I found the cords to the camera!

Raegan and her new friend Elizabeth.  Raegan was fascinated with her.

Playing with Daddy.

A nice view of the Quarter.

Pop and Peyton on the Steamboat Natchez.

Pop and Raegan on the Natchez.

A nice ride on the streetcar.

Pop and Raegan on a carriage touring the Quarter.

And after having so much fun, the huge piles of laundry are laughing at me.

A Week of Fun and Weird

We found our camera.  Yea!  Or maybe not.  The memory card went corrupt, the dial to switch settings no longer works, and the battery is giving out.  You will just have to use your imagination for this blog post, and possibly for many other blog posts to come.  :)

This past week has been full of fun, busy days, and weird things. 

The fun things and busy days- We got to go to the Children's Museum for free this past Saturday, courtesy of the Smithsonian's "Free Museum Day."  I bought a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks.  It was pretty good...but I'll stick with my white chocolate mochas or peppermint mochas (my favorite!!).  We bought a Whole Foods' cake for my birthday, which was pretty tasty, and then we celebrated at TGIFridays on Saturday.  Did I mention that Saturday was my birthday?  Turning 31 isn't that great, but at least I still had some fun things to do.
My dad came to town on Sunday afternoon.  We ate at a lot of great restaurants, went on the steamboat, road a carriage, and walked, walked, walked.  The girls did great even though the days were busy and full of activities.  We had a great time though.  It's always nice when family comes to visit.

The weird-Several people, while walking in the Quarter, thought that my dad and I were married.  Yuck!  (Arnold was at work.)  Maybe my dad doesn't look that old, or maybe I'm looking old, but COME ON people!!  Next time, I'm going to get a shirt for him that says, "I love my grandkids" or something like that.  Weird.  I guess since anything goes these days, people didn't think twice about it.

Wednesday's Word

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. 

He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 

My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my might rock, my refuge. 

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." 

Psalm 62:5-8

Isn't it comforting to know that despite our circumstances, we can lean on the Lord, crying out to Him for comfort and strength?  I know during the course of this past year, I felt like letting go, but the Lord will never let His children go.  Nothing can separate us from His love.  How incredible!

Tuesday Randoms

Tuesday Randoms.......

1. I am really bummed that we can't find our camera.  We've managed to keep up with that piece of junk awesome camera now for the last four years.   Seriously though, even though it's just a a point and shoot, it's been a great one.  For now, I guess we will just have to take pictures in our minds, and I will keep dreaming for a big huge photographer's camera that I probably won't know how to operate.  *Sigh*

2. We had a fabulous weekend!  I got to watch a Clemson game on tv, and they beat Auburn!  I haven't seen a Clemson game in forever.  Louisiana doesn't really feel the need to broadcast Clemson games.  I also drank a Cheerwine while watching the game, just to experience South Carolina at its fullest.   The Saints also played and won, which was an added bonus.  We had some friends over for this game, ate way too much, and probably hurt our ear drums from yelling so loud.  It was a great time though!  

3. I am proud of myself for hauling our beast of a vacuum cleaner up to the second floor and actually vacumming yesterday.  I had to wear my ear plugs to vaccumm, that thing is so loud!  It felt good to get that terrible chore checked off the list.  Vaccumming is SO overrated.  (I hope my Mother is not reading this.)

4. My husband is loving his new job, and I think he's doing great!  I've been fixing his lunch every day so that we can save money (eating out adds up, you know!).  And he has been carrying it in his Superman lunchbox.  I wish I could post a picture of this. 

5. I am super psyched that I got a coupon in the mail from Dunkin Donuts for a FREE pumpkin latte.  I always see everyone on facebook and blogs raving about pumpkin drinks from Starbucks, etc.  I can't wait to try one.  I hope I'm not dissappointed.  Of course I always have my handy dandy espresso machine to fall back on, which by the way, I use frequently.  See Mom, this was not a wasted Christmas present!!

Hope you're enjoying your Tuesday

Worship Song

If you need a great song to worship to, this one will work...

So Big!

 My girls are getting so BIG!

Picture

A Picture of Raegan at her 2nd Birthday party back in August.

Your Comments Needed

Since I've been home with the kids, which has been two weeks now, I have started doing two new things.  One thing I've been doing is tracking our expenses, i.e., how much we spend on food every month, gas, miscellaneous items.  I'm amazed at how much we've already spent on food, even though we're only halfway through the month.  We hardly ever eat out, and I'm not buying steaks at the grocery store!  I'm trying to get an idea of how much we spend so that we can set up a realistic budget.  We may be eating saltines and potted meat for the rest of the month at the rate we're going!  I would be interested to know if you guys have a food budget and if so, how do you save money every month on food.  I know the coupon games are all the rage these days, but some of these people I see spend 20 hours a week searching for these deals.  I don't have that kind of time!  But if you know of a simple way to "coupon", please share your ideas with me! 

The second new thing I've started doing is making Peyton help out more around the house.  We, of course, want to teach our kids to be responsible, hard working individuals who take pride in keeping the household clean and running efficiently.  She puts liners in the trash cans, takes the clothes out of the dryer and folds the washcloths, empties the silverware(except for the knives) from the dishwasher, cleans up her toys several times a day, puts condiments in the fridge after we've had a meal, and cleans up the table after we eat.  Again, I would love to hear your ideas of age appropriate chores your kids do at home. And do you implement any type of reward system?  I'm just curious. 

Thanks for sharing with me!  The internet is such a great tool for new ideas...

Sugar

One thing that I am is a sugar addict.  I love sweet things....cakes, cookies, candy, drinks.  I don't feel like a meal is complete without something sweet at the end.  In fact, when I was pregnant with Raegan and Janna (my sister) came and stayed with us that summer, I wrote a post about all the sweet things I baked that summer because of my cravings.  And since Janna is a fellow sweet addict, I had someone to indulge with. 
Anyway, back to the present, I've been convicted the last week or so about all the sugar I put into my body (and my family's bodies).  I've tried to limit the sugar to one sugary treat a day, but that's kind of hard.  Even when I go grab a snack, everything seems to have a ton of sugar in it....yogurt, raisins, granola bars.  The other alternative seems to be a bunch of salt....Chex Mix, chips, nuts.  I'm kind of stuck here.  Does anyone have any ideas for healthy snacking besides peanut butter or a great website you could send me the link to?  Fruit is a great snack but it lasts about 30 minutes and then I'm hungry again.  The same goes with fresh vegetables dipped in ranch dressing.  I'm in a rut here and would like some new ideas! 

My "Where Were You..." Story

Everyone is doing the "Where were you on September 11th" stories on facebook and blogs, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon. 

I remember that on August 11, 2001, I had just flown back from Taiwan.  I remember that my parents followed me all the way back to the gate to send me off, and they did the same when they picked me up.  Little did we, or anyone else, know that this would be the last time they would ever see me off at the gate.  How our lives have changed, even our travel has changed!   Exactly one month later, I went to the cafeteria to grab breakfast before my class and saw the first plane plow into the North Tower.  Initially, I thought it was a small private plane, and hoped that it was an accident.  I then went to class where the professor let us out early.  I headed right back to the cafeteria.  I didn't want to be holed up in my dorm room watching these events unfold by myself.  There was comfort in numbers and being around people to discuss the events and share the deep feelings of sadness.  It was during my second trip to the cafeteria that I discovered that it was no accident.  Honestly, I don't remember much else about the day.  When you are a young, single college student so far removed from the "real world", you don't tend to dwell on these things. 
Fast forward ten years later, and things are a bit different for me.  Now that I have two kids, and now that I am not quite as naive, I understand the gravity of this situation, and feel the deep sense of loss the whole country felt ten years ago(though I will never totally understand).  I have devoured every TV show and magazine article about 9/11 that I have come across, and have a true sense of sadness.  But Arnold posted on his facebook page a quote from a message he heard that day, and I think it's worth repeating here.   "God was not surprised by the events that took place that day, and He is still in control."  Those words still ring today!   Thank you God. 

Whew!

I finally feel like I can breath! Last week was it for me at work. I did have to end it a few days early when Peyton decided to plug the sink, turn on the water, and close the door at the babysitter's house. Yep, she flooded her bathroom and we had to pay for a new straightener and blow dryer. At that point, we collectively decided that enough was enough.
So how has our week at home been? Busy! I never thought I would be this busy, but the day goes by at warp speed. Of course, I'm having to catch up on years of de-cluttering and cleaning, but that's coming along nicely. I'm enjoying every single second with the girls. We're having a blast together.
For four years now, I've been wanting to stay home with my children, so the fact that the day has finally arrived continues to blow my mind. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm not on a vacation from work and that I won't have to return at 8am Monday morning. But to my working mom friends who may read this blog, hang in there if it is your desire to be at home.
This last year especially was the hardest of my life, and I think probably the hardest of my husband's too. One reason for the absence of any blog entries was the difficulty of this journey we've been on. While I'm being honest, I'll go ahead and say that I had to stop reading other people's/friends blogs as well. I just couldn't take it anymore. But I am so thankful that the Lord never lets go of us because there were many times when I wanted to let go. Hanging in there is not easy, and there are many days of up and downs. But I can attest to the fact that the Lord is merciful and patient with us. He sees our pain and struggles and continues to love us...nothing can separate us from that...Romans 8.
So here I am now trying to figure out what to do with the time that I have with my girls before the school grind starts in a few years. We're making friends at the park, visiting the library, making memories at home, and getting more involved with our new church.
Thank you Lord for being faithful to my family.

What could be more fun than an old diaper box?

I Am Still Alive

My blog is pitiful and sad.  It's been almost two months since I've updated or even posted a picture.  I think this absence is due to the discouragement I felt after spending a LONG time uploading vacation pictures, only to have blogger do something weird and delete those pictures.  So, I guess in some weird twisted way, I'm punishing blogger.com?  Either way, it's been a long time.  I've been going over in my head at night, a few times, if blogs are on their way out and if I even should continue.  There are so many things I would like my blog to be, but that would require more time than I have on my hands.  So for the here and now, this is all I've got.  I hope to have more news in September.  :)  

A New Do

Peyton had her second hair cut yesterday, and she loved it. Of course I did bribe her with a praline, so that helped. But she gladly climbed up in the chair and sat very still while the hairdresser brushed and then straightened her hair. It was cool that I got to see her hair straight, since it has a little curl and wave to it. I had never actually seen it straight before. Below are a few pics. The hairdresser also straightened Raegan's hair because she wanted to do everything big sister was doing.

Raegan's hair from the back.

And this is just a funny pic of Raegan with her daddy's socks and shoes on and her hat.  She LOVES hats by the way.

Fun Days of Summer

Love Those Toes

May 21, 2005

I am finally going to be able to post pictures from our wedding day.  Our photographer was old school and all our pictures are on negatives, but I was finally able to get to a scanner. 
First though, I would like to commemorate our special day with a timeline of the last six years.

May 21, 2005-Arnold and I got married on the most perfect, gorgeous, beautiful day in history, May 21, 2005, at my home church in Gaffney, SC, Corinth Baptist.  After the reception, we drove to Atlanta, spent the night in a honeymoon suite, and left for New Orleans the next day.  After arriving in New Orleans, we boarded a Carnival cruise bound for the Caribbean. 

After returning from the cruise, we settled into our nice, freshly painted apartment on the seminary campus, where we would only spend the next three months because of a little hurricane called Katrina.  After the storm, we moved to SC and spent the next five months wandering around my Dad's lake house, wondering what we were going to do with our lives. 

In February of 06, we came back to New Orleans and started new jobs, Arnold at the Leavell Center, and myself at William Carey U.   In September of 06, we started trying to have a baby. 

By February of 07, I found out I was pregnant with a little monkey named Peyton.  We both continued working at our jobs and doing stuff married (without kids) people get to do, like go on dates, go to the movies all the time, and frequent coffee shops.

In December of 08, I found out I was pregnant with another little monkey named Raegan and Arnold was getting really serious with finishing the dissertation by the time 2009 rolled around. 

Right after Raegan was born, Arnold and I spent many an hour proofing his dissertation and he successfully defended it in October.  Then we moved off campus, and Raegan was hospitalized with RSV the night before his graduation ceremony in December.  And the icing on the cake was that neither of us had had any sleep since  August of 2009.  Thank you Raegan.   Except for a few joyful occassion thrown in there, i.e., Raegan's birth, Arnold graduation, I never ever, nope, not in a million years, never want to relive those six months. 

2010 proceeded a little smoother, just enjoying life and our little family and now here we are in 2011. 

God has been so good to us, providing for us, blessing us, and helping us to grow stronger in our marriage.  We anxiously await to see what He has for us in the future. 

Here's to 6 great years!!!

A Few More Pictures

You gotta love blogger. It just deleted my post with all new pictures on it. So, here's new pictures from Easter weekend.

Peyton and her cousin Katelyn dying eggs.

We finally had to change their clothes.  I think each of them knocked over a cup of dye.

Raegan hunting for eggs.  She doesn't know what in the heck she's doing or what's going on.  She's just happy to be outside running around.

All the cousins.  The two on the ends are sisters, Katelyn and Rayleigh.  The two in the middle are sisters.  I can't even describe how hard it is to get all these kids to try to take a picture, and still not one of them is looking at the camera.  But I'm sure most of you know this already.

Peyton in her dress.

Peyton and Raegan Easter morning.

Hunting for eggs.

Sisters. 

Easter Pics, Part I

I am incredibly late with these pictures. This is part one. Part two will be posted whenever I can spare ten minutes.

Uncle Joe, Raegan, and Rayleigh(Raegan and Rayleigh are 2nd cousins)

 PaPaw and Raegan

 Dying Eggs with cousin Katelyn

 Katelyn is proud of her pretty egg

Peyton and her pretty egg

 

 Raegan is contemplating what mess she can make next

Katelyn and Peyton  Even though Katelyn is three years older than Peyton, they still have a great time together.

 Katelyn and Peyton

We had to put t-shirts on them because I think they each knocked over a cup of egg dye on their clothes.

Peyton hunting for Easter Eggs

 Katelyn found her a few eggs

Raegan doesn't know what in the heck she's doing or what this all means.  She's just happy to be outside running around.