Why do I love going to my Lolli's house? (in the eyes of my children)

In the eyes of my children (Karis and Brayden), I love going to my Lolli's for many reasons listed below:

1)I get to be really messy and play with sticks

2)Jump in the blow-up jumper

3)Play in the mud all I want...

4)Take my pants off and go "all natur-al"

5)AND MY DIAPER...

6)Play in pink sand

7)Go fishin'....

8)Eat popsicles...

9)Dress myself (oh my!)...

10)Don't have to take a nap (and the look says it all...)

We love you Lolli!

Memphis' Favorite Mom

My mom was nominated by a friend for "Memphis' Favorite Mom" and won the grand prize!!! There were over 400 contestants and she won it! As most of you know my parents have done foster work since I was little and have had over 60 children in our home, some for days, some for years. Some she still takes in several times a year when their parents need a break. My mom also would take anyone in her home if they needed it and is always volunteering her childcare services with a smile. She is appreciated by many and I am glad to call her my mom. She truly deserves the award!

This is after we SURPRISED her to get her to the florist so that they could present her with the award. She won a package of gift certificates, some random gifts and a flower arrangement delivered to her door every month of the year!

This is my family after she received the award (excluding my brother Matt who couldn't be there)

The Lemonds family

This is my mom's friend Rachel who nominated her for the award. What a great friend!

We love you mom! Happy Mother's Day!

A dear friend

How do I explain the emotions I am feeling right now? As I was reading this morning, the Lord brought me to a very familiar passage to me in the last couple of months...Psalms 116:15, "How precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." The Lord brought me to this passage on January 22, 2008 after I found out that my best friend had been killed in a car wreck. To fill some of you in the history here, Amber Donovan Mathenia has been my best friend since college, a sorority sister, my roommate, and matron of honor in my wedding. She was full of life, adventure, a woman who sought the Lord with everything she was, and shared everyday what the Lord was doing in her life. She was a wife, mother to 2 beautiful adopted children and her and her husband were missionaries to Ethiopia. The Lord allowed me to spend the whole day with her and her children just 24 hours before she was killed and I am so thankful that He was gracious to me. The Lord has used her in my life probably more than anyone else and for that, I will be ever grateful that I had the opportunity to know her. There are so many things she taught me about being a child of God, a wife, mother and friend that I am applying to my life every day. Every day is different and some days I honestly rejoice at all the Lord has done but there are others when my heart just hurts and today is one of those. I honestly just miss her really bad today and want to just pick up the phone to call her. My heart aches for her family knowing that Mother's Day is just around the corner and how bitter-sweet it must be. The Lord has definitely received glory from her life and death and for that I know His will is perfect. But is it ok for my heart to hurt???

How much more must have the disciples felt as they spent so much time with Jesus then to see him tortured and crucified all for the sake of us? Remember what your savior has done for you today and like every day, hug those that you love and focus on the things that are most important.

Memphis Zoo

Today the kids and I decided to enjoy the beautiful weather and went to the zoo. Going to the zoo is always an adventure and Brayden is liking it more every time he goes. He used to think everything is a dog but now is making connections and remembering previous visits. Here are a few pics from our visit (as always there are more here):

Brayden in the eggs near the petting zoo

The kids and I at the petting zoo

Brayden on the playground

The kids just had to put their feet in that fountain water...

Karis posing by the big elephant outside the zoo

Brayden eating grape icee

Mom and Karis

Karis playing by the monkeys

So if you look at all the pictures, Brayden is nearly crying in all of them. The reason why??? These chickens below. We were in the petting zoo and he was already scared of the donkey about 10 feet away and wanting me to hold him. I put him down near the fence and he turned around to these chickens by his feet eating crackers out of his stroller seat. He got scared and turned quickly around to see the donkey sneezing right in his face. He trembled from head to toe, later followed by a screeching cry. He was afraid of all the animals the rest of the day.

This was post-chicken incident and you can even see him saying, "HOLD JU!"

Mom and Brayden at the polar bear exhibit

Me and the kids looking at the polar bears

A little sleepy???

So we happened to see a friend of mine, Rachel, at the zoo. I used to work with her at EPMS and today was her daughter's 2nd birthday. Chloe also has a little brother that I got to meet that is 4 weeks old!

Karis and Chloe

Priceless...

First of all, excuse how rough I look. I had just gotten out of the shower (hair wet, no make-up on, robe on) ...however something happened that I just had to capture. At 6:30 this morning I was spending time in the word and Karis was sitting next to me. She got up for a minute and said, "I will be right back mom." She went and got her Bible and her coffee cup from her room and then came back and sat on the couch next to me. I didn't realize what she was doing for a minute until she said, "Mom, I am going to do my bible study with you." I almost wanted to cry!!!

Recent pics and Ethan's birthday party

Today we went to Ethan Pott's 3rd birthday party and as you know it was about 60 degrees, wind blowing and they still played on the slip and slide. I didn't know we would be in the water so Brayden didn't have a swim suit. Do you think that stopped him????

Ethan opening gifts

Ellie, Mari-Morgan and Karis swinging

Brayden satisfied on the slide with his balloon

The gang collecting bugs

The birthday boy Ethan "Batman"

Karis with the kittens we found under our shed this weekend

Brayden playing basketball

Karis teaching her brother how to climb out

Brayden got these new flip-flops on Friday (the first ones we have found to fit him). After he put them on, I said, "Brayden let me see your new shoes," and he replied, "I koot!" (I cute)

Joy in Christ

Wow what a beautiful day today! As the kids are napping, my house is clean and chores finished, laundry caught up, and no tv :), I have just enjoyed such a sweet time with the Lord. My heart grins at all that the Lord has done within me. I have truly experienced joy in Christ. Here is an excerpt from Experiencing God that I read a moment ago:

"Don't deny yourself that which is your birthright as a child of God. Don't be satisfied with a joyless life. There ought to be in every Christian a deep, settled fullness of the joy of Christ that no circumstance of life can dispel. This comes as you allow the Holy Spirit to express Himself in your life. One of the fruits of the spirit is joy (Gal. 5:22). This joy is unlike any happiness that is produced by the world. It fills you and permeates everything you do.

Jesus did not pray that you would merely be happy or even that you would escape grief. He prayed that you would have the same joy that the Father had given him: a divine joy, a joy that comes from a deep unwavering relationship with the Father. It is a joy that is grounded so firmly in a relationship with God that no change in circumstances could ever shake it. This is the kind of joy that Christ is praying will be in you."

Wednesday morning, Jay's grandad Pawpaw Lemonds had a biopsy taken of a spot they found on his lungs. We got a call yesterday from him that they had received the results from the biopsy. When Jay answered the phone, his pawpaw said something I will never forget. He replied (with a smile on his face I am sure) "Well the Lord has given me a free ticket to see Him!" In other words, the result is that it is cancer, the slow growing kind. We don't know much else; they go back to the doctor in Tupelo this week. However, I do know that his granddad has experienced TRUE JOY IN CHRIST. Like Pawpaw, I desire to be so rooted in Him that no "bad news" or circumstance could shake my joy in Him. How deep are your roots???

God is with us in the storm

Tonight as we were weathering the storms with everyone else, Jay and I were in the den working and Karis and Brayden were sitting in the kitchen eating dinner (rather informal at our house tonight) and we heard some sweet words coming from Karis. It was thundering pretty loudly for a few minutes and Brayden kept saying "train!" because he thought it was one I guess. Then we heard Karis say, "It's ok Brayden, it is just thunder and we don't have to be afraid of thunder. God is with us all the time right here in our hearts and He will keep us safe. It's ok, I will come and sit next to you so you won't be afraid. God and Jesus are with us to protect us." It was such precious words coming from a 3 year old. They DO listen to the things we teach them....beautiful!

Family blogs

Check out some of my families' blog sites at...

Jay (my husband)

Jonathan (my 18 yr. old brother)

Cindy (my mother-in-law)

Everything is Meaningless

I wanted to share something with you that the Lord shared with me this morning during my time with Him. As I was reading in Ecclesiastes, the theme of the whole book is that life is meaningless, useless, hollow, futile and vain if it is not rightly related to God. Only when based on God and his WORD is life worthwhile. I was reading specifically in chapter 2 which is titled, "Pleasures are Meaningless" and the Lord spoke to me about the "things" I fill my day with.

"I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all my hands had done and what I toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun." Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

What is the motivation behind the things that you will do today? Is it just routine or have you 1)thanked the Lord for allowing you to wake up this morning and 2)given the day over to Him to do as HE pleases? Have you denied yourself today so that you live in the spirit and not the flesh? Is your routine today "meaningless" or will it glorify the Lord? I desire to glorify the Lord today in all the things on my "to do" list and in my daily routines, how about you?