Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Happy Father's Day to the BEST Daddy in the world!!!!!!

The man that:

Is teaching me to LOVE History



Lets me order Macaroni and Cheese EVERY time we eat out



Lets me ride the silly rides over and over, even if it's not his favorite



Taught me how to shoot a gun



Took me to see the Redskins and the Titans play football



Plays with me in the snow, even when it is REALLY REALLY cold



Took me to a Hockey Game for my birthday



Taught me how to bowl



Is teaching me to love God and His word, not only by telling me, but showing me by his life



Is teaching me to be a GREAT husband



But most importantly loves me unconditionally and sacrifices daily to give me the BEST life I could EVER dream of! Thank you Daddy! You are the best! I love you!

Big Apple Adventure!

Last week at FBC Oneonta was VBS.....my second most favorite week of the year (a close second behind D-Now week)

Each year as Davis gets older, I love VBS a little more. It was SO beautiful to hear Davis retell each day's Bible Story every night before bed. I can definitely see that God is stirring our child's heart - and there is nothing more precious to witness!

I say this each year "I don't know how LifeWay can outdo this year! This was the BEST! And next year's looks so odd" (yes I said this last year after Good News Stampede - "New York????? That is CRAZY!!!") - but you know what - THEY DID IT!!!! Big Apple Adventure is in my top five VBS EVER! (Don't know if anything could ever beat Amazon Outfitters) The music was so moving this year! I am so thankful to be a part of a church that teaches my child to say:

" You said Go, so I will Go!
You said Tell, so I will Tell!
Jesus I will do whatever it takes
To bring Glory to Your Name!"

I still get tears in my eyes as I think of my child singing those words!

Davis had THE most wonderful Bible Study teacher - Mrs. Alicia! and THE most wonderful guides Shelby, Emily, Zack, Briana, Rosemary and Annette! Mrs. Alicia and Shelby had their cameras and captured some of the VBS highlights for us to enjoy!

Some of the Kindergarteners in Bible Study



What would VBS be without crafts?



Or snacks?



Or Worship Rally?



Or friends? This is actually a little reunion of sorts....all of these children were in Mrs. Anderson's Kindergarten class at OES and Shelby was a Teacher's Aide for her




This day was quite the scene.....for some odd reason, LifeWay decided to include a rap song in this year's music. Let me just say up front, we are a very white church, with very white rhythm! It was SO funny to watch and listen to these kids (and adults) attempt this music! The highlight of this day was my sweet friend Susan! Susan went back to her days living in Chicago and bust out some saggin' jeans and do-rags! The children were not frightened at all by "DJ Suzy Sue" but some of the adults were! Ha! It was quite the show!



Friday afternoon practice for Family Night



Then came Sunday - Family Night! The children performed a musical that went along with all they had learned the past week. They did such a great job!



‎"From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise" Psalm 8:2



Then is was off to the City Pool for pizza and swimming!



VBS week was a HUGE success with 33 salvations and/or decisions for Christ! What an amazing week! So we leave New York behind in a pile of dust, glitter and spray paint and we head on to VBS 2012: Amazing Wonders Aviation. "I don't know how LifeWay can outdo this year! This was the BEST! And next year's looks so odd" Oh well - hoping to be pleasantly surprised - VBS has a way of doing that!

"Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them." Deuteronomy 4:9

A New Chapter

Tomorrow at 5:00 pm, my family and I will begin a new chapter. A chapter that we have wanted to begin for a LONG time. At 5 o'clock, Matt and I will become homeowners!

We started this journey on April 27, 2011. Do you find it strange that I can remember the exact date we began looking for a house? It really isn't. And if you live in Alabama, you recognize that date as well. That is the day the horrible tornadoes ripped across our state. Our realtor called us to say he had the keys to the first house we wanted to look at, right at the moment our power went out, and the first tornadoes were hitting Cullman.

After that first day, we probably saw 15 - 18 houses, but none of them were "home" We saw big houses, little house, houses with huge yards and large amounts of land, and houses with no yard. Brand new houses and old historic houses. Houses that had swimming pools and houses that had koi ponds. We fussed over one house in particular - Matt and Davis both really loved it (It had a swimming pool) but I had to be the voice of reason (it only had one bedroom!)

Over our almost 14 years of marriage Matt and I have lived in ALL kinds of homes. Tiny, big, old, newer, brand new, townhouses, you name it! So we kind of knew what we wanted in home....I was armed with a list (for those of you that REALLY know me - that comes as no surprise!) I had some things I was NOT willing to budge on and some things I could do without.

Well after about two weeks of looking - we found our home! It is actually a home that I looked at on the internet while we were still living in West Virginia. We know the family that is currently in the home, and we actually lived two doors up from this house the first time we lived in Oneonta. This house was built in the 1940's. ( I LOVE an older home with lots of character!) The man that built this home built the first Oneonta High School. There is so much character in this house - the original (refinished - thank you Jesus) hardwood floors, the original iron doorknobs, built-in bookcases, two old fashioned doorbells, etc. But the family we are buying the house from has done some improvements - totally updated the electrical wiring and plugs, updated the plumbing (again - thank you Jesus) a new garage door, new deck on the back, etc. There is still some work we would like to do - paint, hang crown moulding, rip up the linoleum in kitchen to expose the hardwood floors and then refinish them, etc.

I do not scrapbook. I am too much of a perfectionist. I tried once upon a time, but could never get the pages to look exactly as I wanted them, and I was constantly starting over on the same page. So - that is the reason I blog. This is our digital scrapbook. I can document the "days of our lives" - good and bad - for Davis to look back on one day and remember. SO - as we move into our new home, i will be documenting our journey. The befores and afters of this new chapter. Let me warn you, we are a one income family and we plan to be in this house for many years to come, so this journey will be a long one. Lots of home improvement posts will be in our future -so sit back and enjoy!

So without further delay - here is the first picture of our new home!!!!!