Praise You in This Storm

As I sit watching the news today, I can only think of the Casting Crowns song Praise You In This Storm. Yesterday was nothing less than a horrible day in Alabama history. We spent most of the day in the basement of our church, but we were blessed. Not a single tornado that was spotted around Winfield touched down in our precious town, but not every town around here can say this. The small towns of Pea Ridge, Berry, Phil Campbell, and Hackelburg are demolished. Larger cities such as Cullman, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham had extensive damage as well. I thank God that His hand was upon us yesterday and we were all safe and we still have all of our belongings. I praise God through this storm that we will see His hand in all this damage and only His glory will come out of this.

Easter 2011

We had a great Easter this year. Our Easter festivities started on Tuesday for Julia's Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Party at school. Julia had a great time visiting with the Easter Bunny, eating party food and hunting eggs, until she stepped in an ant bed. Trey had to get all the ants off of her without spilling her eggs and candy out of the basket. She survived but was ready for the hunt to be over once the ants were off of her feet.

On Saturday we took the kids to Mr. Tim's to get our yearly Easter pictures made with the live bunnies. The girls love the bunnies, but Jack still does not think they are great. Julia had one bunny laying in her lap like a little baby. She loved it. She would love for one to come home with us, but I am not so sure of that.

On Easter Day, Jack woke us up early to see what the Easter Bunny brought them. They were not disappointed in the baskets this year. The girls got candy, lip gloss and a sun dress. Jack got candy, sunglasses and a new Bass Gloves shirt. After laying around the house and then finally getting dressed, we headed to church. After church we went to Mom and Dad's for a great family lunch. The kids hunted Easter Eggs once and then hit the pool for the first time this summer. I didn't swim because it is still very cool for me, but the kids said it was great.

We had the Lord's Supper tonight at church. It was special moment because it was Jack's first time to take it. We had a great Easter!

Kindergarten Registration

Julia is now registered for Kindergarten. I cannot believe she will be going to school in the fall. She was so excited about going to "big school". She actually thought she would be going to big school the next day and was very upset when we told her she would have to wait until August to go to school. Julia is so ready for Kindergarten. I just hope Kindergarten is ready for her.

Happy Good Friday

Thank Jesus for the Wonderful Cross where all my sins have been nailed! Here are the lyrics of one of my favorite songs regarding the Cross!

When I survey the wonderful cross

On which the Prince of Glory Died

My richest gain I count but loss

And pour contempt on all my pride

See from His head, His hands, His feet

sorrow and blood flow mingled down

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet

Or thorns compose so rich a crown

Oh, the Wonderful Cross, Oh, the Wonderful Cross

Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live

Oh, the Wonderful Cross, Oh, the Wonderful Cross

All who gather here by grace draw near and bless your name.

Midnight Masquerade

Yeah the Prom is over for 2011!! I can now breathe and do a little more than worry about everything going well. The Prom was beautiful and the Junior class really surprised me with how hard they all worked. I could not have gotten it all done without them and the other Junior sponsors. I am really blessed to work with such wonderful people and have such great students.

(My Sweet Caroline)

(Abbey Minor & Sara Langley)

(My two Brians)

(Kate Hindman & Taylor Miller)

She Can Ride on 2 Wheels

Julia learned how to ride her bike without training wheels while she was at Trey's mom and dad's for spring break. I cannot believe that she is big enough to ride without training wheels. Just another one of those obstacles that we have crossed showing that she is a big girl.

Super Bulldog Weekend

We spent the weekend in Starkville this weekend for Super Bulldog Weekend. Friday night we went to the MSU vs. Florida baseball game and got to see MSU beat #4 ranked Florida. We ran into Bully at the ballgame! The kids are always excited to see Bully walking around. After the game, we had a delicious dinner at Little Dooey's! Yummy, yummy!

Saturday we spent the day on campus. We started the day off with a little MSU baseball that was not up to MSU baseball standards. The Dawgs lost Saturday 18-0. I cringe as I write this. After about 3 innings we could not stand to watch the game anymore so we went for lunch at Oby's. Another wonderful Starkville meal. We headed back to campus to play in the Junction before the Maroon/White game. The kids got some wonderful MSU ice cream and then headed over to the Fanfair. Savannah and Julia enjoyed playing in the jumpers and Jack and Trey stood in lite to get autographs of former MSU players that are playing in the NFL now. Jack was excited to get lots of autographs on his new football. We headed over to the stadium to watch the game. It was great seeing a Winfield boy, Zack Townley, dressed in Maroon & White playing for the Dawgs.

We had a great time and cannot wait for football season to begin!

Training Update!

As I posted earlier, Trey and I are training to run a half marathon March of 2012. We are finished with week one of training and we are still functioning. I feel great running, ok maybe jogging. But I am actually doing in and I don't dread going everyday. We found out earlier this week that some other friends of ours are wanting to train with us so we are going to re-do week one. Not because we are not ready to move on, but so we can all be on the same training week together. We are running 10 minutes straight for week one. That amounts to about a mile for me. I am so proud of myself because I think the last time I ran/jogged a mile was in the 7th grade. I have never been a runner! As I said before I am determined to do this! I'll keep updating so I have it documented for myself!

I also got some new running shoes last weekend. They are great, but very bright! My feet never get sore while I am running in them, so I guess my INVESTMENT was a good one. I never thought I would spend as much on a pair of tennis shoes as I did these, but wow they were worth the money! I'll have to post a picture of them later. I can't find one on the internet like them.

Huff and Puff and Blow My 5 Candles Out

Julia celebrated her 5th birthday with a 3 little pigs birthday party. She had lots of friends and family show up to celebrate with her. They spent the afternoon jumping in the jumping house and running around in the beautiful Sunday afternoon. Mandi made her a beautiful cake that tasted wonderful as well. I still cannot believe my baby is five years old.

Opening Day 2011

Baseball season is in full effect at our house now and we love it! Jack is on our good friend Billy Stovall's team. He is already learning a lot more about becoming a better baseball player. Jack is playing 1st base this year and is batting clean up. I hope his batting lessons from last year will pay off for his team this year. Jack is doing a super job. We are so proud of him and cannot wait to see what this season holds. We started the season off great with a win of Sulligent.