Lady Jaguars

She's at it again. A#2 has started a new season of basketball and she is loving it! Last year was her first at b-ball and she did well. This year it's seems as if she is so much more comfortable with herself and with knowing what to expect. It doesn't hurt that Daddy is her assistant coach. Check out #21.

That's her with the red arm band. If you have a child old enough to play, you should really check out this program. It's called Upward and it's GREAT! This is a christian program run by a local Baptist church and it has grown by leaps and bounds. There is prayer before the game, a devotional during half time and the kids learn scripture during the season. The guest speaker last night gave a wonderful testimony and gave the plan of salvation. How awesome is that!! God can use anything to bring people to His kingdom!!!

There she goes playing defense. I'm tellin ya, I wouldn't want to go up against her!!!!

Meet A#4 and A#5

Don't ask me where the idea came from but we have 2 new members to our family. A#2 and A#3 took their Christmas money and went shopping with their Daddy. It was discussed before they went out that A#2 wanted a guinea pig. After doing a little research they decided it was better to have 2 together so guess who else got one? Yep, A#3. Oh dear me!! I am not sure why but for some reason I was not allowed any say so in this matter. Me, the Mom, the housekeeper, the one that vacuums EVERY DAY already, the one that keeps every one's rooms clean (or at least the one that demands that their rooms stay clean), the one that feeds the fish, feeds the children, cleans the toilets, mows the grass etc. etc etc. ME! I was told I had no say so. Kinda like the friends coming in the pool, right Lisa!

So here they are bringing the little rats, ahem, I mean cutie pies, home with them.

They are living in A#2's room. Great! The messiest child in the house has animals living with her now!

This is Apricot aka A#5. She belongs to A#3.

And this is Ariel aka A#4. She belongs to A#2. She is a nibbler. Every time you put something in front of her mouth she wants to take a taste. Lord help us if she gets out in A#2's room. She could live for months in there.

Other than the mess they have not been that bad to deal with. Bad thing is they are only 3 months old and have a lot of growing to do. As they grow so does their mess. Lord, keep one hand on my shoulder and the other hand over my mouth.

P.S.

I'm not all that mean, how could you be when you look at that smile! She loves them!!!!

Luray

Luray Caverns in Luray, Virginia is only about 2 hours from here. It had been years since we had been there. The last time was when A#1 was only 3 and he really didn't have many memories of being there. Hubby planned a trip for us on New Year's Day before we headed to his parents to have Christmas with them. We took the kids for the day and spent the night and then traveled to see the rest of the family.
The pictures might be hard to understand but trust me, it is amazing when you see it and realize how far underground you are. A#1 and A#2 took it all in. A#3 however..... just didn't get it. Every time we would tell her to look at something she would look and then say, "that's pretty, can we go now?" In the end I think she did like it because she kept telling everyone about the "caberns"

Stalagmites and stalactites. The colors are soo cool. And the other cool thing is as cold or as hot as it is outside, it's always 54 degrees in the caverns. It remains a constant temp.

HUGE!!!!

I LOVE this picture. It really just sums up the whole day. Especially if you look at A#3. She was not happy about a stranger taking our picture.

The largest stalagmite and stalactite. Sooooo cool.

A#2 posing of course. That girl's a mess.

Just following the path underground.

The Singing Tower.

A view across the street.

The best view of all!
Stay tuned, we have 2 new members of our family and I will be posting their pictures soon. Their names are A#4 and A#5!

Update

Well for goodness sakes I have not been able to post until now but I want to say thank you for the prayers for my Daddy & let you know he is doing well. Things went good Friday and he went home and as far as I know is actually following the rules. We had a few good laughs at his expense when he came out of surgery and they were giving him some pain meds but that's what family is for right ;)

BLUE

WHAT IS BLUE

By Addie Blaine

Blue smells like sea water

Blue looks like water

Blue is the season of spring

Blue sounds like water

Blue is the mother of green

Blue makes me feel so blue

Blue is the food of blueberry pie

Blue is an animal, a blue frog, a butterfly, a fish and sea horses

Blue reminds me of the beach

Blue feels like water

Blue is a sky, a beautiful sky

Blue is a color in the rainbow

Blue is an assumed color

Blue is cool

* Just wanted to share this with you all. Can you tell she likes the water? Leave her a comment and I'll be sure she sees them all. Man I love this kid!

Update on Daddy

Thank you all so much for your prayers for my daddy! We found out yesterday that he will be going this Friday for surgery to repair the problem. Eventually he will be having that knee replaced but for now this is the solution. I will keep you updated but please continue to pray for him and for my step-mom.

Missing a friend

One year ago today the Lord called a very special young man home. Sam was such an amazing, happy, giving young man that we had the privilege to know and love. Tonight we celebrated him with his family at church in a wonderful way. We had a "celebration" service in his honor where we sang, cried, laughed and had fellowship with others that knew this young man. Sam, also known as "Herbie" to me (there's a story there), loved children like no other 19 year old you could ever know. One story was told about how he volunteered to help in children's church and it did not matter what a child's background or if they had ever been to our church before, Sam made them all feel the same. He loved them all just like Jesus does. The night before he died was a Wednesday night and as we were leaving Sam came running across the grass hollering at me, " Go UNC!!!!! Tarheels Baby!!" He LOVED the Tarheels like the rest of his family and was always letting you know it. I teased him back of course and then we left. So many stories were told tonight about how many people were able to tell him goodbye that night of course none of us knowing it would be the last time we would see him. That is until we meet him in Glory one day. We know that Sam was saved by God's Grace and he is in Heaven.

Our Pastor and his wife have been such an amazing example to all Christians and to all of us parents. They know that they have been able to survive this because they have His strength and they have felt His presence. In so many ways God has given them that assurance that Sam is with Jesus now. Their faith is truly AMAZING.

Sammy, we all miss you more than you could know. Your Mom and Dad have been a blessing to so many thru this all. Thank you for being the smiling young man that you were. Thank you for your servants heart. Thank you for all of the laughs and the tears. Thank you for loving all God's little children. Thank you for loving my children. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for your craziness. We will see you again one day!!!

Daddy

*Edited- Just talked to Daddy and he's doing ok. They drew quite a lot of yuk out of there and the Dr said he didn't like the color of it so he's sending it off just to have it looked at. Please continue to pray!!
Please pray for my Daddy. I mentioned on one of my Christmas posts about him having trouble with his leg and after 5 weeks of agony it has been determined he has a torn meniscus. Yuk! He has developed fluid on it and now is waiting to go on Friday to have some of the fluid drawn off to relieve the pressure and the pain. Please pray for him as well as my step-mom.