Prayer Requests!

My mother, father, and sister are traveling out of town for the National High School Rodeo Finals! They made it safely to Illinois, with their two horses, Blaze and Baby. Please pray that my mom, dad, and sis Taylor have a safe and wonderful trip! I hope that Taylor does her best! And that they make it safely back home!

My father-in-law, Gary, is going to be going on a mission trip with our church! They are going to Bright Life Farm in Princeton, Kentucky! This farm ministers to mentally handicapped residents. Please pray for Gary and the rest of the 55 member team who is going on this trip. Gary, does a lot with his duty as mayor to promote the welfare of people with disabilities. I totally wish I was able to go with them! I think that I am concerned most about Carpenter's later life. What will he what to do and what opportunity's will be available for him?

Funny moments:

Sadie is now calling her belly a "baby" now. She thinks everyone has a baby in their belly.

So I left to got to the potty, for like 2 minutes at the most! And when I come back, Carpenter and Sadie are both stuck in the drawer of our coffee table. How did this happen in such a short amount of time? And who thought of the idea? What were those two little minds thinking? I know that Carpenter was the only one who could open the drawer. But who got in first? What is scarier than two little toddlers? When they work together to accomplish one goal!!!!

Best Friends Forever!

Kelly and I had set a play date for the kids and for us. But this morning Marley threw up! So I figured our day was ruined. But Marley started feeling better so we decided to meet the Watson family at Target. I was like 15 minutes late because Taylor came by the house the get some luggage and Sadie decided to eat a bag of glitter before we left. Marley is an ultimate crafter, but forgets there are two little munchkins roaming around who want to play with that stuff too. So we had a good time at Target taking up the whole isle with our buggies.

Next, where to eat? We decided on Fuddruckers! We must have made everyone laugh!Marley was holding Sadie's hand who was holding my hand while I was holding Carpenter's hand. Then behind me was Kelly holding Caroline's hand and Eli in his chair. With diaper bags in hand and trying to open the doors! Fun! We decided on the Elvis booth so that we could keep the kids locked in! It was a crazy lunch! Kelly, did you get to eat anything?

Funniest moment: I hope Kelly won't mind me telling this story. But Kelly had to feed Eli. So Caroline found one of Kelly's breast feeding pads. Caroline chased Marley all around the booth with it! It was hilarious! Marley was freaking out!

Next time: We have promised each other that next time we are going out by ourselves. So we can actually have some girl talk.

After lunch: We went to Gran's house. Carpenter and Sadie fought over the new to us potty that their cousin Kyle gave them. The potty plays music when you go to the bathroom! Here are some cute pics!

Amazing Carpenter!

Yesterday, I was getting the babies dressed for the day. I put Carpenter's shirt on and then felt the call like so many pregnant women do, go to potty. But when I came back I was totally amazed that Carpenter had put on his shorts(they were on backwards). We haven't really worked on this in a while since we are in between OT's at home at this time. I was just amazed that he did this because I had put the clothes up out of the way. I had just ironed them and didn't want the babies to throw them all over the room.

And then he said the most wonderful words a parent wants to hear. "Love ewww!" He said love you(and signed it) to Meme before she left us yesterday. I am 100% elated that he said that. Truthfully, I get delighted when he says anything because it has been a long time coming. But those magic words were wonderful to hear. And I am 100% jealous it was not to me! But totally grateful he said them.

I love you Carpenter!

Potty Training

This is more of a ramble. I am starting on potty training Carpenter and Sadie. Marley was so easy to potty train. Does anyone have any suggestions about potty training a boy. Truthfully, I have no idea. I wasn't raised around boys. I mean I know of the Cheerios trick. My question I guess is more on the mechanics of how to start. Stand up? Start off first sitting down? So I would appreciate any suggestions! I need to call and ask my mother-in-law Suzanne and sister-in-law Missy.

Also I have officially started crocheting. I know in all of my spare time! I want to knit a blanket for our baby. We do not know what the sex of the baby is, so color choice was a little hard. Marley has a pink, Carpenter has blue, and Sadie has a green blanket. I ended up choosing the multi-color "Fiesta!" It will be good for a boy or girl and is Fall colors. I will take some pictures of my progress. Right now I am at the end of a row and don't know what to do next. I am awaiting further instruction from my mom. I told Marley that my goal is to make everyone in our family matching sweaters for our Christmas pictures! She would die of embarrassment! Is matching toboggans okay?

No new pics. So here are some random cute ones!

Long Awaited Update!

Sorry everyone, it has been a while since I updated my blog. This past week has just been a real challenging one. This week our family felt like there were many possibilities out there for us and we were going to accomplish them. And we were completely humble in the fact that we are not in control of everything. Jon and I thought our week was going one way, and on Monday just went off track!

When we got back from the beach, our transmission on our Odyssey went out. But thankfully we had 200 miles left on our warranty!! So that was good news! Did not have to pay for a new one! We are currently out growing our home! On Monday, we thought we had found something that was right for us, and the price was doubled! A little upset, but knew that this was a clear sign about what was right for our family. Then Jon had some business issues that were supposed to have gone through on Monday and Tuesday, that just seemed to be crumbling apart. I started to have some real bad contractions and bad back pain. I truthfully was exhausted! And I had no will power at some points. Thank you mom for cooking dinner for us. I needed to get out of the house, but didn't want to move!

So our week just did not go as "we" had planned. It was a real humbling experience. But it definitely brought us closer together as a "Christ centered" family. We started a great nightly devotion with Marley(whenever she is at our home). Jon and I had picked back up on an old devotion of his. It is "The Daily Chase" by Tommy Tenney. This devotion with bible study has just opened our hearts to great enjoyment of new things we had never learned in the bible. It has given us great eagerness to read ahead. But we don't so that we can let everything soak in. The contractions have stopped. I think that I just got overly stressed out! Jonathan's business stuffed worked it self out by Friday.

To write this blog, I did something unthinkable. I gave Carpenter and Sadie both a sucker and turned on Elmo. This is hard for me because I don't like to give kids candy. Jon makes fun of me because I would like to give out fruit at Halloween. But I needed to update.

What do you do when your spirits are low and you are tired of being in the house? Chuck E Cheeses! Here are some pics of us being adventurous trip of taking the kids to Chuck E Cheeses! They loved it!

4th of July

Our 4th of July celebrations started on Sunday night at our church, Fountain Inn First Baptist. FIFBC always has a wonderful musical for the 4th! It was awesome! MeMe did a great job performing! Then everyone at the church had a hotdog supper and waited on the fireworks! We always have a wonderful fireworks show put on by the Roper brothers. The fireworks were spectactular! Carpenter got a little scared so Gran took him to the car and they enjoyed the fireworks from there. Sadie fell asleep during the firworks show! Sorry no pics of Marley she was sitting with MeMe, Papa, and Taylor.

On the 4th, we went up to Landrum to eat lunch at MeMa's. We had a great family visit. MeMa, Papa, MeMe, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Scott, Will, Ian, and our gang had a wonderful lunch. The kids loved riding the golf carts and 4 Wheelers! Jon took Marley, Carpenter, and Sadie on a ride with him. I know what you are saying, "you bad mother!" I am scared to death of 4 Wheelers. Jon thinks that is funny because I would jump out of an airplane but not ride a 4 Wheeler. Sorry a little off track there. But Jon went real slow with them, and none of the kids wanted to get off. I just watched them ride and tried not to think bad thoughts. Sorry I have no pics. I did bring my camera, but my hands were full with the kids!


I hope everyone remembers our service men and women, at home and over broad. Our family friend, James Brian Harmon, is over in Baghdad right now! Brian, I hope you had a wonderful 4th! We miss you very much! Thank you to everyone who serves our country!

Cherry Grove 2007

We had a wonderful week at the beach this year! The kids absolutely loved it! Gran and Pop Pop rented a house at Cherry Grove so everyone could come. Besides Gran and Pop-Pop and our family, the Stanfill's were there - Missy(Jon's sister), Bailey, and Kyle,and Lee(Jon's brother) and his wife Amy were able to come down. So our house was filled with 12 people! We had a wonderful week of spending time together because most of our family lives in different cities.

Marley loved being able to share her room with her cousin, Bailey. They are the same age and just love being together. Marley had a great time riding the waves in on her bright "floweredie" float. It was hard to get her out of the ocean to reapply sunscreen.

Carpenter loved sitting in the pools that Marley and Bailey dug out. He loved going out in the ocean the most! He would stay out there forever with his dad and the girls! Carpenter loved pushing his dump truck up and down the beach.

Sadie loved playing in the sand. She was a little scared of the waves because they kind of knocked her little body over. But she liked going out in the ocean with her dad. Sadie loved stealing every one's shoes!

Jon and I had a wonderful week! I can best describe it as "teamwork!" We would get the kids fed in the morning. (Jon got to sleep a little later. For some reason, Sadie wanted to get up before the sun rose!) Get everyone applied with sunscreen and put on cute bathing suits. Then pack everything onto the golfcart and have fun ride to the beach! Then we would enjoy the beach! Next stop, pack everything up onto the golfcart. I would give the kids a bath while Jon fixed their lunch. Then, the best part, Carpenter and Sadie falling asleep easily from exhaustion. Special thanks to Jon, Gran, Missy, Lee, Amy, and Pop-Pop who helped carry the rest of the toys we couldn't fit at the time! Then at night, different events to fill our busy week.

I loved being pregnant at the beach. They have such cute maternity swimsuits now!

Top Ten Greatest/Most Memorable Moments at the Beach 2007:


10. Sadie falling asleep in her lunch twice because she was so exhausted! She was soo worn out from pushing the dump truck up and down the beach.

9. Golf cart driving lessons! Marley and Bailey loved driving the golf cart up and down our street. Carpenter loved falling asleep in the golf cart late a night!

8. Riding the waves! Everyone loved being out in the ocean. I am a little bit of a scaredy cat, because I think about what is in the ocean. But Marley, Bailey, Jon, Lee, and Amy loved riding the waves and spending the afternoon out in the ocean.

7. Evan Almighty. Marley loved this movie. The whole family went except Jon, I, and the babies. We figured the babies wouldn't sit in the movie theater all nice. But they said Marley laughed throughout the entire movie. And everyone shared Uncle Lee's super buttery popcorn.

6. The Rides at Broadway at the Beach. Marley loved riding the rides with Bailey and Aunt Amy. Carpenter and Sadie loved riding the little baby rides. Even Gran got into the action, riding cars with Kyle.

5. Feeding the birds. Carpenter and Sadie loved throwing crackers for the birds to eat of the beach. They would chase them around the beach. Sadie would try her best to stalk the birds. Uncle Lee was able to throw the crackers right in the birds mouth.

4. Tan. Who has the best tan? Adults - Aunt Amy, of course, she keeps her tan all year round. Carpenter and Bailey tie for the best tan under the kids column. Most surprising tan goes to - Sadie! I thought she would get burnt but she tanned lovely. Redist tan - this one goes to my dear husband, Jon. He got toasted the first day. Side note: I always use SPF 50. To keep skin young and healthy looking!

3. Libby Lu's. This is a must if you have little girl's. As Gran and Pop-Pop's treat Aunt Missy and I took Bailey and Marley to Libby Lu's. They got their nails, make-up, and hair done! They totally loved it and can't wait to go back next year!

2. Uncle Lee. This is under the most memorable column. While on the beach, I was watching my children play when something slimy hit my leg. Uncle Lee did not see me behind him and hocked a twelve inch long loogie onto my right leg. I almost threw-up right there on the beach. It was so disgusting, and me being pregnant did not help the queasiness in my stomach. Jon quickly ran and got some water to wash it off my leg! Poor Amy, she has to live with him!

1. Spending time with family. I just loved seeing our family spend time together. We are so blessed that our family is able to come together on vacation every year. Pop-Pop, Gran, Missy, Bailey, Kyle, Lee, Amy, Jon, Marley, Carpenter, Sadie, and I all being able to share each other's company.


Special Thank - You to Pop-Pop and Gran Long for this wonderful beach trip!