I've been tagged-7 random things about me.

So, Vic from Painting4Him.blogspot.com has tagged me. Here it goes...it may be difficult for me to come up with 7 interesting random things about myself. I'll do my best.
I am not sure how to put the picture thing on here!!



1. I have 5 brothers and I am the youngest. I am even 15 minutes younger than my twin brother. I spent all of elementary school and jr. high career begging my mom to have another baby. I wonder why she thought 6 was enough?!!



2. I was an avid athlete. I played every sport my school offered and did pretty well in them all. Basketball was my favorite sport. I was in the gym just about every night after doing my homework and in the summer, as we lived right next to my school (my dad was/is the pastor of the church that founded the school). I used to shoot 100 foul shots just about every day and I recorded how many I made each time. I was the first girl to ever make 1000 career points in my high school and I did it within a week of my twin brother. 4 of my 5 brothers also hit 1000 career points in high school. I might add that my best friend is the only other girl to have hit that milestone too...and that was 10 years ago! I went on to play basketball at FLCC and Roberts Wesleyan College.



3. My first job was landscaping at my dad's church and LCS. I loved mowing because I always had a great tan. Since then I have worked at Tom Whal's, Cracker Barrel, Macaroni Grill, I have been a nanny, and I have taught P.E. and 5th and 6th grade. I have a teaching degree, and I hope to go back to teaching some day! When I was in college I worked 30 hours a week at Cracker Barrel, and played basketball...I was very busy, but liked it that way!



4. Speaking of tanning, I started an obsession in college. I used to tan 4-5 times a week for 2o minutes ...YIKES!!! I don't do that anymore!



5. One of my former boyfriends introduced me to Mark at the "Klatch" a coffee house run by him. I was in college. My boyfriend then dumped me, and I started attending EGC and got involved with "Passion for Him", which was a ministry run by Mark. I travelled and helped out as a leader. I didn't think of Mark romantically at first...after all he was too old for me! But then the Lord had other plans...it is funny because he and I went to a movie (one of the Star Wars movies) with mutual friends and that is the night we both felt like we could be more then friends. We knew that the Lord had a plan for us even though it took years for it to come to fruition.



6. I trained for a marathon, but then never ran in it. I was running 14-16 miles at a time. It is one of my life goals to run in one!!



7. My biggest fear since elementary school has been the fear of not being able to get pregnant...well, that fear has come true...but, God is so faithful and I am so happy that he is Sovereign and despite my biggest fear coming true, he has truly blessed me! I wouldn't change a thing because if I did...I wouldn't have the JOY of my heart...K-Man.

Thanks Vic for tagging me....it was fun coming up with 7 things about me! I have to think about who I want to tag next!

Fall Pics

It has been forever since I posted...I have been super busy with my day care and just don't have the time to post too much anymore. However, here are some super cute pics of my K man...sportin' his fall gear.

Happy 4th of July!

We had a wonderful day yesterday with our parents. K was/is sick...with pneumonia...so he was not his chipper self, but we did our best to enjoy our day! We cooked out a wonderful meal with our parents and then just sat and chatted on our back patio. We have a fence now and so K was free to move about, which was super nice. Our neighbors had a huge party and set off fireworks so all we had to do is sit in our back yard and watch the show! It was the first time K has seen fireworks and we have been talking about the "kabooms" all week. At first he really liked them but toward the end he said "No, we go inside, no get ouchies!" (and I have to say they were right over top of us, and they were like the real deal fireworks...so I can see how he thought we might get ouchies!). He decided it was safer to watch them with Papa inside in the sun room! After all the festivities we went to bed...K was exhausted especially cause he was sick. It took him less than a minute to fall asleep! Unfortunately, he didn't stay asleep and so our quest for a full night sleep is still on!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

My handsome boys!

K loves bubbles!

and his scooter!

Wow, fireworks!

Happy "Gotcha Day"

Judge and Me signing papers!
He's ours! Happy Daddy!

Today, two years ago we finalized K's adoption. For those of you that have adopted know what a relief and what a joy this is...those of you who haven't can probably imagine. For 7 months K was in our home but was not "officially" ours yet....which seems like such a bizarre thing to say and it was even more bizarre living it. I used to say to M during those 7 months...he's ours and I can't imagine anyone thinking or saying otherwise. He was really ours the second we saw him....in our hearts anyways! We had some difficulties during those 7 months...which led to the delayed finalization. I won't get into it all, but there were times I thought maybe someone would take away my son....it was a time of great trust in the Lord and I am thankful for his goodness and faithfulness through it all.

So, two years ago we went to the courthouse and it was as simple as a judge signing a piece of paper. We are so thankful that the Lord was and still is orchestrating our family! We love you K so much and are so blessed to have you in our lives! Happy "Gotcha Day"!

Happy Memorial Day!

Fun at the Zoo

Art Work

ME: K what did you paint?
K: A Sunshine.

ME: What else did you paint?
K: A green one...green grass Mommy.

ME: What is this a picture of K?

K: My blue hands.

ME: Is there anything else in the picture?

K: Yes, Mommy a sunshine.

What a boy, what an artist!

Did You Know?

(This is from a magazine I have received for over 4 years now called "Stepping Stones" put out by Bethany Christian Services)

That more than seven million people in the US suffer from infertility? "Infertility is a disease that affects the reproductive system, prohibiting many loving families from bearing children. Despite the staggering number of people who are plagued by this devastating disease, infertility is not recognized by most insurance companies" (from Send a Stork Campaign)

That nationwide the most common average price of an adoption (domestic or international) is $20,000-$25,000? (From Adoptive Families Magazine)

That only the church can solve the world's crisis of 143 million orphans....as there are more churches than McDonald's, Starbucks, and Walmarts combined (Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life?)

There are many things I don't understand in life, infertility being one of them, and it being so difficult to adopt...people often say why don't you just adopt....it is not that easy believe me!....but, I know that I trust the Lord and that I can be confident that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28.

Check out Bethany Christian Services if you get a chance they are an amazing organization.

K and his clothes

K has been talking sooo much lately...his personality is coming out and it is so cool. In fact, he really enjoys picking out his clothes. He often knows what he wants to wear before he even goes into his closet in the morning. Like a few days ago he says to me. "Wear cool bike shirt Mommy", and so I said ok and went and got his bike shirt...he looks at it and says like I should have known "No Mommy, wear cool yellow bike shirt." So, I put the other one away and got the cool yellow one! He also picks out his PJ's. Last night he wanted his "cool blue bike PJ's", which is what he is showing you in the pictures. One more funny thing...at the playground he stopped his little friend and said "Wow, cool shirt". I think it had a basketball on it or something. He is quite the fashionable little guy!

Wordless Wednesday

(Wordless Wednesday Blog Fotofest!)

SNOW STORM!

AND....a Scooter!

My Valentine

Where do I begin my story of finding love. Well, I guess I will start by saying that growing up I thought I knew exactly what I wanted in a man. Thank the Lord that he doesn't always give us what we want...he gives us much better!
Saying that when I met Mark I was dating someone else. I was a freshman in college, and Mark was running a local coffee house every Friday night that I often attended. I thought Mark was an amazing man, but I NEVER thought of him as a man I could date or marry! Afterall, he is 14 years older than me! Well, my boyfriend broke up with me, which wrecked me. I didn't understand why God would allow it to happen, but again, thankfully the Lord wants what is best for his children. As a result of my break-up I really pressed into God and hung out with Godly and encouraging friends. As a result of that, I desperately wanted to be a part of a ministry and so I naturally started working with Mark's ministry "Passion for Him". "Passion for Him" was a group of people (high school and college students) that travelled and ministered to youth groups. I grew up in a wonderful church, and my dad was the pastor! I had such a great foundation laid which really helped me jump into a ministry role on Mark's team. Again, we both just really loved serving the Lord and didn't give eachother much thought other than that.

Move forward a few months and a group of us decided to go to see Star Wars in the theatre and I was going and Mark was going, as we had mutual friends and were friends ourselves. It is funny because that is when we both say we started thinking "hmmm" about eachother. I remember hoping he would sit next to me but couldn't figure out why I even cared. He obvioulsy thought the same way as sqeezed by everyone to get to the chair next to me. Our friendship continued for a while and we really got to know eachother and it was suprising to both of us that we were feeling more towards eachother. We knew we weren't the "normal" couple. We shared a lot on the phone and we continued to hang out with all our friends. I learned that Mark had gone through a lot of trials in his life and that he allowed the Lord to work on him instead of getting bitter. I loved that about him, because I knew people that allowed life's circumstances to get them bitter. I also knew that I never envisioned myself with an older man and was wondering how it would all work!
We had a lot of hurdles that I won't get into, we broke up a few times and layed down our relationship because it was just too hard at times due to the age difference among some other things. But, it always came back to the fact that we both loved eachother and knew that God could use us together as a couple.

(Mark speaking in Florida)
Mark proposed to me on September 15th, 2001 and we were married a year later. We had an amazing engagement. It was so fun and we laughed a lot, we spent time with family and friends and the anticipation of the wedding day was so exciting . I love Mark with all my heart. He is an amazing man of God, which is what I first saw in him so many years ago. It is funny because often times during our struggles dating I thought, why don't I just move on and date and marry someone that "looks" good to everyone else (we got a lot of raised eyebrows at first).

I am so glad I didn't. And, of course, we have our ups and downs...but we always say to eachother we wouldn't want to walk this road of life with anyone else!

Superbowl Party!

Cooped Up!

It has been so cold here...and so we haven't really gotten outside much. I almost always take K out at least once a day for a half an hour or so. He has been asking, and wanting to play in the snow, but I haven't wanted to brave the cold weather. Thankfully, it is supposed to warm up a bit this week! Anyway, this morning I decided to bring snow inside to him...I put it on his roller-coaster (which is a toy our neighbors have let us borrow, it is awesome...there is a cart you sit on and zoom down the two hills ...K LOVES it!). Anyways, he really enjoyed eating clean, white snow off the coaster!

I feel so cooped up , I can't imagine how K feels...so I am trying to do anything to make his days a bit more exciting! Do any of you have ideas for activities in the home (for a busy toddler!) during this long winter?

Yummy Snow!

MMMMM....

Check Out the roller-coaster...now imagine K on a cart thing and zooming down!! FUN!