Our Place

This is where we have been living. The home was built in the early to mid 70's. It is close to church, shopping, and more. We absolutely love living here. We will be very sad when the day comes that we have to move. We also recognize that this home is a provision from the Lord.

Here is the updated kitchen.
This is one of the best features of this house. I hope you can tell from the picture just how large this laundry room is! It sure beats having your laundry in your entryway.
This is the master bedroom.

The next two are of Hudson's room. Shana had scripture painted on the walls of the children's rooms. What a nice touch.

This is the family room. It is the main room of the house and the first room you see when you enter the home.
I don't know if you can see it well, but the dinning room is in the background. There is a square 8 person table that we are trying to buy from Jay and Shana. My dad has started making me a china cabinet to go with the set.
Okay Shana, this one is for you. Not only is this house beautiful but it has tons of space. There is a completely finished basement. This is one of the rooms we have designated as storage.
This is the larger room in the basement. I'm using this one as a studio.
Here is the living area downstairs. We still have some organizing and work to do down here.
Back upstairs this is the breakfast room off of the kitchen.
Sorry these are out of order. There is a vanity in the master bedroom. It has been so nice to have my own place to sit and get ready in the mornings.
This is Naomi's room
Here are two shots of the back yard. It is huge and fenced in. They have a pool, but we opted to have it covered after we moved in.

And this is what happens when you leave a two year old alone with watercolors while you take pictures of your house.

Zoo Atlanta

Hudson was out of school for spring break two weeks ago and my Mom took us to the Zoo. It's been a long time since I've gone to the zoo in Atlanta. It was so much fun. We had a great time seeing all the animals and eating lunch at the park. It really is a nice place to go if you are ever in the area. Lila and Naomi rode in the stroller and Hudson walked most of the way. We brought along an umbrella stroller and Mom pushed him when he got tired. Hudson insisted on carrying the map of the park and he kept us on track.I would have to say that the best part of the Zoo was the Kid area where they could pet and brush the goats and lambs. The kids had a blast and Mom and I were glad that the animal petting happened after lunch.

At first Naomi was afraid of the goats, but she warmed up to them pretty quick. This is one of my all time favorite shots of her. Look at that pose!
Here is my Mom with the kids. Thanks Mom we had a great day!
Hudson and Naomi also got shirts from the Zoo to remember their trip. Hudson's shirt reads, "I'm not a giraffe, but I saw one at the zoo." Naomi's reads, " Stripes are sassy."

Happy Birthday Hudson!

We celebrated Hudson's 4th Birthday this past Saturday. I can't believe it's been four years. These past 4 years have been filled with a lot of learning and growing. Not only has Hudson grown, but I feel that Davin and I have grown as parents. As many of you know he has been a toughie for us, but the Lord has been good. We have developed skills and built some character. You never know how much you can love or how much you can endure until you become a parent.

We chose to have a "small" party this year with family. Small is an understatement. Our home was full, but we had a blast and made lots of fun memories.

We also took cupcakes to Hudson's class on Thursday. Here is a picture of the cupcake cake that I made for him. I got the idea to do the smoke behind the car from my friend Sarah Livingston.

Naomi is such a big girl. She loved joining his class at their table for cupcakes. We also went to music afterwards and she sang along with Hudson's class.Here's the birthday boy!

Okay so back to the party at our house. (I somehow got these mixed-up)
Hudson got so many cool new toys. The older they get the better the toys. He got his first real set of golf clubs, a kid safe camera, a remote controlled car, a laptop, a larry-boy toy car, some new clothes, an ambulance, a tee-ball set, money for a new fall wardrobe, and hungry hippos! Thank you to everyone who made this day special.
This is Chandler, just one of Hudson's cousins. They were all there including Lexi, who is Davin's cousin's little girl.

Here they are eating lunch on the picnic table that Pop and Mims found for us!

Jogging Stroller!

Well, I have been praying for this jogging stroller for quite some time. I've really wanted one to help me stay in shape. My Mother-in-law, Melea has been on the lookout. She found this one at a yard sale for $25!!!! I couldn't believe it. The woman said she only used it twice. The tires are practically brand new. Never underestimate the power of prayer.

I can't wait to start using my new stroller!

GAS CRISIS!!!!

Okay, so for those of you not living in the Atlanta area. We are in the middle of a gas crisis. People around here have been panicked and they have been waiting in line for hours to get gas. It seems that as soon as a station get gas everyone goes there and then after about a day or so they are out again. In fact most of the stations aren't even getting gas shipments and have been out for days! They are also telling us that it will be like this for several more weeks! Last week Davin and I waited in line at the BP station for almost and hour! So, you can imagine how excited I was to get gas today and ONLY wait 20 minutes and pay $4.00 a gallon. I think it's crazy! Who would have thought that would be a blessing.

So, how is it where you are? Is your tank full?

Daddy...Our Superhero!!

Okay, so there is nothing like a little cone of Chic-fil-a ice cream to brighten up your day...Right?

Well, the other night we all went on a family outing to Chic-fil-a which is only 2.1 miles away. We took the kids to redeem some coupons for free ice cream. We loaded up in the Caddy and away we went. After having ice cream and playing in the play area it was time to take the kids home and get ready for bed. When we get to the car we realize that the keys are locked inside and it is pouring down rain! Thankfully Davin had his keys on him, otherwise we would have been locked out of the house, too. We didn't have a spare set on us, but there was one back at the house. So, Davin RAN home in the RAIN, and got the spare set and drove his car back to pick us up. The funniest part of the story happened after Davin left us there to play while he ran home. Hudson, of course, had to go potty. So, I took him to the potty and on the way I made sure to inform him that we did not have a change of clothes and to be very careful not to have an accident. He didn't go in his pants, but somehow he went pee-pee all over his SHIRT!!! I'm still not exactly sure how this happened. But I was left with no other choice but to remove his shirt and let him play in the play area with nothing but his blue jean shorts on...so it's official we might be red necks!! When Davin got back to Chic-fil-a Hudson called him our hero!

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to my sweet husband our superhero!

Fireproof
Davin and I were able to go see a special screening for a new movie called Fireproof. It comes out in Theaters September 26th. Trust me it is a must see. Check it out at this link below...

www.fireproofthemovie.com

Update

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last put up a post! Sorry about that. I guess the lack of pictures has put a delay on things. We have moved into our new, temporary home, and it has been absolutely wonderful. I don't have pictures yet, but I'll try to explain the house. It is an older home, with a ranch layout, and a full finished basement. The kids have their very own rooms and are so excited about it. This has made life so easy. I had no idea how nice it would be. Naomi is now sleeping in a big girl bed. The first night we asked her if she wanted to sleep in it and she said, "Uh-huh." Then, we told her to stay in her bed to which she replied,"Mmh-hmm" and that was that! This was a night and day difference from our experience with Hudson. In fact, we still have to put him back in bed several times before he will call it a night.

As for belongings, we have some things here that we are trying to sell for the Howard's (who own the home) and lots of our stuff that we need to go through as well. We have it all sorted out in the basement and my goal is to go through it all within the next month. I have started setting up my "studio" in the basement. I've got lots of work to do. I just need to make the time to do it.

Hudson started "wee" School on Monday and he goes four days a week. He loves his class and his teachers, and it has been nice to spend the extra time with Naomi as well. Hudson received his first bottle of hair gel yesterday. I know that's really exciting! LOL He was thrilled and insisted on doing his own hair this morning before school. Needless to say he looked really cool!

Lately, we have refocused on praying and pursuing more intently Davin's call to vocational ministry. We know he has been recommended to several churches and we will continue to pursue all the options. If you would pray that the Lord would give Davin very clear direction on what He would have us to do we would greatly appreciate that. These last few months have not turned out as expected in many ways, and we have faced a great number of struggles, but one thing is very clear: our God is amazing! He has not once let us down or led us astray. There is no accident in where we are or in what we are doing. God is in control. We have often prayed that we would not seek after a life of ease but a life of obedience. To the best of our knowledge, that is where we are today. But we also know that a life of obedience brings great blessing. We have been so blessed during this time and I would like to share a small list of some of those blessings....


an incredible marriage
two beautiful healthy children
our health
living in a home we could never afford on our own
plenty of food to eat
two cars to drive (even though one stalls out in the carpool line)
a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
peace and contentment in our circumstances

Not all blessings are material in nature, but we know that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord (James 1:17)! There are so many things we are learning, and I pray that the Lord is doing the same in your life as well.