Family and Friends and Fun!

A couple of weeks ago we saw a sign on the side of the road by our house that said "Free Kittens" and beside it was this little kitten locked up in a little cage all alone. No people around anywhere. Guess they just left her there hoping someone would pick her up. Well...we did! She is one of the sweetest kittens I've ever been around. She LOVES to be held and played with and NEVER runs away from us. She even tolerates Sam and Kinley who play a little too rough with her I think...but she just keeps purring and laying there. We haven't really decided on a permanent name yet...Brooklyn wants Pebbles and I liked Kit-Kat. We'll see what ends up sticking.On Friday we went to visit my newest great-neice (almost 2 weeks old) Kenzi Maria.

She is so precious and I just LOVE her head FULL of hair! I got to be the first to put a headband in it. (don't think her daddy liked that too much) but hey--I AM her great-aunt--I have to have SOME priveledges! he he

On Monday, I got to go visit my buddy Kandy and her kiddos at her house. We had so much fun working out and then chillin' by her pool while the kids swam! Here is one of us right in the middle of a cardio work out all hot and sweaty!

Here are a couple of the kids having fun together. They had a blast playing in their awesome playhouse and of course..swiming in the pool!

Monday night we got together with my sister and her daughter (my neice) and HER daughter (my other great-neice) Alexis. She is 2 1/2 and she is SUCH a doll! Grant was completely infatuated with her and spent a good portion of the evening just staring at her! He carried her blankie, Nemo and sippy cup all over for her wherever we went! They even held hands on the way into the Cheesecake Factory for dinner!Here is one of me kissing her sweet face. Isn't she gorgeous?? Those EYES!And lastly, one of my kids MIRACULOUSLY hugging each other and smiling! (They're probably pinching each other behind their backs!)

I'm feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot!

Not "Hot" as in sexy..."Hot" as in HOT! For the past couple of weeks, I swear I've been having hot flashes! I can be just comfortable one minute with a blanket over my legs or pajama pants on and the next thing I know I'm burning up, sweat beads popping up on my brow and trickling down the small of my back and I'm ripping off every unneccesary peice of fabric. What's up with THAT? Frighteningly I am reminding myself of what my mom looked like just a few years ago when she went through menopause. But I'm only 30.
Over the past week, I've woken up several times in the middle of the night so hot that my hair and nightshirt were actually damp. I'll look over at Matt and there he is all nestled up under the covers sleeping comfortably while I'm practically stripping down naked. Is that normal?
Thankfully, I go to see my girlie doctor in 2 weeks and I can bring this up with her. That'll be right after we discuss what needs to be done about my birth control situation now that my IUD has expired. I am more sure than ever that we are done having babies...so it's probably time to take some more permanent measures. Yet I still can't shake the thought that maybe we're just still a tad too young to be closing that door permanently and that maybe I should go with another 5-year IUD just to be on the safe side....but....on the other hand when I imagine what I would think/feel/do if I did, by chance, get prego again....well, then I know it might be time to consider something permanent. :o)
Anyway, I really should be working right now and not typing on my blog, but I just went through one of those "I'm-burning-Up!!!" moments and thought I'd tell you guys all my personal business before I begin my work for the day! ha ha
Hope you all have a great Thursday! Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Our 3rd Mother/Daughter Date

As you know, Brooklyn and I have been going on special dates (8 of them in this kit) and we just did our 3rd one. This time it was "Quiet time with God." It was a little harder because there weren't any special places to go or things to do. There was a small devotional and then we were supposed to have some quiet time with God. To make it seem a little bit more "big" we went and got our toenails done first. Then we stopped at McDonalds and got a Oreo icecream thingy. Then we went to some land my dad owns and spread out a blanket and had our quiet time. It was simple, but still very nice.

Memorial Day Weekend

On Saturday we went to see my new GREAT neice! (I am SO NOT old enough to be a great-anything...but oh well! I guess that's what I get when all my brothers and sisters are way older than me! Kenzi Maria was born with a full head of dark hair! I'm in total love with her already!

Here is one of Matt and Brooklyn in the hall at the hospital. It was so sweet---Father/daughter, I couldn't pass up putting it on here!Next we headed to our home town for some fun family time. We always stay with Matt's mom and step-dad. They are wonderful to us and always treat us extra special. Here's a pic of Brooklyn playing in their bird bath. So sweet!

Matt's step-dad, Duane, likes motorcycles and has recently acquired this 1969 (I think) scooter. We all had a blast riding around the neighborhood on it!

On Sunday we started the day out going to church with Matt's mamaw. We got to listen to the preacher who did our wedding (and who was our pastor when we met). It was exciting and fun to catch up on what's been going on since we'd seen him and his family last. Matt's mamaw ALWAYS has us a sweet greeting written on the sidewalk out in front of her house with sidewalk chalk when we come. This time I took a picture!

Here we are right after church. Finally, a family picture!

After church, we had a great birthday party for the 2 little Jones boys (Jaxon-turning 7 and Grant-turning 5). I organized a party in the park, made baseball cupcakes and then had a family baseball game since both boys are big into baseball right now. It went great and we even got Matt's Mamaw out there to bat! What a sport!

Here are the 4 cousins: Grant, Nicole, Brooklyn & Jaxon. The BEST of friends!Here are the 2 birthday boys blowing out their candles.

Matt's little brother and his wife just got a yorkie about a month ago. Neither of these guys act like they care about these pups too much...but look at them there--Matt holding Kinley and Cale holding Sophie. You can clearly see they love these little girls almost as much as me and Lindsay do! hee hee (that's Matt's dad sitting there on the right in the white shirt).Here's a better picture of the 3 Jones men. Matt, Cale & GP

Here's one of us women. That's me in the pink, Lindsay (my SIL) in the black and Matt's mom, Laura, in the yellow.

grrrr

I just did a whole long post for this blog and then accidently posted it to my P90X blog. Does anyone know how to switch it around?

Grant's Pre-K Graduation
Last week, Grant graduated out of Pre-K. Next year he'll be a big Kindergartner! It was so cute to see his class perform some songs they had learned and walk across the stage to get their completion certificates!

Here he is with his teachers, his class and one last HAPPY shot!

Target on my back?

Last night, after being gone all weekend, I decided to take the dreadful trip to Wal-Mart to stock back up on groceries. It was nearly 9 o'clock but both Grant and I had had a nap on the way home and weren't too tired, so off we went. Shortly after I got going, Matt called my cell phone and we were talking when all of a sudden a truck comes up behind me blowing their horn and nearly running me over. I was going a few miles over the speed limit in the slow lane and there was no one in the fast lane beside me so I had NO IDEA what was going on. The guy just kept staying RIGHT on my bumper and holding his horn down. Meanwhile I'm on the phone with Matt telling him all this. Then the guy decides to gun it and FLY past me and then cut me off and hit his brakes. Thankfully I was able to react quickly and hit my brakes fast so I didn't run into the back of him. Then he turns into the Wal-Mart parking lot with me right behind him. Matt's on the phone telling me not to park or go in so I just drive around the parking lot slowly watching the guy park his truck and go in. Then I parked on the opposite side of the parking lot but with my car pointing to where I could see his truck and I just sat there. Matt said to just stay there and that he was coming up to the store. We hang up the phone and I sit there with Grant trying answer all his questions while I glance through my coupons. The next thing I know I look up and the guy is walking out of the store with a woman and they are STARING right at me. My heart started to beat a little faster. They get in their truck, never taking their eyes off me and then drive straight up to my van so close they nearly scraped the side of the van. At this time I am ferociously trying to dial Matt's cell phone. I get him on the line about the time the guy gets RIGHT next to my drivers side window. (so close he could have reached out and touched me!) He rolls his window down, looks me in the eye and yells "WHAT?" at my face. By this point I have let fear completely overtake me. I am sitting there with Grant right beside me , speechless, just cowering back. The guy finally drove off and I just sat there shaking until Matt got there (about 3 minutes later). Now, I am not one one to normally stereotype people...but this guy just looked scary. He was probably 45 yrs old...hadn't shaved in a month, dirty, dressed sloppy with a weird bucket type hat on. The lady, I never did get a good look at.
Anyway, I'm really getting annoyed by this stuff. This is the second time recently that something like this has happened to me. I am a modest person driving a mini-van with a child---give me BREAK! Do I really look like the kind of person looking to start (or be involved with) trouble?
The most disappointing thing about this whole episode was that I let the devil have his way with my mind after that. I began imagining all kinds of horrible things that could happen and I really had to do some spiritual warfare afterwards to gain back control. I actually had myself in tears imagining my cruel, inhumane death and how my children were going to have to be raised by some other woman and I'd never see them grow up! It's insane how the devil will try to grip you with fear if you'll just open the door for him!
Thank God that He is an ever-present help in time of need. When I cried out to Him last night after all of this, He reminded me of his promises in Psalm 91. Ahhh....peace again at last! I am so glad I am a Christian!!

Pumped with Power!

Have you ever been SO EXCITED that you just want to SCREAM????????
Well, that's how I feel this morning.
Nothing "obvious" happened...but after our prayer/Bible time this morning...I just feel like the disciples must have felt when the Holy Spirit fell on them in the upper room. I am on FI-YA!
I can just imagine the devil right now...probably backing up like a fox would do if he was staring into the face of a gigantic, roaring tiger! You know...when it realizes that it is seconds away from being torn to SHREDS!!
Literally I am on a total Holy Ghost adrenaline rush right now! I can't wait to get out of this house and let it spill over onto everyone I come into contact with today! :o)
Just wanted you all to know that....HAD to share it with somebody!

Checkin' In

So...hey there! Long time, no post!

You wanna know how bad it is? I have a post-it note stuck to my computer screen that says "READ BLOGS!!!!"

Seriously.

It's not that I don't want to...cuz I SOOOO do. But finding the time is a joke. As you know, we ALL go through these "seasons" where we just get too busy to spend much time sitting in front of the computer leisurly just reading about other peoples lives. I'm in that "season" right now. But...there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Oh yes there is....glory, hallelujah! It's far off in the distance, but I see it and it won't be too much longer!

In the meantime, I appreciate you all hanging in there and keeping me on your "following" list. I LOVE to write and get your feedback so I'll never go away for good.

But before I go, let me share some pictures with you from the past month.

On Friday May 1st, Grant was honored at his school assembly as Tiger Cub of the Month. He was VERY nervous to go up and accept his ribbon, so Brooklyn walked with him. Here are a couple of pics. One of him with me and one of our whole group that was there. (Matt had to work.)

Next up was May 9th: The Mother/Daughter Tea that our church holds every year. This year, I was a hostess, which was cool. It was fun to get all dressed up and do something girly with my mom and Brooklyn.

The next day was Mother's Day. I was scheduled to teach the 5-year-olds during church that day but after I got in my class, Matt stopped by the church coffee shop and got me a skinny french silk latte and brought it to me!! (brownie points baby!) Then after church we came home and grilled a wonderful meal for my mom and opened our gifts. Matt had gotten me exactly what I wanted--which was a 2gb microSD card for my new Blackberry so I can download all my music to it and use it as an MP3 at the gym. YAY! He also gave me a sweet card and wrote a message that covered the entire inside of the card (which is probably the most he has ever written to me!). It was precious and I will NEVER get rid of that card!

A few days later we celebrated Grant's 5th birthday! It honestly blows my mind that he's FIVE. Wasn't it just the other day that he was my BABY!?!

We started out the day by having breakfast at our favorite local cafe. My parents gave him his gift--which was a whole box of crumpled up $1 bills! He LOVED IT!

Then after school we had his party. It was the best birthday party I've ever thrown. Nothing fancy or super-fun...but EASY and he had a great time! We invited his whole class to Mazzio's immediately after school. I ordered 3 large single topping pizzas (with a coupon of course!) and drinks for everyone and it only ended up costing me $29!!! I had went ahead of time and decorated it up and since we had it at 3 pm on a Wednesday...we practically had the entire place to ourselves. Here are a couple pics of him with his cake and with all his friends.
So...that's my month of May...SO Far!! We have LOTS more events on the calandar still to come!

I'm looking forward to school being out and the "lazy dayz of summer" coming into full effect! :o)

Are you ready for Summer?

Summer is on it's way! Despite all the rain we've had---I see the sun peeking out at us! If you aren't ready to put on your bikini and strut your stuff just yet....there's still hope! I am here to help you! I am more passionate than ever about helping people get in the best shape of their lives...and the best news is--It doesn't have to take years! Just a determined attitude, a towel to wipe up the pool of sweat and the click of your mouse and you can be on your way to having the body you've always dreamed of. Don't tell me you can't do it, because I'm living proof that ANYONE who really wants it...can do it! I started out at 190 pounds. Now at 130 lbs, I am in the best shape of my life--after having 2 kids. You don't even need a gym membership! All this can take place in the space between your couch and your tv! I promise to hold you accountable and help you achieve your goals! Click here to find out how I can help you! Then click on the "Read My Story" link on the bottom left side of your screen. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions or if you want to hear what program/products I recommend for you. YOU CAN DO IT!

Hey Baby!

Okay, I have to give a SHOUT OUT to my buddy Rachael who has recently started a custom baby products business. She is the bomb y'all. Everything she makes and does is HIGH quality and absolutely gorgeous and unique! If you have a baby in your life, check out this website:
www.simmonsgirlz.blogspot.com

Note to Self:

God didn't create you to be able to do everything all the time. You are not omnipotent nor are you omnipresent. You are not a super hero. You are one woman. You are NOT God.
God created you to be DEPENDENT on HIM. It is not a sign of weakness to "let go and let God" but rather a sign of strength and maturity. When you pray and "cast your cares on Him", you must see it as done. To continue to worry, stress or fret about it is a clear sign that you do not trust God to handle what you have given Him.

Trust God. He's got this.

Birthday Pics

We had a great weekend celebrating Matt's birthday. Thanks to you all for your sweet birthday wishes! He was surprised when I showed him all of your comments on that last post!! :)

Sunday after church we went out to eat at his choice: Olive Garden. Next we came home and had cake and ice cream and he opened his gifts. After a little rest, we took the kids over to my parents house for the night so we could go to a movie (we saw "Fighting") and then we stopped at the Cheesecake Factory to split an order of nachos before heading home for the night. Since the kids were spending the night at Grandma & Grandpa's we were able to sleep in the next morning, enjoy our coffee and a little Bible study before we headed off to our favorite local diner for an amazingly delicious breakfast of veggie omlet, hashbrowns and 1 ginormous pancake, which we shared. YUM!

Here are a few pics from his party and then a couple of him and I before our "date".

The kids were so excited to give him their gifts!

We were supposed to BOTH show off our muscles in this picture. As you can see, instead, Matt decided to give me bunny ears.

And lastly, the kissy face from me. I can't resist doing this almost everytime I take pictures. I'm weird..I know.

Happy April 26th Baby!

Today is Matt's 33rd birthday. I used to cringe when I said that number because anything that started with a "thirty" sounded old to me. Now I am learning to embrace it. These are the BEST years of our lives! We look better, feel better, are more in love, are growing stronger in our walk with Christ, are more financially stable---than EVER! Why would I ever want to go back to the 20's??? I honestly think that from 30-39 will probably be the decade that we look back on when we're in our 80's and say "those were our best years." Just thinking about that makes me want to make the MOST of this time.

I got up this morning at 5:15 a.m. (on a Sunday!!!) so I could get all my work for the doctors office done so I can take Monday off and spend the whole day with my hubby--just the 2 of us. He took off work and my mom is keeping the kids overnight tonight...so it'll just be us. We're not doing anything expensive or extravagant...but this will be the first time we've ever had 24 hours of alone time in our own home, and I'm totally looking forward to it. I'm even considering turning the phone off because I don't wany any interruptions. :)

Anyway, I know most of you remember back about 9 months ago when I was crying my eyes out about turning 30...but I'm SOOOOO okay with it now. 30 is the NEW 20 as far as I'm concerned! :)

Okay, I better get back to work if I'm gonna get this all done before church this morning! Love y'all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!! YOU BLOW ME AWAY WITH YOUR LOVE!

I'm one busy lady!

Saturday, after I ran my first ever 5K, I ran home, showered and then left on a 1 3/4 hour drive to where I was helping throw a baby shower for my niece Rachael. She's having a baby girl next month and it was an honor to get to bless her with a beautiful shower and so many great gifts! Here is a pic of me measuring her baby-belly!

That was a busy, busy day---and life is not about to get any slower! I have something on the calander almost every day for the next solid month. It's insane. I know I've done it yet again...and over-committed myself. Tomorrow I have to go to the school to prepare flyers for Teacher Appreciation Week which I'm chairperson of. Friday I have to be at the school all day to oversee our Fun Day (kind of like a track meet) where I am the chairperson and will be in charge of making sure every single thing runs smoothly. Sunday is Matt's birthday and I still don't know what the plans are for that yet...but he has requested a 1 hour full body massage from ME as his gift. (I think I can handle that one! :) Right around the corner from that is Mother's Day and Grant's 5th birthday, which I still need to plan. On top of that, I am the PR Coordinator for our church's VBS this year and I need to be making preparations for that. In addition to those things, I have been offered an opportunity to do something very, very exciting related to fitness...that I can't quite disclose entirely yet...but it is going to require me to spend some quality time preparing for and working on.

Add to that that I am 2/3 of the way done reading the book "The Shack"

*Need to plan Date #3 for me and my Brookie-dear.

*Need to put lots of stuff on Craig's list to sell--it's laying in piles everywhere and clutter drives me nuts!

*Still need to take down all the Easter decor and put that in the attic.

*Need to start planning the end-of-the-year gift for Brooklyn's teacher at school since I am the homeroom mom and school is almost out.

*Need to find, print and turn in pictures for the yearbook at school.

*Just bought a book called "Boundaries: When to say Yes and How to say No" that our Sunday School class is studying and I am in dire need of reading and applying to my life. (as you can see from this post!)

Aughhhh.....how am I going to do all that and everything on my calander and still work out and eat right and pay bills and on and on and on????

Who knows...but somehow I always manage to do it. I know one thing....I need to hurry up and read that book!! As you can imagine, I may not be blogging much during this next month...but I promise I'll be back!

We're being followed!!! Date 2

So..Thursday night Brooklyn and I went on our 2nd Mommy/Daughter date. The agenda was a facial this time and the object lesson was "learning how to take care of our skin." I called ahead to Origins at the mall to see if they still give complimentary facials and to see if we could come. We got a wonderful young girl who was happy to do them for us (and yes...complimentary!!)
Brooklyn went first and she thorougly enjoyed being pampered. Next was my turn and boy did my skin need that!! After a major scrub, a moisturing mask, toner and then moisturizer...my face felt brand new again! All the while she worked on us, the girl explained to Brooklyn (and me) what she was doing, what she was using and why it's important to take good care of our faces. (this is all stuff Brooklyn has heard me say...but wouldn't really "hear" it coming from me). Anyway, I ended up deciding to buy 3 of the main products that she used on us so we could maintain this at home. Afterwards we headed to a little dessert place to get Brooklyn a slice of blueberry cheesecake and then over to Starbucks for me so I could get my tall skinny mocha latte. YUMM!! Then we made our way over to the center of the mall where they have some comfy couches and end tables and we began our devotional. When we walked over to the only available couch, there was a shopping bag leaning up against it, but no one in sight who it might belong to. I just scooched it over a bit and we sat down and did our devotionals. During this time I noticed a big guy standing across from us looking at us..but whatever...no big deal. I thought maybe it was his bag or something...but after about half an hour, when we were ready to get up, I glanced inside the bag and saw that it was full of clothes/shoes from a very expensive store and I told Brooklyn we better take it to the Lost & Found at the Information booth. We turned it in and then headed over to a different area where there were some benches so we could do our last little thing which is a little quiz on the evening. As we sat down, I looked up and there was that guy again. A big BIG bouncer looking kind of guy, in a solid black shirt, jeans and a bald head staring RIGHT at me. It was making me uncomfortable but I tried to just ignore it. As we worked through our little quiz I could see him hovering around us, talking on the phone, but never leaving the area we were in. I discreetly told Brooklyn, "let's get up and go over here instead" and we walked down to a different area and sat down again. I thought we had lost him so we finished up our books and then I called Matt to tell him we were headed home. It was about 3 minutes till 9, when the mall was closing. As I got ready to stand up to leave, I glanced behind me and there he was again RIGHT behind me. My heart started POUNDING. I felt like I could hear the Holy Spirit screaming inside my head NOT to walk out those doors into the dark parking lot to our car so I grabbed Brooklyn's hand and practically drug her as fast as I could into the nearest store, which happened to be Macy's. I immediately found the lady at the fragrance desk and told her to call security because there was someone following me. As soon as I said it, Brooklyn said "mom, are you talking about that big guy in the black shirt?" So she had noticed it too!! The lady called security and while we were waiting for them to come (it took THIRTY minutes!!! Thank God there wasn't an emergency!!) I looked around to see if I could still see him. I didn't but still...there was NO WAY I was walking out to my car alone. When the security guard finally arrived, we left for my van...and I explained to her why I had called for her. She said "describe what he looked like". I told her and she said "Oh, I bet I know who that was. That was probably one of our plain-clothes loss prevention guys. They are there to watch for people who might be stealing. Did you by any chance pick up a bag somewhere?" To which I replied "YES!! We did!" and I told her about the bag that we had turned in to Lost & Found. She said he probably saw us pick it up and was keeping his eye on us just in case we were doing something fishy.
Well..that put my mind at ease at little since at least now I had some hope that this was a "legit" person and not some freakazoid that was planning to follow me to my car and kill me or something.
Anyway, as soon as I got in the car I called Matt and told him what had happened...as he was probably wondering where I was since I should have been home already. I never expected his reaction. He was FURIOUS! And as I talked to him...I became pretty mad too. Even if the guy does work at the mall...there was no exuse for the obvious intimidation and following he was doing. A woman and her daughter...at the mall...having dessert and coffee and doing devotionals. Did we REALLY look like theives??? I mean...COME ON. I understand them needing to patrol that kind of thing, but there must be some better way of doing it than to scare the living daylights out of perfectly harmless people.
Annnnnyyyywayyyy.....on the way home we are supposed to listen to a CD that has a little story and scriptures that go along with our evening and evne though we put it on...neither of us could concentrate on it because of the total adrenaline rush we had just experienced. It was a wonderful night, until all that happened..but it will certainly be memorable!!

Post-It Notes

So...it's been a while since I've posted. I have "notes" stuck everywhere in my head of things I want to remember to write about when I get the time...and then I just had a clever idea---Just Post-It!
Here is the quick post-it version of all my stories:

Had a FANTASTIC 1st date with my daughter on Friday, April 3rd. We were given this Secret Keeper Girl book a few years ago (before she was really old enough to do it) and God brought it back to my memory a few months back. I told her about it and then I (me only) forgot about it. A couple of weeks ago I found this "invitation" laying on my desk. How could I say no?


















It was everything and more that I had hoped it might be. We connected. We looked into each others eyes and talked about the important things. For once, I wasn't folding laundry or washing dishes or typing while she was talking...but I was listening, observing her facial expressions. It was magical. As an added plus, someone in the resturant where we had this little tea party date mysteriously picked up our tab! Wow! And...the waitress was very intruigued as to what we were doing--us 2 girls all by ourselves all dressed up on a Friday night having tea! It was an opportunity to witness, which was the icing on the cake! At the end of the night, we held hands and prayed for each other. God was surely in our presence!! Here are a few pics of us on our 1st of 8 special dates!























Next it was Grant's special turn for some Father-Son time. Matt had taken off work Thursday and Friday to go turkey hunting. After church on Wednesday night we stopped at Wal-Mart for Matt to get his hunting licence. When Grant heard that, he said "Dad! Can I go too???" Matt couldn't turn him down although we weren't sure how he'd do for hours out in the woods having to be still and quiet. When we got home the hunt for anything camo in a size 4T began. This is what we came up with. Here are my boys before their 1st ever hunting trip together. (they didn't end up getting a turkey this time, although they did see a couple while they were driving. Also, Matt said Grant did GREAT and he'll definitely be taking him hunting again! yay!)























As for the other 2 members of our family---they are finally starting to be friends, and at the very least, bed mates. Sam would probably say he just "tolerates" Kinley....but I think he's starting to really love her, even if he won't admit it! hee hee

















Easter was yesterday. I was on the schedule to teach the 5-year-old class at church during early service. Usually we don't have very many kids, but I knew it was Easter and we may have a few extras. Boy...was that an understatement. The 4-year-old class teachers didn't show up so we ended up combining classes. Instead of my usual 8-10 kids, we had 33!! Whew! It was a bit chaotic but in all, I think it went really well. The lesson time went exceptionally well and I was actually able to take prayer requests from all 33 kids during our prayer time! What a blessing to let each one of them speak and offer up their requests to the Lord--and then I had the honor of leading the prayer! After church we went to my parents house for lunch where my sister and her family (from Texas) had come to visit and my brother and his family (who lives here) had come. It was a great family dinner with lots and lots of yummy food. My mom took a moment before we ate to read a couple of chapters out of Psalms and I was so proud of her. A lot of our family aren't exactly living for God right now so it was a wonderful opportunity to share the Word with them. They may not have "wanted" to hear it...but they weren't gonna get to fill their plates until she finished reading...so they were stuck! hee hee (take that DEVIL! I've already claimed everyone of them into the Kingdom of Heaven!)








The ONLY picture I took from Easter was this one of Grant hunting eggs. Woops! I've been so busy fiddling with my new touch-screen phone that I forgot to grab the camera this year.









Lastly, I'll leave you with one of my 2 favorite short people. It's rare that I catch them this close to each other and smiling!

Like good deals?

Okay girls! Here's a STEAL of a DEAL from American Eagle. Right now, they have their shirts Buy One Get One 50% Off PLUS an additional 15% off.* So...that's pretty good already, right?...but here's the best part: They have LOTS of cute stuff in the clearance right now..and this applies to clearance merchandise as well!
I bought several shirts there recently back when they were going for $24.50, but now they are marked down to $9.99. If you get two, you get one for $9.99 and the other for $4.99--so $15 and THEN 15% off of that..which would make you getting both shirts for $12.75!!!!!
Now of course, if you order them online, you'll have to pay shipping costs...but if you can make it into the store...you can really hit the jackpot! My mom went in yesterday and got 4 of these shirts for my niece. Just had to pass along the savings to all my peeps out there! Love ya!
Ps. The ones that I bought that I can attest are really cute, comfy and fit well are
AE Embellished V-Neck T (I have it in the lavender color. It has cute silver writing and beading on the chest)
Also:
AE Burnout Henley T (the one pictured up there) I actually have 2 of these and I LOVE them! They fit VERY cute!
**In order to get the extra 15% off...you have to use this coupon code at check out: 96253498

(This is good thru April 7th)