Bath time...

Eli normally loves to take a bath. He gets all excited when we start filling the tub with water and throwing toys inside to play with.....SO, when Krisha was giving Aubrey and Lainey their bath Sunday night, let's just say that Eli was confused and wanted in the tub too!!

Eli has always been so good with the girls.... BUT, he is getting older and they are getting more mobile. They are more interested in playing with him now, than he is with them! But, God love him, he is so patient with them and lets them pull on him, lay on him, scream at him, etc. He doesn't even get upset when they get into his toy box and get his toys out. (He has been taught that he is NOT to get their toys from their toy box, and he knows what toys are his.....and which are theirs).

I think he is really enjoying that the girls are now eating more table foods. He LOVES when they are in their high chairs and they "throw" food at him!!

And, as you can see, Lainey has become more interested in "standing" than sitting now!

We have been busy..........

Hope everyone enjoyed Spring Break. I stayed busy with the girls. Last weekend Dan, Krisha and the girls spent all weekend with me....and we stayed busy!

• Took the girls to visit the Easter bunny at the mall on Friday night.
• Went to Birmingham on Saturday to watch Jim's niece, Mary Grace, play in a soccer tournment, visited with Mark, Judy, Caleb, and Mary Grace after the last game that day,  shopping browsing at Watermark and the Summit, then ate at Sweet Bones of Alabama.

On Tuesday, my mother, Krisha, Aubrey, Lainey, and myself went to visit Kim @ Kim Lawson Photograpy for a Four-Generation photo session. What an experience!!!! Can't wait to see the proofs. Afterwards, mother took us to lunch.

Krisha and the girls took me out to lunch on Friday, then Eli and I took the girls for a stroll in the neighborhood. It was such a warm, beautiful day.

After Dan got off work ,Krisha cooked a great supper for us. Taco salads! I am so thankful that she loves to cook (because I don't) and she is becoming a great chef!

Then we all went to Lowes. Dan and Krisha are planning to redo their kitchen, so Krisha got some great ideas and has her schedule planned out.

Saturday was a family day at the Flea Market for a couple of hours. Minus Wayne, the weather was just too beautiful to hold him down.....he went fishing!

Saturday night, Dan and Krisha had a date night with some other couples, so the girls and I had a play date together. I would fold laundry, the girls would unfold it! We watched Dirty Dancing........Lainey and I were dancing around, while Aubrey laughed her head off at us! Have we mentioned that  BOTH girls are crawling now? Well, Lainey can dissappear out of one room into another before you can turn around. She is FAST. I think Aubrey has more fun laughing at Lainey getting into trouble! Lainey has always been our personality child, but Aubrey has started to really catch up now and do things that are so funny in her own way.

AND, can you believe it............all that and we didn't take any pictures! Here is a picture that Krisha has already posted on her blog, (but could you ever get tired of looking at these two beauties??)

I never want "average" in my life......

I don't "Twitter", however I do go and read the "tweets" posted by my pastor, Dan Williams. He usually makes some type of statement that I can relate to, and reflect on during the day.
The tweet below, I have gone back and read since he posted it earlier in the week. It is a RT (re-tweet, posted by someone esle and Bro Dan sent it out after receiving it...and yes, I had to look that up on the internet to understand what it meant!).

RT @perrynoble: Dear "average," you suck...stay away from my walk with God, my marriage, my parenting, my friends and my church!

12:26 PM Mar 16th

What a statement!

I remember a song that Darnell and Robin Davis sang at Solid Rock when we were in Mobile, about taking it back......telling the devil that we're taking back our health, our spouse, our job, ...........whatever the devil had taken from us, we were reclaiming.

There are so many "average" people out there just waiting for the opportunity to knock us down and try to destroy us.

The sad thing is, so many times we open the door to let the devil into our homes, because he is hiding behind someone we trust, someone we love. Even sadder, that person doesn't even realize they are being used by the devil to hurt us.

All we have to do to avoid letting "average" into our lives is just follow God's word:

"When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord,

He makes even his enemies live at peace with him."

Proverbs 16:7

So, put another way:

Dear "average", you can not rage war on me, because I am living to please God!

However, when you are able to break through and hurt me, don't look for revenge from me, but watch your back, cause God is on my side!

"Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!"

Wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.

Proverbs 20:22

Praying that the people I come in contact with are not average, nor am I to them. Also, that God forgives me for the times I have fallen to just being an average person.

Losing our friends..........

Eli has had his own Myspace page for about four years. He uses it primarily to meet other English bulldogs, but has a variety of other type friends on there too.

Most of you are familiar with one of his dearest and most precious friends ever, Mango. She was a Frenchie, and Eli loved her with all of his heart. Here is his story about Mango, http://danceinthemoment.blogspot.com/2008/03/elis-angel-in-heaven-mango.html if you haven't read it.

Over the years, Eli has lost several of his Myspace friends. It is difficult each time, and it makes me realize how dear and precious each moment we have with Eli really is. I know without question that Eli was sent to me from Heaven above, he is my angel on Earth. I also realize that there will come a time that God wants him to return home to him, but until then, I cherish each and every moment with him.

Eli has lost another wonderful friend, Dot. She was one of Eli's very first friends, and they shared many wonderful times together online. They both have the "angel kiss" on their foreheads. She was a beautiful little princess!

We will miss you so much Dot! We hope you are having a wonderful time running around in Heaven.

"A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal"

Proverbs 12:10

Time with Popa Jim and at the park.....

Five years...............

I'm not good at putting my feelings into words. But, since today marks the fifth wedding anniversary for Jim and I, I feel the desire to try to capture a few.

Our wedding date, March 4th, wasn't just picked out of the sky, or a date that we both were available to "seal the deal", but it was a very special date to me. It was the only date I felt would do for our special wedding.
Flashback to 2003...........
I began reading the book "I Love You, Ronnie; The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan." I couldn't get enough of this book! This man knew how to reach a woman's heart through his letters to her. Also, their love story was so intense, so meant to be. So much of it reminded me of Jim and I. So, when he asked me to marry him and I said yes....there was no doubt when the date would be; Our wedding day would be on Ronald and Nancy's wedding anniversary! (No, at the time I didn't know the date. So, I didn't know if I would be planning a wedding in two days or nine months from then!) Thankfully, after finding out their wedding anniversary, I had about six months to plan things.

But, this love story isn't about Ronnie and Nancy, it's about Jim and me. It has been an amazing five years! If I had to choose just one word to describe it from my prospective, it would be ADVENTURE. These past five years have been an adventure! From southeast Oklahoma to Mobile to Southeast Texas and back "home" again, each mile has been an adventure.

Like Ronnie, Jim has always been great at writing me little letters/notes. During my struggles through nursing school, he was my biggest and greatest supporter. After pulling an "almost" all night-er studying for a big test, I would get up the next morning to find that Jim had left me a little note in the kitchen. It wouldn't be a long letter, just a simple note that might say,

"I know that you will do great on your test, because Eli and I love you".

or even on an ordinary day, he would leave a note just saying

I hope you have a great day! I love you, Jim."

But, there have also been times that I would find a two or three page letter waiting on me that went into great detail of how much I meant to him. And of course, I've kept them all!

I want to borrow some lines from one of Ronnie's letters to Nancy:

"I more than love you, I'm not whole without you. You are life itself to me. When you are gone I'm waiting for you to return so I can start living again."

Happy Anniversary!