Let's have Church!!

We started Revival at my church on Sunday night...Last night he preached from Genesis 16. He titled his message "Waiting on the Lord". He talked about how everyone needs to wait on the Lord for blessings in their lives..or for whatever reason...Abram and Sarai didn't do that...instead they took matters into their own hands so to speak...it all came back in their face too!!
Now I'm not a Bible scholar or don't want to quote the Bible too much...but I wanted to share with you a time in my life that I may have put myself in jeopardy if I hadn't waited on the Lord. It was the most depressing trying time I have ever experienced...Infertility. I had tried for forever it seemed like...and I was tired. I found a local support group to join and one night they had a speaker that had went thru years of infertility and finally adopted a child. I went home and told my husband I wanted to adopt, that we were never gonna have a child of our own. I had prayed and prayed...I had given my issue to the Lord or so I thought. I would go up to the alter at church on any given Sunday and give it all to him...I would wait on the Lord to bless me with a baby and when I went to the Dr. each time, with each NPT, I would be so upset....so that was the answer...ADOPTION. But my husband wasn't ready to jump on that wagon yet...So again, I went to church that next Sunday and gave it to the Lord...God, if it's your will...I will have a baby....one day it hit me...I hadn't REALLY given it to the Lord. I was also struggling with some family members who I felt kept throwing it up in my face that I wasn't a mom yet. My church started revival in May of 03. I had been struggling with my salvation at this time also. I was really feeling the tugging of Jesus Christ on my heart this one particular night...I asked my friend's husband to pray with me...he was such a strong Christian influence in my life at that point...and still is this day....he did...and I was saved on May 7, 2003. I had thought I had been saved for years but turned out...i wasn't. That night I truly gave it all to the Lord...it was only a couple of months later that I found out I was pregnant with Harlee...but during those 2 months...it just wasn't at the top of my list of worries...I truly had given it to Him..and I was waiting on the Lord for his blessings on me and my family. So sometimes it's a hard thing to do, but it is always better when we wait on the Lord. I think that if Thomas and I had went thru the adoption procedure, we would have still been waiting today. Instead, God did see fit for me/us to be parents...and has since blessed us with 2 precious babies.

A little Sunshine....

The past few weeks have been dreadful here in the backwoods of Casey Creek. It has rained, and rained, and rained, and rained...and did I mention RAINED for dayssssss!!! I don't think it has ever rained that much in my whole life....But Wednesday afternoon it stopped raining for about 30 minutes and I took advantage...I grabbed my camera and out the door I went...I would love to have more pictures of my beautiful kids..but they just won't cooperate but only half the time...but today...they were more than willing to cooperate...for just a bit...I think I got some great shots...if I do say so myself...thank you very much...Hey it's my blog...I can brag if I want you know...ha!! So....sit back and enjoy my little Sunshines for a bit. Aren't they just beautiful.

Lake Tiak-O'khata and A Tea Party

Friday I took the most AWESOME trip with some ladies at my church. We drove down to Louisville, MS late Friday afternoon for a "Ladies Night Out....overnight style" and we had a BLAST. We ate, sang, danced, cried, laughed, talked, screamed, shared family stories, bonded, acted silly, stayed up until 3 in the morning....and just plain had fun!! Saturday morning we got up and had a day of shopping and if you know us ladies, we are all about some shopping...I can't wait to do this again. It is such a blessing to have such a great group of ladies to spend my ladies night outs with.

We really know how to have fun at our "Ladies Night Out"

A couple of Saturdays ago, I attended this tea party with my friend, Susan. Her mom is in this club that sponsors children and they get a book from birth until they are 5 years old...It is a passion of hers and her late husband...it was such a blessing...I am so glad I was invited to attend. I took some snapshots of the tables...each club had took a table and decorated it to their liking...Can you say AWESOME?!?!? These were a few of my favorites of the day.

All About ME....

Harlee had her first project due last week...it was a poster titled..."All About Me". It took us an hour to complete...I'll know next time to do it in 10 minute intervals...lol...anyways....it was such a cute poster...it asked how old she was...when her birthday was...where she lived...what grade she was in...how she gets to school...etc...she even had to draw a picture of herself...it was very cute...

I thought I would share a little about her from my point of view:

She is a miracle baby in my eyes...she was prayed for for such a long time. I thought at one point in my life that I would never have a child call me mommy. I found out I was pregnant with her on June 3, 2003. It was the happiest day of my life. Its so funny the feelings I felt all through out my pregnancy...I thought I know I'm pregnant...but I won't really believe it until I hold her in my arms and have solid proof. That day came so quick...I was induced at 37 weeks due to high blood pressure...I will NEVER forget the labor pains I felt that day...it was horrible...but as soon as that sweet "red haired" baby was born...all the pain went away. She was perfect...I remember my doctor said...all ten fingers and toes...she's just fine....from that point on I was the one who would care for this baby...She weighed 6 lbs...she was so little...her little camo dress she went home from the hospital in swallowed her whole but she was so cute in it.

Fast forward 5 years....she is a feisty little red headed girl that loves all things girly....She loves to boss her little brother around...and would boss me and her daddy around if she could get away with it....I love her more than life itself and it kills me that she is growing up before my very eyes. After being so attached to me I was so afraid she would cry when school started....she has done GREAT. She rides to school with her Aunt Pam and is such a big girl. She amazes me at the stories she comes home telling...you just never know what a kindergartner is gonna say these days. She is gonna be a mini cheerleader and it will do her so much good to get out from under me and make new friends...plus...i always wanted to be a cheerleader so maybe she will love it and then I can be a "cheer mom"....ok...that was lame, but you know what I mean.

So all in all...the poster couldn't possibly list ALL about her because the poster wouldn't be big enough to list everything...I just wanted to share with you what I know about this little miracle of life we call Harlee!

He is His Father's Son....

Does that even make sense? Oh well..what I'm trying to say is...is Hagen absolutely LOVES his daddy. He misses him so much when he's gone. Thomas left Thursday to go on his yearly hunting trip...they went to Idaho this year....and Idaho's hunting season is earlier in the year than Colorado. So...he will be home in a week. I talked to him yesterday and he told me how disappointed they all were in Yellowstone National Park. They were banking on seeing all of the wildlife...Elk...Wolves...Buffalo...and well, they did see Buffalo and 1 Elk and 1 wolf....so, I'm hoping that luck doesn't carry on into their hunt....which starts Monday. They are hunting with an outfitter again this year...and are guaranteed a "trophy" elk.

Each time he calls to check in Hagen gets a little teary eyed and the first thing he asks is when he's coming home....he has asked that a million times...

The other day we were getting ready to go to town to pick up some last minute hunting supplies...Hagen goes and grabs his hat....he thinks he has to wear one too...and I snapped this picture of the two....it's so cute....Hagen absolutely LOVES his daddy.

A fun time was had by all....

My kids had a blast at the local fair Tuesday night...We took them last year and I couldn't wait to take them back this year....mainly bc I wanted to practice a little photography skills and take some awesome pictures of all the rides in "action". Well #1, we got there at 5 when the gates opened and we left before it got dark...my kids had to be in the bed for school the next day, and #2, well...there were no "awesome" rides......I thought there was a ferris wheel last year...but I was wrong...it was smaller than last year....and last year's was small!! I'm hoping to take them to a larger fair in Tupelo at the end of the month...maybe I'll get my ferris wheel pictures.

Here is the closest picture to a ferris wheel that I got.

And of course, we spent at least 20 bucks on the games that are so rigged!!

Harlee loved the slide...she slid on that thing 100 times....she definetly got our 15.00 arm band worth on that one ride. Hagen really didn't dig the fair this year...he woudn't ride any of the rides at first...but toward the end, he got excited about them and wanted to ride them all.

One Word....PINATTA!!

Children...don't try this at home....this is the nurse that took such great care of Harlee and her wound. We had Kid's Krusade at church on August 1st and my child...of course...ended up in the ER for the first time. She was standing a little too close to the pinata. Next thing I knew, she was covered in blood and I was pushing folks out of the way. We ended up at Tupelo ER after consulting with a receptionist and Nurse. They both said she would need to see a Plastic Surgeon since it was on her face, and since she was a girl....you know for the future...when she's crowned Miss America....can't have any scars now....anyways....we just knew we would be there all day...but we were in and out in 45 minutes.

She was such a trooper...she usually freaks out at Dr. visits/offices, whether it's me or her. This day though, she just hopped right up on that bed and laid there like a big girl....they took her blood pressure and all, and she never said a word.....the ER doc was so good with her...he came in and cleaned the wound, and then went and got the Super Glue...aka....Dermabond. He fixed her right up. Thankfully...no infection set up and the glue came off last week.