A little preachin'...

We know the economy is bad...it's all over the media...but more than that it's probably affected either you directly or someone you know...for us its hit our extended family pretty hard...

We found out last night my Dad's job was being deleted.
My brother-in-law has been job searching for almost a year (if not longer)...
My sister-in-law and her husband are trying to sell there house...

None of this is easy... 401ks have taken hits, retirement plans for our kids grandparents have been changed...there's a lot of unknown...and with that it can be frightening. The unknown is always a little scary...but what I find comfort in is this:

No matter how we are affected, God has not let go of control. None of what has happened in the economy or in our personal lives has surprised Him. And He still has a plan for each of our lives. He will continue to take care of our needs...each and every one of them...it's His promise to us. On top of that...his timing is always perfect...ALWAYS...even when we can't see it.

Is this down economy fun? Of course not...would we all choose for it to be different...uhhh-YEAH! But with all that said, doesn't it require us to turn our attention back to God...to quit being self reliant...and put our faith back in the One (and only One) who is really in control? I'm talking to myself here...because I tend to think I can do it on my own...until I am brought to my knees and shown that I can do NOTHING on my own.

So there's your little 5 minute sermon for today...I'll step down from the pulpit

Happy Valentines Day...a little late!

I'll be honest....Valentines Day isn't really that big of a deal to me. I know...I know...shock of all shocks...but I would much rather James send me flowers just for the fun of it than buy them only on V-day (which I have to give props to J--he does do that often, 9 times out of 10 if I get flowers its just because and I love it!)

But on the flip side...I do like making V-day something special for the kids. I don't know why I'm so backwards, but I am and I own it...so let me tell you about our Valentines Day.

You know how I said I like flowers out of the blue....I like pretty much anything I get out of the blue...and James came thru this year BIG. Two weeks ago I got an early Valentines Day Gift...let me rephrase that....I got an early Vday gift, an early anniversary gift, an early birthday gift, and an early Christmas gift all wrapped up in one pretty ring. We were at the park playing with the kids...when we left he said we needed to go by somewhere...which he then drove to the local jewelry store and he let me pick out a new ring. If you don't know this about me already...I happen to love jewelry. I mean I love making it...but I'll be honest--diamonds could be one of my best friends. :) I love jewelry...I hope one day to design fine jewelry as well as what I design now. So...here's my early everything gift for this year:

He also got me a box of chocolates for Valentines Day itself...and he remembered to get the Sugar Free kind since I am trying really hard not to fall off the wagon. :) Oh...and the card...we got the same exact card for eachother...which I am going to have to scan and put on here because it's hilarious! (This is not the first time we've done that either...last year on our anniversary, same cards then too)

I ended up getting J a new bike...which doesn't seem all that exciting to me-but then I guess a diamond ring doesn't seem all that exciting to him, he was surprised and loved it...he especially loved that he can now go bike riding with the kids (all the power to him).

For the kids...this was the really fun part!

We have been looking in stores since Christmas for Mario Kart Wii and haven't been able to find it (which btw we saw one at Target on Sam Ridley in Smyrna on Saturday--just fyi if you're looking for one) we ended up ordering it online, though. Hayden was talking about wanting it on Wednesday night, and we were like "I know...I wish the stores would get some of those in...it'll probably be months though" He was like "It's crazy, Mom! How hard is it to put it out on the shelf" (He didn't quite get that the stores didn't actually have the games...he was just thinking those employees were too lazy to put them out--that cracked me up)...needless to say he was suprised when he got the Mario Kart Wii!!

Not wanting to out James or anything, but I think this ended up being a gift for the both of them. :) After playing the wii for a while the boys went to ride bikes and had lunch at Hayden's favorite place (Burger King).

For Abby's Valentine suprise...she got to go to Build-A-Bear (and a girls only lunch at Chili's)...we had a blast. She was so excited to make a new friend for all of her other bears. She also got to go to a birthday party at a gymnastic place and it was so much fun. She's already planning for her party...on June 7th, 2009 as she is telling everyone (can't leave off the 2009, we need to make sure they get the right year!)

Here's her new friend, appropriately named Love since it was made on Valentines Day

And here she is tuckered out--precious, huh?

It was a great weekend...we had so much fun just being able to spend time with the kids and eachother...oh how I love my family--I feel blessed beyond measure!

Busy Times...

So, you may (or may not for that matter) have noticed that I have been slacking when it comes to posting on the blog lately. The reason...well quite simply...is that I have been busy. I mean the kind of busy that there's never enough hours in the day, yet it seems like the pile of work that needs to get done keeps growing instead of shrinking...yeah, that kind of busy.

Not much new is really going on here either...Hayden is starting back at baseball next month and we think we're going to put Abby in gymnastics...so I'm sure I'll have more to blog about in March. Abby did say something funny last night...she was telling me a story and was trying to think of something when she kind of did this knocking thing on her head with her fist and said, "Come ON, brain...get working!!" I have no idea where they come up with the stuff they say, but they are live comedy 24/7.

I will take some pictures of the kids with their Valentines Day gifts and I'm going to have to brag on my husband a little bit...he doesn't know it yet, though. I'll try to fit that in during the next day or so..we will see. Oh...and a funny story to share regarding V-day <3 And I'm loving the hearts I learned to make on Facebook.

I'm rambling...I'll close for now, but check by tomorrow...or Monday...or next week...or possibly in a month and I'll have some pictures and stories to share. :)