La Familia Penter

Extreme Home Makeover

2012-02-02T09:13:00.000-08:00

Camron had some "before" pictures on his camera. They aren't great, but they are all we have. Since I was busy giving birth, I didn't exactly get a chance to walk around the house and document the way it looked before we started the work. We LOVE our house and the area we are in! We also LOVE our awesome (& free) contractor (my dad).

"Before" Kitchen: I HATED the counter tops in the kitchen. It's hard to tell by these pictures, but the walls were painted yellow and the hardwood floors were an ugly light color with a super duper shiny finish.

"After" Kitchen: The cabinets were new, so we kept them. We painted, ripped out the ugly peach counter tops and installed granite, a new sink & faucet, a few new appliances, added new blinds on the windows, and restained the hardwood floors to be a much darker color with a dull finish.

The dining room is difficult to see in this picture. It was carpeted.

We repainted this room, added new blinds, and hardwood floors to match the kitchen. We also had to hardwood in the hallway because it was carpet too. We don't have any dining room furniture yet, but it's on my list!

Formal living room "before".

I almost didn't post this picture of the "after" living room because I don't have it quite like I want it yet. But here is what it looks like for now. We painted and put up blinds in here...

This was Colton's room. Notice the lovely flowery wallpaper border.

After...

Raelyn's room had a flowery wallpaper border too! AND all of the trim and doors were painted blue.

Now the walls are a super pale pink and mostly everything else is white

It cost me 20 cents to make this. I already had the stand so I spray painted it white and then bought 2 pieces of scrapbook paper at Hobby Lobby (they were 40% off).

This was the basement...which we decided to turn into a family room/ playroom. This room was painted peach with navy blue trim & doors. The carpet was DISGUSTING!

We replaced the carpet, added blinds and repainted EVERYTHING...floors, ceilings, fireplace, cabinets, trim, and doors. We also got rid of that ugly gold grill that was on the fireplace.

our pretty painted fireplace...

Baby sister was slouched over in the swing during my photo shoot of the house

Check ou that HAIR!

We turned an extra room off of the basement into an office for Cam by adding some french doors. This is what it looked like before...

after...

This is another room in the basement. They were advertising it as a workout room. We decided to make it into our guest room. The first thing we did was rip up the ugly carpet. We also painted the walls and ceiling and installed blinds.

guest room...

"Before" banister and carpet (leading down into the basement)

This is the "after" banister and hardwood. This banister was a housewarming gift from my parents. We didn't even know they had picked this out until after it was installed. My mom said that she saw Colton practically put his entire head through the old banister and it made her nervous. Obviously the building code back in the 1970s was not what it is today!

Raelyn @ 5 weeks

2012-01-24T18:24:00.000-08:00

Baby girl is 5 weeks old and somewhere in the 6 pound range. She finally fits into her preemie clothes. Newborn sizes still swallow her up. I took her to the doctor last week and he was pleased with her weight gain, but she is not on the growth charts because she is TINY. Colton was always in the 75-95th percentiles, and now I have a tiny baby that doesn't even make it onto the chart at all!

She is a great nurser. When we left the NICU, they told me it would take about a month to wean her from the bottle completely, but she was done with the bottle about three days after we got home. Now she solely nurses and my life is so much easier.

She sleeps a lot...much more than Colton did. But once again this has to do with the fact that she is a preemie. At night she can go 4 hours in between feedings, so if I time it right I may only have to get up once per night...but that doesn't always happen.

Raelyn is a very loud baby. She is constantly grunting, making noises that sound like a pig, pooting, or burping. She can't even nurse without being noisy. She hates sleeping on her back and loves sleeping on her tummy. I usually let her sleep on her stomach during the day when I'm awake and can keep an eye on her. But at night she has been sleeping in the swing so she can sit upright. Recently my friend, Katie loaned me her Nap Nanny and Raelyn LOVED it. She went 4.5 hours between feedings the first night she slept in it! Now she sleeps in it every night.

I LOVE my Moby Wrap and so does she! I didn't have one with Colton. It allows me to carry Raelyn around and have both my hands free. She is so snug and tight in there that she just falls asleep. I've found it's much easier than carrying the heavy pumpkin seat inside everywhere I go. Tonight Cam and I went out to eat and I wore her in the Moby Wrap while she slept and we ate.

Colton is an awesome big brother. He loves her to death...sometimes I'm afraid that may literally happen. He is way too rough with her. Patting her on the head may actually mean beating her on the head. And the other day I walked in on on him shaking the heck out of the swing...with her in it. He is obsessed with changing her diapers and looking to see what's inside of them. I love to hear him talk to her. He says things like "It's okay baby sissy, big brother is here to protect you." The other day she was upstairs crying and he came running up the stairs shouting "Big brother is coming!"The first day I took Raelyn with me to to pick up Colt from MDO, he jumped up out of his seat and couldn't wait to start showing her off to all of his friends and teachers.

"Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen." 2 Timothy 4:18

What else could happen?

2012-01-17T11:51:00.000-08:00

I have done a terrible job with my blog and with my coupons lately. When life gets busy, some things just don't make the cut. The past month has been one of the craziest of my life!

About four weeks ago, I caught a really terrible virus that made me as sick as a dog. The doctor prescribed a Z Pack for me, and as soon as the virus started to clear up, I found out that my placenta was no longer providing nutrients to Raelyn and an emergency c-section was scheduled. Meanwhile, we were right in the middle of moving out of our rental house and getting our furniture situated in the garage of the new house. I didn't even have enough time to grab a sufficient amount of clothes from the closet to get me through the next three weeks that we would be living with my parents while our new home was being renovated.

The night before the c-section, Colton had an asthma attack so Camron had to take him to the doctor the next morning and then drive like mad to get back in time for my c-section. Apparently Colton had caught my virus. Baby Raelyn was born and whisked off to the NICU. And so began a very difficult and exhausting 10 days of constantly pumping milk and driving back and forth to the hospital every day.

Back at home...Colton, my dad, Camron, and my sister were ALL sick with the virus. And our new home was still under renovation!!! At this point my parents had pretty much taken over all of the work. My mom went and picked out our granite, appliances, light fixtures, etc. My dad oversaw everything and in the meantime they did all of our laundry and took care of Colton full time.

Once the new house was nearly done, there was a VERY thick coat of dust EVERYWHERE from where we had the hard wood floors sanded. I wasn't able to help with any of the cleaning because I was recovering from surgery, had a newborn at home, and another child with asthma...so he couldn't be anywhere near all of that dust. Camron's family and my family both pitched in and worked lots of hours getting the house ready to be occupied!

Since then we have been trying to get everything unpacked...and still have a long way to go. We have one bathroom that we haven't even touched yet. Literally, there isn't even a light in there yet! I am still trying to take care of a little preemie that needs to stay at home for the next several weeks and Cam is working lots and lots of hours!

Three nights ago the basement flooded when I tried to do a load of laundry in the new house. I thought the washer was hooked up...and it was NOT! Then that very same night, Cam woke up because he was freezing. Guess what? Our furnace had completely gone out. We spent the rest of the night trying to keep the baby warm. The next morning my dad got a crew out here to put in a new furnace...and that was a $4,000 bill. Camron and I keep asking each other: "What else could possibly happen?"

One thing I have learned from all of this is how faithful God is. He provides for all of our needs and MORE. I can't wait to see what 2012 holds for our family. We trust in HIM.

Another thing I am super duper thankful for are all of our friends and family and how awesome they have been at helping out with Colton, bringing TONS of food, and offering to run errands for us. We have the BEST family and friends and words really can't even express how grateful we are to them.

At some point, I plan to post some "before" and "after" pictures of our house...but that may have to wait a while.

Today is the Day!

2011-12-29T17:38:00.000-08:00

Martina,
You are amazing! Thank you for letting us be a part of what God is doing for Raelyn. We are honored to get to pray with you for our little sister. Clearly God has a great plan for her life…look how he is using her already!

We get to have a role in this...it is teaching us to know God better...to depend on His mercies...to trust in His Word...to draw from Him for our strength today! I believe today is the day...

I say that God is in control…that He is calling her body to grow with leaps and bounds and that she is headed for a good day today! We are praying. We believe God!

Love you,

And look who got discharged today!

If this news surprises you, imagine how we felt! We never ever expected her to be discharged this early! We were shocked! I called the NICU this morning to check on her 8am feeding and when I did the nurse told me to hold on for a minute because the doctor was examining Raelyn. I could hear everything that he was saying but the only thing I clearly remember is "this baby is ready for discharge". I took off running all over the house exclaiming the news to everyone. We kept it under our hats all day because there were still a few tests that she had to pass and we wanted to be 100% sure she would be able to do that first. Thank you all so much for your consistent prayer over the last 10 days. God heard and he answered! He is so good and faithful. Now I plan to take a blogging break and spend the next several days staring at her beautiful face!

Arms that Hold the Universe

2011-12-28T15:44:00.000-08:00

Martina,

So, I heard this song and immediately thought of you guys and wanted to share! His goodness & His Presence is surely with your family. He is our Emmanuel, God With Us, and His love endures FOREVER! Continuing to pray for sweet Raelyn's steadfast progression and that He would give you and your family His strength, endurance & peace that transcends all understanding as you guys continue to walk this path.

Love,

Nicole

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T19:58:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas morning at my parents house (that is where we are currently living while our new home is under renovation). It was fun to see Colton wake up and be so excited about Santa, but it was also a sad Christmas for me because Raelyn was not home. We definitely made the best of it though and Colton got lots of great things from Santa.

As soon as Colt woke up, he asked "Did he stop here?" We were all still in a dead sleep at 7am and Colton was the first to wake up so Camron went to get him out of bed and take him to the potty while I rushed downstairs to wake up my parents, turn on the Christmas tree lights, and put Santa's half eaten cookies back on the fireplace.

Coltons favorite gift from Santa this year was his "pirate stuff". When he opened it, he said "It's just what I always wanted!"

After we opened gifts and ate a big breakfast, Camron and I headed up to the NICU to visit Raelyn. She wasn't having a good day. She didn't want to eat and they had to tube feed her for most of the day. We went back for her 4:00 feeding as well with the same result. It was a discouraging day for me. But when we got home, we got to eat some Happy Birthday Jesus cake and once again I was cheered up by my son. I feel like he has been a bit neglected over the past week because Cam and I have been so busy going back and forth to the hospital. But I know he is in good hands with my parents. I'm so thankful that my sister was able to take the time to make this special cake for him. Hopefully we can all be together as a family soon.

Today (12-27) Raelyn had a good day. She took two bottles all by herself. She also took the majority of the rest of her bottles, but still had to be tube fed for the last little bit. We are seeing some progress. It's very SLOW, but at least it's progress. We are just so thankful that she is alive and with us. I am just now starting to realize the seriousness of her situation before her birth. We are so thankful that God was watching over her.

"Peace comes from HIS Presence, not our understanding of events." -Graham Cooke

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T16:03:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was sort of a blur this year because Cam and I were up at the NICU several times that day. We had to squeeze in the regular Christmas traditions wherever we could. Gigi helped Colton make cookies for Santa earlier that day since I wasn't able to do it this year. Here they are getting his plate ready before bed. Please excuse his dirty shirt and Vick's chest...he is still sick.

Carrot for Rudolph

PapPaw had to taste test the carrot to make sure it was a good one

E-Mails

2011-12-26T15:29:00.000-08:00

12-26-2011
Hi all. Thanks for all the encouragement over the past week. It means so much to us that we have such a wonderful support system of praying friends. Baby Raelyn is still in the NICU. Today is day #6 and we still aren't sure when she will be home.

When she was born, she was only 35 weeks developed so they are trying to get her up to the 37 week mark. At that point, we are hopeful that she will start eating on her own. The big goal for her is that she will take her milk from a bottle all by herself without the help of a feeding tube. Every once in a while she will suck down an entire bottle on her own, but for the most part she is still too weak and small to sustain herself. Please pray specifically for this. Because once she starts taking bottles consistently she should be able to come home. Everything else has evened out and she is doing well in other areas that she was struggling in a week ago.

We know that God is so good and we have given it all over to Him. I have offically decided that I am too exhausted to carry this burden any further. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Also, please keep my family in your prayers. We are EXHUASTED! Colton is still sick. Driving back and forth to the NICU every few hours has been so draining. I am not able to drive yet so I always have to have one person who can drive me and one person who can babysit Colton at home. My family has been AMAZING. But they are just as exhausted as we are!

-Martina

12-24-11

Martina, You are an amazing woman and I am thankful God has allowed our paths to meet.

I am thrilled to hear that Raelyn is doing so much better! I felt peace in my prayers for her. I remembered how you prayed for another child and asked others to pray with you. I think about how faithful God was to give you the desire of your heart and answer our prayers. It reminded me that God is always with us and continues to walk with us in all things, even this time for you.

Praising God for His unfailing love for us. Praising God for hearing our prayers and giving us the desires of our hearts when we love and serve Him. Praising God for healing our hearts and hurts and wiping our tears when we don't understand. May the true gift of Christmas continue to dwell close to you and your wonderful family.

Much Love,
Donna

Jaundice baby in the tanning bed

This is our goal...eating from a bottle for every meal

Baby sister's crib is decorated with big brother's artwork

Raelyn Gloria Penter

2011-12-24T18:20:00.000-08:00

On Monday, December 19th I went to the doctor for my 26 week check up. Raelyn was measuring at 35 weeks gestation and my placenta was failing. An emergency c-section was required. When Raelyn was born she was only 5 pounds and 4 ounces and considered a "late term preemie". We tried to let her transition in the well baby nursery, but she wasn't strong enough to keep her oxygen levels and body temperature up. After 24 hours they moved her to the NICU and she has been there ever since (tomorrow will be day 5). She is doing very well, but still not eating enough on her own to come home. She has to use a feeding tube for at least half of her feedings. I have been pumping milk for her every 2-3 hours and taking it to the hospital so we haven't had to supplement with any formula.

We are so ready to bring her home and the last few days have been a roller coaster ride. We go back and forth between good reports and bad reports and it definitely gets frustrating at times. It's very difficult to be separated from my baby and only able to hold her 3-4 hours per day while other people get to decide her schedule for the day.

Cam and I are EXHAUSTED!!! We hadn't finished moving out of our old house yet because we thought we still had a whole week left to finish up. Now we are temporarily living with my parents while our new house is being renovated, and Cam is spending every spare minute trying to pack up and clean our old house. We also sqeeze in visits to the NICU every 4 hours.

My family has been AWESOME. They have been keeping Colton full time for us, helping us pack and move, preparing food, driving me to the NICU when Camron can't go, and everything else in between! There is no way we could make it through this season without them.

Lamentations 3:22-24

It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

We LOVE her so much. She is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen!

Trying to regulate Raelyn's body temp and breathing...

1st time to meet baby sister

Colt was sick so he had to wear a mask

A few family and friends

Then she was off to the NICU. We have had some very discouraging days. Cam and I are both ready to bring her home.

"When a problem arises, whether personal or otherwise, I work to remain conscious of the Spirit of God upon me. If the problem gets bigger than my awareness of the Holy Spirit, I will react to the problem. Living in reaction to the devil gives him too much influence over our lives. We must live as Jesus did - doing what the Father is doing. Living in response to God is far superior than living in reaction to the devil." ~ Bill Johnson

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T17:19:00.000-08:00

Class Christmas Party!

2011-12-16T11:51:00.000-08:00

Here are the wise men bringing gifts for baby Jesus. (Colton's school is collecting gifts to help babies at Choose Life.)

Take Two

2011-12-14T14:32:00.000-08:00

We made it through our church Christmas program with NO tears! Hooray!

Busy and Blessed

2011-12-14T10:35:00.000-08:00

Over the past few days I have picked out (with MUCH help from my mother) carpet, paint, hardwood, granite, blinds, etc for the new house. We finally closed on our house and we are moving out of our rental in 2 days. As of right now, I have not packed a single box.

This is mostly because I have been SICK! I went to Church of the Highlands LIFE Retreat this weekend with a fabulous group of girls. The entire time I felt lousy (physically). When I got back to town on Monday I went to see my doctor and she diagnosed me with a viral infection AND pink eye (thank you Colton). So for the past three days I have been on 2 antibiotics and trying my best to get some rest…which has been next to impossible considering all that we have to accomplish by the end of the week.

Our house closing went through yesterday. Praise God! My dad, the contractor, has workers lined up to start with the renovations tomorrow. Hopefully we can get everything done in the next three weeks or so because baby Raelyn will be here in exactly 2 weeks. We are moving out this weekend and living with my parents in the meantime while the new house is under construction. Since all of our new carpet will be installed by Saturday, we are planning to take all of our stuff over to the new house and deposit it in the basement while the upstairs hardwoods are being refinished.

I wanted to take some "before" pictures of our house. But I don't think that is going to happen. I will just have to post some "after" pictures in a few weeks once everything is done. Cam and mom have been doing most of the work when it comes to picking colors, counter tops, flooring, etc. I am just too tired to care at this point and right now I have packing on my mind.

Thank GOD for great friends who are willing to help us pack, move, and take care of Colton while we are working! We are truly blessed and God's favor has been on us this year. Can't wait to see what 2012 holds for us!

Christmas Time

2011-12-11T09:52:00.000-08:00

The Braxton Hicks contractions started on Friday. When I was pregnant with Colton I had them for about a month before he was born. This time they started 19 days before my scheduled c-section.

We went to Santa’s Village (Colton thought it was the North Pole) with Gigi and Tia. This sort of thing is so much fun with a 3 year old. He believes in EVERYTHING! He met Santa, Mrs. Clause, and even Frosty! When we left he told us that we had been to the “real North Pole, not a pretend one”!

Making an ornament in Santa's Workshop

The "real" Frosty

2 of Santa's reindeer...Rudolph was nowhere to be found

We saw Santa at the mall last week and Colton refused to speak to him, so I wasn't sure he would be up for it this time either. But he walked right up to him, sat in his lap, and told him that he wanted some pirate stuff for Christmas.

Colton's Christmas program at school was on Friday. His class had 5 songs they have been working on. He made it through the first one fabulously...hand motions and all. But during the second song, he had an official Christmas breakdown. When I asked him why he started crying during the song, he said: "It's just because I love you so much."

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

2011-11-30T19:19:00.000-08:00

In the next 30 days we are planning to: close on our new home, renovate the house, pack up and move across town, celebrate Christmas, and have a baby! Lots of blessings, but not much time! So we decided we weren't going to put up a big Christmas tree this year just to have to take it back down and pack it back up two weeks later. Cam brought the little 3 foot tree down from the attic and we let Colton decorate it and he thought that it was "beautiful". I don't think he even noticed the fact that it was small and sad looking...

The finished product

Last week I went to a little party for moms and we discussed ideas about how to make Jesus as much a part of Christmas as Santa Clause. I got a TON of great ideas! Unfortunately most of them involved decorating or activites that require the full 25 days proceeding Christmas and since we won't be in our house that long I will have to put them on the backburner until next year. However, one idea was the "book basket". These are special Christmas books about JESUS. And the idea is to let your child pick one book to read each day and then talk about it. I ordered 5 books from Amazon the same night as the party. Eventually I would like to have at least 25...on for each day of December proceeding Christmas. But at $10 per book I have to save up some money before I buy 20 more! Here's what we got:

This book is by the same author that wrote the Jesus Storybook Bible!

Look Who Flew In

2011-11-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

Today while Colton was at MDO, Santa sent an Elf to our house. When I picked Colt up from school he was busy practicing the art of tracing and wasn't ready to go home. But as soon as I whispered into his ear that Santa sent something special to our house, he jumped out of his seat and headed for the door!

Buddy the Elf flies to our house every morning from now until Christmas to watch Colt's behavior. Then each night he flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa for the day. Sometimes Colton's behavior makes Santa so happy that Buddy brings back a special prize with him the next morning!

Today has been hilarious! Colton has been extremely WELL BEHAVED! "Yes ma'am", "no sir", very manner minded. He went to the potty the first time I asked him to go...without whining! He has been giving me kisses and hugs all day and telling me that he loves me. He definitely wants to be sure that Buddy does not miss any of his good behavior. When he was on the potty, he insisted that I bring Buddy into the bathroom so he could watch and report it back to Santa! (Not sure that Santa really wants that much detail).

Colton wrote his letter to Santa today (He dictated, I wrote). It's really funny too! Buddy is going to fly it to the North Pole (aka The Huntsville Times Newspaper) tonight and give it to Santa after Colton goes to sleep.

Christmas with a 3 year old = FUN!

34 weeks

2011-11-27T12:32:00.000-08:00

Turkey Day 2011

2011-11-26T15:25:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving with the Penter family in Little Rock, Arkansas. The 6 1/2 hour drive was a little rough with a 3 1/2 year old and an 8 month pregnant momma. But with lots of Christmas DVDs for Colton and lots of stops for me, we finally made it! Our Thanksgiving feast was DELICIOUS! Turkey & dressing, chicken & dumplings, all sorts of casseroles, mac-n-cheese, sweet potatoes, TONS of desserts....

Followed by some jumping on the trampoline...to burn off all those calories

And since the entire family was all together, we decided to take a picture. This was the only shot where (almost) everyone was looking at the camera with their eyes open!

As usual, Colton didn't like any of the food and at the end of the day he had eaten mac-n-cheese, one roll, a PB sandwich, and mandarin oranges...he has NO idea what he is missing!

33 weeks

2011-11-22T19:26:00.000-08:00

I need to add a picture to this post at some point...I have been horrible about documenting this pregnancy:

I'm 33 weeks. I've gained 20 pounds...Which I am a little ashamed to publish on here, but it's all for the sake of documentation. Raelyn is a MOVER just like Colton was and always seems to be awake after 10pm each night...which probably won't be much fun after she is born!

She is a small baby. Colton weighed 8 pounds when he was born at 38 weeks but the doctor doesn't think Raelyn will be as big. She is guessing Raelyn will be more around the 6 pound mark because I am measuring about a week behind now...but no big deal because all is still within the normal range. I did get another ultrasound this week and it looks like she has a pretty good amount of hair already.

I am having some minor kidney pain already...which I had with Colton last time. I was pretty much on a morphine drip or pills the entire 37th week of my first pregnancy to manage the pain. So far it has been totally manageable without any medication but the doctor did give me a prescription for pain meds...just in case. I am NOT planning on having to use them this time though! (Although, I did go to the pharmacy and get them filled today because I don't want to be stuck without them in an event sudden kidney pain at 2am.)

Since I am already experiencing some of that kidney pain, my c-section is scheduled for 38 weeks...to make sure I don't blow a kidney out. Because of this I've been having to get (painful) steroid injections to speed up the development of Raelyn's lungs a little bit. But, I don't mind. It's all worth it.

Everything else is going really well the pregnancy. I have some random sciatic pain in my hips, butt, and back which can get pretty painful at times. But thank GOD that it is not a constant thing and I can usually control it pretty well by sitting down and putting my feet up.

5 weeks to go! That's all for now!

I AM THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST

2011-11-18T17:36:00.000-08:00

I believe by faith
in the gospel of Jesus Christ -
the Good News that He has saved me,
delivered me,
made me whole,
and given me peace
by His blood shed for me
on the cross.
If by the sin of one man, Adam
death has reigned,
how much more
do I reign in life
through the one man, Jesus Christ!
I receive God’s abundant
provision of grace
and the gift of righteousness.
I am in Christ Jesus
therefore I am no longer condemned.
The law of the Spirit of life
has set me free
from the law of sin and death.
I am the righteousness of God in Christ.
God remembers my sin no more.
God so loved me
that He gave His only Son.
While I was a sinner,
Christ died for me.
Behold the Lamb of God,
who took away my sin!
The blood of Jesus
has cleansed my conscience.
One sacrifice
for all my sins
forever!
Jesus has taken away
the handwriting against me,
nailing it to the cross.
Satan has been disarmed.
I set me mind on things above
where Christ is seated,
where I am seated.
I am hidden with Christ.
I fix my hope
completely on Grace.
My mind is fixed on Jesus.
I trust Him.
I receive His peace.
I will not
let my heart be troubled.
I know and believe
the love that God has for me.
As He is
so am I in this world.
Perfect love casts fear out of me.
I prosper in all things
because my soul prospers.
Thank you Holy Spirit
for convincing me
that I am righteous before God.
I am a new creation.
What God began by the Spirit
will be perfected by faith.
I am an heir of the world.
I seek first God’s kingdom
and His righteousness,
and I am blessed.
As I behold His glory,
I am transformed
from glory to glory.
I am rooted and grounded in love.
He is able to do
exceedingly above
all I can ask or think
according to the power
working in me.
I have a good opinion of God
and my faith grows daily.
The devil has no hold on me.
The devil stands condemned.
I have the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead
living in me.
Nothing shall separate me
from God’s love.
Nothing!
He has given me authority
over all the power of the devil.
Christ redeemed me from the curse.
So I am no longer
under any curse.
I stand firm in my freedom
I resist the devil,
and he must flee.
Through the One who loves me
I am more than a conqueror.
It is finished!
AMEN!!!

Scripture references:
Romans 1:16
Romans 5:17
Romans 8:1-2
2 Corinthians 5:21
Hebrews 8:12-13
John 3:16
Romans 5:8
John 1:29
Hebrews 10:21-22
Hebrews 10:12
Colossians 2:13-15
Colossians 3:1-3
Ephesians 1:20-22
Ephesians 2:4-6
Isaiah 26:3
John 14:26-27
1 John 4:16-19
3 John 2
John 16:8-9
Galatians 3:3
Galatians 3:29
Romans 4:13
Matthew 6:33
Ephesians 3:17-20
Romans 4:19-22
John 14:30
Romans 8:11
Romans 8:38-39
Luke 10:19
Galatians 3:13-14
Romans 8:37
John 19:30

(http://web.me.com/life_ministry/OYB/Blog/Entries/2011/11/18_Our_Work_Is_Our_Words.html)

How to make a door hanger

2011-11-18T13:04:00.000-08:00

Step One: Trace your door hanger onto craft paper (one for front & one for back)

Step 2: Sew the front & back pieces together. Make sure to leave a couple of gaps big enough to slide your hand in so you can stuff it at the end.

Martha Stewart here...

Step 3: Paint

Step 4: Stop to eat chicken salad while paint is drying!

Step 5: Stuff the left-over craft paper inside of door hanger and finish sewing it closed. Add ribbon and wire. Hang on your door!

I made one that wasn't seasonal so I could use it after Christmas. It definitely needs a bigger bow. I will have to work on that later...

Thankful

2011-11-17T20:58:00.000-08:00

Everyone is posting on Facebook the things they are thankful for this month. I haven't really been participating in that, but I would like to document something that I'm very thankful for this November 2011: The way I see God working in our family. So cool to see some prayers being answered and some promises being fulfilled. God is so faithful and his Spirit is being poured out on our family more and more every day!

Yesterday, Colton and I decided to go to Sonic for lunch. I let him sit up in the front seat and order whatever he wanted. He decided to have tater tots and vanilla ice cream! It was such a sweet time for us to be able to sit and talk. And the conversation turned to fear and how to handle it when we are afraid. I got to explain to my son the power that we have in the Holy Spirit and how when we call upon the name of Jesus the spirit of fear must flee. It was a conversation that I will cherish forever. And I'm so thankful that I get to be a stay at home mom and share these conversations with my son. Thankful to GOD for providing and thankful for my husband who works so hard and completely supports me being at home with our children.

Mount Sinai vs Mount Zion

2011-11-15T19:00:00.000-08:00

Stole this from Tricia Gunn's Blog
(One Year Bible: http://web.me.com/life_ministry/OYB/Blog/Blog.html).
Actually...I stole it from God because HE really told me this while I was reading Hebrews...but Tricia is much more eloquent at expressing what I'm thinking:

Two mountains talked about in the Bible are Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. Both say something about holiness: one speaks of the demand for holiness from bankrupt man, one speaks of God’s provision of holiness to man.

Let’s begin with Mount Sinai. On Mount Sinai, the Law (the Ten Commandments and other instructions from God) was given to Moses. Whenever you hear Mount Sinai, think “Law” - “by the Law is the knowledge of sins” (Romans 3:20). So Mount Sinai is also a symbol of condemnation because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) In addition, think “Old Covenant” because the Law was the covenant that God had with the Israelites. Paul said that the 10 Commandments were the “ministry of death”:

“...if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious...” (2 Corinthians 3:7)

And fyi...the law Paul was talking about was not the ceremonial law. It was the 10 Commandments. (Exodus 34:28) The “ministry of death written and engraved on stones...” Ceremonial law was not written on stones by the finger of God; it was written on parchments. On scrolls. The 7 feasts of Israel were never engraved by God on stone. The killing of animals was not engraved on stones. The only part of the law that was hand-written by God Himself, engraved on stones, was the 10 Commandments. And God calls it the “ministry of death”. In other words, it ministers death. Paul also called the Ten Commandments the “ministry of condemnation” (2 Corinthians 3:9) because it can only minister condemnation since we all fall short...

To review:

Mount Sinai ~ Law ~ Old Covenant ~ Condemnation ~ Death

God gave Moses the Law on the first Pentecost - 50 days after the first Passover when God “passed over” every house in Israel because of the blood on the doorposts.

“Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you...when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.” (Exodus 12:13, 23)

So what were the Israelites doing inside the house? They were feeding on the roasted lamb. This was picture of Jesus Christ: the lamb was roasted signifying the fire of God’s holy and righteous wrath upon sin. So they were feeding on Jesus, but the blood was OUTSIDE. The blood was not inside for man to see and find satisfaction. The blood was outside for God to see. What does blood mean? It means there has been a death. There has been a judgment and a payment. So when God sees the blood, He says, “My holiness is satisfied. I will not ALLOW the destroyer to kill anyone inside that house.” His holiness stands guard on behalf of the family.

Back under the Old Covenant we see God’s righteousness and holy wrath manifested in lightning, thunder, thick clouds, and fire. The people could not come near.

“Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. A fire goes before Him, and burns up His enemies round about. His lightnings light the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples see His glory.” (Psalm 97:2-6)

God told Moses to tell the Israelites not to come near Mount Sinai or they would be killed with a stone or shot with an arrow or burned up. (Exodus 19:12-18)

When Moses came down the mountain with the 10 Commandments (the first time), he stopped short of coming to the foot of the mountain because he saw the people breaking the first two commandments already! “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image.” (Exodus 20:3-4) They had melted all their gold and formed a calf and were worshipping it. (That sounds strange to us, but it was normal to them. After all, they had been in Egypt for 430 years and that’s what the Egyptians did.) In righteous anger, Moses broke the two tables of stone and ordered that 3000 Israelites be killed at the hands of the Levites. (Exodus 32:28) Sounds like the ministry of death, doesn’t it?

But even in the midst of their pride and sinfulness, God had mercy and provided a means for His people to live: when Moses went up the mountain to get the 10 Commandments, God gave instructions for the Tabernacle and a protocol for approaching His presence and covering the sins of the people through the blood of animal sacrifices. (Exodus 25-31)

....Fifteen hundred years of pushing the payment forward like a credit card, covering the debt, but never paying it off.

Now to Mount Zion, in Jerusalem. One hundred twenty disciples met in the upper room on Pentecost, 50 days after the last Passover (50 days after the Lord Jesus was crucified), and the promise they had all been waiting for was fulfilled! The Holy Spirit came! He moved in like a mighty rushing wind, they were all filled and began speaking in tongues, Peter preached, and 3000 were saved! (Acts 1:15, 2:1-4,41) Notice the number - 3000. Sound familiar?

The two mountains: 3000 died at the foot of Mount Sinai. 3000 were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit at Mount Zion!

In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul distinguishes between the Old and the New:

“...for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6)

We can give thanks for God’s holiness because now God’s holiness is on our side! That holiness that we were afraid of - that declares a soul that sins must die - is on our side! Under the Old Covenant, holiness demanded the payment from man. But today God’s holiness is sanctioning what Jesus did by being on our side to make sure that we blessed, protected, secure, and the devil cannot touch us. His holiness guards us!

“The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)

So where are you parked in your Christian life? On Mount Sinai with all the hell-fire and brimstone, every shooting stone declaring that you aren’t worthy, every firey dart condemning and accusing you, pushing you to work harder so that you fall further from grace into bitterness, resentfulness and unforgiveness? Or are you on the higher peaks of Mount Zion with the innumerable company of angels and all whose names are registered in heaven enjoying the presence of the God of grace?

Pretending...

2011-11-15T17:40:00.000-08:00

Colton LOVES to pretend! He is the owner of at least 1,000 different costumes!

This is the knight costume he insists on wearing whenever he watches Shrek!

This is the latest costume that Nana bought for him during Halloween season. Since he isn't allowed to watch the Spiderman movie (and basically has no idea who Spiderman really is), he thinks that Spiderman's job is to kill spiders!

Buzz Lightyear...I bought this at a consignment sale for $2! Usually when he is wearing this one, he makes Camron dress up like Woody!

I don't think there has EVER been a single episode of Jake and the Neverland Pirates in our house when Colton hasn't been wearing this costume! He pretends that he is Jake and he makes Camron pretend to be Cubbie. Our house is Bucky (the ship).

And there are several more costumes that I don't have pictures of yet. When Nana asked him what he wanted for Christmas this year, he said "a new costume".

Whenever he is dressed up in one of the costumes he insists that you call him by his pretend name...Jake, Buzz, Soldier, Doctor, etc. If you accidentally call him Colton, he WILL correct you!

Fruit of the Spirit Chart

2011-11-12T07:27:00.000-08:00

I can't take credit for this idea...totally copied it from my friend Rachel. It's been a great way to help Colton work on his attitude and learn the fruit of the Spirit at the same time. (The chalk marks at the bottom are where he decided to give himself a fruit. Ha!)

Fall Stuff

2011-11-12T07:18:00.000-08:00

This weather is our favorite for playing outside! There are three boys in the neighborhood that are always playing outdoors (usually football) and they are so good about including Colton. They actually came and rang the door bell this week and asked Camron if he could come out and play too!

Colton is a pro at riding his bike...FINALLY! It took him forever to figure it out. He relies heavily on the training wheels so it will probably be a long time before we can take them off.

We made a thankful tree. It was a lot of fun to work on it together! Cam took him to the park to collect acorns and pine cones and I already had the construction paper and twine so we spent a grand total of $ZERO on this project! After I cut out the leaves, Colton and I talked about all the things he was thankful for and I wrote them down. Some of my favorites were: Spiderman, Cookies, and Computer! I love this age! So fun!

And I found a great crock pot recipe for this fall weather: Cowboy Beans. Cam and I both loved this! YUMMY and EASY! I made cheesy cornbread muffins to serve with this. (from http://blueskiescooking.blogspot.com/2011/02/cowboy-beans.html)

1/4 lb. (4 oz) crumbled bacon

1 1/2 lb. ground beef or turkey (I cooked mine first, but the recipe says you don't have to)

small onion, chopped

1 can (16 oz) pork & beans, undrained

1 can (16 oz) lima beans, undrained

1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, undrained

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. ketchup

1 tsp. mustard

Microwave bacon & crumble. Brown meat and onions. In large crockpot add all ingredients and stir until blended. Cook in crockpot on LOW for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally.

Trick or Treat!

2011-10-31T18:15:00.000-07:00

This Halloween was by far the the most FUN! Colton had a complete understanding of the trick or treating procedure. And his bag weighed several pounds by the time we got home! We started off our night by inviting PapPaw, Gigi, and Tia over for dinner. I tried a new recipe for some homemade chicken taquitos that were pretty yummy. And I also made made the best salsa in the world! (thanks Haley! Go here for her recipe).

I didn't take any pictures of the actual trick or treating process because we went after the sun was down so it was too dark.

Here are Daddy and Tia helping Colton take an inventory of his stock...

We got back home around 7:00 and Colton spent the next hour glued to the front door. He was so excited every time the doorbell rang. I think he liked passing out candy just as much as he liked receiving it...

Fall Party, Fun, and New Pictures

2011-10-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

Colton's class had their fall party on Friday. There are only 7 kids in his class...and 5 of them are boys! Both of the girls were absent on Friday so the entire party was made up of BOYS! The parents were invited to attend and it was fun to see how close all of those boys have become. The teachers told us that they really stick together and even when they are on the playground with other classes, they generally only play with each other.

This is the pumpkin they carved before the party. Apparently they voted to name it Woody (Can you tell that it was named by a group of boys?) Colton told me that the pumpkin smelled bad when they cut it open and that there were seeds and strings inside of it.

These are all of his buddies. They are singing a cute little song about squirrels for the parents... which is why they all are holding their hands up in that weird position. (Colton, Wyatt, Reece, Nathan, and Shamu).

Thanking God for our party food...

And on Thursday... Cam had some work stuff to take care in Birmingham so Colt and I tagged along for the day and we squeezed in as many friends as possible. We got to see lots of our favorite people, including Lillian and Eli...

I LOVE this picture. Colt and Eli were so dirty by the end of our play date that we had to strip them both down to their underwear and wipe them down with towels. What they really needed was the hose!

After that we got to visit with Conkey and Trey for a while and take a quick nap at their house. And then we headed over to the Willingham's house for dinner and had the BEST peach cobbler ever for dessert! It was a very LONG day...but full of fun! We left our house at 6 am and arrived back home at 10 pm. I am going to try my hand at the cobbler very soon and then I will post the recipe!

And here a few recent pictures of our big boy...

Raelyn's Shower

2011-10-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

My sweet friends hosted a beautiful baby shower for me last night. Look how pretty everything was...

This is the wreath that Rachel made for my hospital door...

Hostesses: Leah and Rachel

Carmen, Me, Mom

Rachel set up a spot where the ladies could write prayers for sweet baby Raelyn...

Do you like my princess crown?

This is the blanket that Gigi made for Raelyn's room... LOVE IT!

Lots and lots of wonderful gifts for Raelyn (and even a couple for Colton)! I think we have every thing we need now...except for baby girl. (We are tentatively schedule for a c-section on December 28th).

Party Girls (minus Jen and Stacy D)

James 1:17 - Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Fall Break

2011-10-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Cam had to work in Chattanooga over the fall break. Since his company was paying for all of the expenses, I decided to tag along for a free mini-vacation! Colton stayed in Huntsville with my parents for a couple of days while I enjoyed some much appreciated rest and relaxation. Cam had to work during the days so I used my time to catch up on lots of reading! (Reading is my #1 favorite pastime. I literally sat and read for 6 hours on Saturday).

We decided to stay downtown in the BEAUTIFUL art district so we could be central to everything. We had such a great time. I found this little place called Chattanooga Cupcakes and they had a special pumpkin cupcake...MOST DELICIOUS THING I have ever tasted in my life! We actually went back the next day to get another one but they were sadly sold out.

This is us at The Boathouse Rotisserie and & Raw Bar. I would highly recommend this place. We got to sit outside right by the water and watch all the boats go by. Thanks to my super husband for working so hard and also for taking me along on this trip so I could have a mini-vacation...even though he didn't really get one. LOVE YOU CAMRON!

Last Soccer Game & End of Season Party

2011-10-06T15:10:00.000-07:00

Our first soccer season is officially over. It was very "hit or miss". Sometimes Colton wanted to play and be part of the team. Other times, he refused to do anything but sit on the sideline. Mostly he would sit out the first half of the games, and then decide to play after a halftime snack and peptalk.

Overall, this season was a really fun experience and Colton enjoyed making a lot of new friends. He was the youngest on the team because of his late birthday so I think he will enjoy it even more next year when he is bigger and more coordinated. Total number of goals scored by Colton all season = ZERO! But that's probably why they don't keep score at this age!

Party Time!

His first trophy! He was so excited! I told him we were going to put it in his room, but he wanted it in the middle of the kitchen table instead!

This is Colt's friend, Sophia. She goes to our church so they know eachother well. They really enjoyed playing on the same team this year.

A Crafty Halloween

2011-10-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

I am NOT the crafty type at all, but there were a few EASY ideas on blogs and in magazines that I wanted to try my hand at...

I glued some ribbon around mini-pumpkins

Then I mod podged spiderweb scrapbook paper to white pumpkins. I love the way they look on our bar. My inspiration came from here.

These are Halloween teacher gifts we made. I found an entire case of mason jars at a garage sale and paid 25 cents each for them! I used mod podge to attach the directions and circle labels onto the jars...

This is what they look like from the back...

To see where I got the idea for these teacher gifts AND to download your own instructions, ingredient list, direction tags, and circle tags click here.

Here is a FREE Halloween (subway art) download that you can print. I had an old black 5x7 frame stuck in a drawer. I printed this off to fit and it looks perfect in my kitchen! You can also download it to print as an 8x10 or a 16x20...

And for dessert...Orange Juice Cake! It's perfect for Halloween because it's ORANGE (not to mention DELICIOUS)! I didn't take any pictures because I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I promise you will not be disappointed if you make this!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup orange juice (I used the extra pulpy kind)

1 package (3 ounce) orange jello

4 eggs

1 box yellow cake mix

3/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup of orange juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bundt pan. In large mixing bowl, beat 3/4 cup orange juice, jello, and eggs for 2 minutes. (I used an electric mixer for this until the mixture was sort of frothy). Beat in cake mix and oil for 1 more minute. Pour into pan and bake 45 minutes.

When it's done, immediately prick holes in the top of the cake with a fork. Mix powdered sugar and 1/2 cup of orange juice to make the glaze. Pour glaze over top of cake while it's still hot. This cake can be frozen if you want to make a few of them and save one for Thanksgiving!

Church Barn Dance

2011-10-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had so much fun! Our church had a barn dance, chili cook off, square dancing lessons, bouncy house, and TONS of yummy food!!! Colton's dinner consisted of exactly one hot dog, one cookie, one brownie, and two cupcakes! (You will need to excuse the kool-aid stain on Colt's mouth in all of these pics).

Colton with his cowgirl friends, Campbell and Sarah

LOVE Misty and Rachel...

Davis was shooting at me while I was trying to get a picture of Colt! I really didn't want to crop him out because it's so funny!

Square Dancing Time

Colt and Caden after their junk food binge...

These kids were very serious about the Cha-Cha! They had such a great time and they were actually pretty good too!

6 month update

2011-09-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken by a friend of mine at 25 weeks...

Everything with this pregnancy is going really well except for some weird hip pain that I did not have with my first pregnancy. My doctor told me there was basically nothing to be done about it until the baby was born. Her advice to me: "stay off your feet as much as possible". Was she JOKING??? But I have some amazing friends who have been praying for me and believing for healing. The last two days have been much better...only some very mild, manageable hip soreness. As long as I find time throughout the day to sit down and rest for a few minutes, I seem to be able to keep it under control.

We have officially decided on a name... Raelyn Gloria! Raelyn means Grace and Gloria is a family name. I can feel her moving around every day. She doesn't move as much as Colton did when I was pregnant with him. As of right now my c-section is supposed to be on December 28th at 7am. Looks like we will probably be going home ON New Years Day.

My friends from church are having a shower for me next month and I can NOT wait! I went through Colton's old baby clothes a couple of weeks ago and found about 3 things that I could use for a girl. I really need lots of girl clothes, sleepers, hair bows, and whatever it is that little girls need???

Yesterday we had a birthday lunch for my friend Rachel. We took a group pic on her phone and I wanted to post it because I just realized that I don't have a single picture of any of my new Huntsville friends...

AU vs MSU

2011-09-13T06:44:00.000-07:00

This was Colton's first game INSIDE of the stadium. He has been tailgating since he was 6 weeks old, but he usually stays back at the RV with someone and watches the game on tv while the remaining adults go inside.

Cam didn't get to come to Auburn with us because he had to work. We were ALL very disappointed. He hated missing Colt's first official SEC game...especially since Auburn was playing MSU!

Overall, Colton didn't really enjoy being inside the stadium. It was very hot and he didn't like all of the loud cheering. Every time the crowd would get loud he would cover his ears. He doesn't understand the game yet, and he couldn't see the field most of the time because the people in front of us standing up. Also, he kept asking me where the tigers were...because he was expecting to see some actual tigers.

He hung in there until the halftime show (which he really enjoyed) and then my mom and I decided to walk him back to the RV where he could play with his friends and run off some energy.

My two BEST Birmingham SAHM Momma friends came down with their families to tailgate with us.

Waiting for the Tiger Transit to pick him pick him up for the game. He called it the "War Eagle Bus".

Gigi trying to scalp some extra extra tickets on our way in...

PapPaw and Colton

Tia waiting for the rest of us to catch up

Finally made it to our seats...

This was Colton's favorite part...

Back at the RV after half time to play with friends and cool off

The Jets

2011-09-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

Colton's soccer team is The Jets. Our first game was last Thursday. If you have never watched a 3 year old soccer team play, let me just warn you that it is chaotic. At least three of the goals scored were in the other team's net. And quite a bit of crying and pushing.

Colton refused to play for the entire first half of the game. But after ~~halftime~~ snack time he decided he was ready and the coaches let him play the whole second half. He loved running up and down the field with his team mates but he made no attempt to kick the ball...for him it was all about running after the rest of the kids.

Amazing Grace and My New Ride

2011-09-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

Last night, Colton was singing himself to sleep and I was listening on the monitor. This was his version of Amazing Grace:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost but now I'm found,
was blind but now I'm BATMAN!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cam and I have been shopping for the past several days for a new vehicle. My SUV started having some (expensive) issues and since baby girl is coming in 4 months I wanted something bigger than the Xterra. I've had my eye on a van for the past several months but never thought I would be able to talk Cam into it. He is VERY anti-van and in his own words: "Vans are at the bottom of the coolness level." But...my sweet husband finally decided that I could have whatever kind of vehicle I wanted (after lots of failed attempts to talk me into an SUV with 3rd row seating).

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new Town & Country. I have never been more excited about any vehicle I have driven. It's going to make my life so much easier. It was MADE FOR KIDS. I can open all of the doors from my key ring. Colton can open and close all doors by himself using the buttons on the inside. Carpool and grocery shopping are about to get 100 times easier! I will try to add a picture of it later this week...but it's been raining so hard ever since we bought it that I haven't been able to snap one!

LOTS More Beach Pics

2011-08-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

Friday night we decided to eat at Fudpuckers because you can feed alligators and we knew the kids would enjoy doing that. There was a fun playground and they even let us pet one of the gators. Unfortunately they wouldn't allow us to take pictures of that part, but Colton finally manned up and touched one...after refusing for about 5 minutes because he was afraid.

Colt and Will checking out all the gators...

We had so much fun at the beach! I love to jump waves...especially when they are really big. There was only one day were we had decent waves, and it was extra fun to do it as a family. Colton didn't like it at first because water got in his eyes and mouth. But after he saw me get smacked in the face a few times by a big wave, he accepted that as part of the fun!

These pictures where taken by me while I was sitting on my comfy chair under a shady umbrella. It was HOT!

Working on a sand ~~castle~~ mound...

We stayed at Destin West Resort. It was the absolute BEST!!!! One of the many things we loved about it was the splash pad. I'm pretty sure it was Colton's favorite thing there.

Saturday night Leah picked Stinky's Fish Camp for dinner. The food was really good. And I was happy because I got this picture of the whole gang...

After we ate at Stinky's we headed over to The Track. Colt had fun on the rides for the first 30 or 40 minutes. After that he started to get really tired and kept asking to go back to the condo but we stayed until we had used up all of our tickets because they were non-refundable and EXPENSIVE and we are too cheap to waste! Ha!

Colton LOVED riding the go-carts with Daddy so much that he peed his pants and didn't even tell us. That is what happens sometimes when you are 3 years old and having so much fun that you don't want to stop to go to the potty!

It really didn't matter that he peed his pants, because they were both soaked after this ride anyway...

The view from our balcony. You can see a little bit of the splash pad off to the right.

All of our friends left on Sunday to get back home. We decided to stay one extra night. Even though we missed everybody, we enjoyed some fun family time. We got some ice cream and let Colton pick out a souvenir from Alvin's Island. They have NOTHING but JUNK in there, but Colton thought it was heaven and he ended up with a clear bouncy ball that has a dolphin inside of it. (It's been less than 24 hours and I'm pretty sure that ball is already lost.) After that we went back to the condo and took a night walk on the beach. Then, put Colton to bed while Cam and I enjoyed some quite time out on our balcony.

The last night we were there I was in awe that the same God who made the seas and the stars that were above us is the same God who loves me. I found myself in such a state of gratefulness that he cares for me (and my family). And also, for the simpler fact that he blessed us with this wonderful vacation and time of rest.

I was talking with Leah about 12 years ago when she, Sam, and I met in the dorms. It was just the three of us. Now, 12 years later we are still best friends and we have so many other wonderful people added to our mix. We are blessed!

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?" -Isaiah 40:12

Beach Portrait Attempt (and it was WINDY!)

2011-08-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

We took a fabulous vacation to Destin with my two BEST friends and their families. If you have never visited Destin or stayed at Destin West Resort, I would highly recommend both. We had access to several pools, a lazy river, and splash pad. This trip was so much fun and such a wonderful time of rest for Cam and I.

The first evening we were there, we all decided to attempt some beach portraits. Little did we know how much time we were wasting by fixing our hair because it was WINDY!!! I think a small hurricane blew through during our session! Here is what we ended up with...

Cody and Leah

Hair styled by the wind...

We gave up on this picture because the wind was blowing our hair over our faces

Samantha, Will, Molly, Kale

Back in 2009...

More beach pictures coming...

The Invisible Mother

2011-08-29T15:31:00.000-07:00

(Thanks Cindy for sending this to me)

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?, What's for dinner?'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: 1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. 2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. 4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was Almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it there...'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

It's Official

2011-08-25T17:15:00.001-07:00

Colton is going to have a little sister!!!!

Rivertree Baptism

2011-08-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

Sunday night our church had an awesome baptism service followed by fun family time and swimming.

"I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!" Mark 1:8

Pizza Puffs

2011-08-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

I tried this recipe (from http://shannonsumrall.blogspot.com/) tonight for dinner and it is YUM YUM! Colton even liked it...which is a small miracle in itself.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
pinch of salt
3/4 cup whole milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup pepperoni (cut into fourths)
1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin pan (regular or mini size). In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning, and salt; whisk in the milk and egg.

Stir in the mozzarella, Parmesan and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes. This is a very important step, because before I let it stand, it was very soupy but 10 minutes later, it had really thickened up.

Stir the batter and divide among muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes. (Mine took 25 minutes.)

The recipe actually says to use a mini-muffin pan, but I decided to use a regular one. It made ten regular size muffins, so that's up to you whether or not to use a mini-muffin pan.

Serve with warm pizza sauce for dipping. Super simply recipe; super delicious meal. They were so cheesy inside and really had a good taste. We ate every last one.

SOZO

2011-08-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

Stole this from my friend Leah because 1) It is AWESOME and 2) Because I knew she wouldn't mind :)

Sozo in Greek is defined in the Blue Letter Bible as:

1. to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction

a. one (from injury or peril)

1)to save from suffering one (from perishing) ie. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health

1)to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue

b. to save in the technical biblical sense

1)negatively

a)to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgement

b)to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance

used 110 times in bible. Here are a few that show definition of salvation as more than just being saved from hell. "The translators didn't always translate the word as "save" which obscures the fact that physical healing, (deliverance, and resurrection of dead) is part of salvation." Derek Prince

She said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well." Matthew 9:21 (WELL in original text is SOZO)

and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.Those who had seen it told the people how the demon‑possessed man had been cured. Luke 8:35-36 (CURED in original text is SOZO)

While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don't bother the teacher any more.” Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” Luke 8:49-50 (HEALED in original text=SOZO)

Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you are your household. Acts 16:31 (SAVED in original text=SOZO)

Wow---SOZO (salvation) includes physical healing, deliverance from demons, resurrection from dead, salvation from hell)

First Day of Preschool 2011

2011-08-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

Today was the day I've been anxiously awaiting for the past 4 weeks! The first day of preschool! This year Colton is in the 3 year old class and will attend 3 days a week. The curriculum includes basic math and science (what!) as well as letters and introduction to handwriting...that all sounds wonderful but I'm seriously wondering what kind of math a 3 year old can learn? Pre-Cal perhaps? We shall see...

Colton was ready and eager to get off to school this morning.

Walking in with Daddy (While crazy mother snaps pictures in the parking lot behind them)

The kids are supposed to pull their names and place them on this school house each morning when they arrive. Colton needed help because he doesn't know how to spell his name yet...something they are supposed to learn this year.

He sat right down at his table and waved me off. That sort of hurt my feelings, but I was also relieved because last year he cried for the first 2 weeks when I left him.

When I picked him up this afternoon he told me that he had a great time and wanted to go back. He also gave me a rundown of the kids in his class who wet their pants, followed by a raving review of himself for being a big boy because he used the potty!

Colton is THREE

2011-08-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Our baby is three years old....Which is very difficult to believe. Even though it's hard to remember what life was like without him, it seems like he was just born yesterday. I'm amazed by the little person he is becoming and all the new things he has learned this year. What a blessing he is to our lives. We literally thank God for him every single day.

Psalm 92:4 - You thrill me, LORD, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done.

This year: Colton learned how to use the potty. Started swimming independently of me in the pool (with floats on). Joined a soccer team for the very first time...and Daddy thinks he is pretty good! OBSESSED with pirates, cowboys, Toy Story, policemen, and superheros. He LOVES to dress up in costume! Insists on wearing his superhero cape everywhere...even to church and school. Asks me to tell him stories every single day. His favorite ones are "about God" (aka Bible stories) and he has many of them memorized.

This year has definitely been a period of training. He is very strong willed and has figured out how to test us to our limits. He will often say "No, I don't want to" when we give him a command. He can hold out for hours (literally) in his room before he will give in and apologize to us. We have found that spanking, early bedtimes, and taking away his cowboy or superhero stuff are the worst punishments for him.

Bedtime is usually Daddy's nightly routine. But on Saturday I put Colton to bed because Cam wasn't home. Colton is very interested in heaven and often asks me questions about it. Tonight he asked me if there would be cake in heaven. I told him yes and that it would be the best cake ever. He wanted me to pray just to make sure that God didn't forget to have cake in heaven for him! During this same conversation I tried explaining to him that one day we would get to go to heaven and be with Jesus. He asked me how we were going to get there and I told him that Jesus would come back from the sky to get us. Colton didn't like that explanation very much so he told me that he was going to make a hole in the bottom of heaven and crawl in that way instead.

This year we had a small family birthday party at our house. We have done this for the last three years and I figured this will probably be the last year we can get by without him asking to invite friends. Here are a few pictures:

New big boy bicycle and helmet from PapPaw and Gigi

As I mentioned earlier, Colton loves to dress up and pretend. Lately he has been obsessed with the movie Shrek. There are lots of knights in the movie (or soldiers as Colton calls them)...so he was excited about this one:

Pizza time with cousin Cailee

Blowing out his candles on the cake that he picked out all by himself! (Cam pointed out to me that it says "Happy Birthday Cotton"! Ha!)

This is Colton's fake "picture" smile that he makes whenever I ask him to say cheese for the camera. This cracks me up!

Run Down of Gifts:

PapPaw and Gigi - Big Boy Bike and Helmet

Gumps and Nana - Doctor Kit and Cowboy Guns with Holster

Tia - US Army costume complete with grenades, guns, binoculars, etc

Aunt Cassie, Uncle Caleb, and Cousins - The Knight Costume

Mommy and Daddy - Some new shelves for his playroom (Okay, so maybe he wasn't as excited about this gift as I was!)

Romans, Dirt Cheap, and Room Re-Do

2011-08-13T17:16:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading the book of Romans in my One Year Bible. And it was AWESOME! I've read Romans before, but this time God used it to speak to me in a new way. It was literally hard for me to stay seated while reading it because I was getting so excited about His grace and the covering of his blood on my life!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Warning: If you are a mom who buys diapers, you will be jealous when you read this:

On Wednesday, Colton and I went to a bargain store down the road called "Dirt Cheap". I think it is sort of a salvage store and they carry items that people have returned to various places. You can find just about anything there for "Dirt Cheap" prices. While I was walking through the piles of junk. I saw this huge box of Pampers Swaddlers (252 count, size 1). This big box is regularly priced at $49.00. I hauled it all the way up to the register to see how much they wanted for it...and it rang up as $18.00 for the entire box!!! SCORE!

I also picked up a smaller package of swaddlers (36 count, Newborn) for $4.50!!!! Those are regularly priced at $18.00. I found out that that this store gets new shipments in every Tuesday (you never know what they are going to get) so I plan to stop by every Wednesday from now on to see if there are any more diapers to stock up on!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A couple of weeks ago, I finally decided to re-do Colton's room. I've been thinking about it for a while but it's sort of hard to get motivated when you live in a rental house. Nevertheless, I was getting sick of looking at all the baby stuff now that he is three years old. I found a really expensive version of a "transportation" room on Pottery Barn Kids that I loved, but didn't want to spend that much money. One of the PB ideas that I really liked was using vintage license plates for the wall. But when I started Googling them to purchase, I realized how expensive they are! Fortunately I remembered that my dad had a small stockpile of them in our garage when I was a kid so I called him up to see if he still had them...and he said YES! Yah! I spent about $200 total on this room re-do. We used the furniture and a comforter that we already had to save some money. The picture above his bed is regularly priced $140 at Hobby Lobby, but I got it for $70 during the week they had their framed art marked 50% off! Here are some pictures of the finished product...

I did what I swore I would NEVER do...

2011-08-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

I ordered a Disney character birthday cake! I feel like a public confession is in order because all of my closest friends have heard me talk about how anti-Disney theme I am! Colton and I went to the bakery yesterday to look through the book of birthday cakes for his (family) party next weekend. He told me that he wanted a cowboy cake. Unfortunately (for me) the Toy Story Cake happened to be in the book. Once he saw it, there was no persuading him to change his mind. I gave into his wishes and he was so excited that he talked about it for the rest of the day! Also, I confess that he owns Disney-themed pajamas and underwear!

Moral of this story: To those of you who are still mothers of small babies: Don't ever let them watch Disney movies when they grow up or they will want Disney-themed cakes, pajamas, and underwear! And it is impossible to say no! Ha! Ha!

Colton's 1st Fishing Trip

2011-07-31T07:16:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Colton got to go fishing with PapPaw and Daddy for the first time.

He here is sporting his new life jacket and fishing pole before loading up to head to the farm.

When I asked Colton what he was doing in this picture, he said: "I was crying in the boat because I didn't want to touch the fish".

Sweet Summertime

2011-07-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

MANY of our days are spent at the neighborhood pool with friends...

Colton finally learned how to ~~doggy paddle~~ swim all by himself in the deep end of the pool. Puddle Jumpers (the floats he's wearing) are the BEST...and apparently Coast Guard approved!

Daddy and Cowboy Colton used their manly power tools to mount a flag pole on our brick column...

Stacy and Josh's Rehearsal Dinner and wedding were at Stonebridge Farms in Cullman, AL... It was GORGEOUS there!

The Beautiful Bride and I on her HOT HOT wedding day

All the bridemaids are ~~sweating~~ glowing from the summer heat...

Mini- Phi Mu Reunion at the reception (Me, Stacy, Sam, Leah)...

Me and my handsome hubby enjoying some cake...our favorite!

This picture was taken by my friend Liz, after church last Sunday. We LOVE Rivertree Church (even though Colt doesn't look very thrilled here)!!!! Colton adores his class...and the snacks they serve each week (his favorite part)!

Funny Story: A couple of weeks ago, his class colored pictures of Noah's Ark and then glued animal crackers on them. Guess who's ark had NOTHING but little spots of glue left on it by the time we got home? You guessed it! Noah's animals got eaten right off the ark!

Colton's Thoughts...

2011-07-15T12:06:00.000-07:00

My mom suggested I try to write down some of the funny things Colton says so I can remember them many years from now. There is no way I can possibly call them all to mind but here are a few of his most recent thoughts on:

Daddy:

"He works to make money so I can buy food and toys."
"I love Daddy because he is good at playing blocks."
"Daddy can fix anything with his tools ."
Cam has been teaching Colt how to "fight" and he LOVES to tackle Daddy and "beat him up".

Mommy:

"You are the coolest girl I ever knowed."
"You are the best cooker ever."
"You are a good helper."
"I like your haircut."
"You don't have very much patience."
"You have a baby in your tummy. It makes you throw up and get fat."

On Boo-Boos:

"God can heal all of my boo-boos"...EVERY single time he has an ailment, scratch, or ache he wants to stop and ask God to heal it. We are constantly praying to God for healing around here!
Last week when Colton got hurt, he told my mom through his tears that he believed a brownie would help him to feel much better! Ha!

On God:

God can fly
God has a really cool pair of cowboy boots that he wears
God lives in Heaven
God takes care of us
God heals our boo-boos
God loves us
"God makes me really strong like a superhero".
"God made tigers and elephants".
"God will save us from the mean lions". (taken from Daniel and the Lion's Den)
Colton loves to hear Bible stories. But for some reason when he re-tells them, they are mostly about the "mean lions" or the "really mean giant (Goliath)" more than they are about God. He is obsessed with the bad guys for now.
A few weeks ago when my parent's dog stole a cracker out of Colton's hand, he told the dog: "God did not want you to take my cracker!"

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

4th of July, 2011

2011-07-06T08:29:00.000-07:00

So if the Son sets you FREE, you will be FREE indeed. -John 8:36

July 3 - Colton's first Huntsville Stars Game! He is officially a Huntsville kid now!

Colton's friend Sarah, from his Sunday school class at church...

The game lasted until 10 pm and there were fireworks after, so we were very tired by the end. But we had a great time of fellowship with friends from church and pigging out on very expensive junk food.

Colton told us that he had to close his eyes during the fireworks because they were too bright...sort of defeats the purpose of staying to see them, huh?

And in case you are wondering what's around his neck...it's his super hero cape that he wears EVERYWHERE!

July 4 - Cookout at PapPaw and Gigi's House... Smoked Sausage & Brisket with a ton of yummy sides!!!

Followed by fireworks and sparklers in their back yard. (These pictures were taken prior to the moment that Colt decided he wanted to touch the fire with his fingers. After that, he was DONE with the sparklers!)

Why is he dressed as a cowboy? Because he picked out his own clothes and he wanted to be a sheriff!

And on a completely unrelated subject: This is what happens when an (almost) three year boy who thinks he is a superhero decides to dress himself! I have no idea why the gloves are important, but he insisted. And for some reason he thinks my Uggs are superhero boots.

Old Birmingham Friends...Crammed into a VERY short visit!

2011-07-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

There are a few friends in life that you can pick right back up with even when you haven't seen them in a long time. Apparently, that is also true of 3 year olds because these three definitely didn't have any problem resuming playtime as usual...

I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures of everyone while we were there. Cam had business in Birmingham for a couple of days, so Colton and I decided to take advantage of the free hotel and catch up with a few of our favorite friends. I wish we would have had more time to visit with more friends... it was such whirlwind just seeing the few that we did. On Tuesday we had Taco Casa for lunch (one of my favorites that I haven't found in Huntsville) with Jamie and Conkey. Dinner was at Chuck E Cheese with Alli, Mel, and Jess. And then some more playtime at the pool the next day. WHEW! What a blast and hopefully it won't be three more months before we can see our Birmingham friends again.

5 Years

2011-07-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 - "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up."

Today marks five years of marriage for Cam and I. Parts of it have been blissful and other parts of it have been trying. We have grown together in Christ so much over the last year...and that has been the best part, even though our earthly circumstances were very difficult during 2010. God brought us through a battle and poured victory all over both of us!

Unfortunately, Cam and I have both been sick this weekend...complete with fever, chills, upset stomachs. Last night we both went to bed at 7:45! Despite the BIG plans we had to go out for a romantic celebration tonight, we both felt physically sick and tired. So we decided to do the next best thing: order Steakout and rent a movie from the $1 Blockbuster Express Kiosk! Romantic enough for you? But, as my mom reminded us: The most important thing is that we are together. So true.

So even though our 5 year anniversary has been the least eventful so far, (and Cam went to bed at 8:30) it was also very special. I am glad God brought us together...even though we weren't exactly seeking Him with all our hearts 5 years ago. He was seeking us!!!!! What an awesome GOD!

Sorry no pictures. But I doubt anybody wants to see Cam and I sitting on the couch in our pjs eating baked potatoes and looking half alive. The "real" anniversary celebration has officially been postponed until next week when we are both feeling healthy enough to leave the house without passing out...

Also...a shout out to my parents who have been taking care of Colton for us while we lay in the bed sick for the last two days.

Weekend in Chattanooga, TN

2011-06-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

Mini-Vacation with the Penters:

First Stop: Tennessee Aquarium...

Genesis 1:21 - So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then, dinner in downtown Chattanooga on Saturday night...

On Sunday: The Creative Discovery Museum for children...

Nana and Gumps with all 3 (exhausted) grand kids at the mall

Our New Toy

2011-06-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

Colton loves this new bike trailer. Got it on Amazon with free shipping! Cam and I take turns pulling it around. And it seats two, so the next Penter kid will be able to squeeze right in. Also, it turns into a double jogging stroller. Pretty sweet deal for only $120!

My New Favorite Song

2011-06-24T17:15:00.001-07:00

Plague of Frogs

2011-06-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

We have a million little tiny frogs all around our neighborhood. My mom told me there was even news coverage last week about all the frogs on our road. Camron calls it "the plague of frogs". Colton likes catching them in his net...

Colton dresses himself sometimes... 1/3 fireman, 1/3 handyman, 1/3 bug catcher

This was his reaction when it was time for the frogs to "go home". He didn't want them all jumping out of the net. I guess he was under the impression they were all going to come live inside with us...and his impression was WRONG!!!

Stay at Home Moms

2011-06-10T10:52:00.001-07:00

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a Cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?' She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world do I do all day?' 'Yes,' was his incredulous reply. She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it.

Ideas, Ideas

2011-06-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we went on the Tour of Homes with my parents so we could get some ideas for our build or remodel that we hope to start in January (For those of you who don't know, my dad is a home builder). Originally we were leaning toward building a new home. But after touring some of the renovated homes in a few nice, older parts of town I am definitely having some second thoughts. These homes were gorgeous...mostly completely redone from the foundation up. I took lots of pictures so I could still remember what I liked 7 months from now. Everything I pointed out that I liked, my parents would say: "That would be so easy to do". So now ~~they~~ my mom has me all excited!

Below are some pictures of the things that caught my eye. Some of them are pretty simple. But since we have lived in cookie cutter houses ever since we have been married (large developments that are developed and built by one major builder with only a few floor plans),we are really excited to actually be able to custom build what we like!

(Dear Dad - please take notes! Because this is what I want...)

Beadboard in the breakfast area

I like how the wall below the chair rail is painted to match (this is a dining room)

Box beam ceilings (dad said this was easy to do)

The Homebuilders Association's House had counter tops made from recycled glass. I have never seen this before. I'm not sure how it compares to granite (price wise), but I thought it was really cool because it's something different. As my mom said: "Everybody has granite."

We were told this countertop was made from old glass soda bottles...

One thing that I really liked about the HB Association's house was how all the molding, doors, etc through the house were painted this green/gray color. Once again, I liked it because it was unique. Usually you only see white white white when it comes to this stuff...

Green on the windows and chair rail (another house where the wall beneath the rail was painted to match)

and green on the beadboard in the kitchen

and even the box beams on the ceiling were green!

The HB Association house was my favorite because it was the most unique and it gave me some good ideas. That house was also Colton's favorite house...but for a different reason. He really liked the CUPCAKES they were serving!!!

Memorial Day Weekend and an Update

2011-06-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

The Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, we went to the Point Mallard Balloon Festival with a small group from church. I didn't get any pictures of people, but we had a great time and Colton loved all the inflatables, music, and ice cream he could eat! We ended up staying until 9pm...which is waaaay past Colt's bedtime. He and his little buddy, Sarah were dancing with the band all the way up till the end!

On Monday we had planned to go swimming and grill out with the family, BUT... Sunday night I started feeling a little sick and by Monday morning I was officially dying. I had every terrible symptom you can imagine (without going into too much detail) and fever. So I spent my ENTIRE day on the couch while poor Camron held down the fort and took care of Colton all by himself. My sweet husband went above and beyond by attempting to keep up with laundry and dishes for me too! By Tuesday Colton also had a touch of it so we spent another day at home...thankfully mom and dad came to my rescue after nap time and picked Colton up and took him over to their house for a little while so I could rest and Cam could work. So...our Memorial Day weekend didn't go quite as planned (and I didn't get to take any fun pictures). But we are thankful for our health, our family, and all those who have fought and died for our freedom.

For those of you who have been asking for pregnancy details:

I don't really have anything very intersting to share yet. I haven't been nearly as sick this time as I was with Colton. I've actually only thrown up one day but I've felt consistently tired and "not well". It's definitely different the second time around! For example: the day I was sick, I was throwing up in the toilet and there was a little boy standing next to me watching the whole thing as he was exclaiming: "WOW Mommy! What is that?" My official due date is the beginning of January...but I'm betting this will be a December baby because I will have a scheduled c-section. And being able to claim an extra dependant at tax time won't be so bad either!!!!

I will try to have some pictures for my next post!

The Shirt Says It All!

2011-05-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

It's beginning to feel a lot like summer!

2011-05-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

Today we had a "mini-brunch" for Stacy D in Red Bay. It was for best friends only and what a wonderful time we had...as always!!! Stacy is getting married in July so we wanted to celebrate with "just the girls". (I was struggling not to fall on Leah's head in this picture).

VERY Chocolatey Cupcakes

Now that the weather if finally getting warmer, the little pool has officially been brought out of storage. We haven't been over to the "big" pool yet, but we are hoping to go next week. Colton and I plan to spend a ridiculous amount of time there this summer! We are fully stocked on sun-screen, pool toys, and floaters!

This is a picture I took of Colt's feet last week after he had played outside for a little while. Look at all that DIRT!!! You can see exactly where his flip flops had been. Boys are so gross!!! (But I secretly love it...don't tell anyone).

We signed Colton up for a fall Soccer League. He will start in August on the 3 year old team at the YMCA! I hear they take the competition very seriously so don't mess with the 3 year olds!!!!! It's hard to believe he is old enough to be on a sports team already. Time flies.

Mothers Day and a lot of Strawberries!

2011-05-09T16:41:00.000-07:00

"Mudders Day", as Colton calls it, was special this year. Even though I was already up and awake, Camron and Colton made me get back in a bed so I could "technically" eat my breakfast there! I crawled into the guest room bed (which turned out to be a bad idea because I would much rather have crumbs in our bed than the guest room). Colton cozied in with me and then demanded that Cam also bring him breakfast in bed! Cam's response to him was: "This is Mother's Day, NOT little son day". Ha! But, as usual Colt got his way and he sat in the bed with me and we ate our muffins together...which is the way I would have wanted it anyways! (minus all the crumbs left behind)

Two Wedesdays ago (the morning of all the tonadoes) I stopped by this trailer to buy a couple gallons of strawberries to make a whole bunch of strawberry jam and freeze it to use througout the year. I LOVE homemade jam! I really wanted to take Colton to pick the strawberries ourselves. But buying them from this market trailer was just much easier and so much closer to our house (less gas money spent).

I made 10 jars of jam that now live happily in my freezer. And I have enough mushed up strawberries in there for another 10 jars that I plan to make later in the year once we eat the first 10 jars!

I also made this Paula Deen strawberry cake. My frosting was a little runny because I used more strawberries than the recipe called for, but it didn't affect the taste at all. Next time I make this, I plan to follow the frosting recipe exactly. Believe it or not...It seems Paula might know a little bit more about baking than I do! (obviously, this is not my picture as the frosting on this cake is of a perfect consistency).

On Saturday, Camron and I rode around for a bit looking at the tornado damage in our area. I had my camera with me but I didn't feel right getting out to take pictures while the people there just trying to sort through what little they have left. There is still an amazing amount of work to do and it is going to take a very long time. Tomorrow my mom and I are planning to help prepare food at Harvest Baptist Church for the lunch time meal (while Colton is in MDO). I'm really looking forward to being able to do something to physically contribute to the need here, rather than just an easy financial contribution. If anyone else in the Huntsville area is looking for a way to help during the week, they need lots of volunteers!

Wanna Cool Shirt & Help Others at the Same Time?

2011-05-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

I copied this entire thing from my friend Whitney's blog because it's so cool:

Maggie Crisler, an artist in Florence designed this shirt in order to raise money for relief efforts in Alabama. Her goal was $1000 and in less than 24 hours, she exceeded her goal. 100% of the proceeds are being donated to the Red Cross. The shirts are so cute and only $15 + $5 shipping (local folks don't have to pay shipping and can pick them up in Florence). I ordered the grey one and can't wait to get it! She's working on making shirts for kids too. You can click HERE to order yours!

Tornadoes

2011-05-02T16:34:00.000-07:00

Or as Colton calls them: "tomatoes".

It is Monday and we are finally back in our house thankful to be alive and have a house to come home to. Some friends that live right down the road (in Athens) had their home completely destroyed. They were all five home at the time, in the bathtub and it's amazing they are still alive to tell their story.

I have grown up in "tornado alley" my whole life so I didn't take the tornado reports very seriously. After all, I've been through this a billion times before. I even went out in between storms to do some shopping at Bed Bath & Beyond and was annoyed when they made us sit in the stairwell for an hour while one of the storms passed. Later that night as we were getting ready for dinner the electricity went out. Fortunately my parents had a generator so we headed over there for the rest of the night.

The next day after we discovered the power would be out for the next 5-7 days we decided to load up and head to Florence to stay with Cam's parents because they had power. We packed our entire fridge and freezer into coolers so we wouldn't have to throw any of our food away.

On the way to Florence, we decided to go through Decatur (the long way) because Hwy 72 and I-65 were JAMMED with people trying to get to ice and gas. I can not describe in words what we saw on our drive. I didn't even know wind was capable of doing such damage. I didn't stop to take pictures because Colt was asleep in the backseat...and pictures wouldn't have been able fully capture it anyway.

We saw steel light poles snapped in half. Cars thrown into fields. Trailers folded up flat. Homes that were NOTHING but a pile of bricks and wood. And to think how close that came to us really made me realize the enormity of the situation for the first time.

Being without power for 5 days was super inconvenient...but I have NOTHING to complain about. Because when our power came back on early this morning, life resumed as normal for us. Unfortunately, there are so many people in this area who can't say the same.

This is a little snippet from my friend Katie's blog. Her neighborhood was hit super HARD by the storms. Many of her neighbors were injured or killed:
"One lady I spoke with was exclaiming "God is judging us - it's time for us to get right with Him. This is His wrath!" And I wanted to grab her and tell her "No. No. God is not punishing us. He does not cause disaster for our punishment, but allows things to happen for good in the end." His ways are a mystery at times. I recently told someone that you do not enter into Christianity for "comfort" but for Truth, because embracing a lie can never bring any sort of comfort. But what you are surprised to find when you embrace Truth is that "in Christ our comfort overflows." We know that nothing is out of the grasp of an almighty and loving God. As a Christian I know and have witnessed that God loves to take a tragedy and turn it into His good. I picture Him rushing in after the wind, not to tear us down, but to build us up again. Lives have been lost, but to everything there is a season. And while we have grieved with our neighbors over lives lost and possessions destroyed, we have rejoiced together over lives preserved, generosity welling up, and hope that shines through despair."

Easter Pictures

2011-04-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

This is what the bunny left at our house on Easter morning...

After church we went home to take naps and then headed over to PapPaw and Gigi's house for some more Easter celebrating. Colt got another Easter basket, we had a big dinner, and egg hunt. As you will notice from the picture below, Colton's latest obsession is superhero. I don't think I can remember the last full day where he wasn't dressed up as a pirate, superhero, cowboy, handyman, or someone else!

The 3rd annual resurrection cake

Helping PapPaw grill the burgers and dogs

Colton is hardly ever dressed like a "normal" person...He asked me last night if he could sleep in his superhero mask. Of course I said "yes"". What's it gonna hurt?

Ever since Colt saw the movie "The Incredibles" he thinks he is Dash (the boy who's super power is running very fast). I wanted to be sure I captured him pretending to be Dash. Here he is running at the actual speed of lighting...

Look at all the eggs Colton found on his egg hunt!

Superheros like chocolate too

Around Here...

2011-04-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

We've been getting ready for Easter. On Monday we made a fingerprint Easter basket. I got the idea from http://impressyourkids.org/. They have lots of great Easter craft ideas AND suggestions on how to talk to your kids about Easter & the Resurrection of Jesus!

On Wednesday we colored and decorated some eggs. Being a pirate is Colt's latest obsession. He is constantly walking around here saying things like: "Ahoy Matey" and "Yo Ho Ho"! Yesterday we went to Walmart to buy this pirate hat and a sword. While there, he asked me to buy him a pirate ship too! He has no idea where money comes from!!!

As you can probably tell from Colton's very trendy attire...we were still in our pj's!

One more funny story about this pirate phase: Today when Colt and I were in the car on our way to the library we were thanking God for providing all the things that we need. And one of the things Colton said was: "Thank you God for my pirate sword so I can cut people"! Ahhhh...The mind of a 2 1/2 year old boy! Of course this lead to a discussion of how God actually does NOT want us to use the sword to cut others.

Yesterday Colton helped Camron mow our lawn. He always wants to do everything his Daddy does! Cam gave me strict instructions not to photograph his feet...since he was wearing an old pair of basketball shoes. I wasn't planning on taking any pictures, but when I realized that Colton was wearing fireman boots while mowing, I just had to capture the moment! We are definitely very concerned with fashion at our house (insert sarcasm here).

And I have been reading this book:

I haven't finished it yet, but so far I give it an A+ for AWESOME! As you can see from the cover it's about reversing our tragic neglect of the Holy Spirit...which has become an epidemic in this country. Here are a couple of my favorite parts so far:

“Is it possible to get enough or even too much of God? Is there a point when a person can be satisfied with the amount of intimacy, knowledge, and power of God he or she experiences? I don’t see how there can be, because doesn’t every encounter with God only cause us to thirst for him more?”

"And to expose our hearts to truth and consistently refuse or neglect to obey the impulses it arouses is to stymie the motions of life within us and, if persisted in, to grieve the Holy Spirit in silence." -A.W. Tozer

"There’s nothing worse than insecurity. So many people live in fear because they are uncertain about what comes next and their standing before God, if they even believe in God. On the flip side, there’s nothing better than being absolutely sure that the most powerful Being in the universe adores you as His own child. This is precisely the confidence the Holy Spirit offers us."

Cowboy, Tarzan, and a Superhero

2011-04-13T16:16:00.000-07:00

Colton's imagination is so much fun! He pretends to be someone different every day. Lately, his identities have been a cowboy, Tarzan, and a superhero! And he demands to be called by whatever he is pretending to be that day...and he will correct you if you call him by his name!

When he is pretending to be Tarzan, he takes all of this clothes off except for his underwear. The other day he absolutely could not understand why he couldn't go to the store dressed like Tarzan!

Sometimes he is a cowboy and he wants to wear his cowboy hat, boots, and belt everywhere he goes. Last Sunday at church we actually dropped him off in the nursery wearing his big TEXAS belt over his outfit because he refused to take it off. I'm sure his teacher probably thought he was a real weirdo!

Lately, his big thing has been pretending to be a superhero...but he always wants to be the bad guy for some reason. He has been asking me to buy him a (toy) gun for a couple of days, so today we finally got him one and as we were walking out to the parking lot he said, "Momma can I shoot people now?" OH MY!

I ordered this cute cape and mask on Etsy today with the letter "C" (the red one). I can't wait until it gets here! I showed Colt a picture of it on my computer and he said: "It's a big shirt like the credibles!" (He is referencing the movie The Incredibles)

Preschool Picture

2011-04-12T19:40:00.001-07:00

Easter Story Cookies

2011-04-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

I have been researching some ways I can share the Easter story with Colton on a two year old level that won't be too scary for him. I have been talking with him about it lately since we see so much Easter stuff every time we go to the store. I plan to do a basket for him, eggs, candy, etc. But we want him to understand that Easter is really about the lamb, and NOT the bunny. Colt loves to help me cook so I think we are going to try these cookies the evening before Easter:

1cup whole pecans
1tsp vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
zipper baggie
wooden spoon
tape
Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees (this is important, don't wait till you're half done with the recipe!)

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was Beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1tsp vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar.

Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9.

Leftovers...

2011-04-08T15:42:00.000-07:00

Colton enjoying the HOT weather...notice his sweaty, matted hair.

and this was our friend we bumped into while we were playing outside... Colton wanted to go step on its head! NO joke!

This has been Colt's outfit of choice EVERY SINGLE DAY since the rodeo...

Stacy and me dressed up for a friend's 30th birthday party! We looked good! Ha!

God's NAMES

2011-04-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

Camron and I were watching an on-line sermon last week and the pastor ran through a list of names for GOD. He read through them so fast that I couldn't write any of them down. So I decided to look them up and see what I could find. Below is the list. Most of them are not English names...so they are hard to pronounce. But God's name is not "GOD", He is the only one true god. I wanted to make a collective list of his names so I could have them all in one place and use them during my prayer time. If I am going to call on the name of the Lord...especially for something specific, how cool is it to be able to call on him by HIS name?

ELOHIM: God

EL SHADDAI: God Almighty

ADONAI: Lord

JEHOVAH-JIREH: Provider

JEHOVAH-ROPHE: Healer

JEHOVAH-NISSI: The Lord Our Banner (the one who lifts us up)

YAHWEH: I AM WHO I AM

JEHOVAH-M'KADDESH: Sanctifier (sets us apart for holiness)

JEHOVAH-SHALOM: Peace

JEHOVAH ELOHIM: LORD God

JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU: Our Righteousness

JEHOVAH-ROHI: Our Shepherd

JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH: The Lord is there

JEHOVAH-SABAOTH: The Lord of Hosts

EL ELYON: Most High

ABIR: Mighty One

KADOSH: Holy One

SHAPHAT: Judge

EL ROI: God of seeing (the God who opens our eyes)

KANNA: Jealous

PALET: Deliverer

YESHUA: Savior

GAOL: Redeemer

MAGEN: Shield

EYALUTH: Strength

TSADDIQ: Righteous One

EL-OLAM: Everlasting God

EL-GIBHOR: Mighty God

TSUR: God our Rock

EMMANUEL or IMANUEL: God with us

MELEKH: King
ABBA: Daddy

Father

The first and last

I AM

Wonderful, Counselor

Everlasting Father

Prince of Peace

And I also found these so I thought it would be good to post them too:

Names for the Holy Spirit:

Counselor

Strengthener

Comforter

Baptizer

Advocate

I also typed up an easier to read version (not hot pink) to post on my fridge at home. If you would like me to e-mail you a copy of it, leave me a comment with your e-mail address.

Hard Workin' Man

2011-04-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

Longhorn Rodeo

2011-04-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

Colton has done great with potty training...when it comes to pee pee. But he wasn't doing too well with the pooping part. Everything that I have read said that pooping on the potty is much more difficult to master than peeing. But this week he finally got it (consistently)! We were so proud of him and wanted him to keep doing a good job so we told him we would take him to the Rodeo as his reward. And he LOVED it!!! I think I spent more time watching his excited face than the actual rodeo!

Uncle Austin, Camron, Colton

I can officially say that we are now 100% potty trained! Colton wore underwear to a baseball game on Thursday night and to the rodeo on Friday night. And he has mastered the art of telling me when he needs to go to the bathroom! I can not believe we are completely done with this in less than three weeks! I was literally prepared for months of accidents and hard work. But he was obviously ready...because we are DONE!!!!

Driving a Car and Eating Sweet Potato Fries

2011-03-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

Before all of this cold and rainy weather set in, Colton was spending a lot of time playing outside. He loves to drive his car (translation: Camron pushes him down the sidewalk).

We have been making baked sweet potato fries alot too. They are healthy and VERY VERY YUMMY. Here is the recipe I have been using:

4 sweet potatoes, cut into large French fries
1 TBSP water
2 tsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1 pinch salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp coconut oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place cut sweet potatoes into a microwave-safe dish with water. Cook in microwave for 5 minutes on full power. Drain off liquid and toss with Italian seasoning, lemon pepper, salt, pepper, and coconut oil. Arrange fries in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, turning once, or until fries are crispy on the outside.

SOUPS!

2011-03-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

I know soups are more of a winter time food. But at our house we LOVE soups! Here are two that I have made in the last week and they were both delicious!

Hearty Bean & Barley Soup (from flythroughourwindow.com)
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
handful of baby carrots, diced {I like petite baby carrots}
a couple tablespoons of oil {for sauteing}
1 package of turkey Kielbasa, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 32oz containers of chicken stock
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 C pearled barley (in the dried bean aisle)
2 cans of Navy beans {or your favorite white bean}
1 can of diced tomatoes

In large sauce/soup pan, over medium-high heat, saute carrots, onion, garlic, carrots, and kielbasa in oil for a few minutes. Reduce heat and cook 5 minutes. Add the broth, Italian seasonings, and barley, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer for 40-45 minutes {until barley is cooked}. Add beans and tomatoes and let simmer for a few more minutes before serving.

Fiesta Soup (from my friend Melissa Robinson's Blog)
1 can black beans (or 2 cups cooked black beans)
1 cup cooked diced chicken
1 can diced tomatoes
1 4oz. can diced green chilies
1 10oz. can corn, drained (or 1 cup frozen)
1 can cream of potato soup
2 cups chicken broth
8 oz. sour cream
1 package taco seasoning (or 1-2 tbsp. homemade taco seasoning, to be posted later as well)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in large soup pot EXCEPT sour cream. Bring to boil, turn down, and allow to simmer for 10-15 min. Take out one cup of broth, and whisk together with sour cream in separate bowl until smooth. Take soup pot off heat and add sour cream mixture. Stir until combines. Can serve with corn bread, veggie sticks, fresh cilantro, tortilla chips…you name it!

To make in crock-pot, pretty much the same. Combine all ingredients in large crock-pot except sour cream. Stir until combined, place lid on and set it on desired setting (low for 8-10 hours, high for 4-6 hours). Right before serving, unplug crock pot (any direct heat to the sour cream after adding will curdle it. It will still taste ok but will look…well…icky). Take out one cup broth, whisk with sour cream in separate bowl until smooth, add to crock-pot soup, stir, and serve!

Potty Training CELEBRATION!!!!

2011-03-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

We are officially done with diapers in the Penter house! Colton has gone two entire days without a single accident. In fact, he told us in the car on the way home tonight that he needed to tee-tee (we were only about 5 minutes from the house). We told him to hold it until we got home so he could go on the potty...and he DID!

Tonight we took him for a celebration to show him how proud we are of him. We were gone from our house for four hours and he did great! He tee-teed on the potty once at the restaurant and once at the movie theatre. NO accidents!

First we had dinner at Casa Blanca Mexican Restaurant. Colton didn't even eat anything so that really wasn't the fun part of the celebration for him...

After that we went to Bridge Street to ride the carousel and get ice cream!

We checked out the boats and some fish while we were there too

Colt got to pick out all of his own toppings...gummy bears, M&MS, and chocolate chips

Then we went back and rode the carousel three more times

Later that evening we went to see the movie Yogi Bear. He really wasn't that into it. I thought it was a cartoon movie, but it wasn't. We decided to leave after about 30 minutes. Colton saw some machines in the lobby where you put in a quarter and get a prize so he wanted to go do that instead. After paying 75 cents for only two silly bands, we decided to head home. It was a great afternoon! We all had fun and Colton is potty trained (with a little work still to do). YAH!!!!

Colton Sings

2011-03-18T20:55:00.001-07:00

Potty Training Central

2011-03-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

This was our first week of hard core potty training. We started on Monday morning as soon as Colton woke up and have been at it ever since. We haven't been confined to the house for this long since Colton was born! It definitely hasn't been fun being trapped in the house all week...but that is what you've got to do when you have to sit on the potty every 30 minutes!

Colton is wearing big boy underwear now, except for at nighttime. He has woken up dry every morning for the last three mornings and goes tee-tee in the potty right away. I'm really proud of that!

So far it's being going well. We still haven't made it an entire day without at least one accident. But Colton does a little better every day. I know he tries his best to "hold it" until he is on the toilet. I don't think I have EVER spent so much time in the bathroom before. Sometimes it takes him 5 minutes of sitting on the potty before he can "go"...so we have LOTS of books to pass the time. Here is what our bathroom looks like this week:

This is our "prize" bag. My mom went to the Dollar Tree and filled it up with prizes for Colton to pick from every time he successfully uses the potty. I put it up high on top of the shelf in front of the toilet so he could see it and have some motivation. He gets so excited about the prizes!

Some of the prizes that were in the bag...

Looking through the bag for the best prize after a successful pee-pee on the potty! Yah Colton!

I think after this week we will be ready to venture out of the house...wearing a pull-up, just in case! Tonight Camron took Colton out of the house for about 2 hours to run some errands (this is the first time Colt has been out all week). He wore a pull-up and when he got home later that night it was still completely dry and he went tee-tee on the potty right away!!! Maye it's just beginners luck. But I read somewhere that it takes 12-15 successes before they really understand what they are doing. So just add one more success to his list!

Stromboli...

2011-03-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

or as Colton calls it: "strombody". I always try to sneak veggies into things that Colton likes to eat because he HATES vegetables. Here is how we make "strombody" at our house:

Step 1: Chop spinach and spread on pizza dough

Step 2: Pour pizza sauce (or tomato sauce) over spinach

Step 3: Mozzarella cheese and Italian seasoning

Step 4: Pepperonies

Step 5: Roll it up. Bake it at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes

Things Colton Says

2011-03-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

These are phrases that Colton uses literally EVERY SINGLE day. I wanted to document them so I could remember this stuff when he is older:

1. To infinity and beyond (Buzz Lightyear)

2. Not today Zurg! (Buzz Lightyear)

Colton uses this phrase to "talk back" to us so he usually gets in trouble when he says it. For example: If I say: "Colton, go clean up your toys", he will reply: "Not today Zurg!" And then he has to go to timeout for talking back and disobeying. But I will admit that I'm secretly laughing inside because this one is funny!

3. I need to check my e-mail (on his V-tech laptop)

4. Can I help? Do you need help? Do you need me to fix something for you?

5. Let's get to work tools! Nueve! (Handy Manny)

6. I want my show (translation: change the channel to cartoons)

And these are some things that I heard him say this past week:
1. You are getting my nerve! (talking to his toys)
2. Thank you God for a sunny day!