Watches and Warnings

Last night local forecasters were predicting dangerous storms, and lots of tornadic activity. Thankfully they were getting the word out hours before the storms actually hit. It was a little nerve racking knowing that the "Storm Trackers/Tornado Chasers" from the Discovery Channel were in town. But we were ready. And once we heard the sirens from Eastman, we knew a tornado or funnel cloud was close. Too close.

So, here we are, all of us piled up in the hall way watching live streaming of Mark Scirto on the Laptop. Goodtimes;) Tornados scare me to death! But. I kept my cool... In front of the kids anyway:) and thankfully the funnel cloud went back up into the clouds and the storms passed over us quickly and we were all in bed at a decent time! Thank you Jesus, for keeping us safe last night. My thoughts and prayers are with the people in Tennessee and Alabama today.

"Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong."
1 Corinthians 16:13

Easter Weekend

We had fun celebrating Easter with family last weekend! I had a great conversation with Caden about what Good Friday really meant. He's always known, but this year it was like he really understood the concept of His death and why. Sunday was the first time Grace stayed with us during service (aside from when she was a newborn) and she did GREAT! There were pictures of Jesus on the big screen with the crown of thorns on his head and I said, "You see Jesus up there?" "Oh! He has thorns and blood on his cheek's." I said, "Yea, He does.... He did that for you and for me because He loves us soooo much, and wants us to be with Him in Heaven one day." "Oh wow..."

Easter Morning Take One: My favorite.. but, odd shadows from the tree:)

Easter Morning Take Two: Tried sitting down...good...but still shadowy.

Take Three: Good one of them laughing, because their Dad said.."Caden, your smile looks like your trying to poop." Ugh..:)

Fourth and final!..We finally move away from the shadowy front porch:) Happy Easter!

Friday we enjoyed a great dinner and visiting with Nenaw and Papaw..

and watching the kids hunt for eggs. You see Grace? She is the blur in the back ground...going full speed trying to beat her brothers to all the eggs.

Papaw giving her a lift to some of the higher ones her brothers had missed. ;)

I guess her running at full speed paid off. She ended up with most of the eggs.

The kids finished just before dark, but we were able to get one more picture after the hunt! Yes, she has two baskets full, her's is much smaller than the boys. ;)

On Saturday we spent the day with my family out at my Uncle's land. This is always a lot of fun! Here you see Jared finding one of the prize eggs. Yes, they hid them very well, he was digging it out of a gopher hole!

“He isn't here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen.” Matthew 28:6

Easter Parties

On Wednesday Raegan, a friend from church and MOPS group, hosted a fun Easter Party. The weather was perfect and we had a great time!

Raegan's son Nathan, and Grace painting their Easter eggs. Lots of concentration going on here:)

She can now say she has done something the boys have never done before. Ha!.. something I hadn't ever done until Wednesday!

Very serious and working hard trying to get every little part of her egg painted.

Raegan served a yummy lunch! And afterwards the kids enjoyed decorating fun sugar cookies!

The boys were excited to find their yummy cookies on the kitchen counter after school.:)

Yummm...! :)

After lunch the kids had fun playing outside. I love Nathan in this picture...too cute!

"Would you like a push?"

"K. There you go!" Oh my word. This was so precious! Such a sweet boy!

And here she is on Thursday about to get out of the car all ready for her school Easter Party! Looking at this picture makes me remember when the boys were younger and their Easter Parties.:( They grow up too fast!!

....."Christ LOVED us and gave himself up for us"....Ephesians 5:2

Photos from My Phone

When we are in town or just out side in the back yard I don't always have the camera with me, but I normally have my phone. And over the past week I have taken some photos that would say a lot about our everyday lives. So this post is pretty much just a photo post (like the others are lacking pictures) I love taking pictures, they speak so much louder to me than just words and Jeff and the kids and I love looking back and remembering what our lives were like.

Last week Jared asked if we could stop by and visit Memaw on our way home from school.

They don't go out there with me very often, maybe about every 6 months or so, I don't know why I don't take them more often because the boys enjoy this so much.

We spent over 45 minutes walking around and discussed some of the markers. Some were so sad, to read of families and individuals that had such hardship. Life is so very short. Some of the people aside from Memaw (and her husband) I knew personally and know how they died. This is always a great conversation with them about Life and the Lord.

Grace and I sitting on the swing watching the boys play basketball. I love that little girl soo much!

Lazy I tell ya... that's all I can say. Laaaazyy

Saturdays... arn't they the best!

Grace enjoying herself over at Alyssa's house. Thanks Carrie for the pic!

Caden and the neighbor playing a game of tether ball.

I stole this one off of my sisters facebook post! Hehe! Jared skipped school on Friday to be with Caleb on surgery day. Caleb did great and was home by Saturday! Jared then spent about 5 hours with him at home. Thanks Mom and Dad for taking Jared Thursday night so that he could be there to see Caleb bright and early 6:30 Friday morning!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Lake

We took a little camping trip to the lake last weekend. Friday evening we were fishing with Nana and Papaw and enjoyed the beautiful sunset.

Caden and Nana

Papaw, Caden and Jared

Jared

Caden

Grace

Tossing rocks on Saturday morning.

Okay,okay, they've had enough of the camera. ;)

The best photos are the ones that they don't know are being taken. ;)

Love this one of the kids swimming, Jeff and I fishing and if you look close enough you can see our camping neighbors Labrador fetching. The only sad thing about this picture is seconds after I took it Grace got sick and started vomiting. Jeff and I packed up camp and headed home.

Sunday morning we were back at Taylor Medical. This time her urinalysis results, were good, which was very good to hear! But watching her while holding her down while they drew 2 vials of blood was not easy. Through the screams, Jeff and I kept telling her she was doing so good, not sure if she even heard us, but she did holler, "No I'm not!" at one point. I remember when I was her age getting tested for allergies and long needles coming at you, it was very scary. We got good news though, they called a few hours later with the results and all of the labs were good and normal. So now the next thing we have to look for is food allergies. I will take that over the alternative.

Thank you Nana and Papaw for keeping the boys and letting them finish out the camping weekend with you!

“So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 8:15

Little Hands Hold Little Things...

but Little Hearts ask Big Questions.

I love that the kids will bring up Christ out of nowhere. At dinner tonight we were talking about the TAKS test Jared has taken this week and how he will be taking his last and final Science test in April.

Caden asked, "Why did God take 7 days to make everything when he could have made it all at once." I told him "He wanted to take his time and enjoy his creations." Jeff talked about how 7 days on earth are not the same in Heaven. I told him Memaw waited over 50 years to see her husband again. But in heaven 50 years is just a blink of an eye.

Jeff gave some examples of the tiny details of life. Then he asked, "Who told the story, who said it took seven days?" We were unprepared and didn't have a good answer for him. We told him we would need to look that one up.

We (I) question His every move in our lives .............but we can't begin to imagine the mind of Christ. I think about how small we are. He is an AMAZING God who created the universe and who sits on a great throne and He spoke everything into existence.

I can't help but think about how God knew every detail of my life way before I was even conceived. And the amazing thing is with all the stars in the Heavens that He knows by name and all the fish and birds all over the world that He takes care of - He loves and cares for us most! He sent His son to take away our sins. I just feel so overwhelmed by that kind of love. Sometimes I feel like I just blurt things out to Him instead of going to Him in prayer God who is so powerful and more loving than we can imagine. I'm thankful that God cares about me with all the creations that He has and that He gave me three precious kids to love and care for. It makes my little everyday trials less important and worshipping Him for who He is a little more of a priority!

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? Psalm 8:3-4

Wet Pets & Critters

Grace is still taking it slow but she is feeling better. Now we need her to regain her appetite and the weight she lost while she was sick.

Last night we had our first girls night out together. When we take the boys out for a "Date Night" we always enjoy the one on one time with the kids. With Grace still at home with me during the day I honestly haven't thought about taking her out for a girls night. Until now. Last week Aimee asked me if Grace and I would want to go out for a "Girls Night." I thought.. She would love to go!.. If she was feeling okay.

I told her about an hour before we left the house and she was so excited!

Us just before leaving for our girls night out!

We picked up Aimee and Abigail and we headed to Cheddars for dinner. We had the best service! We didn't wait long for a table and we had a wonderful waiter!

After dinner, we were off to PETCO and Wet Pets & Critters! Grace has never been to the Zoo and this was her first time in the pet store. We will definitely go back and will be making plans on going to the Zoo. She loved it!! Thanks to Diego... She was naming most of the animals. "Wow!.. it's an Iguana! and later "Momma look at the Macaw!" Aimee and I were impressed! ;) I guess watching Diego does pay off! HA!! ;) Today she was telling her Daddy all about the Macaw that scared her, because it was so loud and could bite off her finger. So I guess she's scared of them now:/ This is a good thing though. They are a beautiful animal, and I loved watching them last night but they creeped me out, they are so MEAN! On our way back to Aimee and Abigail's house we asked what was their favorite pet they saw tonight. Abi said, "The black puppy." I just knew Grace's favorite was going to be the fish. But no. She said, "The snakes!" Of course she would. Crazy kid! We headed home about 10:00 and in the car she talked all about the fun she had. Just minutes before pulling in the driveway she was out. We will definitely plan another girls night/date night again soon! I think her Daddy would enjoy taking her out for a Daddy Daughter Date too!

A little update on Caleb. He will be having surgery in Shreveport on April 15th. Also last week he fell and crushed his wrist. He had to be put to sleep so that he could have decompression done on his wrist. Poor Caleb. He has had a tough time lately. Thank you Steve, for this photo of the boys!

"Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14