Gymboree and a Prank

We recently signed up for Gymboree music and I have loved taking John Michael.  He really is musically inclined.  He likes to shake things and move his bootay up and down while standing at his learning table listening to music!  Jordan's mom went with us and took some pictures of the fun. 

Hey, who's taking my picture?!

I'm really glad that we signed up for Gymboree.  We have such a good time and John Michael really, really likes when they bring out the big box full of instruments!  He wants to steal the whole whole box and go through it and take out all of the instruments!

After we came out from Gymboree look at the monstrosety that was on my car:

BOOOO.  War Eagle my butt!  Gross.  I had to immediately take that sign off of my car (of course after we had a good chuckle!)   Go ahead and fess up if that was you!  It did bring a laugh to our day! 

Verse O' the Day:   I LOVE this verse!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:

 

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

What a beautiful, warm day we had in Alabama today!  It was a wonderful day mainly because I finally got my hair cut and colored (yay!) and we took John Michael to a park.  I'm feeling so much better with a little color on my hair.  Some of you may know that I refuse to get my hair cut and colored by anyone else but my lady here in Alabama.  I've had it cut once by someone else in the almost 3 years I've lived in Arkansas.  I'm not sure why, but I can't bring myself to leave my hair to someone who could possibly mess it up.  I may never get over this fear of having someone mess up my hair!

On to the park!  This was JM's first visit to a real park and although we're sad that Daddy couldn't go with us, we all had a great time.  My brother, Judd went with us, as well as Gran and Gamps!

I promise he liked it...sort of.

[caption id="attachment_626" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Uncle Judd is fun to slide with!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_627" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Go Gram!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_628" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="This little guy walked ALL over that park!"][/caption]

Now, Noccalula Falls is the name of this park and anyone who is from Etowah County grew up going to the Falls.  There was a lot of water going over the falls today so it was quite pretty.  There weren't as many ducks as I remember from childhood.  It was always fun to take bread to feed the ducks!

[caption id="attachment_629" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Noccalula herself."][/caption]

The Falls are named for an old legend of an Indian princess named Noccalula.  Noccalula was the Indian chief's daughter and she was in love with another member of her tribe.  The chief refused to listen to his daughter and ordered her to marry another, more wealthy member of the tribe.  As legend has it, "one leap and her troubles were over."  Noccalula lept to her death with a broken heart.  Uplifting legend, huh?  It IS pretty, though!

Daffoldils+John Michael=precious, precious, precious

[caption id="attachment_637" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Oh, I haven't been on a swing in ages!!!"][/caption]

And, of course, we had to go across the parking lot to Jack's and get some sweet tea and a little burger.  They used to have grape ice cream, but not anymore.  So sad.  It's really hard to find nowadays.  JM did great a Jack's!  He ate his little Cheerios and played and looked so precious.

Verse O' the Day:

The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Exodus 14:14

Happy Valentine's Day...again!

Last week with Jordan's mom and Nat up for a visit we were able to celebrate Valentine's Day for reals.  John Michael stayed at home and played with them while we headed to a surprise dinner date!  I love surprises so I was curious to see where we were going!  We headed to downtown Rogers and ended up at Belle Arti.  It was a quiet, old-style Italian restaurant.  We had a great time!  There were few people there so we took our time and had great conversation and ate some really great food.

Before leaving our little guy

We ate some seriously yummy crab cakes with a creamy shrimp sauce.  They were served on a pile of greens and were quite good!

I ordered eggplant parmesean and there was enough for two to split!  Jordan got sausage-stuffed manicotti and it was also great.

Since we were celebrating Valentine's Day and all....I ordered my very own dessert.  I told Jordan that I did not want to split a dessert with him.  I'll take my very own, thankyouverymuch.  Heaven most definitely is tiramisu with a coffee.  I added whipped cream and chocolate from my tiramisu into my coffee and it was extra YUM.  And, might I mention that I believe the tiramisu is homemade at Belle Arti.  It tastes like it is homemade and they told me that it was, so I believe them.  We thought all of our food was very good, so I think we'll be back

The restaurant was in a neat part of downtown.  It's so rare to find cool downtown restaurants anymore.  I thought the restaurant was very pretty and unique inside.  We had a great time!  Thanks, baby, for taking me on a surprise date!

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On a whim I decided to make the trip back home with Jordan's family.  They were set to leave us and head back home to Alabama and I thought John Michael and I would hitch a ride and come for a quick visit!  We are now home and we actually had a really great 12 hour car trip.  I always dread the trip with a baby but it turned out OK today!  I'm not sure what all kinds of trouble we'll get into while we're here, but I'm sure I'll be posting pictures along the way!  It will be so nice to visit with family!

Verse O' the Day:

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

1 John 4:10

Video Fun!

We finally got our video clips put together for a short video of John Michael!  He is so funny here lately.  I really have enjoyed the last few months of our little guy.  He is starting to experiment with his mmmms and he JUST started saying buuuuh, buh, byyyeee.   Very cute!  He also wants to "walk" pretty much all of the time.  He is starting to get so mad if we don't grab ahold of his hands and let him "walk" around.  I'm sure the next few months will be very interesting with him cruising around, walking, and starting to say more words.  Now, we only have to work on him getting some teeth in!



Verse O' the Day:

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12

Moore, please.

Last March my friend Cathy, (who, by the way is in seminary) asked me "You really don't know who Beth Moore is?"  I was back home for my baby shower and she drove me home that night after all us girls ate dinner.  I told her, no, I had never heard of her.  She said, "I really can't believe you've never heard of Beth Moore."

Fast forward to this past fall when I decided that I should start going to 4W, our weekly women's Bible Study program. It's a bit unusual for me to just up and go to something where I don't really know anybody, especially a room full of women!  JM had gotten over the evil colic and acted pretty good for his church nursery caregivers so I thought I'd give it a go.  They have child care (a definite plus) and muffins with coffee and Beth Moore was one of the studies to choose from.  I thought, Oh, I've heard of her. 

We did Loving Well and I liked it so much that I decided to get Beth Moore's study on David, 90 Days With a Heart Like His.  Actually, I'm still on that one...it's been a little more than 90 days.  I try to get that study in everyday, but sometimes I don't succeed. 

I digress.....back to our new Beth Moore study, Esther.  Quite sadly, I missed the first few sessions due to being back home over Christmas, then the stomach bug for JM, then the ice storm, then another cold for JM, then last week we missed because JM slept until 9 am so we didn't make it to church then, either.  Today was only my second session of the study and I am in loooove. 

Picture courtesy of lifewaystores.com

I SO am in love with me some Beth Moore Bible study.  As Cathy said, I can't believe I had never heard of Beth Moore before.  I love her Texas hair and cutesy outfits with denim or sparkles on them.  You feel as if everything she is saying she is saying it to you.  It's like she knows what you've been through and is speaking to what you need to hear.  This Esther study has been just wonderful every single time.  I really had never heard too much about Esther and I am still a bit behind in my study but it is so good.  So much drama!  If you're looking for a way to get plugged in somewhere with a study, I strongly suggest shopping around for basically anything she has written. 

Here are a few of my favorite quotes and sayings from the studies I have done or am currently doing:

*  Do you realize I knew everything about you the day you were conceived?  I anticipated your life and planned for it!   --wow

*  My eyes and my affections are on you right now.

*  Quit trying to be so strong.   Let me be strong for you.  --That's a really hard one, to LET God be strong for us.

*  I am for you.

*  Do you think you need to prove yourself loveable to me?

*  I alone know how to prosper you through this.

*  Do you have any idea how much I love you?  -- Do we really have any idea how much God truly loves each one of us. 

-Excerpts from Loving Well Small Group Facilitator Guide

Now, my next favorite saying that's been such a help the last few weeks.  Think of the worst thing that could happen to you.   IF that happens...then what?  It's what you think upon, it's your worst fear for yourself or your family, it's the IF that often sits at the forefront of your mind, it's just sitting there hanging out in your mind.  Everyone has an IF.  IF ___happens, then I'll just die.  I'll curl up in a ball and just never live life again.  Worry is so hard to overcome.  Who isn't a worrier?  I know I am.  This next little, teeny tiny sentence has helped me so much and freed me, too.

IF _____, then  ____.   Think about it.   What would YOU fill in the blank with?  I know exactly what goes in my blanks.  It's that diagnosis or phone call that's been trailing myself and my family, haunting me, and filling my every waking second with worry for the last 8 years or so. 

Now, replace it with

IF ____, then G-O-D.   That's it.  Just like that, the IF is just gone....along with so much worry and anxiety about my ifs. If that does happen, then  GOD.  I love it! 

Excerpts from Esther, It's Tough Being a Woman.

The Living Proof Ministries blog:  ch-ch-ch-check it out:  http://www.livingproofministries.blogspot.com/

A link to Esther with excerpts and video samples: LifeWayEsther

A link to our church's 4W website.    http://fbcb4w.blogspot.com/

I'll step off of my soapbox now.  Off I go!  Y'all know how I love to step up on it from time to time.  Some days I just have it in me to write a big ole post like this instead of posting precious pictures of John Michael.  Don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow with cute pictures and fun sayings, but for today, I needed this and I needed to share it with y'all....as if anybody is reading down to the last sentence of this long post!!!!

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Jordan and I are going to celebrate our belated Valentine's dinner at a secret location!  I love surprises.  Gran and Gamps are going to take care of John Michael tonight (I'm sure they're so upset about that) and we'll get a great dinner with great dinner conversation with just the two of us!  Wonderful!  Have a Happy Tuesday!