Party?!?!

We just recently celebrated my 3rd child's second birthday! YAY!!! He is growing up way tooo fast!! Is it just me or does it seem like the more children you have the faster they all grow up??? I thought I'd share some of the birthday pictures with you... The weather that day was gorgeous... We just had an outdoor party here at home. Birthdays are a great way to fellowship with friends and family. Im so blessed and thankful to have a home to welcome them all into for such occasions. Enjoy!

 Grant AKA (Birthday boy)

Cake Time!

Present Time!

Play Time

Grant with Friends and Family!

Grant 

Jason (daddy)

Zoie (cousin)

Maddie (friend)

Kelsey (friend)

Christian (cousin)

Gavin (brother)

Chloe (cousin)

 Cindy and Sandy (grandparents)

Don and Charlie (Grandparents)

Priscilla and Cayleigh (Aunt and cousin)

Taylor (cousin)

Autumn (cousin)

Brian (uncle)

Shelley (aunt)

Tonja (aunt)

And so many more, Grant is blessed to be surrounded by family and friends that love him!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANT!!

My silly wabbits...

Just a quick post to show of my 2 silly boys.... Gavin, the older boy, is growing into such and loving, caring, protective and to say the least, amusing older brother...! Grant simply adores him, whats not to love!!! Im so proud of the boy that Gavin is becoming.  I remember holding and rocking Him when I was pregnant with lil Grant. I recall telling him that soon he would be to big to rock and my has he grown and time flown...

                                       Here is a pic of Gavin when he was @ Grants age.

Now he is 8, we have bunk beds in the boys room. Gavin never really liked sleeping in his room and when grant moved in and booted him to the top bunk, I thought he'd love that... For months and months I was challenged at bed time. Gavin never wanted the night lights off or the door closed and Grant preferred total darkness and the door needed to be shut to keep him in....  With Grant on the bottom bunk, I also had to lay down with him till he fell asleep or he simply would not go.While I enjoyed this cuddle time on most nights I would often lay there and think of all the things that I needed to be doing and thought that this season would never end... Would my baby ever learn to sleep on his own????

Then, a few nights ago Gavin asked if he could put grant to bed! Hmmmm, I did not think that would go over well but gave it a shot... WOW, it worked and Gavin felt so accomplished. He now does this for me at nap time and they sleep together each night.... The first night I asked Gavin how they slept in the same bed,  he said... WONDERFUL! Why didn't I think of this sooner.... Now grant sleeps all night and Gavin also feels like hes a mighty good helper, which he is!!! Case in point, no more struggles, they both enjoy bedtime and rest well... YAY!!! 

 They just grow up so fast... Its also good for them to take on bigger responsibilities the older they get. Gavin is really starting to mature and find his place of service and help within our family... Hes a wonderful big brother and son. I can see why Grant adores him....

                                                       Here they are just being boys.

 Ha Ha,  what is he doing in that last pic? Jus being a silly wabbit! 

Loving my boys!!!!

So....

  So.... Ive been so slacking on post lately... I even thought Id given this up totally. Thing is... I just don't have alot of free time on my hands to sit and write.. When I do have free time, i use it to tackle yet another daunting task that has been put off way too long... Life is never boring for me... I dont quite understand boredom really! My children have gotten to where they never say, "Mom, Im bored!" haha, they know I will quickly assign something productive for them to accomplish with this time.    

 So.... what have I been up to... Well... Weve been schooling as usual and thats going really well. Im anxious to see how my children do on there SAT's.. I know alot of    homeschool moms do not agree with this sort of standardized testing, but for me, it helps me determine my children's strengths and weaknesses. Its encouraging for me to see that all this book work throughout the year is actually sinking in... 

 

  So....Know what else we've been up to? Potty training... Yes~ My lil one will be 2 next weekend! Lately my days have been filled with chasing him stark naked from one end of the house to the other... Hes definitely  boycotting diapers... When he disappears, I can usually find him in the bathroom, chanting, " I tee tee"! I invested  in a lil potty but he is instant on doing it like daddy and big brother, in the big potty! I was going to get my carpets cleaned this week but perhaps I should wait till he has this new task mastered. :)

 

Sorry...

... for the lack of posting! I have been busy lately {cleaning houses} and getting ready for Christmas. But I just wanted to spread the word for my daughter, Destiny:

AND THERE IS ALSO this other giveaway... A White iPad 2!!!

*enter here*

Destiny here!

Hello! It's Destiny {Stephanie's daughter} I don't know if you've noticed, but she has been lacking on posting lately! She's been getting a bunch of work done and school just recently started! So, things are really busy around here!

So please forgive my mom! You can't blame her! I hope she doesn't mind me doing this post... I didn't ask permission... LOL!

But, if your looking for a little more reads coming from our family, go ahead and check out my blog: 

And for just plain randomness.... 

Beach Pictures

Here are a few beach pictures for my dear hubby and friends who could not be with us this week.. They have been flying red flags here all week so we cant get in the water but
as you can see, thats not keeping us from getting our toes wet.

Blessings, 

Stephanie

Road Trip.... whoohoo :)

Good Morning from Panama City Beach, Florida. The beautiful sunshine state!!!

We awoke yesterday about 5 am to embark on this journey with my Mother, 2 sisters and
8 robust children. After much deliberation over where to put all the luggage for 

these 3 families into 2 vehicles, we finally set out around 9am.

About 30 minutes into our trip this plastic contraption we created was blowing like crazy in
the 80 mile an hour wind. We made  a quick stop at Lowes in Alabaster to pick up
some additional bungees, let the lil ones stretch there legs and off we go again :) 

We had a fun road trip...good times!

After about a 9 hour trip to a 6 hour destination point, we arrived and my was it worth it!

Dont you wish you were here?

Blessing, 

 Stephanie

Children and Chores!

    My children always keep me smiling and laughing even when we are doing chores.  My almost 18 month old is always ready and willing to help.... When I sweep, he wants to take the broom and sweep too. When I do laundry, he tries his best to pick up the heavy wet clothes I hand him, then hurl them into the dryer. Its so funny to hear him grunt as he willingly struggles. Just last night when his daddy came home and changed out of his work clothes, lil Grant picked them off the floor and toted them to the laundry room. When I load or unload the dish washer, he is right there with me, with those curious lil hands. 

    Now vacuuming... that is a different story. Grant loves the vacuum cleaner, when its off.!!! LOL  He is constantly dragging it out and trying, with all the strength he can muster, to push it around the house. We have a Kerby so its quite heavy. When turned on it  has a self propelled motor so its not so bad, but off.... shew, its a workout. I bet it weighs near 25lbs.  My older ones love when I vacuum because Grant clings to them like white on rice. They think its cool to be his protector and they love his sweet embrace.

Here are a few cute pictures of  Gavin  and Grant.

I cant leave without showing you some of the messes that Grant likes to make as well... 

Never a dull moment with lil bundles of joy around.... 

"Children are a heritage from the LORD,
   offspring a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
   are children born in one’s youth.
 Blessed is the man
   whose quiver is full of them. "

Blessing, 

 Stephanie

He Won't Let Go.

Just to let some of you in on a little secret... Rascal Flatts is like my all time favorite band. I've been a fan of them since way back when.... The first time I remember one of their songs making an impression on my life was when they sang, "God Bless the Broken Road".  While Rascal Flatts is not a Christian band, one of its members Jay DeMarcus started his career as part of the Christian group East to West.  I knew I loved these guys for a reason.  All of them are all accomplished songwriters, and have written several of their own hits. The lead singer Gary Levox has the most amazing vocal range. I just love to hear him harmonize! 

They have recently come out with this new song, "I Won't Let Go" which I was instantly drawn to. The song is not meant to be a christian song, so to speak! But.....If you look at it from the perspective of this being God's message to a lost and hurting world, you may find it has quite the soul stirring effect. Life is a storm but we don't have to go through it alone. "He Won't Let Go!"  Notice in the video, he even points toward heaven :)

Hebrews 13:5-6 "Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things that you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you, nor forsake you,' so that we may boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me.'"

  (We all have probably been in physical need at some time. All of us are in spiritual need, and will remain that way as long as we live in this body of flesh with its carnal nature. But God does not abandon us. Never, Ever! We can always trust in him to be there for us, no matter how hard things may seem.)

 Blessings,
 Stephanie