Homemade Lava Lamp

Yesterday, Hannah started her second semester of Science Club online with Mrs. Loretta Rhodes on currclick.com.

They talked about matter and its 3 states: gas, liquid & solid. At the end of class they made homemade lava lamps. Here is Hannah's:

These are for you, Mom and Dad!

And for all those who do not see me on a regular basis.......just what you wanted.....close-ups of my pregnant belly.

That's JUDAH in there!

Precious Moments!

Nick's Birthday

Tuesday night at Nanny Boo Boo and Poppie's we celebrated Nick's 24th birthday which is officially this Friday. I love this picture of him in the hat I crocheted.

Being silly with Hannah in this one!

Happy Birthday, Nick. WE LOVE YOU!

Snow in Tennessee!

Well, we've had snow for a loooooooong time, now. Or at least it seems like it for good ole Tennessee! I took these pics on Monday either from the window in the house or from the front porch. I'm not getting out in it because I'm 21 weeks pregnant and DO NOT want to fall! However, I did cheat a little and tentatively walked down the drive (holding Dakota's hand for support) and went to town for some groceries, yesterday. Had to walk down the drive because the van was down at my in-law's house. David had tried to get it out for me and he could not get it back up the drive. So, just parked it there. The joys of country living :0)! Now, the van is officially stuck on the drive about halfway up. I did NOT fall and Dakota was a great help transporting the groceries from the stuck van! Good thing David has 4WD in his work truck and can get around it! Tomorrow the temperature will finally get above freezing and maybe all this snow will melt. I love it, it's beautiful, don't get me wrong.....but, I don't like feeling trapped in it!









David, Dakota, Hannah and Caleb had a great time sledding in the tree field....away from the trees, that is. These pics are them getting out the sleds and heading down. Wish I could have had some better close-ups.

Caleb's Birthday!

Happy Birthday to our 4 yr. old, Caleb. He turned 4 on December 29th.

An add-on to his Matchbox cars race track from Dakota and Hannah

A remote control car Fire/Ice from Mom and Dad

Woody and Bullseye from A. DeDe and U. Andy, Avery and Landon

Some friends came over for cake and ice cream and to celebrate

Micah and Caleb

Remote control car was a hit!

Giving Ridah a turn

Birthday Cake

Hannah, Micah, Ridah, and Caleb playing the Uno Game that the Rhodes' Family brought

Caleb also opened a card from Mima and Papaw with $25.00 to spend. We will be making a trip to Build-A-Bear in the near future. He had a GREAT birthday!

Christmas, 2010

Christmas Morning:

Ready to head into the living room and check out stockings and open presents!

Hannah and her stocking

Handmade dolls from Mom and Dad

Caleb and his stocking

Dakota and his stocking--already wearing the hat Mom crocheted

Dakota and wooden/leather bracelet that Dad made

Getting ready to read the Christmas story before we open presents

Listening to the Christmas Story

Hannah's new boots

David bundled up in the hat and scarf that Dawn crocheted for him

David and his new hat from Dakota--it says: I'm not afraid of the dark, the dark is afraid of me

Caleb and his binoculars that were handmade by Hannah

Giving Class

Hannah and several friends took a "Season of Giving" Class through Lessons Worth Learning on Currclick.com in December. It was an awesome class with Mrs. Loretta putting the emphasis back on giving at Chrismastime! The project we did for the class was to make and send cards to the terminally ill children and their families at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.

From back left to right: Erin, Seth, Sabrina
Middle: Micah & Joann
Front: Ashley, Hannah, Becca

The Ultrasound Results....

We are having a.......... BOY!!

Judah Eleazar Gray!!

Yesterday was spent at the docs and then having a 45 minute ultrasound. It was an awesome experience. I loved watching Judah moving around and being able to see every bone and organ! It was amazing! The other ultrasounds I've had have been pretty quick. Usually 15 minutes at most. So, this was a surprise at how long it took and how in depth they looked at everything. He is doing great! I surpassed all the docs expectations in all my screenings even though they consider me "elderly" since I'm pregnant at 42!! Thank you, Jesus!!

I have 18-20 weeks to go! Not much longer now! Judah will be here before we know it!

Hannah is a little bit disappointed. She wanted very much to have a little baby sister. You know, we do need to even things out a little bit. We'll have 4 boys and a girl! As my sister says, at least I got my girl! I'm pretty sure Hannah will be fine, once Judah gets here. She'll be so excited to have a baby in the house!

Now, it's time to go through baby clothes and other items and see what I'm needing for little Judah! Fun time!

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me.

(The poll results showed that ya'll were thinking girl--64%)

He's quick and sneaky!!

Caleb requested pizza and macaroni and cheese for his birthday. So, I found B1G1 Free Little Caesar's pizza coupons online. The coupons expired on the 28th, so we decided to split his birthday meal into two dinners and start on Wednesday. So, Dakota and the littles and I all went in the van to Little Caesar's for pizza. Since it is right next to WalMart, I just had to go in for a few things (you know how it is). Actually, I'd still not gotten his birthday gift. Hannah wanted to pick something out for him, too. So, the plan was to order the pizzas and then Hannah and I would go in for the gifts and leave Dakota and Caleb in the van. Well, Caleb was NOT happy with this plan at all. He wanted to come in and "pick out" his gifts! Ha! We pulled in and parked and lo and behold Caleb decided that he needed to go to the bathroom, of course! So Dakota got the honors of taking him in to the bathroom while Hannah and I proceeded to the toy section. When we got back to the van, Dakota shared the account of his bathroom run with Caleb. He said that Caleb told him, "I know right where the bathroom is and I'll show you. What you do is you just follow Mama and Hannah all over the store." Hilariously sneaky! And, nope Dakota did NOT fall for it!

Welcome 2011!

3 P's for the new year! No, not the peas from Veggie Tales, silly! What I'm talking about is:

Purpose

Prepare

Practice

These ideas have been swirling around in my heart after our New Year's Eve service at Harvest Church last night. I was really challenged to step out and be what God wants me to be in 2011. No more excuses! No more being a cry baby!

Purpose to do His will in our lives. We must be determined to do it no matter what. We must commit to walking in His ways and make it a minute by minute daily commitment to serve Him, honor Him in all that we say and do. We can't be wishy-washy any longer. No more dishonoring the Lord with our half-hearted attempts to do what He's called us to do. Read the Bible, pray, act on His Word. Move forward in 2011 with purpose and walk out His calling on your life.

Prepare for His eminent return. Do you know what He's looking for when He returns? A pure and spotless bride. Are we living our lives in purity? Are we living our lives looking for Him at every turn? Are we preparing ourselves by living our lives in a way that pleases Him? Are there areas that we need to clean up, to fix, to ask the Lord to help us with? Are there areas that we need to step up to the plate and with boldness declare He is Lord to others? Are we intimidated by unbelievers or do they spur us on to show them God's love and how much they need Him? We need to be bold and not shirk our God-given talents and abilities. Move forward in 2011 preparing to meet Him one day.

Practice what we preach. It's so much easier to tell others how it should be done, even our children. This has especially hit home with me. We tell them how to do things, but do we show them how to love the Lord and serve Him in all they say and do? I'm pretty good at teaching it, but I'm not so sure I'm that great at showing it to them and modeling it before them. I've heard it said before that we are not supposed to point them to the cross, we are supposed to take their hands and lead them there. Am I leading or pointing? Are you leading others to Him or just pointing them to Him in a religious hypocritical way? Move forward in 2011 and put into practice what you've been taught, what you preach, who you really want to be.

You can do it! I can do it! Let's work together in the Body of Christ to make 2011 the best year ever! If we will all be determined to do this the Body of Christ will move in unity and we will be amazed at what God can do in all of us and through all of us this year!