All things bright and beautiful...

When you look at the world through the eyes of your children you see a world filled with innocence, love, compassion, trust, and faith and if you look closely enough it will humble you. I am truly humbled by my sons' FAITH and SERVANTHOOD to our Lord. They amaze me with their unwavering trust and faith on a daily basis. Tonight, I was brought to tears by Trey singing a simple song in front of the whole congregation. Even at the age of seven (almost eight) there is no way that I would have ever gotten up in front of an audience and sang by myself. Trey has been wanting to sing a solo for a while now, and tonight at our fifth Sunday night sing he got his chance. He said he was scared to death but he conquered his fear and sang out his praises to our Lord. And I have never been more proud of him!

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
3 John 1:4

Photo Friday: Icicles

The beginning of 2010 brought us some very cold weather...much, much, much colder than we are used to here in south Georgia!!! My boys hoped that the cold weather would bring us snow...they want to see it so bad! Unfortunately, snow was not in the forecast. However, Philip hung a water hose up in a tree and made us an icicle landscape in the front yard. And while the boys would have preferred snow, they thought the icicles were pretty cool!

So long 2009...

We spent a nice, quiet New Year's Eve at home...

Jesse took a bubble bath...

Trey played the Wii until almost midnight...

Jesse almost made it...he lasted until about 11:15 and then said,
"Mama, I'm tired!"

And Trey got to watch the ball drop for the first time!
He was so excited that he made it until midnight

& he can't wait until next year!

Happy (belated) 2010 to all of you!
I pray that it is a good year for us all.

The last day of 2009...

New Year's Eve we invited our friends Mira, Madison, and Josh over for some pizza and fun! After being home with the boys for nearly two weeks, it was wonderful for me to get some girl talk in with Mira, and the boys always love having Madison and Josh over. While lots of fun was had playing outside, playing in the playroom, playing leapsters and DSes, the main event was the Wii! All the kids (big and little:-) enjoyed the Mario Karts, bowling, and golf, and they all did a terrific job sharing! It was a terrific way to wrap up 2009 and we look forward to many more play dates in 2010.

It all began with gift cards, two to be exact...

So the story begins on Christmas Day when both boys received WalMart gift cards. They both knew exactly what they wanted~~Trey had his heart set on the Lego Star Wars game to go with our new Wii and Jesse wanted a Little Einsteins bath toy. And...they both wanted them RIGHT NOW! And do you know what...WalMart actually closes for Christmas. Oh, how heartbreaking this news was to our two little ones. These gift cards were burning holes in their pockets! However, my two boys are also extremely lucky and blessed! Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Chris took pity on them and their plight and took them to lunch and WalMart the day after Christmas. Anyone who has kids knows that it is not always a fun time taking them to Wally World. And while Trey always knows exactly what he wants to spend his gift card on, Jesse can be a little more difficult (i.e. he changes his mind. A. LOT.) Add to that the day after Christmas craziness and we can be assured that Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Chris had their work cut out for them. The boys were so excited though to be going off on this adventure and they both came home with exactly what they wanted plus an extra game. Jesse's bath toy is a bubble maker and neither one of them could wait to try it out. And this thing makes a ton of bubbles...so many that Jesse said that we couldn't even see them anymore!

Thanks Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Chris!

A little more Christmas

Over the past few years it has become tradition for us to gather at Mama and Mitchel's on Christmas Day afternoon and celebrate with lots of good food and presents.

Papa and Aunt Lauris

Uncle Chris, Aunt Lindsey, and Baby Hinson
We have so much to look forward to in 2010!!!

Daddy

Aunt Lauris and Uncle Marty

Santa Papa rockin out with Jesse's new guitar.

Once presents were opened and it got dark enough, it was time for
FIREWORKS!!!

Jesse was very sad that he wasn't allowed to crawl onto the roof of the car.

Way Back When...

This past week friends on facebook asked everyone to post flashback pictures from way back when. This picture was handy because it's been on my refrigerator ever since we found it when going thorough Grandma Lorene's things. This would be Phil's senior/my junior prom in the spring of 1993. It reminds me of a simpler time, and also reminds me of how far we have come. The girl in this photo would never have dreamed that the journey to today would have been so full of twists and turns. And while the journey to today has not always been a smooth ride, I am so thankful that it has brought me to this day and to this life that I now have. One thing has not changed over the years though and that is our shameless love...Phil has been singing Garth Brooks' Shameless to me for almost 20 years (okay, WOW, I feel really old now!). It is our song...he sang it to me while we dated in high school, Shameless is inscribed inside his wedding band, it was our first dance at our wedding, and yes, he still sings it to me. And while she didn't realize it way back then, the girl in this photo was very blessed indeed, just as I am today!

Christmas Morning 2009

Christmas morning came none too soon for my boys. Although they actually slept until after 7:00a.m., once they were up they were very impatient to get to the presents. It just about killed them to wait with me while Daddy went and turned on the coffee and put our breakfast casseroles in the oven!

"We're up, come on over and see what Santa brought!"

Finally, let's go...

Trey said he must have been very good because Santa brought him everything he asked for and more!

Bringing out the guns...

Wii...

This is what happens when my child dresses himself.
This was actually his third outfit of the day & it's only about 9:00a.m.

Wii again...Mario Karts is a hit! Thanks, Santa!!!

I hope that everyone was blessed this Christmas season! It came upon us way too fast and I can hardly believe that it's already over. However, I know it will be here again before I know it.