Friday December 18, 2009 - Yesterday was Brooke's last day of school for the year, so they had their Christmas party. They did a cute little rendition of Jingle Bells and "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Ornaments". I will post the video here later but here are a few pics from the festivities. They decorated Nutter Butters and made them into reindeers with icing, pretzels and M&M's while they snacked on popcorn and goldfish.

Here are some pictures of Brooke with her friends Emily, Kayleigh, Gabriella and her teacher Ms. Jennifer:

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December 18, 2009 - Yesterday was Hunter's Christmas party at school. They can't call it "Christmas" at Sampson, so they call it a Winter Party. One parent is invited and we can't bring the other kids. It's not really a "party" but a social time for the kids and parents to get together in the classroom and celebrate the season.

All the kids get marshmallows, pretzels, chocolate chips and a fruit roll up to create a snowman. The intention is to eat it after they are done, but Hunter just played with his. He's not a sweets kid so I'm not surprised his just sat on the plate next to his cupcake. I got a few shots of Hunter with his snowman but I couldn't get him to move it from in front of his face. Typical Hunter style...

I took of few pictures of him and I. But again, I couldn't keep him from acting silly.

This is Hunter and his teacher Ms. Baker. And then Hunter asked me to take a picture of him and his buddy, Sammy.

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This year, instead of buying cards for Bonnie from each of us, I decided to bust out the old art supplies and make some ourselves.  The kids have their new art stuff I bought for them last month.  Here’s what they came up with.

Hunter’s Card

Front	This is “Bumblebee”, the transforming concept Camaro from the Transformers movie.  Not really sure why he thought Mommy would like transformers on her birthday card, but thus is Hunter.
Inside	The left side shows Anakin Skywalker and a spaceship.  The right side is Bonnie and Hunter holding hands.
Back	This is the back of the card.  It’s Mommy blowing out her candles.

Brooke’s Card

Mike’s Card

Well, we’ve already discussed the fact that I haven’t drawn in a long time.  But I decided to dust off the art supplies and draw Bonnie a card this year.  Literally.  There was thick dust from the recent tile job.  The pencil set that I used and the 60 lb paper that I drew it on I purchased in 1992.  Seriously. Anyway, for being as stale as I am this turned out OK?

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I’m doing an awesome bible study right now on the life of David called Anointed, Transformed & Redeemed. One of the speakers for the study (it’s DVD driven) is Priscilla Shirer and during the first week, she gave us this soliloquy on who we belong to. In the DVD she’s in Nashville with Beth Moore and Kay Arthur talking to 2000+ women. I wanted to share this because it’s just too incredibly awesome not to share it!

Soliloquy by Priscilla Shirer – Who do you belong to?

He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end. He’s the keeper of creation and the creator of all. He’s the architect of the universe and the manager of all time. He always was, always is, always will be unmoved, unchanged, undefeated and never undone.

He was bruised but brought healing, He was pierced but eased pain, He was persecuted but brought freedom, He was dead and brings life. He is risen to bring power and He reigns to bring peace.

The world can’t understand Him, armies can’t defeat Him, schools can’t explain Him and leaders they can’t ignore Him. Herrod couldn’t kill Him, Nero couldn’t crush Him, the new age cannot replace Him and Oprah cannot explain Him away.

You remind yourself, that He is light, He is love, He is longevity and He is the Lord. He is goodness and kindness and faithfulness and He is God. He is holy and righteousness and powerful and pure.

His ways are right, His word eternal, His will unchanging and His mind is on us. He’s our Savior, our guide, our peace, our joy, our comfort, our Lord and He rules our lives.

I serve Him because…His bond is love, His yoke is easy, His burden is light and His goal for us is abundant life. I follow Him because He’s the wisdom of the wise, the power of the powerful, the ancient of days, the ruler of rulers, the leader of all leaders. His goal is a relationship with me.

He’ll never leave you, never forsake you, never mislead you, never forget you, never overlook you, and never cancel your appointment in his appointment book.

When you fall He’ll lift you up. When you fail, He’ll forgive you. When you’re weak, He’s strong. When you’re lost, He’s your way. When you’re afraid, He’s your courage.

When you stumble, He will steady you. When you’re hurt He’s going to heal you. When you’re broken, He will mend you. When you’re blind, He will lead you. When you’re hungry, He will feed you. When you face trials, He’s with you. When I face persecution, He shields me. When I face problems, He will comfort me. When I face loss, He will provide for me. And when we face death, He will carry us all home to meet Him.

He is everything, for everybody, everywhere every time and in every way. He is your God. And that sisters, is who you belong to.

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I'm going to post a separate blog about the entire Creed show from Friday night, but I wanted to post this video now. This is actually from the Houston show. This is another single from the upcoming Full Circle CD called A Thousand Faces. Enjoy!!

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It’s official! We bought a VW Routan (pronounced roo-tawn). It’s what those of you call a mini-van (we don’t say the “m” word in our house)! We needed the space, really badly. I didn’t realize how badly until Hunter started school and we needed to carpool. Where were we going to put another kid? Not OUR other kid (that’s not happening for those of you who keep thinking we’re vying for number 4) – a neighbor, a nephew, a sister-in-law, a mother-in-law! We’ve been taking two cars or borrowing my brother-in-law’s Expedition if we need another seat. Well all of that has come to pass. We traded in the (paid for) Jeep Grand Cherokee that I really did LOVE and have another (very low I must say) car payment! The kids are SO excited about the van…er, eh, Routan! And I assure you it has NOTHING to do with them now having DVD players in the back for when we travel. Here are some pictures of my new ride!!

Here are a few shots of the inside. It is SO loaded I’m really very spoiled. Mike loves all the gadgets and is going to have to learn me how to use them. :) There’s no navigation but the radio is touch screen, which I think is really cool. There’s also a place to plug in a thumb drive and I can play my music through that instead of my iPod. It also has a microphone so I can talk on my cell phone through the car stereo. There are buttons to open the doors, it seems like everywhere. And the key fob is very strange looking. It doesn’t even resemble what a typical car key looks like. There are two independent DVD players in the back with wireless headsets. And I have never seen so many cup holders in one car in my life.

In the last picture above, the seats fold down to what they call “picnic seating”. The next time we take the kids to the drive-in, that will come in VERY handy. I probably could have taken a picture of the seats that way too huh? LOL!!!!

See? Weird key fob…but dude, it opens the doors and the hatch, it even STARTS the car for you AND rolls the windows down! Yeah…all without even getting into the car! Can you say cool???

Stone wanted to pose one more time. He didn’t say “cheese” when I took this picture but “Stone”…that’s why his mouth looks funny.

So go ahead…make fun of me if you will. I think it’s COOL and am very proud of it! I cannot wait to take our first trip in it!

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The kids (Hunter and Brooke) had their last gymnastics class for the year this past week. They attend a program called Thompson Tumblers at the Foundry Church on Jones Road. Frank Thompson is their coach and he’s great with teaching the kids their skills. I usually don’t bring my camera because Stone doesn’t let me sit still long enough to take pictures. I wanted to share all the pictures I DID get to take the last day and then decided next time to bring the video camera. It would have been a little more exciting to watch.

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My dear friend Jamie Smith and her family moved back to Texas after being in Mississippi for WAY TOO LONG! Her mom had a welcome home party for them over the weekend at her house in New Caney. Here are the pictures from that night (Saturday May 30th):

Welcome home Jamie! We’re so glad you’re back! LOVE YOU GIRL!!

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My friend Cathy, who I know from working at Lincoln Property Company, got married over Memorial Day weekend. We decided to go! This is the first trip Mike and I have both been away from the kids since Hunter was born. Long time coming…

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We had a FABULOUS time. Friday night we flew in and they had the ceremony with a few close friends out on their balcony. I wish we would have had our video in camera in hand because it was truly comical. Cathy didn’t want their vows to be anything mushy, and truly it lasted all of 5 minutes. But they are destined to be together so it was a great exchange. John is a great guy and he’s a LUCKY guy to have Cathy! Next was dinner out at some restaurant I don’t remember the name of. We drank and socialized, met family and friends…again, it was a good time. Here’s a few pics of the bride and groom during their vows:

The dinner Friday night was fun. I got to meet Cathy’s family and just hang out with adults and drink. Woohoo!! Here’s a few pictures of our fun:

Saturday WE SLEPT LATE!!! Yay!!! I got up and went to Wegmans, a huge grocery store chain in Rochester that has just about everything. It’s VERY popular there and I don’t get the draw. Anyway, I picked up Wendy’s for lunch and while Mike tapped away on his laptop to catch up on some work, I slept. And dude, it was nice. :)  We didn’t have to be at the reception until 6. It was a long, fun evening. Which would explain why I didn’t take very many pictures. LOL!!

The picture on the left is John and Cathy and John’s sister in the black, Michele. The picture on the right is Brain, Cathy’s brother and his wife in the blue “wrap” as they call them, Marisol. The red-head is Cathy’s sister Kelly. She was a HOOT!! I enjoyed meeting her family.

Sunday was a very lazy day. We checked out of the hotel and then headed over to Cathy’s. They have a beautiful home and the weather was unbelievable! Mike and I sat on the deck most of the afternoon. He worked, I read. Later we went to a movie…saw Taken. Really good! Ordered Chinese take out that night and just hung out with Cathy and Michele. She and I didn’t really get to catch up the whole weekend, so it was nice to just sit and talk. John had a golf tournament early Monday morning so he retired early. Cathy got up on Monday, made us breakfast and then we headed to the airport! It was a great weekend and a nice break from my day to day routine and scheduling! I missed the kids but I was so ready to just hang out there another week! :)

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The new floors were finished on Tuesday May 12th. We picked a dark brown grout from a color card that we thought matched the new tile really well. After a few days had gone by we noticed the grout was REALLY REALLY light, like almost white. Not even a light brown. We’re hoping they used the right color when they grouted (I remember the grout in the bucket was really, really dark). Needless to say, the floor guys are coming back out next week to do some cleaning that he said would darken up the grout.

I took these pictures the day after the floor was installed so the tiles aren’t clean yet. But it gives you a good idea of how beautiful the tile is.

  This is the walkway area over by the pantry and laundry room.

  This isn’t a great picture. The sun was coming in through the windows behind me facing the living room.

  This is the area between the island and the sink.

  Again, not a great picture. This is the breakfast area facing the windows.

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