snow, Mama!"

Funny thing is, we've been to the beach before. I promise it's not the first time he's seen sand!

Never thought I'd have to tell someone, "Don't karate chop your biscuit!"

Out for dinner one night, the waiter asked if we spent all day at the beach.
We answered no collectively, but as he walked off Brayden responds:

"Well, we didn't go to the beach today just the pool because the beach water makes my tee-tee hurt."

Obviously we are still working on what's considered TMI.

Company Girl Coffee

I'm new to this!! I love reading Rachel Anne's blog so I decided to participate today.

This has been a crazy busy week! We spent the first few days at the beach, our last family vacation before school. Brayden started first grade yesterday. I cannot believe this day is already here! He's already done K4 and K5, but something about first grade...the fact that they have real subjects, real tests, report cards...I was just so emotional that he's finally a big kid! He insisted on wearing a button down shirt, which was too funny. He looked so handsome though. We really like his teacher; I hope that she will be able to keep him busy!

Tonight I'm looking forward to just relaxing at home and catching up on laundry. Tomorrow, my mom is coming for a visit and to keep the boys while Jeffry and I help host a "Dream Party" for the 20-somethings at our church. I am so excited to get together with everyone and see just what God has in store. We are casting vision for our lives and dreaming big dreams!

Sunday will be the first church service that our Stone county church band will be playing. We have been fortunate enough to have musicians from our Gulfport campus come to play for us for the past three years! Talk about dedication!! I'm the worship leader at our church so a lot rests on my shoulders to make things transition smoothly. I'm praying that the anointing will fall and that people will see beyond the musicians on the stage, and just feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in that place! Woo, I'm excited!

Well, that's all I have for today!! Lots of things going on! God is on the move!!

Cat/ Ship Island

We took a day trip to Cat Island and Ship Island with the big boys last week in Daddy's new boat! We saw hermit crabs, dolphins, sting rays, and battled pirates from the boat. The boys really had a blast, and Jeffry and I loved every minute of it. He did a little wade fishing while I scampered around with the kiddos. So fun. I love days like that. I didn't get a lot of pictures, but here are a few I captured.

Bored, Bray?
Big cheese right here.
Our "Captain" :) I thought he was kinda hot...
My big boys

We are leaving for Destin tomorrow. Can't wait! Gotta go pack....

July 4th Weekend!

So I'm about a month behind on my posting. What else is new?

We had a great time out at Flint Creek on July 4th! I made some BBQ chicken in the crock pot for sandwiches, macaroni salad, bought some chips and dip and made banana pudding to carry out with us. We met up with another family that was staying at the Creek in an RV. We took all the boys out on the boat, and they had a blast tubing. I got on with each of them while Jeffry drove the boat (of course, that means there was no one to take pics while I was on. Oh well...surely they'll remember me even though I'm never in pictures...lol) It was so much fun!


A thunderstorm came through later in the afternoon, and it was good that our friends had the RV....we hunkered down with them through the rain and lightning. There was actually another RV down the road that a tree fell on and split it right down the middle! Crazy. Blessed it wasn't us. Everything cleared up in time for us to enjoy some more time outside and then later, the fireworks show. It was a great show! We went out with all the boys on the party barge and anchored in the middle of the reservoir to watch the show. They loved it! I wasn't sure if Trace would like the noise or not, but of course, it didn't bother my laid-back baby! We really had a blast. I love times like this when there's not much of a schedule and we can just relax and enjoy each other as a family!

Tired of the DR's office....

No really. I am.

We took Brayden yesterday to get his orthotics for his shoes. It went a lot better than I thought it would! They are basically insoles that slide into any pair of his regular shoes. We had to go several weeks ago to have his feet casted so that the insole would be a perfect fit...in other words, not a cheap thing. To put it in terms where Bray could understand, "we could buy 4 Nintendo DS's with what we paid for your insoles so DO NOT lose them or hurt them!!" He tried them out and they didn't seem to bother him at all! Yay. Now we are working up to wearing them pretty much all day, even inside the house. The good news is that he doesn't need another pair for hopefully a year. We will go back in three weeks to check that his ankles are improving.

I just took Trace to the eye doctor today because he's had a little eye infection. She gave me some antibiotic drops for him to take three times a day for a week. It's nothing related to the strabismus, just a normal infection.

However, while we were there, the doctor went ahead and checked him for his two month checkup (which really wasn't scheduled until the middle of August). His right eye is not progressing as well as we had hoped, so we are having to start patching his eye for two hours a day instead of one. Sigh. That's ok though, I'm thankful we have options to correct it!

The doctor also told me that the worst angle of crossing is 50 and Trace is at 55. So, that's not so great news...she implied that the first surgery probably will not totally correct the problem and two surgeries will almost certainly be necessary. Which we knew from the beginning was a possibility...now it's looking more like a reality.

I'm soooo thankful that my children are healthy, and that these issues are entirely treatable. Also, I want to encourage any moms out there...if you EVEN THINK there may be a problem- even if other people tell you there isn't or they don't think it's serious- TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS! Go see the pediatrician or a specialist! We skipped the pedi and went straight to the pediatric ophthalmologist for Trace because someone told me that their pediatrician had misdiagnosed their child. He ended up being blind in one eye when his condition could have been corrected. Oh, and EVERY child should have at least an eye exam around their one year old birthday. Important lessons I'm learning!

I'll end with a picture of Caleb...just so he's not left out :)