A White Christmas!

Wow! It was wild out there today! We had gone to one of my grandma's to celebrate earlier in the day and were supposed to be at my other grandma's at 6:00 tonight. We decided to go there early to put the kids down for a nap. Some of our family members had called to say they couldn't make it. One family had tried to come and turned around and went back home! We made the drive home tonight and we saw a car trying to push another car to get it unstuck but both of their wheels were spinning and another car coming behind the second one trying to help. We saw a lot of people walking on the street either getting out of their cars or going to help others. We got on the highway once and no one had turned onto the curvy exit we normally take to get on another highway. It was like a ghost town. There wasn't any tire tracks so you couldn't even see where the road was! We chose not to go that way and to get off and take the streets. One car was stuck in a ditch and Derrick pulled over to help. It was so neat because at the same time we pulled over, another SUV pulled over and some guys jumped out. They and Derrick ran and pushed that car out and off it went. Total strangers just out helping each other. We saw a lot of that. We saw a police officer driving the wrong way on a one way highway exit to help someone. We did get stuck once but, thankfully, it was only in our driveway! I'm thankful for our 4-wheel drive. It took us an hour to get home when it normally would have taken 25 minutes.

* Before Samantha went to sleep she asked me, "What is tomorrow?" She wanted to make sure. I said, "Jesus' birthday." She said, "Mom, how old is Jesus turning?" I tried to give her a theological answer about how Jesus is God and how He has always existed. She asked again, "No, mom, how old is Jesus going to be?" It's so late and we're going to be so tired so I told her we'd talk about it in the morning. ;)

**We have a name for the baby! It's Livy! Only one letter off from Lily which I love but Derrick didn't want to use that because we have some close friends with a precious daughter named that. Okay, so it's actually Olivia. Derrick said he liked the name Olivia and my wheels started turning..."Livy! I'll call her Livy!" So, we're both happy. I hoped I'd find a name I liked as much as Lily. Olivia Joy, but you can call her Livy. ;)

Cheesecake Factory

After we ate at Wendy's with G-ma Bobber & Papa Mitchell last night my sister-in-law, Mikaela, and I dropped Bay & Sam off at Awana. We wanted to go out for dessert somewhere. It was just Aunt Kay Kay, Isabella, & me. We were trying to decide where to go and I thought about The Cheesecake Factory. Since a restaurant with this name has not appealed to Derrick, seeing that he does not have a big sweet tooth, I thought I should take the opportunity to go there. We are still without him but we will have a list of things to do with him when he gets back to catch up on all the Christmasy things we want to do with him. I was not in the mood for cheesecake but we made sure they had other things and then went. Wow! Their menu is amazing! They are a little pricey though compared to other places. The brownie fudge sundae we ended up getting was $8.95 after all. I don't know if they just did this because we had Bella or what but they brought out sliced bananas along with the bread. They had unique stuff on their menu, such as, Fried Macaroni & Cheese balls on a bed of marinara sauce, fried artichokes...all kinds of stuff. Of course, they had a looong list of cheesecakes. I saw a burrito on their menu that I really want to try and being pregnant I think I'll think of it until I get to have it. Maybe...Derrick...will want to take me on a date there for a $14 burrito! It had cilantro rice, guacamole, black beans came with it...

The crazy thing is that when I got home and got the kids to bed I sat and read mail and a lot of sweet Christmas cards we received. I was so tired I could hardly change what I was doing and get myself off the couch to go to bed. But, when I did get in bed I could not sleep for the life of me! I sat there wondering, "Why can't I sleep?!" for awhile. My heart was racing. Then it finally hit me that the Brownie Fudge Sundae must have had a lot of caffeine in it. I mean, this thing must have been loaded with it! It was made with the really good Ghiradelli chocolate and was sooo chocolately. I try to stay away from caffeine because I know how it affects me (I have very little tolerance for it and it can make my head spin if I have too much) and because I'm pregnant. I have never had a brownie fudge sundae (and this, being my favorite, I've had a lot) that seemed to have so much caffeine. So, anyway, I would eat it again...just earlier in the day. ;)

If you wrote someone 66 love letters and they never read them, would you be upset?

That is exactly what God did. He has given us the 66 books of the Bible. I was just thinking about some unbelievers I know tonight that deny God's existence or make up their own god to suit themselves (so they can be comfortable with their lifestyles). But, they have not even read the Bible. I remember it was when I was broken-hearted over the path my life had taken and I opened up the Bible. I was astonished at what I read! At first I remember reading about God's judgment on those who walk according to the lusts of their flesh. Then I remember being in awe of God's awesome grace. That is when I came to believe that Jesus came to take the punishment I deserved. Then, I remember being so surprised that I didn't have to do the work when it came to leaving my lifestyle of sin. He gave me a new heart and I just started seeing things differently.

I just wish some of the people I know would be able to come to the place where they can say, "I once was blind, but now I see." Just thinking...and praying.

Also, Derrick got accepted into Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I am so excited about what he is going to be learning about and teaching our family. If you would, please pray for him and the direction of our family.

Oh, we found out that the baby is a girl! We don't have a name for her yet but we're working on it.

I think it was Ray Comfort that I heard use that analogy about the 66 books of the Bible.

Random post, huh?

A Wonderful Morning Until...

Yesterday we had such a nice morning that followed a really fun time we had with Derrick on his last night before he left for Alabama. He got the position of First Sergeant and has to go to school to learn about the job. We went to Los Cabos that night. A lady made them some cute balloons and Derrick and I had some chicken and spinach enchiladas that were so good. Of course, we love the chips & salsa too. Being pregnant, I wish I had some right now. Then we went to the Bass Pro Shop. I had no idea that place was so much fun, especially for the kids. I'll have to try to post the pictures. It's probably especially fun right now because it's almost Christmas time. They had a waterfall in there and huge fish in a tank, a bunch of stuffed real animals...You can imagine the kids loved it. The pictures of Isabella on her new tricycle were taken before we went to Los Cabos. She can't peddle it yet so they have to peddle for her! We decided to go to breakfast Sunday morning because we would have to drop Derrick off at the airport at the same time church started. We went to one of my favorite places, Cracker Barrel! I love that place. The food is so good and I love their gift shop. I did some Christmas shopping for the kids while we were there. We got a huge floor checkerboard set for Bay, a magnetic tea party doll set for Sammer, and some of those silly little weasle balls that the kids enjoyed seeing on display. They are cute.

Now for the decline of the morning... I knew I was going to hang out with a friend that was in town for Thanksgiving break. After we dropped Derrick off at the airport I knew I needed to rest before we went to my grandma's for lunch and then on to shop and out to eat with my friend. So, I let the kids watch a movie and I took a nap. Usually I can do something like this and the worst thing that happens is they make a mess in the living room and I just have them clean it up. When I got up and walked into the living room Bailey said in an excited voice, "I cut Samantha's hair!" I surveyed the damage and disciplined as needed. Then he said, "I cut Isabella's hair too!" She was in her crib. I said, "What?!" and ran to see the damage. There was a bunch of hair on the girl's floor. Isabella's hair was cut almost to the scalp in the front! I knew I was going to need some professional help for the both of them. So, before we went to my grandma's house I ran by Supercuts. They wanted $13.95 for a kids cut! I just thought that was a little high for a kid's cut and especially a cut that I didn't see was going to be able to entirely fix the problem. Samantha's was cut short in a bunch of random places. I had talked to my sister-in-law, Dana, about it before I went into Supercuts and she said she might be able to help. She does cut her own kids hair really well but I said, "I think this is out of your hands because it's so bad." But, after getting the price quote, I quickly called her back. She saved the day! When we walked into her house she had a chair all set up on a towel and a professional plastic cover. She played Veggietales for the kids. Best of all, she did a really good job! Samantha's hair is short now but really cute. As for Bella, well poor baby, it's just going to have to grow. We have to do the comb over thing for her. It really doesn't look too bad if it stays in place.

Our "Lil' Cubbie" and "Lil' Spark"

Samantha (Cubbie) and Bailey (Spark)dressed up for a special Thanksgiving night at Awana.

Bella's going to be a big sister!

We are expecting a new baby due May 22! We will hopefully find out if the baby is a boy or a girl the day before Thanksgiving. We are excited! Bailey and Samantha are thrilled. They like to do things like give me bites of cookies to feed the baby. This baby is just like the other ones in the fact that it loves to eat Taco Bueno from the womb. Err...maybe that's my preference.

The kids at Derrick's run

This was fun and not as cold as we expected it to be! First, we stopped at McDonald's for some breakfast. We met Aunt Kay Kay. I got a Caramel Apple Spice cider from Starbuck's (it's the best!). Then, on to the run to watch Derrick at the finish line. Between parking and walking we finally made it just in time to watch him at the finish line. He loaded us up with Snicker's, M&M's, & Reeses. It was fun! He did really good!