Category — Celebrations

We ate, we shopped and now we’re going to eat again!

Honey had to spend a couple of days in Nashville for work and it’s always a treat to have a guest! Will loves when people spend the night in his room – but watch out because he will crawl into bed with you

Papa sent some money to take the boys to Chuck E. Cheese – and we thought it would be a great way to celebrate Will’s first day of preschool. So after a fun day at preschool and a good long nap we headed out to play and eat pizza.

The Bob the Builder ride was a popular choice. I think Will rode it at least 6 times in a row.

Bill and Will riding the horse that you have to “guide” through the race course.

Thomas & Honey.

Bill & Will driving the race car.

This was Thomas’ first trip to Chuck E. Cheese and he loved all the bright lights!

At one point we looked over and found the boys in the crazy simulator contraption.

Thomas sat on the Merry Go Round like he knew just what to do.

When we were eating a teenage boy that worked there was cleaning/fixing a table near us and we were watching him. He looked over and said something and I said that we were just sitting there wishing that he would go and put on the Chuck E. Cheese because it would make a 2 year old really happy. A few minutes later – out came the mouse!!

Chuck E. Cheese had a sign that said “Follow Me for Free Tickets” and Will was at the front of the line.

All the kids had to do a dance and then they threw tickets out for the kids to gather up.

Thank you Papa & Honey for a fun night at Chuck E. Cheese

You may have noticed that Thomas has mastered sitting up! We were really working on it the few weeks leading up to his 6 months pictures and on picture day he decided that he could do it. Up until picture day we had to watch him close because he was so wobbly. So proud of our little man, Thomas!

Thomas has really gotten the hang of it now and I don’t have to worry about him falling over unless big brother is around and acting crazy. I think Will really enjoys him being able to sit up and they have a lot of fun playing and passing toys back and forth. When I was cleaning the boys rooms they were both sitting in Will’s big boy bed with stuffed animals all around them. Cute brothers.

You know those experiences that are just so great that you don’t really know how to put it into words? Yeah, that is how I feel about the Women of Faith weekend. But, I’ll try. I hadn’t been able to spend this much time with my Mimi in what seems like forever and it was a really sweet time.

We left town later than I had anticipated Friday morning (poor Will had a fever) so we got to Atlanta about lunch time and in the middle of the “day” sessions. So, we went to IKEA. No trip to Atlanta is complete without a trip to IKEA!

Mimi had heard about but never been to the store wonder. We looked at everything but I walked out only buying some plastic bowls for Will – the kid likes to eat everything out of a bowl.

After our IKEA adventure we had a couple of hours to kill before we could meet Zach. (Bill’s cousin graciously allowed us to stay in his condo for the night.) So, we did what anybody on “vacation” would do – we went to the movies! We saw “The Help” and it was really good.

Finally, after all that fun it was time for Women of Faith: Imagine

Our seats were AWESOME! We were about 15 rows from the stage – although it looks farther than it actually was in my picture.

The weekend was packed full of great speakers who were funny, encouraging, and challenging. The Atlanta line-up included: Lisa Harper, Sheila Walsh, Luci Swindoll, Angie Harper, Nicole Johnson & Laura Story. I could tell you a billion stories about what each speaker shared but I’ll limit it to what I learned.

Basically, our God is bigger than we can ever IMAGINE. Most of the speakers have lived through and overcome horrible things from being admitted to a psychiatric facility to losing a newborn baby. Tragedies that could have defeated them without the power of Christ living in them. And they could stand and say that God is good, God is faithful & God is love.

A few things I took away from the weekend:

• When looking at the story of Jesus and the Adulterous Woman there is something for everyone to take away. Some people need to step out of the circle of shame while others need to put down the rocks of self-righteousness.
• Sometimes God tells us that we have to walk right into our biggest fear- but we don’t have to go alone Christ is right beside us.
• In these situations we may beg God to get us out! But sometimes his response is – I’m not going to get you out but I’m going to sit here with you.
• God takes our life – as messed up and broken as it is – and turns it into a beautiful piece of art

These brief points may turn into future posts as I process them more! It’s hard to wrap my mind around everything that I learned!

We had such a wonderful time and I would encourage any woman of any age to attend if you get the opportunity!

*** Disclaimer: I was provided 2 free tickets to the Women of Faith event through BookSneeze, a division of Thomas Nelson. In return, I blogged about the event. All opinions are mine and true!***

Thomas is 6 months old! He is getting to be such a big boy – he eats like a champ, loves his mommy, and is sitting up all by himself.  He has decided that he likes PepperAnn and smiles and laughs whenever she walks by. Thomas does not like to be left alone and would prefer if he was smashed up against a warm body at all times. He and Will are the best of friends and they now “talk” and giggle in the backseat whenever we go somewhere. Of course, we had our picture taken to mark Thomas’ sixth month. And of course, they turned out great like always. A few  lot of my favorites……

This captures Thomas perfectly!

All photos taken by Laurel at Eilas Photography

A couple of months ago I applied to be a blogger for the Women of Faith conference in Atlanta, GA. I had to submit all my blog information and they reviewed blogs and then picked some to attend the conference. I did not think I had been chosen because I didn’t hear anything for a month or so.

Saturday Bill checked the mail and I asked him what we had gotten. His response: a bill, a magazine and something about that Women of Faith thing. I thought that was weird but figured it was an advertisement about how you could buy tickets. Imagine my surprise when I opened the envelope and there were 2 tickets inside! There may (or may not) have been jumping up and down, squealing and crying involved. I’ll never tell.

In 2 weeks my Mimi and I will be heading to Atlanta and we can’t wait! There is a great lineup of speakers and worship leaders including: Sheila Walsh, Luci Swindoll, Angie Smith,  & Natalie Grant. I am truly looking forward to a weekend for rejuvenation, recharging and worshiping!

Thank you for your Book Sneeze & Thomas Nelson for this opportunity.

We had a great time in Panama City Beach last week. Here’s a video highlighting all of the fun! And I’ll probably post more pictures later in the week.