Sixteen

How did it happen so fast? Where did the time go? Tyler turned sixteen yesterday! My baby boy came into this world November 1, 1994 weighing in at 5 pounds 5 ounces. He's now 5 feet 5 inches and weighs about 160 pounds.

He went through stages as a kid where he LOVED a certain movie and would want to watch it multiple times a day. I think it started with The Lion King, then moved on to Mighty Ducks. But his all time favorite was Disney's Hercules! He had every action figure, sword and shield that they made. He even had a Hercules board game. I didn't think about it until the last minute or I would have hunted some Hercules plates for this birthday. I bought Toy Story instead. He loved that movie too. (Are you ever really too old for a Toy Story birthday?)

He is a good kid, an awesome brother, a good student, a great wrestler. I have prayed a hedge around him since he was a little boy and he would get so mad he'd bang his head on the wall or a piece of furniture. I've prayed every time he started a new school and a new school year. I've prayed for decisions he's had to make and choices he hasn't had to make yet. Now that he's going to be driving I'll be praying for him even more.

I'm so proud of you Tyler and love you very much.

Bowling!

I took Friday off to spend some extra time with the kiddos. Our friend Greg bowls on a league nd gave us lots of free game passes. (Thanks Greg!!!). So the five of us headed over to the bowling alley. Sadie needed bumpers so she had a lane all to herself. While the rest of us bowled two games, she bowled a total of five! I kept asking her if she was tired and wanted to stop. I think she would have bowled five more! This was Hailey's first time to bowl without bumpers. She got the hang of it pretty quickly and even had one strike. Randy had a hard time finding a ball that didn't stick to his fingers. But he pulled out a few strikes as well. Tyler was pretty rusty at first. About half way through the second game he figured it all out and ended up with the high score of the day. I didn't bowl great but had a great time with my family!

Photographer

We are well into summer now. A lot has happened over the last few weeks. Randy lost his job. We're starting our own company. In the meantime we're doing everything we can to save money. So we've pulled Sadie out of day care for the summer and thanks to the help of Mimi, Tyler and Macy she's being well taken care of. My niece Macy has stayed with her several days. She has recently picked up the hobby of photography. I am so impressed with what she's done. I really think she's got a gift for this. She took this picture of Sadie while she was babysitting the other day. I love it! You don't find Sadie being still for very long and in just an instant Macy captured a beautiful picture of my little wild child. Hope you enjoy!

Awards Day

Hailey had her 3rd grade awards day on Wednesday. Third grade marks the end of elementary school at Moody. Hailey received a certificate and ribbon for having "A" honor roll all year and a certificate and ribbon for having the highest average in her class. She is such a smart, sweet girl and we're so proud of her! (Pics to come soon!)

Greg Carter

It's taken me a little while to write this:

Four weeks ago today Randy received a phone call with news that nobody ever wants to hear. One of his best friends, Greg Carter, was killed in a one car accident on I-20 on his way to Orlando. Greg was working in Orlando and had come home for the weekend. Sunday afternoon he was on his way back down there when he lost control of his truck, went off the interstate and hit a tree. We were on vacation in Disney World when Randy got the call. Greg was going to pick Randy up the next morning so they could go check on the job. Instead, Randy left Monday morning to come back to Birmingham.

Greg wasn't just Randy's friend, he was a friend to our family. He stayed with Randy's parents for about a year when he was working in town. He was there when Randy's dad was out of town and his mom had a seizure. He came to Hailey's Christmas program at church. Two weeks before the accident Tyler got the opportunity to go to Phoenix Arizona for a week to a disc golf tournament. We couldn't buy him a plane ticket out there so he rode with Greg. I am so thankful Tyler got to spend that week with Greg. If you ever needed anything, Greg was there. He loved our kids. He loved disc golf. He loved Alabama football.

There are people that pass through our lives that make us want to be better people. We are so blessed to have known Greg. I pray Tyler and Hailey will always remember him and that he made an impact in their lives. I pray I can be a friend like Greg and I'm so thankful God gave him to us for that little bit of time.

Walt Disney World Pictures

Season of Lent

Growing up in the Church of Christ I don't ever remember hearing the word Lent. I know at some point I must have because I remember associating it with the Catholic church. A few years ago I began working at a Methodist church and came to realize it wasn't just a Catholic thing. I started working there in February, just before the Lenten season. I learned all kinds of new terms, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, etc. I had no idea what they all meant but I knew they were important because they had a service for each of these days and I helped run the bulletins for all of these services. Each year I've learned more and more about the significance of Lent. I think Adam Hamilton sums it up best in the devotional book "24 Hours That Changed The World". He says "It is a time of more intense spiritual seeking, devotion, and preparation climaxing in Holy Week with the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus."

Over the years all my friends I work with have given up something for Lent. Many of them take something on as well. I decided this year I would try it out. So for this Lenten season I'm giving up my coffee. I ritually have two cups each and every morning. Yesterday was the first day with no coffee. Today the first word that popped into my head before I even opened my eyes was "coffee". I know in the big scheme of things giving up coffee doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice. But you know what I did this morning when that word popped into my head? I said a little prayer that God would help me resist the temptation. And if I can learn to depend on Him to get me through my coffee cravings, how much more can I turn over to Him in other areas of my life that need improvement?

The idea of taking something on is to open yourself up to be a servant. So I'm not just giving something up, I'm also going to take something on. On Wednesday nights in Sadie's class one of the teachers is having some health problems. Her other teacher is a little overwhelmed with all the three year olds in that class. So I'm going to start helping her out in there.

Whether you observe the Lenten season or not, take a moment to reflect on the sacrifice that was given for you. What amazing love!

Desperate Times call for Drastic Measures

Tyler is addicted to video games. He has a blue tooth headset that he uses when he's playing some of his games online. A few weeks ago the ear piece broke off the blue tooth. I assumed he would use some of his money to purchase a new one. I went downstairs to what we call "the dungeon" one day to check on him because he had not seen the light of day in a while. This is what I found when I went down:




I hope you can tell by the pictures that he used packing tape to tape the broken blue tooth to stay in his ear. I guess I should be happy he's trying to save a buck, right?

Add Another One to the Injured List

Two weeks ago yesterday I took the girls to a birthday party at the skating rink for the little boy across the street. Hailey got her skates on and was off. She hadn't been on those skates five minutes and she came over to where I was with tears in her eyes holding her wrist. We immediately went to the concession stand and got a bag of ice to put on it. Needless to say that was the end of her skating that day. It continued to swell over the weekend.

I took her to the orthopedic doctor Monday. The x-rays didn't show any obvious breaks but her doctor felt that the fall had affected the growth plates in her wrist and hand. As you can see she's been in a cast for the last two weeks. She picked lime green for the color and has now had all her classmates sign it. We go back tomorrow afternoon to get it off. Pray that everything looks good and she won't have to go back into another cast.

Snow Day!!!!

So we finally get a decent snow after all the misses the last couple of months. It was a challenge keeping the kids inside until the ground had a good covering. I kept telling them if they'd wait until it built up it would be that much more fun. Fortunately the neighbors had the same idea. After lunch all the neighbor kids were out so I couldn't keep them in any longer. As you can tell from the pictures they had a blast.

Same Kind of Different As Me

Same Kind of Different As Me is one of my favorite books. It's a true story about a homeless man and an international art dealer brought together by an obedient and faithful Christian lady. When they decided to follow God's will, He changed their lives forever.

I went to Samford University last night to hear the authors of the book speak. The authors are the two men the book is about, Denver Moore and Ron Hall. The lady who changed their lives was Debbie Hall, Ron's wife. She passed away several years ago but the work God did through her is amazing! I highly recommend you read this book.

Spelling Bee Champ

Hailey won her class spelling bee Monday. She went on to the school spelling bee Tuesday morning. She finished fourth! She went 4 or 5 rounds doing really well and then the word "sculpture" got her. She received a medal and a certificate. She wasn't the first place winner, but she's a champ to us and we're so proud of her!

2009 Wrap Up

So here it is, a summary of the last few months of 2009. I will try to keep the blog updated this year.

It starts with Halloween. Hailey was a clown, Sadie was a princess, and Sam was a butterfly.







Tyler got his permit.


Lots of fun with cousins!

Randy made a fashion statement.

The shirt tells it all.

Sam's first birthday party.



Our annual trip to the Nutcracker.


Christmas!



Notice Tyler's brace and Logan's cast.




Tyler's big Christmas gift. Randy has a love of old VW beetles. This is one of three that he has. He was so excited to fix this one up and give it to Tyler for Christmas.