Home Sweet Home!

This a picture of what will soon be our new home! WE ARE SO EXCITED! I'm telling you, all the pouting and fretting I did over the other house not working out was for nothing, because this house is perfect for us, even more so than the other one was. I should have never doubted God had something bigger and better in store for us. We are working through a builder in the church who has turned out to be one of the kindest and most generous people we have met. He heard about the deal on the other house falling through and told Jason he was in the process of building a new home that we were welcomed to look at to see if it would meet our needs. No obligations - he simply wanted to help out if he could. The house turned out to be everything we were looking for! It is in the neighborhood we originally were hoping to live in, it has 4 bedrooms which gives us extra space for a guest room/playroom, and we are able to pick countertops and cabinets for our kitchen, which was a big deal for us. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be in by mid-November to early-December. Everyone is welcomed to come visit!

Bringing Up Girls

I am so excited, because I was looking around on the Focus on the Family website today and saw a link for for "parenting girls." Since I need all the help I can get in that area, I clicked on it and saw that Dr. Dobson is planning a 2009 release of his book Bringing Up Girls! Can I just tell you how long I have been waiting for this book and wondering when it would finally be released? I remember sitting at my friend, Beth's house when her first son William was born and reading her copy of Bringing Up Boys almost in one sitting (I think Beth was still at work and the guys were playing Playstation, so I needed something to keep me entertained). At the time I thought, "Where is a book about girls? I need that!" That was about 2 years before I was even pregnant, but I just always knew I'd have a girl! I think, at the time, Dr. Dobson believed a book about boys was more important, as parents faced a more difficult task raising boys. However, he noted in the article I read this morning:

"At the time, I was convinced that the challenges facing boys in the 21st century were of greater concern and significance than those facing girls. Now, having researched the issue extensively, it is clear that girls are in as much trouble as boys. Their parents face the overwhelming task of trying to help them navigate through the cultural wasteland."

Amen, Dr. Dobson! I cannot wait for this book to come out. I will be one of the first people standing in line for it!

"Prayed 4 u this morning"

That is the text message from one of my sweet friends that came across my phone at 6:46 am. Can I just tell you what that did for my day as I'm standing in my kitchen, still in my pjs with morning breath and bedhead? How awesome to know that someone who loves me is lifting me and everything I have going on up in prayer. I feel so incredibly lucky to have some beautiful, Godly ladies in my life that God has chosen to bless and encourage me through.

Our Busy Weekend

We had a BUSY but FUN weekend! We took our first trip back to Anderson which we have been looking forward to for over a month! It was a whirlwind weekend trying to make it around to see everyone, but it was well worth it. We spent Friday evening at the Hammetts' house swimming and eating pizza. We stayed at the Edwards' house and woke up Saturday morning to a huge breakfast Sarah Ellen made for us. It was better than being at a B&B! After some shopping for the girls and golf for the guys on Saturday morning, we headed over to Allen & Kelli's to meet sweet baby Eli. I could have held him for days! He is precious! On the way back home, we made a quick trip to visit Beth and see Jay who is growing up way too fast!

Sunday morning, Jason had to preach in both services. Our pastor is on a 4 week sabbatical, and Jason was the first person to fill in. He spoke on worship and did a GREAT job! I was so proud of him. Tonight we had a worship service at Andrew Jackson State Park (or steak park as Camryn calls it). We had an inflatable, a hot dog supper, singing, and a comedian. It was a lot of fun, but we are glad now to be sitting at home just relaxing after our busy weekend! So, on with the pictures . . .

Pool time at the Hammetts'

Jason & Jeff doing their version of interpretive movement

Meeting baby Eli

The Alyssa & Camryn show

Birthday loot from my awesome friends

AJ Park

Funny Camryn Stuff

Camryn is growing up way too fast on us! The other night, Jason and I overheard her saying, "We're going to play Simon Says." We looked at each other and just laughed because we had no idea how she knew about Simon Says. So, I peeked down the hall and found her playing school. She had all of her babydolls and stuffed animals lined up on the stairs and was leading them in a game of Simon Says. I mean, good grief - she is only 2 1/2! Is she already old enough to be playing school? Here is a picture of her classroom:

When I came home from work on Wednesday, Jason was standing in the kitchen waiting on me. He told Camryn to come in there and show me what she brought home from school. She came around the corner with the biggest grin on her face carrying this huge crazy pink pig. What in the world! Turns out "Piggers," as Camryn so affectionately calls him, is the reward for a classroom behavior system they have going on in the 2 year old class. Camryn apparently had good behavior for the past week and was allowed to bring Piggers home for a visit. Really, we are so proud of her for having good behavior and have told her how proud we are about a million times now. However, the raging germaphobe inside of me is just imagining all of the other kids loving on Piggers and the different houses Piggers is going in and out of, and I just cringe at all of the germs we must be trading back and forth. Nevertheless, we are happy to have Piggers as a house guest for the weekend and hope he'll enjoy his stay with us.