Appreciation Day

What a fun and eventful weekend! As I mentioned, I was speaking at a women's luncheon on Saturday. This was at the home church of my college roommate, Shana, who was also singing at the event. My sweet hubby took Friday off so I could head to North Carolina early to spend some time with Shana and her family. We spent many weekends in NC during college, and they were definitely like my second family.

We had a great time catching up, and I kinda felt like I was a college girl again (for about 7 seconds). It was fun.

The event went very well on Saturday. Thanks so much to all of you who emailed and texted me that you were lifting us up that day. I definitely appreciated them and benefitted greatly from the prayers!

I really struggled with preparing for this and wrestled with what I was supposed to say. But the Lord gave me good counsel and directed me to very clear Scripture, pointing me in the right direction. Shana sang several songs to start us off. And as my time to speak drew nearer, I honestly became excited (still nervous, of course!). I told my husband that I kinda felt like I was in the locker room before a volleyball game. I felt God's presence in a great way and wanted to run up on stage to tell everyone how awesome He is. (I did refrain from giving high fives or singing "We will, we will rock you.") But I did feel a great sense of encouragment and excitement from the Lord that morning.


(Kim, the event host, me and Shana)

I very much appreciated the opportunity to share my story and to see friends!

I also appreciated my sweet hubby. He kept the children all day Friday and Saturday while I was away. (Secretly, I was hoping they would be a handful...just so he would have a better idea of how every day is for me. They didn't disappoint!)

I think my husband appreciates me too!

Preparing

I started this blog the first of 2008, not really knowing what I was doing or planning to do. Some days it was easy. Some days it was hard. This blog has helped me communicate the deep and heavy things on my heart as well as share the hilarious stories provided by my crazy family.

And, guess what? People actually read this blog. I mean, people other than my family. Can you believe it? I didn't really expect anyone too. And I definitely could never have anticipated that strangers would take an interest in this blog and begin to follow my story.

I'm not particularly crafty or creative. I don't have awesome giveaways on the blog or give you money-saving coupon tips. But, go figure! There are hundreds of you from all over the world that stop by and visit.

Soon, I'm going to do a fun contest to try and find out who some of you are, how you found Homesick, and why you've stuck around.

But not now. Friday, I am headed out of town to meet one of my blog readers. How cool! She is a friend of a friend and has been reading the blog for over a year. Earlier this year, she asked if I would come speak at her church's women's retreat, which is this Saturday. I am very excited for this opportunity but am also a little freaked out. There will be 250 ladies there! (Hope she isn't reading this part.)

I plan to share more about this later. Right now, I'm busy preparing and praying! But I'm looking forward to the weekend and getting to meet up with my college roomie who will be singing at the retreat.

I Peter 3:15 says,

"Always be prepared to give an answer when others ask you the

reason for the Hope that you have."

This is what I plan to do.

Oh No She Didn't

I spent the day doing a million loads of laundry. Well, not a million. But 6 loads. All washed, dried, folded, and sorted on the guest bed. Ready to go inside the dresser drawers.

When I walked into the room, this is what I found.

"Shhh..." Eveley said. "Tigger is sleeping." I found Tigger underneath the piles of clothes.

So she was banished to her room. And then I walked in and found this.

What an angel.

(Sorry for the quality. These are iPhone pics.)

Spring Smiles

Spring is almost here! We have had a few amazing days this week with warm sunny weather. And I forgot how much I love this season. It definitely lifts my spirits and gives me new energy.

We were able to play outside yesterday and the kids couldn't be happier. This is really Caleb's first experience with outside. And he, just like our other 2, is a definite outdoor lover. He stands at the door and says "Bye" hoping someone will let him out.

Eveley was trying to teach Caleb how to blow bubbles.





Eveley had the right idea!





Feeling the spring weather and preparing for Easter is an awesome time of year. I am reminded of our beautiful hope and new life that is possible through Christ.

This winter has been full of snow and wedding planning. As I mentioned before, my sister Kate is getting married in April. She is in Texas, our other sister Carrianna is in Kentucky, I am in Virginia, and our mom is in Tennessee. So we have spent many hours on the phone and email trying to get all of these wedding details ironed out.

The other day, I jokingly remarked that after Kate's wedding was over, I was't sure what my mom and I would talk about anymore. I guess Carrianna decided that would be terrible, so she helped us out a little.

Yes...

My baby sister got engaged!





So sweet.

And they are getting married the end of July

of this year.

Yikes!

So excited for her and Eric. Bob is pretty upset though. My mom has always referred to him as the "favorite son in law" (because there are no others). He now has some competition. Oscar and Eric are great guys, and we're excited to add them into the family. Hope they know what they're getting in to.

And if anyone is looking to buy a farm in Tennessee...

I hear my parents are selling theirs...

Just joking.

Miss the Target

I don't get out much.

When I was pregnant with Robbie, I had those new mom visions. I planned to get up in the morning and casually get us both dressed in our cutest outfits. Then we would stroll around Target while I sipped on my white chocolate mocha and he quietly smiled at shoppers.

Okay. You can stop laughing now. I read "What to Expect when You're Expecting" from cover to cover and never found the chapter -- Taking Your Kids out in Public will likely cause you to Lose Your Mind.

Our weeks are filled with fun outings - Bible study and MOPS - but the rest of the days require some major juggling as I try to maintain a sense of household order and organization. There are meals to plan and groceries to buy. MOPS activities to prepare. Birthday and baby gifts to ship to friends, and Easter and wedding apparel to find.

I'm a planner. So I brainstormed and came up with the checklist and plan to get these things accomplished in the most efficient manner possible.

One small problem.

I forgot about the 2 monkeys that would be accompanying me on this shopping spree and that their mood is as unpredictable as Simon Cowell's. They did not disappoint.

We got going early to avoid the late morning meltdowns. We were fed, bathed, dressed and at Target by 9:00 (not bad considering we live about 40 minutes from Target). I was pumped.

I grabbed one of the "cool" bugggies (one I used to swear I would never be caught dead pushing) and began to strap in the monkeys. Eveley went into hysterics. Total fit. She decided that today, she wanted to run around the store. And she was not taking no for an answer. She screamed. Screamed. I pushed us over to a corner to quietly tell her she needed to be a sweet girl and stop crying so we could have a fun day together. "I do not want to be a sweet girl," she responded. I know. We all knew.

I then began to bribe her. Goldfish? Lollipops? A milkshake? Nope.

Then Caleb felt left out and began to scream and try to get out of his seat. I began to reconsider whether this was going to be my fantasy Target shopping trip. Caleb must have thought I was still unconvinced so he proceeded to throw up all over the place. I remained focused and kept pushing.

I would have to chop down my list to the bare essentials. Milk. Coffee. Cereal. Fruit Snacks. And a new pair of shoes if kids could be distracted by the fruit snacks long enough.

We were out of the store by 9:30.

I may be a little late, but I have decided that, for Lent, I will be giving up shopping alone with the kids. No more.

So if you think you see me out in town alone with the kids, you are mistaken.

Fifteen

My sweet Caleb is 15 months old today! I can't tell you how much I love this little monkey. He is just precious and LOVES his mama. He gives the best bear hugs, squeezes my neck, and pats me on the back. Often, he will stop playing and waddle over to me for a hug. Once he gives me a few pats, he's had his mama fix and returns to play.

I love you, sweet Caleb. Your bright blue eyes brighten my day.

In case you didn't believe

(remember to mute the music at the bottom of the blog)