Happy Birthday Pastor Heard

Happy Birthday Pastor Heard!

Yesterday was our Pastor's 57th birthday, so instead of our regular Wednesday evening service, we sang a few songs and then everyone was dismissed downstairs for cake and ice cream and fellowship.  Shawn and I got Pastor Heard a gift certificate to the Orange Leaf, our new favorite froyo shop. :)  I'm sure that gift will just the sweet spot!  Happy Birthday Pastor Heard!  We love you and thank you for all that you do!

Angie brought out the cake to show him and acted like she was going to throw it in his face.  The funny part was that if she would of been as clumsy as Alex, she would of.  I'm glad I had my camera ready for that if it would of happened.  LOL!!

Everyone taking pictures and singing Happy Birthday to our Pastor.

Opening gifts!  The best part of the party in my opinion!  He got a blood pressure monitor that he's been wanting, some candy bars, a gift certificate to the Orange Leaf, and cash. 

The best Pastor and Pastor's wife in the entire world - Bro. & Sis. Heard!

Cute little Noah wearing the birthday hat and glasses!

And of course no blog entry would be complete without a picture of me :)  Hey, it's my blog!  So here's a picture of me with Alex and Allesha.  I can't believe how big these girls are getting and how grown up they are for God. 

Weekend with Gavin and Nannie

This past weekend, I babysat Gavin and his Nannie.  Hee!  We had a busy, busy weekend, as I usually do when I have him.  I always like to be on the go with him and doing things that he otherwise probably wouldn't get to do.  I took a vacation day on Friday, and Shawn and I took Gavin and my mom to Burdette Park.  I had been there the week before with some friends from church and they have a nice big pool and a kids play area, so I wanted to take Gavin to play and to get a chance to work on maintaining my summer tan :).  We sat in the kiddie pool while Gavin played around in the water next to us for a while and then got out and had a picnic lunch that I had packed.  I brought homemade chicken salad with bread and wraps, light Pringles, grapes and applesauce.  After lunch, we got back in the water for a bit before Uncle Shawn had to leave for a work function.  We were only there for a little bit longer after Shawn left and then Gavin started getting tired and was ready to go.  Also while we were there, a friend of mine from growing up, Ashley, and her girls and some friends were there, so we saw them up and talked for a bit.  It was fun just sitting in the kiddie pool relaxing in the cool water and hot sun talking about old times.

Gavin and Nannie having lunch.

Gavin has the bluest eyes ever!

Friday night for dinner we went to Cancun's.  It's our fave Mexican restaurant.  We are never disappointed in our food when we go there and everyone is always so friendly. 

Gavin and Aunt CeCe - I can never get him to look at the camera anymore for a picture.

And after supper, we went to the Orange Leaf for dessert!  The Orange Leaf is a new frozen yogurt shop in town and it's delicious!  I hate to admit it, but I actually like it better than Sweet CeCe's and I swore Sweet CeCe's was my fave!  I know, I know....I'm a frozen yogurt trader, or is it traitor!

Gavin loves having his own "ice heam hone" even though it was in a bowl.  His blend was orange sherbet and brownie batter frozen yogurt with M&M's, gummy bears, sprinkles and whipped cream.

See...he won't look at the camera! 

What's in my bowl you ask? Well everything good! I have orange sherbet and pineapple twist, coconut, and brownie batter froyo, fresh shaved coconut, Carmel topping and whipped cream. I was disappointed cause they have a peach froyo, but it wasn't working when we were there. It's YUMMY!

Gavin got ahold of my camera while we were eating and snapped a few pictures of Shawn, me and my mom.  Our heads were cut off on all of them, and well, they just weren't very flattering so I deleted all of them!  However he did find some cuties to take pictures off and even caught the attention of one of them.  I wish I would of gotten her name so I could *tag* her in the picture.

And after all that, it was bath time to wash the chlorine off of Gavin and the sticky froyo that he was wearing.  Whenever I am giving him a bath, "Ersey" and "Esse" (translates into Hershey and Reese, my dogs) always want to be in the bathroom and watch.  I asked him if he wanted them to take a bath with him and he was way excited; the dogs weren't as excited.  LOL!!  So after I gave Gavin his bath, I gave "Ersey" and "Esse" a bath, and then had to give Gavin another bath.  Hee!

And of course after every bath, we have to go show Nannie and Uncle Shawn we are clean.

Saturday morning, I woke up with a swollen lip, so I took a Benedryl and just relaxed all morning.  I got ready around 10 and loaded mom, Gavin, and mom's dog Sassy in the car and we headed out to yard sales.  Mom had been itching to go all weekend.  After yard sales, we got lunch at McDonald's and then I took them home to Rockport and headed back home myself.  Shawn and I were going to the derby at the Warrick County fair Saturday evening, but I knew it would be too loud for Gavin, otherwise I would have taken them with us; maybe next year.

How to Break out of a Rut

Yesterday morning at church, Bro. Heard's sermon was one that he has preached on before, but was one that was definitely worth repeating.  It's happened to all of us at one time or another, and I'm sure it will happen to each of us again and more often than we would like.  It was titled "How to Break out of a Rut" and he listed seven steps to getting out.

1.  Assume responsibility for your own life.  If you step out in faith, God will take care of you.  Don't depend on someone else!

2.  Believe you can change.  If you don't like your life, change it, do something about it, and break out of your rut.

3.  Clarify what you need.  Be careful who you hang out with.  Go where you are celebrated.  Don't say or do anything today that you wish you hadn't of said or done tomorrow.

4.  Stop worrying about what other people will say.  When you start to succeed, others will be jealous.  Get rid of your past and walk a new way.

5.  Quit waiting for ideal circumstances.  The circumstances in your life are what they are until you change them.

6.  Do something bold and dramatic to get out of your rut.  Quit blaming other people for your mistake. Call out to Jesus for your help!

7.  Make your move and do it now!  Today is the day of salvation!

Holiday World July 2011

We made a second trip to Holiday World last Sunday.  Shawn was out of town at his parent's house, so Beth made the trip with me, Zoe, and Gavin this time, along with Heather, Bowen, and Brenton.  The weather outside was warmer than our last visit, so we spent plenty of time in the water park.  When we did get out of the water and changed into our street clothes, we were able to ride a few rides, but then a storm brewed up and we had to leave.  I've got two more tickets from the kids' picture that HW wants to use, so we'll definitely be taking anther trip back to HW. 

Happy Birthday Alex

Yesterday was the birthday of a friend from church.  Her name is Alexandra aka Alex aka Pootie :)  After work last night, I was able to join them for her birthday dinner at Olive Garden, which was delicious.  Then after church last night, Shawn and I joined them for a sweet treat at Sweet CeCe's.

I met Alex at church when I started going there with Shawn, 10 years ago this past May.  She was this cute little chubby, chipmunk cheek little girl who, who 3 years later became the bubble girl in my wedding.  And now, at 15 years old, she's this simply beautiful young lady who has a heart for God.  We love you Pootie and are glad we got to help you celebrate your birthday!

This is a picture of Pootie at our wedding. 

And here is Alex today, with her boyfriend Shawnie aka my husband...hee ;)

(She likes to joke that Shawnie is her boyfriend!)



Me and Alex :)

And Alex with her mom and Garvin :)

Holiday World Stars!

On Friday, June 24, Shawn and I took Gavin and Zoe to Holiday World.  You can read about that visit in a previous post.  I took this cute picture of Zoe and Gavin riding their first water slide of the day in the new Safari Sam's SplashLand there.  It really wasn't a planned picture, it was more of a quick snapshot of them coming down the slide.  And I really didn't know what kind of picture I was taking cause I just holding the camera up while trying to get them in the camera, but at the same time, keep my eye on them to make sure they were OK and to see when they started coming down the slide so I could take the picture.  And it was also hurried because I was trying to take the picture, make sure I could catch Gavin at the bottom, and paying attention to not getting my camera wet since I was standing in the middle of a swimming pool.  And this picture was the product of all that! 

I think it is an absolutely adorable picture of two kids have the time of their life!  A few days after we got back, I was on Facebook looking at all of the pictures I had taken that day when I remembered that I was friends with Holiday World on Facebook.  I decided to post a couple pictures on their wall to tell and show them how much fun we had that day and to also tell them how great their new SplashLand park is.  Well HW commented on the photo and said "Wow -- that's a cute photo!" to which I replied "Thanks! I thought so too! Hee! :o)".  I never expected any more comments after that. The next time I checked my email, I had an email saying that HW commented again.  This time it said "I messaged you yesterday (my name is Paula) ... did you receive it?"  Well I didn't remember receiving a message from her, so I started looking all around my emails, Facebook, anywhere that that message could of went and I couldn't find anything.  Of course all the while I am looking for it, I immediately thought, oh my goodness, they love my picture and want to use it.  I can see it in brochures and billboards and was so excited!  LOL!!  And I thought, oh my goodness, what if they give me seasons passes and everything.  I told you I was excited.  LOL!!  When I couldn't find that message anywhere, I replied to their comment "No, sorry, I didn't get any messages from you :(".  The next day I got this message comment on the photo "Would you please email me? fun@holidayworld.com".  So naturally I did and the following day I got an email from them that said this....

We LOVE the photo you just posted with the two children on the yellow SplashLand slide. Would you give us permission to us it? This would be for our website and other promotional venues. I'd be glad to send you two tickets as a thank you. If it's okay, please email the photo in its original format and size to fun@holidayworld.com ... and include a statement that we have your permission to use the photo.

I replied that they could use the picture and sent it to them in its original format.  I also asked about where they would use the picture and they replied that they would use it on their website, Facebook page, and their e-newsletter.  Well imagine my surprise when I opened my email yesterday morning and I received their e-newsletter.  I opened it up and first thing I saw was their picture!!

I can't wait to receive those two tickets in the mail so I can take the kids back to Holiday World!  Next year, I'm getting myself and Gavin season passes!