Outdoors

The weather was astounding today, and in a good way. We couldn't have asked for a more a beautiful Saturday if we had tried. So, we took advantage of the day and enjoyed every single moment. We were basically outside from sun up to sun down.

Brian worked hard all day and when he is in the mood to work, I don't stop him. He got up early and cut the grass, then showered and headed to home depot to pick up some weed killer (which he forgot), but while he was there he ended up getting side tracked and found something for the backyard that he wanted to do and it was part of my Mother's Day gift. He knows how important a beautful yard is to me, so this was special. Here is a picture of the flowers he planted in the top corner of our yard, hopefully Maggie will stay out of them.



Once he was done with that, he decided he was still in the mood to work more, so he went and picked out a swing set for me to complete my Mother's Day and yes we are aware that this isn't until next week, but when Brian wants to work, far be it from me to stop him. I LOVE the new swing set and he knows how badly I have wanted one for years so I am extremely exicted. I don't have a picture on my camera, but no worries it will be coming soon. We love it!

And of course I wanted to add in a picture of Hayden enjoying the outdoors as well, she had a blast while Brian was working. She played in the water for no telling how long. She ended up soaking wet and stripping down. I will spare you the photos of her with no clothes on, mainly for her sake because I know years from now she would kill me for this. But here she is playing in the water:

27 Days until Hayden turns 2

Bubbles

Yesterday marked 28 Days until Hayden turns 2. While I worked she played all day long with Gram and at the end of the day they were both worn slam out, I am sure.

When I got home we played outside until it was dinner time. We played with bubbles most of the afternoon.

Here is Hayden - 28 Days until she is 2.



And here are the bubbles moments later - this is what we do. Can't tell you how many bottles of bubbles we have gone through :)

Picking up the Pieces

Yesterday, April 27, 2011 was a day in Alabama that will not be forgotten. It was a day when massive tornadoes ripped through our entire state and left severe damage in it's path. Looking on-line this morning and reading news reports throughout the day have left me heartbroken for the many families that have suffered tremendous loss. The death toll continues to rise and so many people now have nothing. No homes, no clothes, no neighbors. I read somewhere that entire neighborhoods were wiped off the map. So hard to believe the devastation that was left in the path of these tornadoes. I spent most of my day at work trying to contact members in the affected communties, I was able to reach some, some I still have not heard from. Many will be without power for days, maybe even longer. The power company said this is not an issue of fixing something that is broken, but instead it is an issue of completely rebuilding something that is no longer there.

Please join me in praying for everyone that has been affected, pray they will continue to pick up the pieces of their once full life and find a new sense of normal, whatever that may be.

Today left me wanting to be home with my family. I wanted to play with Hayden and praise God for her and Brian. I will continue to thank Him for my family and for keeping us safe.

We decided to make a quick trip to Bass Pro tonight for dinner and Hayden was excited to see the fish, she talked about them the entire way in the building and walked us straight back to see them.

Here we are in front of the gigantic fish tank:

29 Day until I turn 2

The Final 30 Days

Hayden is 23 months old today. It is hard for me to believe that she will be 2 in 30 days. I have decided to document her final 30 days of her first year with a photo each day. I hope I can remember to take one each day. I want to remember these days and be able to look back years from now!

I began this morning while she was eating her breakfast, a bowl of cereal. While eating cereal, she goes back and forth between using her hands and using her spoon. This is the one I caught with my camera this morning.

30 Days Until I turn 2



I hope you enjoy the photos from each day of the Final 30 Days of Hayden's 1st year. I will try to put a photo up each day of something different! We are looking forward to the next few days and Hayden's 2nd Year!

Easter Celebrations

We celebrated Easter surrounded by family and it was such a wonderful day! We started the morning early getting ready and waiting on Hayden to wake up so she could see her Easter basket. It was just outside her bedroom door so she could immediately spot it when Brian and I opened the door. Her face was priceless, wish I had a picture, but she almost fell out of her crib trying to get to it.



Checking everything out very slowly...



Strawberry Shortcake DVD - we have them all now!



Two new spring/summer outfits!





We got ready, had candy for breakfast, and headed to church for an awesome service at Centerpoint. After church let out we went to Nan and Papa's for the day. We had lunch at their house, opened up more presents, ate lots more candy, and even went to the farm for an Easter egg hunt. It was the BEST day, minus the meltdown Hayden had in the car because we chose to skip naptime.

Here are some pictures from the day!

Hayden's Easter basket from Nan and Papa, all kinds of goodies!




Another "fantastic" family photo - Hayden does not like having her picture taken anymore, she is completely over it!



Arriving at the farm and eager to play



"Hollywood" needed her sunglasses!



Playing with Daddy and really wanting to jump in the pond.



Papa getting my fishing pole all ready




Crickets for fishing...



On second thought maybe Aunt Jennifer will get them out for me!



Riding on the golf cart after a little fun at the pond



Hunting eggs with Nan, now where did I put my basket again?

Easter at Gram and Pap's

This past Saturday we celebrated Easter at Gram and Pap's and as always we had an absolute blast! The weather outside was perfect (for everyone but me - stinking allergies)and the kids loved spending time together hunting Easter eggs!

So good to see everyone and very thankful my older sister Lori and my nephew Dean were able to drive down for the day, it has been too long.

Here are a few shots from the day, of course I didn't get that many as I tried my best to avoid the outdoors.

Taking bubbles and chalk to Gram to play



Here you go - can you play with me?



Let's play again?



Just a swinging and singing of course...if only you could have heard :)



This child loves to be tossed in the air, not too high though!



Hunting eggs!



Reagan found a basket full too!




You don't have more eggs than me do you??



Opening up Easter goodies from Gram & Pap, with Daddy's help!



These two like to play rough!



Hayden found a new friend to "catch" her - one of our favorite things to do, this child is fearless.



After several tries this was the best we could accomplish for a new family photo...

One in a Million

Another amazing book that I have read recently is "One in a Million" by Priscilla Shirer. If you haven't read it and are looking for something to read this just might be it.

It really went along well (unintentionally) with my daily bible readings that I was going through at the time. The books discusses how to be "one in a million". When approximately two million adult pilgrims of ancient Israel left behind their slavery in Egypt, wandering in the wilderness for an entire generation, only two made it safely to the Promised Land. That's One in a Million who were brave enough to put abundant life to work no matter where they were, no matter how easy it became just to blend in and be average. (taken from the back of the book - I mean she says it so much more eloquently than I ever could have.

Here are a few random highlights I made while reading and studying this particular book.

"The power of sin was broken at the foot of the cross. We couldn't go break it ourselves any more than the children of Israel could negotiate their own liberation pact. As Romans 5:17 says, we don't go out trying to find deliverance; we receive Christ's abundance of grace, His gift of righteousness, His ability to walk free from sin's enslavement.

"But make no mistake: It was for freedom that Christ set us free."

While the Israelites were complaining and missing the days of their enslavement and wanting to return to Egypt. "Like us, they tended to forget that Pharaoh's (or Satan in our lives) only reason for infusing any form of enjoyment into their day was to make his slave population strong enough to be useful in building his storage cities".

"Looking back keeps us from looking forward"

While discussing the manna from heaven that God provided them while in the wilderness - "The question is not whether a good God could possibly be so restrictive as to confine our path of redemption to one available option. The better question, after all that we've done to resist and reject Him, is why He chose to open the one path He did."

"God never fails to bring about abundant living in those who receive His gifts with confident gratitude...we must accept His ways, knowing that they are designed as much for our good as they are for His glory."

"I want to be one who listens for His voice and expects to hear it, who believes what most others are only willing to wonder about."

"Reaching Canaan was reserved for those willing to make changes."

When trying to make a decision I learned this:

Fear does Not come from God, the scripture plainly tells us (2 Tim. 1:7). In fact, one of the ways I determine His will for my life is like this; if discerning His will means making a decision between two options, and the only reason for being suspicious of one of the options is that I'm afraid of it, I know this is probably the choice He's wanting me to make. If fear is the ONLY reason I'm resistant to follow, I can assume the enemy is trying to keep me from doing what the Lord wants me to do. I'm learning that fear is a spirit given by the enemy to divert us from God's will.

My final thought from this book is Always Expect a Miracle, something the Israelites did not do, even though they were privileged enough to see so many with their very own eyes. And that is why only two in two million made it to the promised land. Would I have been one of the two million? Unfortunately probably not, but this is definitely something I am working on - always have Faith and always Believe and Expect a Miracle.

Blissful Weekend

Last weekend, Brian and I headed down to Sandestin for a relaxing trip to the beach. We ate, we slept late, we stayed up late (Sort of) and we shopped. It was amazing. We missed Hayden a lot and thought of her the entire time, but we managed.

I didn't take many pictures (surprise - I know) but here are a couple. We just love the beach and can't wait to go back. We stayed in the Wharf at Baytowne in this particular building, beautiful and peaceful!



These next two are the only shots I took while strolling through the Village, which is where all the restaurants and shoppes are located.





Our Date Night for April - Rum Runners. This is our favorite restaurant in all of the Beach. We got there early and sat outside on the water (walking distance from our room) and just listened to the music and ate some great seafood!