CATCH UP TIME...

Where does the time go? I was going to do so good updating this blog... too many things to get done during the day.

 It is now two weeks until Christmas!! I love Christmas! What a wonderful time of the year to celebrate the birth of Jesus, show others how much they mean to us, and spending time with family. I told Toby at the beginning of December that I would see him the first of January. We have had something to do every night!! Last night we took all the deacons and wives out to eat and then had them back to our house for dessert and coffee. It was lots of fun and really got me in the Christmas spirit. We are also heading up Pee Wee Basketball again this year so that has been a really big job.

Church is going wonderful. We had our childrens play this past Sunday. It went really well, there were 20 children total!

As busy as this time of year is I am really trying to slow down and enjoy everyday. Even when we have something to do every night, those are memories being made.



 

Favorite time of the year...

Tomorrow is the first day of Fall! My favorite time of the year. I really love summertime but there is something magical about fall. The pretty colors and decorations, watching Grant play football and cool, crisp nights. I love it!!!

Grant is still going strong playing football and I still feel like a taxi cab driver. ;) 



 Payton has now started gymnastics on Fridays so everyday is go, go, go!  She has been going to preschool now for a month and loves it!! She is really enjoying it so much more than I imagined she would. Praise the Lord!!!


 I completely forgot to do a post about her glasses. We took her to an eye specialist in July because she had one eye that was crossing. I assumed it was a lazy eye but when they did an exam they determined that she was far-sighted in both eyes. She has really done amazingly well with glasses. Don't get me wrong, it did take getting used to. At first I would only make her wear them a couple of hours a day. Now she wears them all day. She will say "I need my glasses so I can see".

 First day of glasses.

On a more serious topic, Toby will be getting ordained this Sunday night. I have been thinking all week about what a special service this will be. Toby has been preaching for the past 14 months but has not been ordained since he hasn't been called to be a pastor of a church until now. There will be 3 preachers that will be conducting the service (one is his grandfather and another his great-uncle) and lots of other ordained deacons and preachers helping. I always go back to what Toby said the day he announced his calling. He told the congregation that the Lord has blessed his family so much the past 10 years and if this is what the Lord has called us to do we will gladly accept and try to give back what we can to Him. I think about this often on the more stressful days. ;) God has blessed us over and over again and it started with placing us together. I thank the Lord for giving me Toby as a husband and father.

My sweet, silly boy. 

30th birthday and Football!!!

August 18 was my 30th birthday. Can't believe I am really 30! It was a wonderful day but sort of glad it has come and gone. Too much hype over the big 3-0!!

Me on my birthday!!

Football has officially started for Grant. They had their first game last Saturday and won!! So proud of them.  It is a really busy schedule but I am trying to enjoy every minute. I  know there will come a time that I will miss all of this and wonder how it went by so fast. In saying that today was so nice because it was a half day and we got to come home and stay. No rushing home, getting homework done and eating supper then back out the door for practice. It was heavenly!!

Toby and I went to Payton's preschool meeting last night and met with her teachers. I am so excited about this year for her. I really hope this is her year to come out of her shell and really get ready for kindergarten. At home she is very talkative and soooooo dramatic. At school it has always taken her a long time to get warmed up to her schedule, teachers, ect. and since she only goes 3 hours, 3 days a week I feel like she never really gets to where she needs to be. I have high hopes for this year. I have been praying a lot for her. Not that she is struggling or needs any kind of help. I can just see her potential at home and I want her to be able to be that person in public and with her friends.  I know that I was a lot like that when I was younger so I know where she gets it from ;)

Roasting marshmellows a couple of nights before school started back .   :)

First day of fourth grade!

Back to being busy!!

We are officially back in full swing of school. Grant started last Wednesday and so far is doing great. He is in the fourth grade and loves his teacher. He also started football which is very time consuming but one of my most favorite things about having a boy! I love, love, love watching him play football. And I love socializing during practice ;)
Payton doesn't start preschool until September. She is definitely ready. She might not say she is but she needs structure during her day. She is still in the lazy summer days. I have been trying to work with her some on letters and writing. After about 15 minutes she has had enough.
So that is what has been going on, busy, busy, busy. So different from the summer but I do enjoy this time of year!

I can't download any pictures because we got a new computer and I haven't downloaded all my pics from our other computer. :(

Following His lead...

So I haven't really said a lot on this blog about our calling into the ministry. I originally wanted this blog to be more of a diary but church is a huge part of our lives and if I can lead a person to Jesus or at least start questioning their relationship with Jesus then I know I have to do just that. So here is our story...

My husband Toby was called into the ministry last July 18, 2010. I wasn't all that surprised, I have had a feeling for a while (okay, ever since he was in high school) that the Lord would place this calling on him. I was scared...because I never pictured myself as a preacher's wife. Not that I am some horrible rebel. I am more of a quiet person that doesn't take the lead. I am definitely a follower. And I don't play the piano!!! I do sing in the choir but no solos for me. :)

Toby was called to be interim in January at a church just down the road from us while they looked for a pastor. It is a wonderful church and the kids love it. Just this past Sunday they voted him in as pastor. So here we are at the beginning of our first job as pastor and pastor's wife. Am I scared? That word doesn't even begin to describe the feelings I have for this responsibility. This is the highest calling that the Lord can place on you. I am praying daily that the Lord leads us and everything we do is about Him and with His guidance.

This is not a full time pastor's job, it is considered bi-vocational as he will still be working as an insurance agent. Can we say busy??? Yes!!! Would we have it any other way?? Definitely Not!!! The Lord is our pilot, we are just along for the ride. As long as we put our faith and trust in Him, everything will fall into place.

Slowing down?

I think we might actually be slowing down a little. Just in time for school to start in a couple of weeks.
Bible School was wonderful.  There were 8 precious soul saved! Praise the Lord! We had a really good crowd. Of course this was our first time working/attending Bible School at Brushy and they do an awesome job! The Lord is truly blessing!

That would be my crazy son with the guitar ;)

We left for San Antonio, TX the day after Bible School. It was a wonderful trip. What a beautiful city.  It was VERY HOT! The day we went to Sea World it was 107!!! Crazy, I know! The kids did really well even as hot as it was.

                                                                    On the airplane.

           The first night we were there Grant got to ride in a "gerbil ball". He loved it! I think I would   smother.

Payton loved the kiddie water slide!!

                                                                On a ride at Sea World.

On the River Walk boat tour.

This was the before the meltdown...it was a 40 minute boat ride, mostly on history of San Antonio and almost 100 degrees. Not fun for a 4 year old!

This was after ;)

Beautiful!! I could have stayed there all day!!

For the next couple of weeks we are going to enjoy the rest of summer vacation at home!!

 

Summer full of birthdays!!!

Yesterday was Payton's birthday...Happy Birthday Payton! We had two parties for her this past weekend. One Saturday night at my parents house and one Sunday after church at our house with Toby's family. I felt bad not having a "real" party with her friends but it was such a busy time that I didn't think I could pull it off. I don't really think she minded.

At mom and dad's with her Olivia cake!

Opening presents!!!

2nd party at our house...yes I got 2 of the same Olivia cakes. :)

Singing Happy Birthday!

My title says a summer full of birthdays because Grant's birthday was in June. I hadn't started this blog yet but I wanted to post some pics from his birthday when we were at the beach...

Eating a foot long on his birthday at Sam's Corner!!

Can't believe my kids are 9 and 4!! Wow, where does the time go!!

We are having Bible School this week and last night was the first night. I am teaching the 2,3, and 4 year olds. We had 20 in our class!!!!! Please pray! ;)

Fourth of July weekend...

We celebrated Fourth of July all weekend with 4 different cookouts and lots of family time. Friday night we took the kids to Price Park and had a picnic supper with KFC. The kids got to wade in the creek.

Saturday we took the kids to a parade then had a block party on our road. I didn't even take my camara to the block party :(

Sunday we went to church then had a cookout/singing that afternoon at church. So thankful for a wonderful church family! And... I forgot my camera again :(

Yesterday Toby was off so we went to Tweetsie. It started raining about 3 hours after we got there so we didn't get to do as much as we wanted but it was fun.

I have to tell a story about Grant at Tweetsie. Last year we went to Tweetsie and watched the clogging show. They asked all the kids to come on stage and dance. Well Grant was soooo embarrased (to say the least). So this year he said he was absolutely NOT going on stage. I told him that was fine he didn't have to. Well when the clogger asked all the kids to come up Grant and a few other boys were still sitting in the audience. The clogger came around and gave them all "shakers" and asked them to stand up and take so many steps forward. That landed all of them right on stage! Grant was not happy. I had to get some pictures...

Last night we went to eat with Toby's family then just came home and shot off fireworks. I think we were exhausted from a weekend of go, go, go!

No Time...

So this blogging thing is a little more difficult then I thought it would be. Difficult to find time! And it is summer...supposedly the time to relax, no running, carpooling, ect. I still can't find time during the day!

Well the Day in the Life of... didn't go so well. Maybe I will try to do it sporadically. We did have a good week last week. It felt like a really restful week even if I couldn't find time to blog.

Tomorrow I plan on blogging about our Fourth of July weekend. It was a lot of fun and very busy!!! Off to bed now, I have a baby-sitter coming tomorrow to watch the kids. I have a drs appt then I am off to find Payton a birthday present!!!

A little behind...

Yes, it is Thursday and I am just now blogging our daily schedule for Tuesday. Just a little behind :)and this week hasn't even been that busy.

Okay so Tuesday morning we woke up around 8, ate breakfast and went outside to play. It has been very nice and warm this week so we have spent a lot of time outside. Grant and I set up stations in the garage with different exercises and went around in a circle doing each station for 1 minute. It was fun and a good workout. No, I don't make my 9 year old workout, he usually makes me. He loves it because he wants to be either a NFL or NBA player one day. And he's a little small (just skinny) so he thinks if he works out he will have huge muscles. :)


After lunch I got a shower and we decided to go to the movies to see Cars 2. It was starting to storm as we were going in to the movies so I knew we had picked a good day. Payton didn't last through the whole movie. It ended up starting late so towards the end she was getting tired. It was a good movie though.

We came home and got ready for another night of Bible School. After Bible School Toby had to drive to Raleigh for a meeting on Wednesday morning. We thought about going with him but it was just going to be such a quick trip we decided to just stay home. I worried about him driving so late (he didn't leave until 8:30) but he made it okay. The kids and I stayed up way too late playing the Wii. Definitely another fun summer day!

A Day In the Life Of...

So my plan was to start this yesterday but time got away from me and I never got it finished. I got this idea from another blog that I read and I thought it sounded fun. At the end of each day I am going to blog what our schedule was for the whole day and everything that we did. Sounds exciting right? ;) I do think it will be neat to look back at what we did this summer.

For today I am going to re-live yesterday (Monday)...

I got up around 7:15 and walked for about 30 minutes then I did a 30 minute video. I am really trying hard to keep up with some kind of workout routine this summer. It takes effort because all I really want to do is sleep late and lay by the pool. :)

The kids finally got up around 8:30 and ate breakfast/played while I caught up on some laundry.

I wanted to take them to Wildcat Lake and let them play and have a picnic lunch there. They didn't seem too thrilled but we did go and had a good time. We only stayed for a couple of hours. I was so proud of Payton for getting in the lake even with all the fish swimming around her feet. I don't think I could have done it.

We got home and Payton laid down for a couple of hours while Grant played basketball outside. I admit that I layed down for about 25 minutes. That doesn't happen very often and it really felt good.

At 6:00 we went to Bible School at Poplar Grove. Toby is teaching the adult class so the whole family is going. I have really enjoyed it. It has been so nice not to worry about supper (my dream come true). Toby had a meeting at 8:00 so I got the kids home and ready for bed. Payton of course was not ready for bed after taking a 2 hour nap but she finally went to sleep around 11:15. By then I was past ready... more on our exciting week tomorrow. :)

New Territory

Okay, this is totally new (and exciting for me). I have been addicted to reading blogs for a while now, never having the desire to start my own. Lately I have seen how fast time is going by and I would love some documentation of what our lives are like right now with a nine year old and (almost) four year old. When Toby and I are old and lonely we can look back to see how crazy busy (and fun) our lives once were!