It's Snowing!

It is snowing in South Arkansas! Can you believe it? I can't. But it is coming DOWN. The kids are so excited and I am too as long as our power stays on. Very seldom do we get snow here. We usually just get ice and sleet, which leads to trouble.

Right now we have a mix, but it sure is pretty to watch it come down. Anna is anxiously awaiting on going out to play. She wants make snowballs, snowman, ice cream and snow angels. It still needs to snow a little more before all that can happen.

The weather man is predicating 4-6 inches or more in our area. That is a lot for here. I went and did grocery shopping yesterday and it was CRAZY! For some reason when the word SNOW is spoken in the south everyone runs to the grocery store for milk and bread. I got both! :)

Collin looking at the snow!

We look like the kid off of The Christmas Story!

Hi, I'm Darrel, this is my brother, Darrel and my other brother Darrel.
Remember that off the show New Hart.

Here are a few pictures of the kids all bundled up before we went to Mimi's for a chicken and dumpling lunch. It was very good.

Chad went to Texas to go deer hunting at the Media Luna. It is a ranch that my boss owns and as a treat each year Chad and his dad get to go hunting. This year the trip was cut short by a day because of the weather. Chad still managed to get a management kill 8 point before he came home. We are so proud and excited. This is not a very good picture, but after we get the skull mount back I'll try to post a picture.

CLEAN

I've been listening to K-Love radio station  a lot lately. I'm not sure why, it just makes me feel good to have God around me all day, either through word or songs. This past week their topic was mostly on Resoultions.

It seems around this time of year some people begin to make resoultions. Some keep them and some do not. I'm usually fall in the second half of the do not keep them.

I always say I'm going to lose weight or do more in church or BLOG more or keep my house cleaner or save money and I never do. I always get side track and most of the time fairly quickly in the game.

K-Love suggested that instead of making a resoultion, to chose a word. Chose a word that you can use on a daily basis that will define you or the areas you want to improve (like you would if you were to make a resoultion).

At first I thought, cool idea, but what word will I chose and if you know me. I'm not a decision maker. I always just go with flow. Example, where do you want to eat lunch? Answer: doesn't matter. (when in the back of my mind I probably wanted Mexican)

So how can a NON-decision maker pick a word. But then it just was there. In my head. It was weird. My word, CLEAN.

First, I want to be CLEAN with myself. I want to know what I can do and not try to take on things that overwhelm me. I want to be the same person around everyone. Sometimes it is a lot easier to be more GOD loving around other GOD loving people than those that aren't so much.  I want those people to see me and say wow look how CLEAN for GOD she is and that is just her.

I want to be CLEAN, in my home. With two lilttle kids and working 40 hours a week, I'll will have to say, my house is not clean. I mean we don't live in filth, its just..........well cluttered. toys, laundry, toys, laundry...never ending. But I love it but still hate it! See NON-DECISION maker. I have issues I know.

Next, I want to be CLEAN, in my heart and in my mind. I want to stop and think before I speak. I want the words that come from my mouth to be CLEAN and honor GOD. I want to have a open CLEAN heart and mind with every decision I make. I want GOD to be there saying is this what I would do or say. I want to start and end my day with a prayer that says Lord take   Clean my sins away.

Next, I want to eat CLEAN. I don't want to diet, but I want to be aware of the food that goes in my mouth. I want to think twice when I go for the Snicker Bar @ 3:00 and grab the grapes instead. I'm not one of those organic eating, calorie counting people. I LOVE food and I LOVE to eat, but I just want to be more aware of the good verses the bad. I want to cook CLEAN for my family. I want to fight that feeling of just picking up the sonic or pizza because I'm tired. I want to cook them something, even if it is a hot dog or grilled cheese sandwich.

Next, I want to make CLEAN financial decisions. Just like before, buy the $1.00 pack of hot dogs and $1.00 pack of buns and $3.00 bag of chips. That's $5.00 verses $20.00 for pizza or burgers. Wow see I clean the table and I have $15.00 of CLEAN money.

I'm sure none of this makes since to anyone that reads this but me. But that is ok, because sometimes I need to write things down to stick to them. Kinda like making a list of to do things. I find when I make a list my day or project flows a lot better.

I really thought about taking pictures of the letters C.L.E.A.N and putting them up at work and home as a reminder that I need to be CLEAN.

I may just put these pictures of Collin up as a reminder to be CLEAN. Ha.Ha.Ha.

Christmas Past and Present!

This year we decided to keep our Christmas as Simple as possible. Meaning less gifts and more love. Our kids get all the time and it really is so sad that we have done that to them. When Christmas comes around it is really hard to decide what to get for them and for each other. So this year we are just making it simple.

We love teaching Anna the true meaning of Christmas and it totally excites me when I hear her tell people that it is Jesus's Birthday. Collin just gets super excited to knock all the Christmas balls off the tree.

Our tree is kinda sad because there are only balls left from the top to the middle. I'm sure after this Holiday season is over I will still be finding Christmas balls throughout the house.

We didn't do a Christmas Card this year. We just decided to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Below are pictures from our Christmas pasts to our Christmas present. Merry Christmas!

2006



 2007

 2008

 2009

2010

Anna decorated the Christmas Tree

Collin undecorated the Christmas Tree.

 

Collin making his hand print, trying not to eat the paint.

Reindeer hand print plates

Anna and Collin with Santa, Collin not so excited.

Operation Christmas Child!

Yesterday we collected are yearly Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. We had a total of 85 boxes with the help of Bearden 1st Baptist, Holly Springs Baptist, and 1st Assembly of God Bearden. It was awesome as each coordinator from each church brought the boxes to us. We loaded the Sequoia down and off to Camden Kenli and I went.



When we got there we took each box into the Operation Christmas Child room, where I filled out the paper work and asked a few questions for next year.

Today I got a phone call from a lady who wanted to know to know if it was too late to make a sizable donation. I called Calvary Baptist and they said to come on down. When I got there they were finishing packing up the boxes and loading them in the trailer.

 From Camden, they will travel to El Dorado and will be loaded into something larger and then shipped all the way to North Carolina.

 Next, week volunteer workers from all over the United States will carefully inspect each box. They will make sure there are no liquids, war items, or chocolate candies in them. They will also add to the box if they need to.

In the packing facility, you are assigned to an area and you will be told where you box will be going. So for instance if you packed a hat and mittens and your box was in the ship to Africa area, it will be reassign to another area that the hat and mitten can be used. Nothing is ever taken out of the box, but they do sometimes add to it.

They lady at Calvary tried to explain to me how many pallets of boxes were in this facility and she just smiled and shook her head and said it is just too hard to even imagine.

Operation Christmas Child started in 1993 and has been growing ever since.

This is the Tally sheet and she was still working on packing up one more box. 869 boxes totaled so far. Can you believe that is 869 kids that will hear about Jesus Christ for the first time ever? Can you believe that 869 kids don't even know what a color is and they will be amazed when they color for the first time? It truly is a wonderful ministry to God!

The Salvation Poem

Jesus, You died upon a cross

And rose again to save the lost

Forgive me now of all my sin

Come be my Savior, Lord, and Friend

Change my life and make it new

And help me, Lord, to live for You

I pray that you will pray that pray with meaning and love and ask Jesus into your Heart today if you don't know him.



Give Thanks!

So on the way home tonight, Anna sees that someone has put Christmas lights on there house. The conversation goes as follows:

Anna: Whew! Mommy look look Christmas lights. Can we put our Christmas lights on our house?
Mommy: No Anna not yet, we have to be Thankful first
Anna: Dear God, I'm thankful for my puppies, my Mimi, my Daddy, my Mamaw, my pawpaw, and oh yeah my mommy. Now can we put up the lights.

Looks like I still have my work cut out for me. She is just too cute!

I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving and I hope after you read this post, you will stop and thank God for everything he has blessed you with. Remember God will only give you what He knows you can handle.

Give Thanks to the Lord for he has given YOU countless blessings. Stop for just a minute and name them, you will be Amazed!

Back again!

Wow! I've been so busy that I have neglected the blog once again. I have several fun things to blog about so I'll probably be playing catch up this weekend. Well maybe.....

Halloween weekend was a lot of fun for Anna. Poor Collin had a terrible runny nose so he stayed home with Mimi and Pawpaw, which I'm sure he loved as much as Anna loved Trick-or-Treating.

That day the kids went to Nonna's for a few hours while I did a photo shot with the Gambill Family and with Michael. It was so much fun. They are all naturals when it comes to taking pictures so it made my job super easy.

When I got done, I rushed home and made a big pot of chili and picked up marshmallows for s'mores later that night. I got Anna dressed and Mimi and Paw came over to watch the lil man aka superman for the night and me, Chad, and Anna headed to Nonna's house for a hayride and wiener roast, cheese dip, chili, and s'mores dinner.

Hay Ride, she said Whew I'm nervous!

 

Chad and Anna roasting wieners for the first time!



Pawpaw and Anna enjoying a S'more, loved them



Collin waiting up on us in his PJs

While we were roasting wieners the kids and my mom enjoyed a little time on the dance floor with the Monster Mash of course. Too Funny!!!

Anna was exhausted by the time when got home but I think she will tell you it was so worth it.

5 lil punkins sittin' on a gate...

Anna has learned so much since she started school this August and we would love to tell Mrs. Shanna and Mrs. Denise Thanks, so much!

Anna came home from school yesterday singing this song. I got it on video and this is her version. I asked Mrs. Shanna this morning how it went and these are the words...

5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate the 1st one said oh my it's getting late, the 2nd one said there are witches in the air, and the 3rd one said well we don't care, the 4th one said I'm ready for some fun and the 5th one said lets run, run, run.

Ohh with the wind and out with lights and 5 little pumpkins rolled out of site.

Click play to watch Anna's version...