a night in bethlehem

last night at church, we had our annual night in bethlehem. we all had a really good time going. we had dinner and then after dinner we made all kinds of christmas ornaments, an advent wreath and then made our to bethlehem. we had so much fun - all of us! this year kev wasn't able to go with us, due to our commitment as confirmation counselors. he ended up helping with confirmation while i took the girls to "bethlehem."

this year our journey to bethlehem took us through the streets of newnan where we ended up at the "stable." i must say that probably one of my favorite things last night was our walk to the "stable." the weather was so nice - not to cold and no rain! just a peaceful walk through the brisk night air. when we arrived at the "stable" baby jesus along with mary and joseph could be seen. (lacey of course was having a fit over baby jesus like she always does.) the christmas story was read and the most sweetest voice of an angel sang away in a manger. it was truly a moving experience for me!

i'm so looking forward to the next few weeks as we celebrate the season of advent and the arrival of baby jesus. if last night was any indication of what lies ahead in the next few weeks it will definitely be an exciting and memorable time for all of us.

let's just stay up all night?

yes, that was my mom's idea. instead of getting early to go shopping the day after thanksgiving we would just stay up all night and hit the stores at...midnight? honestly i didn't know if i could do it, but we did. we had so much fun! we left out at about 11:30 pm and didn't return until around 9:30 am. it was amazing to me all the other crazy people that were out at that time of night. what in the world? even though i spent most of the day walking around in a daze from lack of sleep, i did finish up with the girls and their christmas presents...yeah!!! now on to the others.

happy thanksgiving

here's a list of just some of the many things i'm thankful for this thanksgiving (in no particular order):

1. god
2. my terrific husband who i love dearly
3. my two healthy, busy and beautiful girls
4. the church we are able to worship in
5. our wonderful friends
6. our families
7. the house over our heads
8. my health
9. the men and women who are overseas protecting our freedom
10. that i'm able to serve and help others in different capacities

have you thought about the many things that you are thankful for these days? wishing you a very happy thanksgiving....

just a simple "thank you"

this week in our sunday school class, wendy has been sending out a meditation on gratitude each day. yesterday's really spoke to me because it was about "thank you." it said:

if the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is "thank you," that would suffice. - meister eckhart

in times when you cannot find the words to speak to god, saying a simple thank you is better than saying nothing at all. god yearns to have a relationship with us - teach yourself to say thank you everyday.

how many times lately have said "thank you?" not only to god, but to your family, friends, kids, even the cashier at the grocery store, etc? i have discovered that by saying "thank you" it puts everything into perspective and makes me realize how truly blessed i am. even on days when i get down or discouraged, i'm exactly where god wants me to be and when i'm reminded of this i simply say..."thank you."

happy thanksgiving.

santa and the pink pig

happens to be one of my all time favorite christmas traditions we do. ever since lela was a baby, we some how seem to get to lenox to get our pictures made with santa and ride the ever famous pink pig. this year would be no different other than the fact we went before thanksgiving instead of after.

i thought i had a brilliant idea by taking the girls (as well as the boys) to ride the pink pig before thanksgiving...wrong! it seems everyone else had that same idea. waiting in line for santa was no problem; riding the pink pig, well that was an entirely different story all together. oh well...everyone had fun. now that's behind us and we can focus on other things.

i would love to show you

what i've been working on all afternoon, but i honestly think it would spoil the surprise and personally the older i get the more i really like surprises. on thursday, the cover of the 2009-2010 welch elementary yearbook was chosen. since i'm the yearbook chairperson i headed up the cover contest which was based on the pta theme "join the team!" i was so excited because we had 35 entries and there was a winner chosen from each grade level...yeah! it's funny because as i make my way through this learning process i'm finding ways to improve for next year (if i decide to do it again.) the "best of" winner will be featured on the front cover and then the other winners will find their place on the back cover. today has been so much fun working on the layout for the book. i'd forgotten how long it took between scanning the artwork in to just building the finished product. talk about getting back in the groove, this yearbook is probably this best thing that could have happened to me. i'm definitely gaining my confidence back since leaving the graphic design field about six years ago. talk about time flying.

thanksgiving break is finally here!!!

yeah! we're off for an entire week and i'm so happy :)

lacey had her thanksgiving program yesterday at school. she was so cute! her class was indians. i so can't remember lela being an indian, but i know she was because we were there. i was cracking up because everyone in lacey class was given an "indian name" and her name was appropriately called "running river." talk about hitting the nail on the head - constantly talking nonstop every minute of the day....that would be lacey.

after her program, we had a "thanksgiving feast" of turkey and dressing, corn and a little bit of dessert. daddy, gram, buster bud and gigi all made the performance which was needless to say entertaining. my favorite part was watching the indians dance around the fire! hija hija hija hija.....





oh yeah, on another note. the preschool had made a giant banner with what each of the children were thankful for. in typical lacey fashion she said...

slowly but surely

the house starting to take on the appearance of christmas. talk about time consuming. you have no idea how much i can get done with no kids around. lacey's tree is finished! yeah! now three more to go. why do i do this to myself? is it punishment? i was so hoping to have everything done by this week, but come on who was i fooling? here is a look at her little tree. i just love it! it's so sweet and fun looking...

diva day

well, that's what we are calling it. when lacey and i got ready to leave for school yesterday morning, she threw a crown on her and proceed out the door. i asked her if she was wearing her crown to school and she told me, "yes?" i find myself with lacey that i just let her be. (i call it the second child thing.) if this had been lela there would be no way would i have let her go to school with a crown on her head. i've learned with lacey it's so much easier to let the child be herself even if that means she is gonna be a diva for the day.

lacey has a what?

yes, a boyfriend. well, that's what we hear all the time. his name is charlie and lacey is absolutely crazy about him! i think it's really cute and funny because the things she tells me about him crack me up. for instants..."he's hot!" or "i love him so and we are gonna date." it's so sweet and innocence you can't help but smile. here's a picture of the two of them at a recent birthday party. when i went to take the picture, lacey threw her arms around him and just grinned.

i've to got to utilize my time better

plain and simple. that's one of the many reasons i've not been updating the blog like i should and i truly apologize. i absolutely love blogging and it just seems these days somehow the time is just getting away from me.

last week was pretty crazy! i was a baking fool; making brownies, muffins and cookies for the awesome women that went on their walk to emmaus this weekend. i feel so blessed and privileged to be a part of such an awe inspiring community. then i was up at school for lela volunteering in her classroom as well as going to a preschool board meeting, not to mention working on the yearbook. this week i have vowed that there will less "school stuff" and more "home stuff."

next thursday is thanksgiving and i have got to get busy getting the house cleaned and ready for christmas decorations. i'm hoping to start this week getting the house ready. crazy, uh? but when you have four different trees to decorate as well as the house, i have to start early. besides, i love christmas plain and simple!

check out my newest addition to the christmas decor. it's a wreath that i having hanging in the great room windows. i got the idea from a picture i had seen and decided to elaborate on it. of course, mom helped me execute it. talk about the creative juices flowing these days...

did you get water on your head?

asked one of lacey's friends this morning after church.

yes, we finally did it! we had lacey meredith daniell baptized this morning surrounded by the love of god and others, what a wonderful experience it was. we couldn't have asked for a better service. lacey along with baby, kevin, lela and myself stood at the altar as med and joan placed their hands on lacey's head baptizing her in the name of the father, son and holy ghost. it brought tears to my eyes and an unexplainable joy to my heart.

in the methodist church, it is very commonplace to have infant baptism. it is seen as a sacrament. in infant baptism, god claims the child with divine grace. i guess you could say it is a
a celebration of god's prevenient grace.

when lela was born she was baptized at six months old. after lacey arrived, we were inbetween churches, had been in newnan not quite a year and quite honestly it just didn't feel right. well, now we have found a fantastic church home, our faith has never been stronger and everything felt just right! congratulations, baby girl! we love you!

our little prankster

lacey is always cracking us up. i've decided that is what the second child is for - making us laugh. i know god sent her to keep everything in perspective because that is exactly what she does! she is so carefree, sharp as a tack and loves to talk. in fact, she loves to talk so much that she has already been moved to "yellow" in her 4 year preschool class. uh?

well the latest in the life and adventures of lacey meredith is her telling stories. not lying or anything, just making up stuff and then telling you later..."i was just trickin' you." it's actually quite funny because half the stuff she tells me i actually believe her, like she hurt herself at gymnastics or her friend madeline got on "yellow" or even that they had a new boy in her class that was moved from the other 4 year old preschool class because he didn't like it in there. where she comes up with this stuff is beyond me? it's so funny because when she starts telling me stuff i have to ask, "lacey are you just trickin' me?"