Lynne Neipp

Updates

2010-08-09T08:31:00.003-04:00

WOW! This is the first time that I have blogged since December of last year. I felt that it was time to take a break and refocus on some things that were going on. Well, here I am 8 months later. It sure is crazy how much a family can change in just 8 short months! Joshua is beginning the 8th grade this year. It's hard for me to believe that he will begin HIGH SCHOOL next year. Joshua will be attending BHP next year. His plans are to play soccer and run cross country. This year will be very bitter-sweet, because I have been his teacher since he was in kindergarten. We have all spent a lot of time together and I am very thankful for that. I wouldn't take anything for the years that I have homeschooled him. It's given us opportunities that we may not have had otherwise. I will cherish EVERY moment that we have together this year! He is beginning to work on his Eagle Scout and hopes to, at least be close to completing that in the spring so that he can join CASA (Clemson Anderson Soccer Association). He still loves Camp McCall and says that he wants to work there as soon as he's old enough. I am so proud of the "young man" that he is becoming. He has goals and a plan to reach those goals. I can see him allowing God to work in his life. Right now we are studying "Dare to be a Daniel" and are praying that he will be sold out, just as Daniel was. Ben is beginning the 6th grade...middle school! He is playing football for the Recreation Dept. After spending 2 summers at Clemson's football camp, we decided to let him play football. He had his first practice last night and did a great job! For the next 2 months, he will be juggling scouts and football...which will keep him (and us) very busy. Reagan is beginning the 3rd grade. She loves to cheer (and boy does she have the lungs for it). She attended cheerleading camp at Anderson University and BHP, where she won the award for "most spirit". She will be cheering for Ben's team. We enjoyed another summer of mother/daughter camp at Camp LaVida. She has informed me that next year she wants to go by herself...WHAT? Andrew will be THREE in September. For some reason, he seems to be growing faster than the others. He loves Reagan and loves to play. We are still potty training. He has been the hardest, but is beginng to "get it". He is very smart and very sweet. Jeff and I turned 40 this year and just celebrated our 17 year anniversary! We are still enjoying our camper that we bought last summer...great family time! Our entire family fell in love with Folly Beach this summer! We are hoping to make a trip to Alaska to visit my family before Joshua starts high school. We also hope to make a trip to Disney this year. We all love living in Belton. It's been a lot of fun re-connecting with old friends and making new. We also still love our church...Brookwood, and have enjoyed the many new friends that we have made there. Life is busy, but good. God has blessed our family!

I HATE to move...but LOVE that we're moving!

2009-09-21T07:26:00.003-04:00

In just 2 short months, we have sold our house and are in the process of moving! It's hard to believe that our house sold that quickly...we thought that it would be at least spring before it sold. We are planning on closing this Friday and, hopefully, will be at least mostly moved out by then. Because we have nowhere else to go right now, we are moving into my sister's house until IT sells. I HATE to move! Especially with a 2 year old running all over the place!!
There's a small part of me that is sad, because we've lived in this house for over 6 years. I remember telling someone when we bought this house that it would be the last one. Reagan was about 1, so this is home to her. The boys barely remember living anywhere else and this is where Andrew came "home" from the hospital. This is the house where we literally "lost" my grandmama to alzheimers. A lot has changed since we moved into this house! We are active at Brookwood Church, which is an hour from where we are now and we have my grandmama's house. SO, we made the decision to move to Belton. Jeff will still be close to his job and we will be closer to church. God definately has confirmed this decision by allowing our house to sell so quickly. Houses just do not sell in 2 months in this day and time! Although I HATE to move and it IS a little sad; I Am excited about this new phase of our lives. I look forward to our children living where Jeff and I grew up. I look forward to re-connecting with "old" friends. I look forward to Reagan having some little girls to play with. I look forward to "fixing" grandmama's house. I look forward to "going home"! I LOVE that we're moving.

Update

2009-08-30T20:13:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, we had our 20th (well 21st, but whose counting) high school reunion. We went up on Friday and camped at Sadler's Creek State Park on Hartwell Lake. That is a great place to camp! That night, we had a terrible storm come through...not fun being in a pop up during a storm, but we all survived. On Saturday, the weather was PERFECT. Everything went GREAT...we all had a good time catching up. It was so nice seeing everyone! We camped until Sunday and then came home. We hope to go back to Sadler's Creek again.
Our second week of school went well. It's still an adjustment, but the kids are enjoying it. K12 is an awsome curriculum! This Saturday, we are going to take the boys to Florida for the Gators game. We are excited about that. It will be a lot of fun! The following weekend, we are going to camp with Jeff's aunt and Uncle (and our adopted family) at Dreher Island. We are enjoying our camper sooooo much. It makes for great family time.
We've had several people look at our house. A couple came tonight...could be the ones! I'll be so glad when we get it sold. It's hard trying to keep a house ready for people to look at with 4 kids.
Check back for updates on house, Tebow, and camping! :)

Three Days...

2009-08-19T22:14:00.003-04:00

3 days of school down...overall, going pretty well with the new curriculum/school!

3 days until the High School Reunion...excited about seeing old friends and catching up!

3 people...a couple and his sister came to look at our house tonight. They seemed very interested!

I am ONE exhausted mama with too much going on (like most mamas)! When the reunion is over and we get the house sold, hopefully things will settle down some...but I doubt it!

Happenings in the Neipp Home

2009-08-12T09:42:00.002-04:00

On Friday, August 7th, Jeff and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. We dated four years before we were married, so it's been 20 years! WOW!! Now, here we are 4 kids later. We had a great time. Joshua and Ben went to spend the night with friends (thanks, Susan) and Jeff's mama came and stayed with Reagan and Andrew (thanks, Mimi). We went to Greenville and spent the night. It was a nice, QUIET, trip! August 8th would have been my grandmama's 90th birthday. I missed her so much that day and thought a lot about the special memories we were able to make with her last year. She was a very special person and will always be missed!

Next weekend (Aug. 22), we will be attending my high school reunion. I've done all of the planning (the joys of being Senior Class President), so I must admit that, although I'm excited to see people, part of me will be glad when it's over. We are going up to Sadler's Creek State Park in Anderson on Friday and spend the weekend. The reunion is at the Pavillion on the lake. I think that it is going to be a lot of fun. My kids are excited to meet my friends from high school.

Monday (Aug. 17), we begin our new school. We are going to try a SC Virtual Charter School this year. It will all be done online here at home. I'm a little nervous about this new venture, so stay tuned for details!

Camping

2009-08-02T21:53:00.003-04:00

On Friday, we went up to Table Rock to camp (for the first time in our pop up). We were invited by some families from Brookwood. Jeff and the kids met two of the families on the family mission trip that they went on this summer. We were so excited that they invited us! There were 2 other families (for a total of 5) who we did not know. Between the 5 families, there were 16 children. What was amazing is that, out of that number, Reagan STILL did not have a little girl her age to play with. She did meet some other little girls from another campsite to play with, and they had fun together. We went hiking, swimming, and rock sliding, but mostly, we all just "hung out". It was so nice to be able to get to know these families better. They were all so welcoming to us and all of the kids played well together. Yet, just another reason to love Brookwood! I hope that this weekend was the start of some friendships that will last a long time.

It's TOO quiet

2009-07-19T08:06:00.003-04:00

I never thought that I would say this, but my house has been TOO quiet this weekend! Joshua and Jeff have been camping and whitewater rafting with Boy Scouts. Reagan and Ben went camping at Oconee State Park with my daddy and Becky. Friday night, I got a babysitter and went out with some friends. We went to Chili's to eat and then to see The Proposal. It was SOOO good! Sandra Bullock is my favorite actress. I have loved every movie she has ever been in, even the one or two that have been viewed as "a flop". We had a great time! Yesterday was totally Andrew/mama time. We got up and went out to Emerald Farm. He saw the goats (or cows as he called them), fed the cat-sized catfish, played with Thomas, and rode the train. It was a beautiful morning to be outside. After lunch and a nap, we played in the yard, went to Wal-Mart (just to look), and then went to the park. Last night, I talked to two of my best friends from middle/high school. It was like we have never lost 20 years...it was nice! Our reunion is coming up in about 5 weeks. I have slowed down on the planning, but will pick it back up after next week, when I have all the money in. It's been a good weekend, but I'm ready (and I think Andrew is to) for everyone to come home. The bad thing is that we will wash and repack everything to head to Camp McCall in the morning! Hope the boys have fun next week.

Mama told me there would be days like this!

2009-07-15T12:30:00.004-04:00

Do you ever have days where you feel like the best thing for you to do is to go home and get away from people?! Today has been one of those days for me. The kids and I got an early start today, because I had to run some errands AND we were going to get breakfast. It has been weeks since I last went to the grocery store because everyone has been coming and going to much. So, after breakfast we went to the grocery store (Wal Mart). We accomplished paying bills without any problem. THEN, came McDonald's! I ordered a breakfast "meal" that came with coffee and hashbrowns. When I told the girl what I wanted in my coffee, she huffed and said, "if you wanted coffee, you should have told me...I put you down for a coke". I felt like I was in the middle of Bonquiqui and she was telling me "Girl, you gettin a coke". Wasn't that HER job to ask would you like coffee or softdrink with that? Then, I asked for my receipt to which she says "I ALWAYS give a receipt"...to which I proceeded to pull everything out of my pockets and show her I had no receipt! Reagan's pancakes were literally as hard as rocks, so I thought GREAT, now I have to go back and deal with these people again. We got that straightened out and finally got out of McDonalds. THEN, we went to Wal Mart to get groceries and we went to get in line to pay. The girl says "she will take you down there". On my way "down there", the girl turns off her light and looks at me like, you fool, can't you see that my light is turned off. That left me to finding a new place in line! I thought to myself...it is TIME to go home! One more thing would have probably thrown me over the edge!! Why do people have to be so rude? On a good note, we now have food in the house again. It is all put away...I HATE putting groceries up! My house is clean (since we had a man come to look at it last night...YEAH). Tonight, when Jeff gets home, we are going to grill out and watch an outdoor movie (redneck style, of course). Hopefully, the end of the day will be better than the start!

For Sale By Owner

2009-07-13T19:11:00.002-04:00

Last Friday, we decided to put our house on the market. It is something that we have prayed and thought about for a long time now, but we have never felt the time was right. Now, we feel that it is. We've decided to sell it by owner, so that we can be more flexible with the price. Two days after we put the sign in the yard, a man came by and spent about an hour looking at the house. He couldn't see some of the rooms, because Andrew had already gone to bed for the night, so he came back on Monday and spent another hour looking around. He is planning on getting back with us in a couple of weeks. Tomorrow we have someone else coming to look. In addition to that, we have had several phone calls! It's been amazing how quickly we have started getting calls. Hopefully, we will have a SOLD sign soon!

Joshua made it back from Camp Old Indian TIRED and DIRTY! He had a great time and accomplished a lot towards his merit badges. This weekend, Joshua and Jeff are going whitewater rafting/camping with the scouts. Reagan and Ben are going camping with my daddy and Becky, so I'll only have Andrew. I'm hoping to get to go to a movie with some friends. Next Monday, Joshua and Ben go to Camp McCall. They love Camp McCall!! We have so many other things going on over the next couple of months that I cannot even begin to tell...more on that later! It's NEVER dull at the Neipp house!!

COI and FSBO...

2009-07-05T22:47:00.003-04:00

Joshua left today to spend the week at Camp Old Indian. We will go back to get him on Saturday morning. We will miss him, but I know that he will have a great time AND he is going to earn several merit badges to get him closer to his goal of Eagle.

On Friday, we put our house on the market FSBO. We have been praying about making a move for a long time. Right now, we are traveling an hour to church every week. When Jeff and the kids went on the mission trip last week, it became clear that we needed to be closer to church. We are going to be moving so that we will be closer to church and still close to Jeff's job. We had someone come to look at the house tonight. They seemed very interested and might come back tomorrow. I feel that this move is part of God's plan, so it will not surprise me if the house sells quickly. I'm praying that we hear back from the people tomorrow and that we can work out a deal with them. More info. on that later!

The kids' comments on their first mission trip

2009-06-30T11:52:00.005-04:00

As promised, the kids are going to tell about their mission trip to North Carolina last week. I wanted them to tell about it from their view, because I was not there. I have enjoyed hearing about the trip and hope others do to

My name is Ben Neipp and I went on a mission trip to Bryson City N.C. I got to drive a tractor and even help build a playground! I also got to help pry rocks off a house. My favorite thing was driving the tractor. It was very fun. I hope u can go on a mission trip too. Ben Neipp

Last week I went to "Families On Missions". We went to worship the first 2 days Saturday and Sunday and got to meet alot of new people. I made 4 new friends. I helped cut and haul some brush at a river so that the guy over the camp could see what was going on. I also helped put rails on a playground. My favorite thing was clearing the brush. -Joshua

My name is Reagan. I painted a house and cut weeds. I met two new friends, Sylvia and Kate. We enjoyed swimming in the pool together when we finished our work. Reagan
Neipp

The kids had a great time and are already talking about the next trip. I want to thank Jeff for being a dad who was willing to take vacation time to take our kids on this trip. They will never forget it!

Deep Creek (and other stuff)

2009-06-27T21:20:00.002-04:00

We are always looking for fun activities for our family to do together. We try to find things that are outdoors, away from video games and TV. Jeff and I have always wanted our children to grow up enjoying outdoor activities. This weekend, I went up to the Cherokee area to meet Jeff and the kids after the mission trip. We found a cool place to go tubing. It's in Dillsboro (about 10 minutes from Cherokee) and it's called Deep Creek. For $4, you can rent a tube for the whole day and you can tube down the river. I must warn, though, that the water is not only Deep, but also Freezing! We got our tubes, hiked up a trail about 3/4 of a mile, got in the river and tubed down. It was a lot of fun. They have a great place to camp, so we look forward to taking our pop-up there soon. I would highly recommend this place if you are looking for a fun-filled day for you family.

On another note, two things have saddened me this week. One is hearing about our Governor, Mark Sanford and the other was the death of Michael Jackson. The news of the Governor reminded me that ALL men fall in one way another. We need to be sure that we put our faith in God, certainly not our politicians. It also reminds me that we need to be sure to guard our hearts at all times. Really, one bad decision and anyone can end up in the same situation. The death of Michael Jackson was sad for me because he was an 80's icon. You just do not think about the 80's without him coming to mind. His life, however, always seemed very sad to me. He had all the fame and fortune that one could ever want, but he never seemed like a happy person. In his sudden, tragic death I am reminded again, not to put my hope in things that pass away. Though there's certainly nothing wrong with fame or fortune, it is not what gives us true hope and happiness.

Later this week, I'm going to have the kids share with you about their mission trip. They had a great experience, so check back to hear about it. Thanks again, to Brookwood...I am so thankful that my children had this opportunity!

Update on the mission trip

2009-06-23T14:55:00.002-04:00

Jeff and the kids left Saturday morning to go to Bryson City, NC. They are on a family mission trip with Brookwood through the North American Mission Board. The families from our church are on a team building a playground at a camp, among other things. Jeff said the children have all done a great job helping. I am so happy that our children have been given this opportunity at such a young age. One good thing about the trip...they have met 2 families with boys Joshua and Ben's age and Reagan has met a little girl her age. She is always excited to have a new friend. It's been a wonderful way for them to meet other families from Brookwood, who we might not have met otherwise, while helping others. Someone has offered to allow them to go Whitewater Rafting for free on Thursday morning...Very Nice. Andrew, Jeff's mama, and I are going up on Thursday to spend the rest of the week.

On a different note...we bought a pop-up camper for the family to spend more time together. I look forward to spending many weekends camping. We already have 2 trips planned!! Also, tomorrow we have a realtor coming out to look at putting our house on the market. Jeff will still be working at Self, but we are wanting to move closer to church. More info. on that later!

AWSOME!

2009-06-08T07:42:00.003-04:00

Yesterday morning at church Jeff, Joshua, Ben, and Reagan were a part of a big group on stage getting ready to go on a mission trip. Brookwood is a very missions oriented church and supports missionaries all over the world. During the summer, there are many opportunites to go on short-term mission trips. Some of those trips are over seas and some are "family friendly" (geared toward families with younger children) and are closer to home. Jeff and the kids are going to North Carolina during the week of June 21st. There were 2 things that excited me yesterday as I looked at the people on stage. One was the fact that there were so many families that they had to pile on top of each other on the stage. I am glad to know that there are families with young children who are willing to take part of their summer to do something worthwhile for other people. Secondly, I am glad to be a part of a church who understands that even children can serve God and should be encouraged to do so. I'm thankful that Brookwood prayed for these families, and I have a few specific prayers for My children as they go. I pray that God would soften their hearts to see that people hurt...that there ARE children who do not have what they do. I pray that God will use this experience to show Himself to them as never before. I do not want them to come back the same...I want them to be changed. Coach Swinney spoke to the boys over the weekend about being GREATFUL. I want my children to come back greatful for what they have (or don't have). I want them to be greatful for what Jesus has done for them. I am greatful, as their mother, that they have this opportunity at such an early age. As they grow up DOING missions, instead of just hearing about it, I hope that they will always have a heart for those in need...whether it's here at home or abroad!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Camp(s) We Go

2009-06-05T16:08:00.003-04:00

Today, we began our "Summer Camp Series" by sending Ben to a 1 night/2day football camp at Clemson. Anyone who knows me at all, knows that I grew up a Gamecock fan through and through...I even attended USC. However, when it came time to send Ben for his first night away without anyone he knows...mama decided to go with Clemson. I must say that I was totally pleased with what I saw today. I was impressed with how smoothly everything went and with how friendly the coaches were to the boys. Coach Swinney went out of his way to welcome the boys. Ben was excited to actually be staying in a college DORM! We will go back tomorrow afternoon and watch some of the "games" and pick Ben up. Next week, Joshua is helping again at Cub Scout Day Camp...Ben decided to sit this one out. The following week, Reagan is going to theatre camp in the mornings. She loves performing in front of people, so I know that she will have a great time. After that, Jeff and the three big kids are going on the North Carolina mission trip for a week. I cannot wait to hear about what all they do there! In July, Joshua will be attending Camp 'Ole Indian...working toward Eagle and both boys will be going to Camp McCall. Reagan and I are going for a mother-daughter weekend at Camp La Vida. This is her first time and she cannot wait. In August, Reagan will finish off our summer with a week of pom-pom camp with the Lander cheerleaders. On August 17, we will begin our new school year with a totally new "program". More on that later! SIGH...It's going to be a VERY busy (but fun) summer!!

Stinky feet and Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-25T08:41:00.003-04:00

Friday morning, my baby, Joshua turned 12 years old! It's hard to believe that next year, I will have a teenager. Two weekends ago, Joshua went with the scouts to the exporee in Anderson and spent the weekend. He had to cook 3 meals to serve to 8 of his fellow scouts in order to achieve the rank of 1st class. ALL weekend it rained on them. When he got home on Sunday, his shoes had the worst smell I have ever smelled, because he had worn them wet all weekend. We literally had to throw them outside to get rid of the sickening smell!! I decided that I would take him to get new shoes and we would save the nasty shoes (after they are washed) for other scouting events. We went into the shoe store on Thursday and, as we have always done, headed for the boy's shoes. It didn't take long for me to realize, as we looked for his size, that we were heading out of the boy's shoes and into the men's! Talk about a hard moment for a mama! On Friday, Joshua's birthday, we headed to Huntington Beach to meet up with some of Jeff's family. We had a great time. It was a very lazy, relaxed vacation. The kids rode their bikes around the campground and did some swimming in the ocean. Andrew loved the ocean. Every time a wave would come he would yell "here it comes!!" Joshua and Ben thought it was cool that we were swimming only a few yards down from where alligator was sunbathing. Yes, in the words of my mother, we are stupid! But so were hundreds of other people. Reagan enjoyed having some little girls to play with. Now, our family wants a pop up so that we will camp more. We are back home on this Memorial Day. I am remembering those who have come before, who have died so that I can have the freedoms that I have today. My brother-in-law, Daniel is serving his second time in Iraq right now, so that we can continue to have the freedom's that we have. We so often take our freedom for granted...American's take A LOT of things for granted. Anyway, I hope that we will all reflect on what today means and that we will remember the men and women who have served their country but are no longer with us! Let's be thankful for them. Have a great Memorial Day.

Where Have I Been?

2009-04-22T07:18:00.002-04:00

I haven't been able to write anything in a while, because we have been busy! I have begun to plan my high school reunion. It's a year late, but I did not have time to do it last year because of grandmama being sick. So, I guess you could say that we are getting ready for our 21 year reunion. I cannot believe that it has been 21 years! Some of the people that I graduated with have grandchildren!! I loved high school and am having a lot of fun "catching up" with people that I have not seen in years...probably since our 10 year. I am finding, though, that the girls are hard to find, because I don't know married names of many of them. The reunion, itself, is coming together, but I am going to be very busy trying to find people so that no one is left out. I'm excited about seeing everyone! Last weekend the kids and I went to Winston-Salem and spent a couple of nights with my cousin, Julie, and her family. We all had a good time, but Reagan really enjoyed having a little girl (Aubrey) to play with. She is always around boys (her brothers and their friends), so she actually had someone to play dress up with. It was good to get out of town for a few days. Now, the kids and I are busy finishing up another school year...Joshua is completing 6th grade, Ben 4th, and Reagan 1st. We have had a great school year this year. Next year, we are going to be doing something completely different. We are going to use a South Carolina Virtual Charter School. It is considered a public school, but is still completed at home. A lot of it will be done on the computer. The kids thought that it would be cool to do school on the computer. I like the curriculum that they use (k12) and I hope that it will allow us to meet other children from around the state. PLUS...It's FREE! I'm excited, but nervous at the same time. I hope that I adjust well to this new way of schooling. I know that the kids will do great! Better go get my day started. I hear Andrew calling...MAMA! MAAAAAMA!

Easter Weekend

2009-04-12T19:54:00.003-04:00

We started our Easter weekend off with a bang!! Friday afternoon, Reagan and I went to see the new Hannah Montana movie. Of course, Reagan loved it! I thought it was a good movie, as well. When we got home, Jeff went back with Joshua and Ben. While they were at the movie, we had a terrible storm come through. We ended up in our bathroom with no power, while Jeff and the boys ended up in the hall of the movie theatre. Reagan was scared to death and I can't say that I was thrilled! We didn't get our power back until about noon Saturday afternoon. We celebrated Easter early at my daddy's house on Saturday. It was a good day with good food and an egg hunt, followed by a ride on the Harley! When we left daddy's, we went to the cemetary for Ben to put flowers that he had picked out especially for grandmama and papa. Then, we headed to Brookwood. We had 2 services yesterday, in addition to the regular 3 today. We had a great service as we thought about the resurection of Jesus and what it means for us. Today, Jeff's family came to our house for lunch. It was a fun day, even including the visit to the ER. Andrew fell and hurt his ankle. He couldn't tell us what it felt like, but he kept pointing to it and we could tell that he was having trouble walking on it. After 2 x-rays, we knew that he was going to be o.k. He must have sprained it. He seemed to feel better by bed time. Now we're watching Over the Hedge. It's a great movie. Jeff has never seen it. On Thursday, we are going to NC to visit my cousin and her family. I'm looking forward to it and I know that we will have a lot of fun. Hope that you have had a great day today thinking about the death and resurection of Jesus and the price He paid so that we can be saved!!

What a Great Weekend!

2009-04-05T08:18:00.002-04:00

I must say that I was a little nervous about the weekend, because I thought that Jeff had WAAAY overbooked us (as he tends to do sometimes). It turned out to be a great weekend, though. We had fun on Friday, even though Ben and Reagan did not get to run in the kid's run. The races did not begin until 4:00 and we had to be at Jeff's aunt and uncle's house at 4. We had a sitter stay with the kids while we went to the rehearsal. The dinner was a lot of fun. Oysters and frogmore stew...just what you would expect to find at a "lowcountry" wedding! Ben decided to run in the big race on Saturday, since he didn't get to do the kid's race. I was a little nervous because he had not been training for a 10k run! Jeff and both boys came in at a great time, however. I think that all three were in the first 12, 000 runners to finish...out of 39,000! That's pretty awsome!! I was so proud of them. That race is a lot of fun to watch. We had fun cheering and yelling for all of the runners coming to the finish line! The first man (from Ehiopia) was less that 30 minutes! We had Andy and Christy's wedding at 3:00. It was a beautiful wedding and we all had a BLAST at the reception with the DJ. Even Andrew got in on the fun!! Jeff and I started dating when Andy was about 4 years old, so I've basically been around his entire life. Before we had our own children we would go and babysit while Jim and Anna went on Anniversary trips. We love those "kids" and wish Andy and Christy all the best! Even though it was a wedding reception, it made for a great birthday, too. We had a lot of fun!!

This Weekend

2009-04-01T12:52:00.002-04:00

Early Friday morning our family will head out to Charleston. We will get there in time to go to the kid's race, which Ben and Reagan will be running in. It is a lot of fun. They have blow ups to play on, as well as A LOT of other things for the kids to do. The races are ongoing, and the kids race with their age group. Later on Friday, we will be going to a rehearsal for Jeff's cousin's wedding. Andy and Christy are getting married at 3:00 on Saturday. They've asked Jeff to do the ceremony. Early Saturday morning, Jeff and Joshua will be running in the Cooper River Bridge Run. This is Joshua's first time doing the big run, but I know that he will do great. It's a lot of fun watching all of the thousands of runners run through the finish line. After the race, it'll be time to get ready for the wedding. We will go to the reception for a little while and then head home. We have to come back on Saturday, because Jeff has Sunday School and Ben's ministry team is working the lights and sounds in the Children's worship. He's excited about that. It's going to be a busy, but fun weekend!

My How Time Flies!

2009-03-30T21:53:00.002-04:00

Tonight we had a "pack meeting" at scouts. As each year goes by and the boys progress, where their den sits moves around the room. I walked in tonight and thought about how Ben's group was at "the end of the road". Next year, he will move up to Boy Scouts with Joshua. Across from us were the little first graders who are getting ready to finish up their first year of scouts. They are so little! I couldn't help but look at Ben's group and think back to when they were little and just starting out. I also couldn't help but think about little Andrew and how quickly his time will come! We have been doing scouts since Joshua was in the first grade. When Ben moves up next year, we (at least I will) get a 4 year break. Jeff helps with the Troop, but it will still be easier having both boys in the same spot on Monday nights. As if I was not sad enough, I went downstairs to where the Boy Scouts meet. While I was standing out waiting on Joshua and Jeff, I watched many of the boys that he has been with since the BEGINNING. They are SO BIG now! It is unreal how fast time flies. I remember when those boys were Tiger Cubs. Joshua was voted to be one of the patrol leaders tonight, which made Jeff and me very proud. Ben earned several awards tonight, as well. Although it's sad to see them growing up, it is also nice to see what nice young boys they are becoming. I love those two boys dearly!

Happy Birthday Reagan!

2009-03-21T21:28:00.002-04:00

Today is Reagan's 7th birthday (as well as my mama's (??) birthday). Seven years ago today, after 2 boys, God blessed us with a beautiful little girl. Contrary to what people thought, we were not "trying" for a girl. We wanted 4 children. We knew that she was going to be girl. At least I did...Jeff did not believe the ultrasound and when she born said "Oh my, it IS a girl!" The boys wanted to give her to the neighbors across the street, but changed their minds, thank goodness. I didn't know what to think...Pink and frills are really not my thing. But there she was, our little girl. I have always called her "my angel", because she was born exactly 1 week after my papa's funeral. I will always believe that God gave her to me to help me through one of the hardest times in my life. She is sweet, loving and caring. She loves to meet new friends wherever we go. She enjoys singing and acting. She can also be strong willed and is very much her own person. I can't see her ever being a crowd follower. She has daddy tightly wrapped around her finger, 2 big brothers who still consider giving her away from time to time and a baby brother who adores her. She calls herself his little mama. She helped me take care of grandmama and she helps me take care of Andrew. I could go on and on about how special she is to our family, but I'll finish by saying that I wouldn't take anything in the world for her. Last night, we took her to Chili's and we went to see Return to Witch Mtn., based on a movie I saw when I was about her age. Today Joshua was spelunking with scouts and Ben was at a friend's house. Jeff and I took Reagan to Greenville to "Build a Bear". Tonight we went with Jeff's mama, daddy, and grandaddy to La Ha. They put a sombrero on her head and sung happy birthday while banging on pots. She loved it! Those guys at La Ha are great! I'm glad that we had a good day with our "little girl"! Happy birthday, Reagan.

Didn't make it!

2009-03-11T20:53:00.002-04:00

Well, not long after I last blogged, Andrew woke up from a nap with a 104.5 degree temp. It's not his ears, throat, or the flu. The Dr. said that it was probably contageous, so we all stayed at home tonight instead of going to church. I hate for one of the kids to be sick, so I hope that he feels better tomorrow. Now, he's in the bed and we are getting ready to watch American Idol. I cannot decide who I like the best. This is a tough season! Right now I would be satisfied if several of them won, but I believe that Adam will probably win it. Friday, we leave to go to Charleston for the weekend. Jeff is doing some pre-marital "stuff" with his cousin, Andy, who's getting married on April 4. I wish that the weather were going to be better, but it's still Charleston!

Wednesdays

2009-03-11T14:29:00.002-04:00

Today is Wednesday and, like most Wednesdays, it's going to be a busy day. The children have Swim-n-Gym at the YMCA on Wednesdays. They are gone from 11:30-1:30, Andrew takes a nap, and mama gets 2 hours of PEACE! At the Y, they do an hour of Swim lessons and an hour of Gym (each week, they work on different skill/sports). At 5:00, we meet Jeff at Bi Lo and we head to Simpsonville. It's about an hour drive (and hopefully a drive we won't have to make much longer). Jeff helps teach a group of boys in Wired (the middle school ministry) and I help with "crowd control", making sure that all of the kids get to (and stay) where they need to be. I enjoy Wednesdays, because it gives us an hour there (and back) where we all have time to talk... and we eat Chick-fil-A, which is always a good thing.

Movies

2009-03-10T09:17:00.002-04:00

Jeff and I watched "Baby Mama" last night. My sister has been telling us for months that we would like it. I must say that she was right. We both thought that it was a good movie. It was funny and had a good story line. Last week, we saw "Quarentine". Jeff thought it was pretty good, but I thought it was stupid. Most of the movie was so dark that I couldn't even tell what was happening. Probably, the best movie that I've seen lately is Mall Cop. Obviously, everyone else likes it too, because it's still out at the movies. Anyone have any other movie suggestions?

It's Hot...No, It's Cold...No, Its...

2009-03-09T21:11:00.002-04:00

A week after our BIG snow, it's 80 degrees! The kids were in the yard today playing in the sprinkler. It's UNREAL! I'm loving this weather and I would like...no love... for it to stay. I'm hearing, however that it's supposed to be colder this weekend. SOOO, is it gonna be hot? Is it gonna be cold? Who knows?? I guess time will tell. For now, I'm going to watch "Baby Mama" with Jeff. My sister has been telling me for months to watch it. More on that (and the weather)later...

The Best Teacher

2009-03-06T07:47:00.002-05:00

Until I was in the third grade, I went to a private school. A few months into my third grade year, my family moved and my parents decided to put me in the public school a few blocks from our house. Immediately, I could tell that the teacher was NOT happy to have a new kid in her class. I saw the same thing when I was teaching...the new kid messing up your numbers! Not only that, but the other kids had been together since kindergarten and were not very open to a "new friend". Needless to say, that was a VERY hard year for me. I grew to HATE school, because I do not have ONE happy experience from my third grade year. Then, fourth grade came. I don't really remember it as good or bad. We had Mrs. Wall who was pregnant, had her baby half way through the school year, and decided not to come back. Then, we had Mrs. Hall, who also got pregnant and seemed to stay sick the rest of the school year. Also, we had one little boy in our class who was a teacher's worst nightmare! I'm not sure that any of us learned a whole lot that year and I still did not have a love for school! During the summer between my fourth and fifth grade years, my uncle, who I was very close to, passed away after a long battle with cancer. It was a very devistating time for my family...he was my daddy's only sibling, only 33 years old, and left behind a wife and two little girls. My grandmother was never the same. After that summer, came fifth grade. I remember, like it was yesterday, the first time I walked into Mrs. Rumph's classroom. She was absolutely beautiful both inside and out. I thought that she had the prettiest blonde hair and such a sweet smile. I learned a lot of things that year, but the most important were not the academics. For me, the most important was that I had a teacher who loved me (all of us). Her attitude toward us made us have a good attitude toward each other and our class became very close. By the end of the year, we were all very good friends. I could go on and on about Mrs. Rumph, but I'll just say that she was one of the nicest people I ever knew and she was the best teacher. She gave me a love for school and, years later, was the reason that I decided to be a teacher. Someone created a group on facebook for my elementary school and it got me thinking about her. Last night, I was looking her up and I found something I never dreamed I would find...her obituary. She passed away in 2001 at the age of only 51. I don't know how she died, but it made me very sad to know that she was taken so young. I thought back to the day that I called her right after I graduated from high school to tell her that I wanted to be a teacher and to thank her for the difference she made in my life. I am so thankful now that she knew what she meant to me. I hope that teachers will always remember that you never know what your kids are going through at home and/or at school. You see these kids more in a day than their parents do and you WILL impact them. You will either impact them like my third grade teacher (which to this day, I get nausiated when I think about her), or you will impact them like Mrs. Rumph (who I will always love and remember as literally changing my life).

A Good Day

2009-03-01T18:51:00.003-05:00

On Thursday, I wrote about the beautiful spring day that we were having. The kids and I had a picnic at the park and ran around with no shoes on. WELL, tonight we are sitting here in the house with probably a couple of inches of snow on the ground! The snow has been absolutely beautiful...HUGE flakes. Although I must admit I prefer the spring weather, it's been fun, because Reagan (as far as I can remember) has not seen a snow this big and pretty. She was excited to have enough to play in. All of the kids, even Andrew, enjoyed it! As I write, the snow is still coming down outside, so the kids are hoping to have enough to play in tomorrow. This morning we had a great day at church. Perry has been doing a study on Elijah. Today was a great sermon! We have several groups of missions teams going out this summer. One group is going to Africa to help start/build a church. The pastor of the church spoke this morning about the changes that God is making in this part of Africa. It was very exciting to know that I am a part of a church supporting that! We also have some groups doing "home" missions. One group will include Jeff, Joshua, Ben, and Reagan. They will be going to North Carolina and are very excited to be going on a real life mission trip. I will be staying at home with Andrew this time, but look forward to going another time. After church, we went to the mall and ate lunch (everyone choosing a different restaurant). We didn't stay in Greenville long today, because it started sleeting. It has been a good day!

Blue and Gold

2009-02-28T13:19:00.002-05:00

In a little while, our family will be headed to the Blue and Gold Banquet. It's a banquet to honor cub scouts for their accomplishments. Ben will be moving up to 2nd year WEBELO, which is the last rank before Boy Scouts. Joshua will be participating for the first time as a Boy Scout, helping other boys "cross over". I am so proud of both boys, because it takes a lot of time and commitment to make it as far as they have in Scouting. I hope that Andrew will be good.

Spring Weather

2009-02-26T16:24:00.002-05:00

I am very picky about weather. Goldilocks liked her porridge "just right", and that's how I like my weather! Therefore, Spring and Fall are my two favorite seasons...not too hot, not too cold. Today was one of those days. The kids and I took a picnic lunch to the park and played for two hours. Andrew was ALL OVER the place. He wore me out! I called my mother when I got home and they are expecting snow today. Yuck, I want this warm weather to stay. I believe that it's supposed to get cold and rainy tomorrow, but for today, I am enjoying this spring-like weather! Hope you had a great day too!

Wilson's 5 and 10

2009-02-24T08:05:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday, Jeff took the day off and we went to Greenville to spend the day. We needed to take Joshua to get some camping "stuff" at Half Moon Outfitters. That's a neat camping store, but even neater is what's beside it. Wilson's dime store! When I was in high school, I worked at Wilson's in Belton. It was a neat place to work...I'd say it's one of the most fun jobs I've had. These stores were once owned by Jeff's best friend's family, and was where I met Jeff. Several years ago, the Belton store closed leaving only 3 (I think) Wilson's in the Greenville area. We hated to see the Belton store close, because Jeff and I had some fond memories there. Like the time they hired him to help close the store in Honea Path and because he was Dodd's friend, he was paid twice as much as I was getting paid! Fair??? I don't THINK so! Really, though, those were fun times. So, Thursday I told the kids we would take them into the "dime store". We walked in and they all looked around with their mouths just hanging open. Wilson's has EVERYTHING! From the ceiling to the middle of the floor, is STUFF. The saying has always been, "if you can't find it, go to Wilson's". That's true. You literally have to shovel your way through the store. Joshua said "They have everything in here". Reagan said "I love this store...may we come back?" If you have a list of the top 100 things you want to do before you die, you MUST go to Wilson's. Your children will LOVE all of the toys...some of which were there when we were children! Just a "side note"...Andrew's middle name, Wilson, came from 3 places. Wilson's Dime Store, my grandfather Joseph Wilson Welborn, and Ronald Wilson Reagan (because it wasn't enough to have ONE child named after him!).

Together Again

2009-02-22T18:41:00.002-05:00

Well, our family made it home safe and sound. Ben, Reagan, and Jeff had a GREAT time in Columbia. Jeff enjoyed taking them around the campus and showing them where our dorms were and where we enjoyed "hanging out". They even ate lunch on campus. Reagan had macaroni and scrambled eggs...what's up with that!? Andrew and I had a good afternoon in Belton and got some things accomplished. Joshua made it back this afternoon from his hike. He had fun, stayed warm, and came back SORE. His shoulders are hurting him from carrying the heavy backpack for 15 miles. Hopefully, he will recover soon. Jeff took Ben to church this afternoon for a kid's Bible study/training session. Ben is going to start helping with the lights/sounds at church. He's very excited and we are excited for him. Now we are getting ready to eat Zaxby's take out and watch a movie together. I'm glad to have everyone home!

Spread Thin

2009-02-21T06:57:00.002-05:00

Today is one of those days that our family is "spread thin"! At 6:00 this morning Jeff, Ben, and Reagan headed to Columbia for Scout Day at USC. Ben filled up a popcorn order form and earned the trip today. They will go and spend the day with some of the players and coaches and will get to tour Williams-Brice. I'm jealous, because when I was a kid my family was good friends with some of the coaches and we had the opportunity several times to tour the locker room, stadium, and meet the players. Jeff laughs at me because I still think it's neat that we ate lunch at "The Roost" with the players a couple of times. Anyway, I couldn't go with them today because Joshua is going on a 15 mile overnight hike with the Boy Scouts. I have to be here to take him at 8:00. This will be the first time that he has hiked with a huge "hiking" backpack on. It's a little heavy and awkward, so I'm a little nervous about it. Also, I'm hoping that he stays warm tonight! Later this afternoon, Andrew and I have to drive to Belton to take care of some things with my grandmother's house. It's rare that I get to spend time alone with Andrew, so I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a busy weekend!!

Lessons from Little House

2009-02-12T13:46:00.002-05:00

I am a HUGE "Little House on the Prairie" fan. When Joshua was born and I quit "working", I would schedule his naptime around the show. My life is a lot busier now than it was then, so I no longer get the opportunity to watch it. These days, when my TV is on, it's on Hannah Montana, Spongebob, or iCarly. Today, however, Reagan was in the bed sick with a "stomach bug", the boys were playing on the computer, and Andrew took a nice long nap. SOOOO, you guessed it...I watched "Little House"! It just happened to be one of my favorite episodes. Pa Ingalls has made a deal with a man in town that he would do a job for him. If he had not completed the job by a certain date and time, the man would take his oxen. Well, Pa fell out of a tree trying to get a kite down and broke some ribs, so he couldn't do the job. If the man got his oxen, he would not be able to plow his fields and plant his crops, which the family relied on. When the men in the town found out, they all gathered together and went to do the job for Pa, so that he would not lose everything. I started wondering, did people really do things like that for each other back then? Do people do things like that for each other today?? At the end of the show, "half pint" said that Pa had grown something in the town that he never knew he had planted...FRIENDSHIP. That is a great lesson we could all learn from "Little House on the Prairie"! May we all be/have friends like that!

It Backfired on Me!!

2009-02-09T13:30:00.002-05:00

Over that last couple of months, I have felt that God has wanted me to do some things with the kids to draw them closer to Him and to each other. Overall, the kids get along pretty well, but they still do not have the type of relationship that I would like. We are at a good "slow down" point with school, so I decided that this was the week. My goal is to go through the book of Proverbs and to talk through the book "Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends". We read through the first 2 chapters of Proverbs, had some good discussion on Wisdom. They even had to write some thoughts in their journals about wisdom. Then, we talked about ways that siblings can/should be closer. When we finished everything, we went outside to play. We weren't out there 5 minutes when Joshua and Ben were on the ground, rolling, hitting, yelling, etc. Talk about a backfire!!! I guess that it's bothering Satan pretty badly that I'm trying to teach my children to love each other and to be best friends. Either that, or I did a TERRIBLE job with the lesson this morning! Parenting has got to be the hardest job in the world...anyone out there agree?

Reagan and Jesus

2009-02-05T17:06:00.003-05:00

As you know, Reagan is the 3rd child and the only girl. Any of you who have boys and girls know that they are soooo different. There are good and bad attributes of each...ie: the boys play too rough and Reagan sure does whine a lot! Although both boys have asked Jesus into their hearts, it seems to me that Reagan looks at Jesus a little different. I can't explain it, except to say that she seems to ask more questions like she really wants to get to KNOW all about Him. I guess that, as I think about it, girls do seem to want deeper, more intimate relationships with other people. For example, when we would go to the nursing home, the boys would say hello to anyone that spoke to them, but Reagan would tell them ALL about herself and then she would give them hugs before we left. She just has such a sweet, giving heart. She wanted to go with me to the funeral home last night and Mrs. Stewart's daughter kissed her on the head and said "Thank you for helping take care of my mama". I told her that Reagan said she guessed that Grandmama was helping Mrs. Stewart in Heaven. Reagan is a caretaker! She helps a lot with Andrew and even calls herself his "other mama". She has always loved going to church. She's always loved to pray outloud. She will ask you a million questions about Jesus. and her understanding of Him seems to be more mature than when the boys were her age. Anyway, Monday morning, I was sitting with her working on Math and, out of the blue, she said "Mama, can I pray?". I said yes, having no idea what she was going to pray about. We closed our eyes and she said "Dear Jesus, Help me to do good in school and Please come and live in my heart. Amen" It was so sweet and so sincere. I, of course, put Math to the side and talked to her about her prayer. I must admit that I wondered if she is too young to understand, but I know to leave that in God's hands. After we talked some more, we prayed again. As the week has gone by, she has talked about Jesus living in her heart and how she feels Him helping her to obey and do what is right. My little girl...she has a special place my heart, and now Jesus has a special place in hers!

Mrs. Stewart

2009-02-03T13:36:00.004-05:00

Mrs. Wyba Stewart was grandmama's roommate at NHC. She was in her late 90's and I just found out that she passed away sometime in the night last night. When grandmama went into NHC last February, we were a little nervous about what kind of roommate she would have, but God blessed her with Mrs. Stewart. I never saw Mrs. Stewart walk, because she was confined to her chair. She was never able to carry on a full conversation with me, although when I walked in with the kids she would always say something like "Hello baby, you are so sweet". It's funny how she didn't NEED to say much for me to understand that she loved kids. Many times, we would walk into the room to find her crying. She would almost instantly stop when the kids walked into the room. Reagan hugged and loved on her just like she did grandmama. Proverbs 31:28 says that "Her children rise and bless her". Mrs. Stewart's 2 children definately did that. They took turns EVERYDAY going in to feed their mama. Some days she would eat, some days she wouldn't. Again, I could tell what kind of woman Mrs. Stewart was by the way her children took care of her. A lot of people are placed in a nursing home and never thought about again...not Mrs. Stewart. She even had a cousin who came to visit her most days. Grandmama and Mrs. Stewart seemed to both take a turn for the worse about the same time. One day I was talking to her cousin and he was telling me about some fond memories he had of Mrs. Stewart. I could tell from all that he told me (and from what her children shared with me) that she was indeed a special lady. I deeply appreciated how her family would take time to talk to grandmama (they helped us sing happy birthday on grandmama's birthday). Her children even came to grandmama's funeral, and that meant a lot to our family. Mrs. Stewart never had to say anything or do anything to prove what kind of person she was. It just shined through in her and in her family. This world has lost 2 lovely ladies over the last couple of months, but heaven has gained them. I know that her family will miss her as much as we miss grandmama, but I also know that Mrs. Stewart is healed now. I know that she walks, talks, eats, and I can just imagine her and grandmama playing with the children. It got me thinking...If we could never say a word to anyone, would they still see Jesus in us? What would those who know us have to say about us? Something to think about!

Homeschooling with Sponge Bob and Other "Things"

2009-01-29T21:43:00.002-05:00

Today in school, Reagan and I were looking at a map of the United States. Immediately, she pointed to a state and said "THAT'S TEXAS"! Of course, I'm thinking "she's so smart"; "I'm such a good teacher" (haha). We've talked about Texas lately and how President Bush would be going back to live there, but I don't think I had ever shown her where it was on a map. I went with it, and asked very confidently "Who lives in Texas?" She answered, very confidently "Spongebob's friend, Sandy". Who says Spongebob is not educational???? Later in the day, I had to drive to Belton and I invited Reagan to ride with me. We went by my sister's house to do something for the Realtor who is going to be selling it. That made Reagan miss Ansley, my sister's little girl. She then wanted to ride by grandmama's house, so we did that and went in for a few minutes. That made her miss grandmama, so we had to go to the cemetary to "see" her. Sounds like If You Give a Moose a Muffin, doesn't it. After that, she had at least a MILLION questions...one of which was "Why did Jesus take grandmama; I wanted to keep her"! At times, our conversation got DEEP and there were times that I just did not know what to say. I could tell that, between missing Ansley and grandmama, Reagan was very sad and her mind was racing. Heck, MY mind was racing! We decided that we would go to dinner together...just the two of us. We went to Applebees. Although we try, it's hard to find time to spend one on one with the kids. I could tell that it meant a lot to her to spend the afternoon together. It meant a lot to me, as well. She's such a sweet, caring, funny little girl...one with A LOT of questions! God has truly used grandmama to bring me closer to my daughter. I love her so much...million questions and all! P.S. We also went by to visit mimi and papa, but no one was at home...where were ya'll????

Music

2009-01-27T08:16:00.004-05:00

I have loved music for as long as I can remember. My parents were married when my dad was 18 and my mom was 17. One year and 3 days later, I came along. My parents literally grew up at the same time that I did. They both love music too, and being young, they always listened to the "cool" stuff. I like all kinds of music, although I now listen mostly to Christian music. Jeff and I love 80's music, of course, and we often talk about how funny a song can bring back a memory. I can hear a song and remember what grade I was in, a certain place, or a certain person. I guess I would say that I have never really gotten into country music a lot (although I'm starting to like Kenny Chesney's music... and who would have thought that Hootie would be singing country)...anyway, for some reason I was thinking about the song by Garth Brooks that says "sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers". I have felt that way a lot lately. I am so thankful that God is in control and I am not. I'm thankful that when I want to go in one direction and God wants me to go in another that He lovingly pulls me to where I need to be. Things don't always go the way that we think they will (or should), but later on we find that it was for the best. The life of our family is taking a COMPLETELY different path than we would have thought a year or two ago. We are praying about doing things that many people would consider pretty radical/crazy. God is blessing us in so many ways. I see doors opening that I never thought of. I am truly thanking God for "unanswered" prayers. It's not that He didn't answer, it's just that He said "I have plans for you... better than you could ever plan for yourself". Things have not gone the way I would have liked for them to have gone lately, but I am now seeing God at work in our lives. He's in charge and I'm taking my eyes off of other things and putting my eyes on Him! Speaking of songs, let me encourage you to listen to the words of this song... www.nataliegrant.com/2008/07/14/I-will-not-be-moved-video/. Great Song!

To My Friends

2009-01-22T16:12:00.003-05:00

I won't say that I made any "New Year's Resolutions" (who sticks to those anyway, right), but I do have several things that I would like to see happen in my life (or the life of my family) during 2009. One thing that I've decided that I need to do is to reconnect with "old" friends, and I'm off to a pretty good start. Over Christmas, we were able to spend a day with some of our best friends from seminary, Thayer and Amy (and their 4 beautiful girls). It couldn't have come at a better time, as I struggled through Christmas and the new year in desperate need of being with family and friends. There are just those people who, even though you may not see them as often as you would like, are there when you need them. That was Amy (and her parents) and Thayer! We hope to go visit them in North Carolina in Feb. or March. Today, I went to Anderson and met a friend, Michelle, for lunch. We used to go to church together many years ago...pre-seminary, pre-kids. There was a group of us who were very close, and Michelle and I had fun sharing memories that we have and getting "caught up". I hope that we can do it again soon. I've also enjoyed getting caught up with some friends on Facebook. One of my best friends from high school, Melissa, actually has a child in COLLEGE at Clemson. Am I really old enough to have a child in college??? I don't know, I think she just passed me in age at some point! Anyway, her daughter is absolutely beautiful and I'm glad I've been able to see pictures of her sweet family. I was talking to my dad on the phone the other day and he said "you'll find as you get older that you have FEW friends and MANY aquaintances". I think that I'm already realizing that and I'm understanding more and more that I need to cherish those real friendships. Even though I may not see some of them often, I am going to try to see them more and let them know how much they mean to me. The friends that I see more often, I am going to make an effort to not take them for granted. So, to all my friends, thanks for your friendship! I appreciate and love each and every one of you!

Things I Love About Brookwood...

2009-01-18T19:51:00.002-05:00

I won't go into specifics...if I wanted to, it would take all day...but I went to church this morning with a VERY heavy heart. I've tried since Wednesday to find an excuse to not go. "Andrew has been sick and it IS cold outside today", I thought. "I sure would like, no LOVE, to get that wallpaper down once and for all!", I told myself. Since the day that I became a Christian (almost 20 years ago), it has been very rare that I have gone through periods where I just DID NOT want to go to church. I hate feeling that way, but that's just how I felt! The weird thing is that I have seen God in my life in such dramatic and real ways over the past few months. He has made His presence known to me sooo clearly, in so many ways lately. Well, let's just say that today was no exception. I reluctantly got up, got ready, and went to Brookwood with the family. Again, I won't go into specifics, but on the way to Simpsonville Jeff and I had a discussion about something and within the first 5 minutes of worship, it was as if God had begun to confirm our discussion and Jeff looked at me and said "You see, there you go". The sermon this morning was on Contentment, and I was reminded of MANY things that I needed to hear. I KNEW that I needed to be there, if no one else did. After church, we signed our family up for a Mission Trip in North Carolina this summer Even Reagan will get to go and help! Ben signed up to help somewhere in the church...they allow kids to start helping in different areas of the church when they are in 3rd grade, and I love it! Ben came running up to me EXCITED to sign up to help. We finished our day by going to a New Members class, which I had forgotten about until we got there. By the end of the day, I was reminded of how, even in our deepest darkest moments, God continues to be there, to love us, and to speak to us...if we will only listen. Even when others let us down or we simply loose our contentment, Go loves us and calls us His own! Thank you, God, for speaking to me in so many ways today!

Alzheimer's Association

2009-01-15T09:13:00.003-05:00

I have set up a fund in memory of my grandmother, Louise Burden Holliday, to help raise money for Alzheimer's Disease. As a caretaker of my grandmother for 5+ years, I can tell you from personal experience that this disease is terrible...it's heartbreaking to watch your loved one slowly fade away, and yet, still be alive. Please consider giving to this fund in memory of grandmama and for the sake of the countless other families who are caring for their loved ones and losing them more and more each day. My goal is to raise at least $500 for the Alzheimer's Association and you can go to http://act.alz.org/goto/louise.holliday to give. Thank you so much for giving to such a worthy cause!

Sick Baby

2009-01-12T19:55:00.002-05:00

I had to take Andrew to the Dr. this morning. He has an ear infection and had to have a breathing treatment because he was weezing. It's almost impossible to get a 16 month old to sit still for a breathing treatment! All of this, on top of the fact that he has several teeth cutting through. It was not a fun day. I hope that he feels better tomorrow. I hate for any of my children to be sick. Jeff and I worked on taking down wallpaper in 2 bedrooms and a hall this weekend. THAT was FUN!! We still are not finished. Hopefully, we will finish next weekend and then we will be able to fix, prime, and paint the walls. It's going to take awhile, but it will look good when we are finished. Wonder what the rest of the week holds?

Home Alone...And Sick!!

2009-01-06T18:55:00.002-05:00

Here I sit at home ALL ALONE. That VERY rarely happens. I usually have AT LEAST 1 or 2 of the kids with me, but Jeff has taken them out to get ice cream. I'm sick with a stomach "bug", so I decided to stay at home. Tomorrow is Ben's 10 year birthday, and Jeff started the festivities off early with ice cream. Tomorrow, Jeff will be off and we are taking the kids to Irmo so that they can cook at Young Chef's Academy for Ben's big day. He has said since he was about 3 years old (and was helping me make "pan-a-cakes") that he wanted to be a Baker. Now that he's older, he says a Chef like Emeril. It's funny how that has never changed...he might say a Chef and _________, but Chef is always in the mix. We had some of the kids' friends over a few days after Christmas, so we decided to do Young Chefs as a family. I believe that they are going to make homemade pizza and spaghetti from scratch, as well as homemade strawberry ice cream. Sounds like a lot of fun! I cannot believe that he is already 10. When he was born, Jeff was in Seminary and we lived in a tiny apartment on campus (I believe it was about 700 square feet), so for the first part of his little life, he slept in a bassinet in the living room. I can remember it like it was yesterday. He was such a sweet baby from day 1. He did everything by the book! He's still, most of the time, a very sweet and calm little boy. He's pretty patient and caring, too. He loves to carry Andrew around the house upside down (hope grandmothers are not reading this), he likes to watch college football (especially the gamecocks and the gators), and he enjoys computer games and the Wii. Of course, he likes to help me cook (when I cook). I'm looking forward to the day that I have my own personal Chef!! Hopefully, I will feel better tomorrow so that I can enjoy watching the kids cook and have a good time. Happy Birthday to my sweet little Ben!

First "new thing" of the new year

2009-01-04T15:31:00.003-05:00

In my last blog I wrote about expecting new things in this new year. Today, Jeff and I made the first decision of the new year. We joined Brookwood....YEAH! www.brookwoodchurch.org. Now, we are busy trying to find our "fit". Of course, Jeff is already looking for where he can get busy with the children. I think that God has placed the middle schoolers (better know as "Wired") on my heart. We are excited to see where He puts us to work. Looking forward to a GREAT year at Brookwood!

Good Bye, 2008

2009-01-03T16:08:00.002-05:00

The words "Good Bye" seem to be our common thread throughout 2008. In February, grandmama had a stroke and left our house to go to NHC. She had lived with our family for about 5 years, so that was a hard "good bye" for our family. Around the same time, Jeff quit his part time job at the church to spend more time with the boys in scouting. So that was a "good bye" to a job he had enjoyed for about 6 years and to the only church our children could remember being a part of. 2008 was my first full year with my mama, sister and her family living in Alaska. Joshua said "good bye" to his elementary years, and Andrew (our last baby) left his first year of life walking and talking and getting into EVERYTHING. Ben said "farewell" to 3rd grade and Reagan left Kindergarten for good. It has become increasingly clear to me that we cannot stop the passing of time. My children just keep getting older (as do I)!! We ended 2008 saying our "good byes" to grandmama as she left us here on Earth and went to Heaven. Now, here we are in 2009! I know that our family is getting ready to say "hello" to some new things...new relationships (as well as getting together more with some "old" friends), a new church (Brookwood), visiting some new places (possible family mission trip this summer and Hawaii in the fall), and new braces for Joshua. Who knows what God has in store for our family this year? I pray for our family to be healthy and in God's will. I pray that God will begin to use each member of our family in a special way. I pray that we will draw closer to one another, like never before. Hopefully, my last "good bye" (at least for a while) will be to the year 2008. Looking forward to 2009 with great expectancy!

Christmas

2008-12-26T03:59:00.002-05:00

Well, it's 4:00 AM on the morning after Christmas. Of course, for me, Christmas was very hard, but the kids had a lot of fun. Santa brought all 3 an M3P player and cases for the Nintendo DS that mimi and papa bought them. Ben got a new bike, Joshua got an airsoft gun (after much discussion over whether he needed one or not), and Reagan got High School Musical dolls, in addition to other things. Andrew got some cool toys and a "Coupe" to ride around in. We went yesterday afternoon to a movie and last night, we went to eat Chinese with Jeff's mama and daddy. I felt like the family in "A Christmas Story" when they had to go eat Chinese. It was fun and helped me keep my mind off of grandmama some. I slept for a few hours and then woke up with things that I want said at grandmama's funeral running through my head. I thought that if I didn't get up and write it as I was thinking about it, I would forget. So, I've been awake since about 1:00. Today at 10, we are going to see grandmama for the first time. I am very nervous about it...not sure what my reaction will be. I hope to be able to read what I've written about her myself, but not quite sure about that either! We'll see. The funeral will be Saturday at 11. This is a day that I have dreaded for a long time. It's so hard because I know that she's much better off, but I am still having a hard time letting go. I know that it will come with time, just as it did with my papa. Luckily, I have 4 kids who will keep me VERY busy! You know, there's not many people who can say that they had their grandmother until they were 3__ something, so I am very thankful that God gave her to us for so long. I am also thankful that she did not have to live in the condition that she had gotten in but a couple of weeks. It could have been A LOT worse. As usual, through it all (even my deep sadness), I see God's hand at work so clearly. I see His love, His graciousness, and His mercy. I know that He (and my family and friends) will get me through this. Hope that you all had a great Christmas!

Missing Grandmama

2008-12-24T03:37:00.002-05:00

Well, it's 3:40 on the morning of Christmas Eve and I'm awake because my grandmama passed away at 10:55 p.m. Anyone who reads my blog or knows me at all, knows how special my grandmama was to me. She was one of the sweetest people I've ever known. I took Reagan to see her at 3:30 this afternoon and I knew that she was not going to live much longer. Still, I don't think that there is any way to be "prepared" when you lose someone that you love sooooo much. It is UNREAL how much I already miss her. My life will definately never be the same. I know that her body is now healed from the alzheimers and that she will be spending Christmas with Jesus and the ones who have gone before her (her parents, her son, my papa). I want to thank Jeff for allowing her to come into our home for 5 years. He helped me with her baths, feedings, etc., etc., etc. I know that there are not many men who would do all that he did for MY grandmama. I want to say thank you to Jeff's co-workers at Home Health for allowing Jeff to help me when he needed to "run home" or meet me at the hospital. Also, to my friends who have helped with the kids when I needed it and to NHC for taking such great care of grandmama since February. I'm also thankful that Alaska is 4 hours behind us and that I have been able to talk to my mama on the phone, even as I write this blog. Well, I guess I had better try to go and get some sleep. It's going to be a hard (and busy) next few days. Missing grandmama....

It's Beginning to look A LOT like Christmas!!

2008-12-21T20:01:00.003-05:00

This has been a very busy...but fun weekend. On Saturday, we went to my dad's for lunch. "Santa" came to visit the kids, my daddy took them on a hay ride, and of course, we ate. At 3:30, we met some of Jeff's family and all 19 of us went to Newspring. As usual, it was a very good service and one that, no doubt, spoke to everyone's heart (it was a powerful message on salvation). Then we went to Jeff's aunt and uncle's house. We exchanged gifts and, of course, we ate...again! This morning, our family got up and drove to Simpsonville to go to church at Brookwood. Once again, a very good message. After church, we ate lunch at the mall and we literally shopped till we dropped. The kids are getting a lot of clothes for Christmas this year and we found lots of good deals. We went to Toys R Us, Target, & Barnes and Noble, in addition to EVERY store in the Haywood Mall. Tonight, before we headed back to Greenwood, we ate supper at Fuddruckers...YUM! Tomorrow, Jeff goes back to work and things will slow down until Wednesday. On Wednesday, we are going to Jeff's mama and daddy's to exchange gifts and then we are going to the Christmas Eve service at Brookwood. On Christmas day, we stay at home! Still missing my mama and sister and sad about knowing that this will be my last Christmas with grandmama. Cherishing the memories that I will always of her, as well as the memories that we are making with our children. Hope that you are enjoying making memories with your family.

Growing Up

2008-12-19T13:51:00.002-05:00

Today the kids and I went out and ran some errands. I finally got my Christmas cards in the mail, as well as my mom's present. We also mailed out 10 invitations to some of the kids' friends for a Christmas party/sleepover after Christmas...I MUST be crazy! We are going to take them all to play Lazer Tag. Then, we went to see grandmama for a few minutes. She's not eating/drinking and pretty much is sleeping all of the time, so we go in and just look at her. Everytime that I see her, I wonder if it's the last time. I do take comfort in knowing that she is not in pain and will be in a better place, free from alzheimers. After NHC, we went to the Dollar Tree to get a few things. Reagan wanted a pair of the little plastic high heel shoes that all little girls MUST HAVE. I tried to talk her out of them, because she has had at least 50 pair in her lifetime. She eventually talked me into them. When we got in the car and she put them on, her heel hung about 2 inches off of the back of the shoe. It was funny and sad at the same time...she looked hilarious trying to MAKE them fit (it reminded me of the sisters in Cinderella), and it was sad because I now have no doubt that my little girl is GROWING UP!!

This Christmas Season I'm....

2008-12-15T08:07:00.002-05:00

Do you ever wake up in the morning (or middle of the night) with a million things running through you mind? I woke up like that this morning. With the Christmas season here (I still cannot believe how quickly it came), I'm sure that many of us are making lists, checking them twice and trying to figure out how we will get it all done. I'm sure that we are reflecting on things that have gone on in our lives this past year...things that we are thankful for and things that we could have lived without. Here are some of my thoughts over the past year, in no particular order...

~Do I REALLY have a MIDDLE schooler?
~Do I REALLY have a baby?
~I HATE alzheimers disease!
~I LOVE my grandmama
~I MISS my mama/sister & her family
~I LOVE being the mama to 4 wonderful children
~I HOPED that John McCain would be our next president, but vowed to pray for Pres. Obama
~I HATE to see people not getting along
~I'm THANKFUL for TRUE friends
~Reagan is a GREAT reader and LOVES Math
~Andrew is walking and talking (and getting into EVERYTHING)
~Ben and Reagan did a GREAT job in "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"!
~Joshua is on his way to reaching his goal of EAGLE scout
~I'm PRAYING that everyone in our family feels better soon
~I'm HOPING to get Christmas cards mailed out SOON!
~I'm THANKFUL for Jeff's job
~I'm HAPPY that there's a Brookwood Church and we found it!
~Did we REALLY eat out for Thanksgiving?
~Do we REALLY have 2 parties this Saturday?
~Did we REALLY go to see NKOTB?
~When am I going to FINISH my Christmas shopping?
~MOST OF ALL, I'm GREATFUL that God sent His Son to the manger. He became a man, to die on a cross so that our sins could be taken away. Of ALL the gifts that we could receive this Christmas, that is BY FAR the best gift of all...Jesus. I'm THANKFUL that he's with us through the good times and the bad and that He always LOVES us...no matter what!

What are YOU thinking about this Christmas season?

3 Down...4 to go

2008-12-11T20:55:00.002-05:00

Today Reagan and Ben were in 3 plays at the Community Theatre. They did a 9:30 show and a 12:30 show for school kids this morning. Tonight they did a 7:00 show for the community. I am so proud of all of the children...all 75+ of them. They are all great kids and have worked really hard. Reagan and Ben have had a blast and have made several new friends. Bess Parks is wonderful with the children and has more patience than anyone I've ever seen. We have read the book "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" and loved the story. The play is very funny, too. It was a long day today...and will be a long weekend (4 more plays to go), but it has been a lot of fun!

It's Official

2008-12-07T11:17:00.002-05:00

Andrew is 14 months and is an OFFICIAL walker. He is even trying to RUN...that's a boy for you!! This morning, he was trying to CLIMB onto the couch. He's also getting 4 new teeth, which has been a lot of fun for both of us. Speaking of teeth, Reagan lost her first tooth while my mama and sister were here visiting. She was very excited about the visit from the tooth fairy. Ben and Reagan are going to be in the Christmas parade today. I sure hope that it warms up some before 1:30!! Couldn't we have the parade in Hawaii? I would be glad to get them there!

Something to see

2008-12-06T20:53:00.002-05:00

I wanted to recommend something to all of you mothers out there. I think that you will find encouragement in this. If you haven't already seen this, you need to go to YouTube and watch Nicole Johnson's "Invisible Woman". It was recommended to me by my cousin, Julie and I liked it so much I wanted to share it with you. Let me know what you think!!

The List Could Go On...And On...And On...

2008-12-05T19:49:00.002-05:00

Tonight about 7:00, Jeff took the older boys camping with Ben's cub scout troop. They will camp out tonight and when they thaw out in the morning, they will help decorate the float for the Christmas parade on Sunday. Be sure you look for Pack 270's float...it's usually very good. Tomorrow afternoon from 1 to 6, Ben and Reagan have play practice for the "Best Christmas Pageant Ever". I was up at 6 am today making Reagan's angel costume. I am not very "crafty"...my mother and sister took all the crafty gene...so it took me a while. I must say that it turned out pretty cute, though. The play is next weekend at the community theatre and I'm sure it is one you will not want to miss. Tomorrow about 4:30, Jeff and Joshua are going to spend the night in Greenville at a place called "Rocks and Ropes" with Boy Scouts. Joshua went last year and had a great time. Jeff is excited that he gets to go this year. On Sunday, they should get back just in time for the Christmas parade. Reagan will be in it with dance and Ben with cub scouts. Joshua actually gets to watch this year. In the middle of all of this, grandmama is back in the hospital, not doing well at all. We were in the ER for about 5 hours yesterday. I "dog sat" today for my dad who came to visit her in the hospital and now I'm watching Jackson and Reagan play the Wii. Jackson is my cousin, Julie's little boy. Julie has gone to see grandmama. Jackson is 6 months older than Reagan and lives in North Carolina. We don't get to see them often, but Reagan always loves to see him. Now we're getting ready to watch Drake and Josh Christmas. Andrew is getting 2 teeth and has NOT been happy for 2 days. He is now walking more than he's crawling. He is SOOOO cute walking around. I'm sure that my list could go on and on of things that we have going on this weeend, but I'll stop for now. I'm sure that there's SOMETHING that needs to be done right now!! Have a great weekend.

"He got the BLACK ones"

2008-12-02T20:25:00.002-05:00

The other night it somehow worked out that the only child I had was Joshua. I can't remember where Jeff had the others, but Joshua and I decided to do a little shopping. We decided to go into Rack Room and look at shoes. Both boys needed some new ones. When we got in the store, Joshua's eyes instantly went toward a pair of black tennis shoes. Don't ask me why, but I have never liked black tennis shoes and so I asked him if there was another pair that he liked. He was very sweet and picked out his second choice. We got those and we picked Ben out a pair (he's not as picky as Joshua is yet). When we got home, Ben tried on his pair and he didn't like the way they fit so I asked Jeff to take him back to the store to try on some others while I got Andrew ready for bed. Do you see where this is going???? Yeah!! About 30 minutes later, Ben came through the door with a HUGE smile on his face, jerked open the box and all I heard was "He got the BLACK ones!!!" The same, exact ones that Joshua had wanted an hour before. I waited a few minutes to see how Joshua handled the situation and, lucky for me, he is a very sweet boy and said, "that's o.k....I like the ones that I got, too". I can only imagine how this story would have ended if this had happened to our DRAMA QUEEN, Miss Reagan!! By the way, can you believe that it's already December? Wasn't it just January???

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

2008-12-01T21:15:00.002-05:00

In a couple of weeks, Ben and Reagan are going to be in a play at the community theatre..."The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". Our family is reading the book right now and it is very funny. If any of you are interested in coming to see the play, let me know and I will give you dates, times, etc. I think that you will be glad you came. It has almost 100 "actors" in it...mostly children. Lord, help Bess Parks!! Hope the see you there!

Impressive!! We went back to Brookwood Church in Simpsonville yesterday. When we went over to check the baby in, there was a boy about Joshua's age helping with registration. That's what I'm talking about...making even children feel that they have something to offer. The boy did a great job and took his job very seriously. Way to go, Brookwood.

To All My Clemson Friends

2008-11-30T06:33:00.002-05:00

This is to all my Clemson friends...especially Thayer and Amy. Just wanted to say "good game yesterday". I'm just wondering how U.S.C. can have Lou Holtz and now Steve Spurrier and STILL can go to the Clemson game and look like they're kids being drug to the dentist. They looked like they had NO excitement and really did not even care to be there. Maybe, there will be good deals on quarterbacks after Christmas...maybe Wal Mart or K-Mart...I don't know. HAHAHA!!

Black Friday and the Economy

2008-11-28T08:42:00.003-05:00

Why is it called "Black Friday"??? Because it's STILL pitch BLACK when everyone piles into the stores!! I have never (as far as I can remember) woke up early and gone shopping on Black Friday. But yesterday, I decided that I would brave it today. My mama said I was CRAZY!! Wal Mart had several things at good prices that Reagan was wanting for Christmas (ALL things High School Musical) and I THOUGHT because the economy is sooooo BAD that I would be one of the FEW in the store. ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? At 5:00 a.m., you literally could not move in the place. It was A LOT of hurry up and wait!! I have to wonder...between our CROWDED trip to Disney in October (which is supposed to be one of the best times to go) and my trip to Wal Mart today, is the economy REALLY so bad? I know it could be better, but do you think the media has made it worse than it actually is...just wondering? Anyway, I have completed Reagan and Ben's presents. Found some great deals at Old Navy! Joshua wants an air soft gun, so we are going to have to order it and we still have Andrew (who should be pretty easy).

This must be my week for firsts. Shopping at 5 a.m. and yesterday we went to Anderson and ate Thanksgiving dinner at Golden Corral...yes Golden Corral. The last several years, we have had everyone at our house. You know the routine...clean before everyone comes, shop, cook, cook some more and then clean when everyone leaves! This year was going to be hard on me, because my mama and sister were not here and this was the first year without grandmama being here (she's in NHC). Growing up, we always had Thanksgiving at her house. Jeff's family suggested eating out this year and I knew it would be good for me to get out of the house. And guess what...they do the cooking AND the dishes! Yeah!!! I've decided that grandma's don't cook anymore, because everyone and their grandma were at Golden Corral!! It was nice and then we went to visit Jeff's Aunt Laura and Uncle Mac. I tell you, Aunt Laura is a SAINT!! She is one of the nicest, Christian women I have ever met. It had been a long time since we have seen them, and they enjoyed seeing the kids.

So, the Christmas season is officially here. On my way to the stores this morning I heard one of my favorite Christmas songs. "Strange way to save the world", told from Joseph's point ot view. Have you ever thought about how Joseph must have felt being the earthly father of the Savior? He must have thought "Why Me?" It's really amazing to me how Jesus could have ( and deserved to) come and how he DID come. Something to think about! Hope you and your family have a GREAT Christmas season!!

Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T12:25:00.002-05:00

Like most homes with children, most days around our house are CRAZY. A good example was this morning trying to get all 4 children dressed and ready for Christmas pictures. Reagan, as usual, could not find her black shoes or red hairbow (which we had 5 minutes before). We settled for no hairbow and a pair of old black shoes. Andrew had on black pants that I did not want him crawling around in, so I put him in the exersaucer, which he HATES with a passion. He screamed for 10 minutes. By the way, he is walking some, but for some reason still prefers crawling. Ben and Joshua did o.k, except for the fact that having pictures made was NOT at the top of their list of things to do today. It used to be that all of the kids were little enough to go to bed at 7:30, which always left Jeff and me time to have some peace and quiet. Now, of course they are all older and would die if we told them to go to bed at 7:30. It's rare that they are in bed before us now. When I get up in the mornings, it's not long before Andrew is awake and ready for breakfast. So, my days of having quiet time and time to myself are long gone (and will be for a looooong time). But, the other night when I went to bed, I sat there in our quiet, dark house with the Christmas trees glowing and I couldn't help but smile. I LOVE my busy life, even though some days (like most moms), I could just drop about 5:30 in the afternoon. I am thankful that God has blessed us with 4 happy, healthy children and I am greatful to have a husband who works hard for us. One day my house will be quiet, it will be clean, and I will be able to go to bed (and get up) when I want to. I know that it will be then that I miss the noise and the toys, the running from here to there and the sound of "mama" at 7 in the morning. I already pray that God will bless our family with 3 more wonderful daughters (in laws) and another sweet son (in law), as well as lots of grandchildren. For now, though I hope that I will never take the time that I have with my 4 children for granted and that God will help me to always be thankful for all He's given Jeff and me. The Neipp family is truly blessed WAY beyond measure! Have a great Thanksgiving.

Homeless

2008-11-24T21:24:00.002-05:00

For the past several months, we have been homeless. WHAT??? I mean, we have been without a church home. As many of you know, Joshua moved up to Boy Scouts this year. The troop takes one weekend trip (at least) per month. Because I (being his mother) was not going to allow my 6th grader to go caving or white water rafting without his daddy, and because Jeff wanted to spend more time with him before he gets any older, we decided that Jeff needed to stop working at the church. Between his full time job and his church requirements, we didn't seem to have much family time. For the first few weeks, it was kind of nice. We were spending a lot of time together visiting other churches and seeing how they "do things". We have even visited a non-denominational and a Presbyterian church, as well as many Baptist churches. We have visited very large churches, smaller churches, some in town and some out of town. We have all learned a lot about different styles of worship, as well as many other things along the way. The problem that we are faced with this time is it's more than finding a church for Jeff and me...we now have children who are old enough to take their thoughts into consideration. The last time we were searching for a church home, Joshua was about 4, Ben was 3, and Reagan was not born yet. Now, we are looking at youth groups, as well as children's departments, AND nurseries (our family definately covers the whole spectrum). It's important to us (and always has been) for our family to be in a place where we can serve. That even includes our children!! We want things to be expected from them. We want them to be encouraged to grow in their relationship with Christ. Yes, that's the parent's primary job, but the church should be an extention of that. While we want them to have fun, we also want them to grow in their walk and have opportunities to serve others. After all, didn't Jesus set that example for us?? That is very important to us! SO, our dilemma...Joshua likes one church (Seacoast), Reagan likes another (Brookwood), Ben likes 2 about the same (Newspring and Brookwood), I like Brookwood, and Jeff...well, I don't know. Jeff hasn't said a whole lot about any of them. I think he's still trying to figure some things out. One thing I do know is that we are all getting tired of being "homeless". God knows where He wants our family to be, but we are having a hard time figuring that out. Hopefully soon, though, we will have a new "home" where God can use each member of our family and where we can grow in our relationship with Him and other Christians. Until then, I guess it will be the same ole question..."Where are we going to church THIS week?"

Busy, Busy!!

2008-11-22T13:54:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I have had time to blog. I enjoyed 3 weeks with my mama, sister, and my niece and nephew. They made it back to Alaska o.k. and we have missed them dearly. Since they left we have been playing "catch-up" with school. We are having a great year...all 3 kids have been working really hard. My grandmother is back in the hospital (2nd time in 2 months). She doesn't seem to be doing well at all, so I have been very busy helping care for her.

A group of us got together and made a goal of 50 shoeboxes to go to kids overseas for Christmas. We collected 64...WOW!! We had a great time getting together to fill the shoeboxes. Two weeks ago we had a good day helping serve food at the soup kitchen. The kids did a great job helping with that, too.

Now we are getting ready to go see Madagascar 2...more on that later.

Our Weekend

2008-11-10T07:16:00.002-05:00

Saturday we took Joshua and Ben to the USC/Arkansas football game. We had a great time! The gamecocks won and we had a lot of fun spending time with just the two boys. Since Reagan was not going to the game, Jeff took her on a "date" Friday night. She had a choice of Madagascar or High School Musical. She chose HSM, even though I had already taken her to see it. She loves High School Musical!! She also got to choose the restaraunt and, being her mother's daughter, she chose Mig's. She is sooo cute when she and Jeff have date nights. She went into her room and put on a dress. She fixed her hair and put in matching earings. She looked VERY sweet.

Sunday morning a group of us went to volunteer at the soup kitchen here in town. The boys did a great job and it was a good experience for them to help others. We all want to volunteer again. Now it's off to another week...hope you all have a great one.

Halloween 2008

2008-10-31T21:33:00.002-04:00

We had a great time today!! All of the kids decorated their own pumpkins, we made cookies, and we gave each of them a cup of "goodies" to get them started with their day. Reagan went to dance and had a party that she had been looking forward to for weeks. She dressed like a black cat. After dance, all of the other kids got dressed and we took some pictures. Joshua dressed like a punk rocker, Ben was a hobo, Ryan was a storm trooper, and Ansley was Hannah Montana. Reagan was Hannah Montana when we trick-or-treated at Disney World, but she wanted to be something different tonight. Ryan is sick and had to go to the Dr. today. Because he's not feeling well, we didn't stay out long. They still almost filled their buckets and had a great time just being together. We went to O'Charleys to eat supper because kids were free tonight. Now, we're home and mama and Chrissie are getting packed to leave tomorrow. We have enjoyed having them here and will miss them when they're gone!

NKOTB Part 2

2008-10-30T12:33:00.002-04:00

People are already wanting to know how the New Kids on the Block concert was last night. All I can say is WOW!! It was a packed house...filled with mostly women...mostly late twenties to late thirty somethings. Some even had on their shirts and buttons from 20 years ago! We had no idea, but Natasha Beddingfield opened for them. She was great. Then some WEIRDO performed (Lady GaGa...name says it all). AND then, NKOTB came out and the place went wild!! I lost sight because of all of the flashing cameras/lights, hearing because of the loud screams, AND voice because I was one of the ones screaming!! They were sooooo good. They still look good, dance good, and sing good. We had the best time and it brought back a lot of fun memories. It was nice, too, to have 2 1/2 hours in the car there and back to spend some QUIET time with my sister. AND yes, we even decorated our car...Joe had to remind us of how OLD we are. Thanks, Joe!! Our mama told us we had lost our minds, but what a fun way to lose them. We got home about 2:30 this morning and have been talking about it ever since. Thanks to Jeff for allowing us to go and trusting me to not run off with Jordan (HaHa!!)

We are looking forward to Joe and Cherry coming this afternoon to eat out and spend some time with us. It will be fun! In 2 days, my family goes back to Alaska. It is going to be very sad and I'm sure I will probably cry for a few days...but we are planning a vacation together next Christmas. It's going to be an awsome trip!!

NKOTB

2008-10-29T07:42:00.002-04:00

Back about 20 years ago, I was a freshman at USC and my sister was in middle school. That was the days when New Kids on the Block were so popular. When I found out that they were going to be in Columbia, I bought 3 tickets...one for myself and two for my sister and one of her friends. I took them down for the weekend and we went to the concert and then they spent the night with me in my dorm. They thought the were BIG spending the weekend in a college dorm. As many of you know, my sister is in town this week and then she will go back to Alaska on Saturday. The other night we were reading the blog of a friend who had gone to a NKOTB concert and she talked about how much fun it was. My sister and I started laughing and singing the songs. We were having sooooo much fun, that we decided to get tickets ourselves. Later today, we are heading to Duluth, GA to go to a New Kids on the Block concert. We just hope that the concert does not last TOO long or we might fall asleep (now that we are older)!!! Haha! Since she has been home, everything we've done together has been with the kids, so we think this will be something fun to do together. Thanks, Vanessa, for your blog that encouraged us to go...we are looking forward to a great time tonight!!

Our dentist appointment: 2 cavities on 1 child, 2 teeth to be pulled on another to make room for new teeth coming in, and a consult on another for braces. Please send all donations ASAP! :)

Sunday

2008-10-27T08:38:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we had a good day. We went to Greenville and met up with a friend my sister has had since they were about 6 weeks old. We all went to Newspring together and then we went to lunch. After lunch, we rushed home to finish getting ready for Andrew's first birthday party. I made his cake, so I has to finish decorating it and the kids helped my decorate the house. We had a lot of fun at the party. It was so sweet to see the older kids excited for him and helping him with his cake and presents.

Today we have dentist appointments...so it's off to Greenville again. I am really hoping for no cavities, but know that braces will be brought up. Oh well, what's another few thousand dollars invested in our children, right? Hope everyone has a great Monday!!

High School Musical 3

2008-10-24T21:15:00.002-04:00

Today I took the kids to see High School Musical 3. The boys weren't quite sure if they wanted to go (or maybe they just did not want to admit they wanted to go), but when they found out it was that or nothing, they decided to go. Reagan, of course loved it. The boys later admitted they thought it was good too. I think that it is my favorite of the 3. If you're wanting to see it, you had better get there early, because tickets were going fast today. The dances in the movie were really good. I got to thinking about how much I loved high school. I enjoyed almost everything about it and cried the day I graduated. Jeff, on the other hand, would not go back for anything...he hated it, even though he was a very good student.

Tomorrow, if the weather is nice, we are going to take the kids hiking in the mountains. We try to do this trip every year. It's a day to get away and just enjoy being together and the kids love hiking. I hope that it's warm enough to go. Have a great weekend!!

Life Aint So Bad!

2008-10-22T08:12:00.002-04:00

As I said in my last blog, Disney was AT LEAST twice as crowded this year as it was the same week last year. I thought because of the "POOR ECONOMY" that we would be the only people there!! I'm kidding about that, but as we were walking around one of the parks I got into a conversation with a man who made the comment "so THIS is a recession" to which I replied "yeah, look at ALL the people suffering"!! A couple of weeks ago Perry preached on how, even in a recession, people here in the US have NO IDEA what it means to suffer. Instead of eating out 5 times a week, we've cut back to 4. Instead of eating at Outback, we will choose something a little less expensive. We MIGHT buy Wal-Mart brand products instead of the name brands, and for Christmas this year we might spend a little less (but the kids will still get MOST of what they want). I love to hear Americans talk about how we are doing without this and that...what luxuries we're doing without...how tough times are. Sometimes we go without some of our wants, but how many times do most of us go without the things we need?? About 12 years ago, Jeff and I went on a mission trip to Venezuela. I try to remind myself often about what we saw there. Dirt floors...hammocks for beds...little food. Some of my most vivid memories are of the children. ANYTHING we gave them, they were thankful for. We gave one of the teenagers a $.30 pen and she was so proud she hung it around her neck and refused to use it because she might mess it up. We plan on taking each of our children on a trip just like that when they are old enough so that they will never complain again without the thought of people truly suffering coming to their minds. Are we really suffering, because we have "given up" something lately. I would say that we all need to look around the world and discover what true suffering is...starving children, people living on the streets or in cars, orphins, people who have lost loved ones who were fighting for our freedom, Jesus dying on the cross for you and me. The next time we begin to complain about how bad things are (how we are doing without) at our nice warm house in our nice safe little neighborhood, let's think about the ones who sleep in the cold, starving, bombs flying over their heads (the list could go on and on) and then we will realize that life aint so bad!!

Home from vacation

2008-10-21T10:11:00.002-04:00

We got in last night from our trip to Florida. We had a very good time at Disney and with my mom, sister, and her family. Disney was twice as crowded as we're used to, so we were a little bumbed about that. We're not used to actually having to wait in lines, because we have always tried to choose a time to go when it's not crowded. On the way home we stopped to visit Jeff's room mate from USC. In college, Rick was Jeff's room mate and Rick's girlfriend, Joy, was mine. We had a lot of fun and made tons of memories!! We had not seen Rick in 15 years and had lost contact with him until about a year ago. He's a Dr. in the Navy, so he's hard to keep up with. Several weeks ago he called and we were excited to find out that he and his family are living in Jacksonville. He and Joy did not get married...Rick is married to a girl named Asha from India and they have one little girl named Victoria. She's a little older than Reagan and they had a ball. I loved Asha...she was soooo sweet and so welcoming to us. We had so much fun that we spent the night with them and headed home yesterday. We had a lot of fun sharing funny stories with Asha. We are already talking about going to see them again in the spring.

Today we are going to begin doing some much needed things around the house and are possibly going to the mountains for a night on Friday. I'm hoping to FINALLY have Andrew's 1st birthday party on Sunday afternoon. Busy week ahead!!

Riding With ADD and Prayer Requests

2008-10-11T19:36:00.002-04:00

Well, this morning we left for our trip to Disney at 6:30 a.m. We FINALLY made it to Orlando about 3:00 this afternoon. Overall, the trip went very well and we are very thankful! It is now 7:40. In about 2 hours, my sister, her two children, and my mom will be boarding a plane and flying ALL NIGHT to meet us here. Their trip will be about 12 hours. Please pray for their safety and that they will stay well. My nephew got sick the last time he flew 12 hours. We will be meeting up with them tomorrow about 11:30. Also, PLEASE pray for Andrew. He was stuffy this morning and tonight we took his temp., which was 102!! We have already made a trip to Walgreens. We gave him some Tylenol hoping that will help. When we left Greenwood, grandmama was still in the hospital. I hated to leave her, but I know that she will be taken care of. She needs your prayers, too.

Now, about riding with ADD. I'm not a Dr., but it doesn't take someone with a M.D. to diagnose Jeff with ADD!! If you looked up the term in a dictionary, his picture would be RIGHT THERE...go ahead and look!! On our 8 1/2 hour trip I guess he turned the radio AT LEAST one thousand four hundred twenty-six times...AT LEAST. I would get into one song...he would turn it, we would all get into another song...he would turn it. DROVE ME CRRRRAZY!!! I finally said, "WOULD YOU PLEASE stop turning the radio!!!?" Anyone out there know what I'm talking about?

Anyway, I am in the room...Andrew is asleep...and Jeff and the other 3 are at the pool. It is actually QUIET...now THAT'S a vacation!!!

WE'RE OUT OF HERE!!

2008-10-10T08:06:00.002-04:00

Today will be a busy day. We will be cleaning the house, packing, cleaning the car, putting the ever dreaded gas in, and going to check on grandmama at the hospital. Hopefully, everything will be ready so that we can head to Florida first thing in the morning. We are all so excited! We have had this trip planned with my sister's family for a long time, but it could not have come at a better time! We are looking forward to getting away for a while. As of tomorrow, WE ARE OUT OF HERE!! YEAH!!!!! Hope everyone has a great week.

Bible Study

2008-10-09T23:00:00.002-04:00

Tonight our Bible study group completed Experiencing God. This was at least the third time that I have taken this course, and it's amazing to me how God uses it to teach me new things everytime. The first time Jeff and I took it, we ended up in Seminary for 3 1/2 years!! I am so proud of the group for sticking to this 13 week commitment. I have seen such growth in each of us. God has truly used this study to speak to us and draw us closer to Himself. I am excited to see where God leads each of us next. We are all very much aware now that God is always at work around us and that we need to join Him. I want to encourage everyone to continue to listen to what God has to say to you and follow Him. What's so exciting is we have other women who are wanting to join our next study, which will begin after Christmas. Anyone that would like to join us, just let us know...we would be glad to have you!

My Day in the E.R.

2008-10-08T21:38:00.002-04:00

My Wednesday started out just like any other today. The kids and I did their school work and at 11:30 I took them to Swim -n- Gym at the YMCA. My friend Melinda and I trade off...I pick her daughter up for the class and she brings my 3 home. I came home and put Andrew down for, what I hoped would be, a loooong nap. I was looking forward to snuggling under a blanket for a little while in the peace and quiet...complete silence. It was raining outside and a little chilly, so it just seemed like a perfect day to do that! As soon as I sat down, literally, Jeff called to tell me that grandmama was being taken to the E.R. So that Andrew could finish his nap, Jeff said that he would meet grandmama there. But, that left me making plans for the kids to be taken care of, packing a diaper bag, etc. I fed Andrew lunch when he woke up and took him to Melinda's, where the other 3 kids were...THANKS, MELINDA!!! I made it to the hospital at 2:00...sat in the E.R. until about 7:45...went up to the long awaited room to help get grandmama situated...and left the hospital about 9:00. I had not had supper, so I went to a drive-thru and brought something home. I finally finished supper about 9:30. Little did I know, until I got home, that I had missed a tornado!! WHAT A DAY!! I'm going to bed now.

Finanacial Class

2008-10-07T22:23:00.002-04:00

Today Jeff got off of work a little early and we drove to Greenville to go to a Financial Seminar hosted by Newspring. Let me encourage you to go to www.JosephSangl.com and check out his financial website. You can tell that this is TRULY a ministry to him. The class was really good and we learned a lot. I think that with the economy being as it is right now that many people are beginning to question their spending habits. If you are one of these people, you can go to Joe's website and get a lot of good information...even download forms to help you with a budget, etc. I think that you will be encouraged!!

My Brother-In-Law...and other things

2008-10-06T22:09:00.002-04:00

My brother-in-law, Daniel, just left Alaska for his second tour of duty in Iraq. The first time he went, his little girl, Ansley was a baby. She's now 5 years old and her brother Ryan is 9. Please pray for their daddy as he serves our country. It looks like he will probably be gone a little over a year. I hope that the kids and I will be able to go visit my sister and kids while he's gone.

Tonight we went to the Young Life Banquet. Young Life is a Christian organization that goes into the middle and high schools to reach the kids (young adults) for Christ. Jeff and I have supported Young Life for several years now and hope to get Joshua involved this year. As usual, the banquet was a lot of fun. The food was good too...catered by Fin-n-Filet.

Joshua did a great job tonight teaching the cub scouts how to pack for a camping trip. Ben was very proud of his big brother teaching his group. The other boys seemed to enjoy learning from a "big time" Boy Scout, too. Joshua always seems to enjoy teaching younger children. Way to go Joshua!!

Yesterday, we went to Newspring in Greenville for church. It was a great sermon on finances and tithing. Anyone who gets a chance should listen to it at www.newspring.cc. It's well worth the time. After church, we took the kids to Chuck-E-Cheeses for lunch and then hung out in Greenville. It was a good day.

Only 5 more days until vacation!! Hip-hip-hooray!!!!!! Have a great week!

My Big Girl

2008-10-04T08:27:00.003-04:00

Due to the fall weather hitting us, we had to take the children yesterday to get them some new clothes. Andrew got his first pair of shoes. He looked sooo big, but he's still trying to decide if he likes them. We took Reagan to the "little girl's" section to find that she is outgrowing the little girl stuff. I had not realized how big she had gotten until we came home and put her "big girl" clothes on her. No more "cute little girl" stuff! I also noticed the difference in boys and girls shopping. For the most part, the boys are "whatever", but Reagan is a little more picky. All of them are growing up way too fast!!

Jeff's working this morning so we'll have money for our vacation. Reagan told me one day that "daddy works so that we can go to Disney World". She doesn't even realize that there are bills to pay...just Disney World. Oh, to be a child again!! At 2, we are going to the Community Theatre to watch the play "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and are considering going to HarvestFest tonight. We have a busy, but fun day in store for the family.

Speaking of vacation...only 7 days and we will be at Disney World with my family. We are all so excited. I'm just ready to get out of Greenwood for a while! Have a great weekend.

Our Baby is 1

2008-09-29T07:51:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday, Andrew!! Today Andrew is celebrating his first birthday. It's so hard to believe that he has already been in our family that long. A year (almost to the day) before he was born, I had a miscarriage. As with anyone, that was a very hard time for me. When I learned that I was pregnant with Andrew, I learned something else too. I was told that I was considered an "older" mother. Until then, I didn't consider myself OLD, but for pregnancy anyone over 35 is. We were offered the opportunity to have some tests done to see if he was o.k. We decided not to have them done, because he was our baby and we would keep him NO MATTER WHAT. I must admit though, that the thought of him having problems stayed in the back of my mind the entire pregnancy. I remember telling Jeff "When he is born all I want you to tell me is if he is healthy." I am thankful to God everyday that everything went well and that he gave us a healthy baby boy. He has been such a joy to us. He's sweet and almost always happy. His brothers and sister think he's the best thing since sliced bread!! Of course, we think that he's beautiful...I think I can still say that about a boy whose only 1. We are going to wait and have his party in October when my mother and sister are home, but I'm sure he will get hugs and kisses all day today (as if he doesn't get that everyday). Anyway, Happy Birthday, Andrew from your OLD mama. I love you very much and am greatful everyday to have you and you brothers and sister!

Bible Study and Samaritan's Purse

2008-09-28T20:51:00.003-04:00

This week we had to change our Bible study to Sunday. First, Ben and I went to K-Mart from 2:30-3:30 to sell popcorn for the scouts. When we came home at 3:30, my Bible study group was here. This week's study was a good one. We learned that "Each member of the body needs the others to fully know God's will", therefore the church needs to love each other and be united. "Pastors, other church leaders, and members are to have such a relationship with God and the church body, that with prayer and Christ as the Head, the whole body will know and be enabled to do God's will". You know, it takes EACH and EVERY member of the body to make it function correctly. Every member should be important, should matter, and should be heard when they feel that God is speaking to them.
After Bible study, the men came and we grilled out hamburgers and ate together. Jeff did a GREAT job grilling the burgers, even though he could not have one. After we ate, all of the children played together while we sat around and talked. Before everyone went home, we watched a 10 minute video about Samaritan's Purse. This video makes me cry every year. Watching those precious little children open their shoeboxes and play with their new toys tugs at my heart every time. One little girl cried because she thought she would never get a doll...but she had one in her box. When the video was over, Reagan jumped up and yelled "let's go get the toys and send them NOW". Jeff and I went on a mission trip to Venezuela several years ago. We have seen first hand how much children of other countries appreciate even the smallest gift. We gave one of the teenagers a 30 cent pen and she wore it around her neck she loved it so much! Our goal is to get 50 boxes filled. We are planning a shoebox packing party. If anyone reading this would like to get involved, just let me know ASAP. They are due the week before Thanksgiving. Have a GREAT week!!

GAS

2008-09-27T21:40:00.002-04:00

Hope everyone has gas!! It appears that Greenwood is running out. Jeff and I decided to "fill up" both cars about 6:30...almost $100 just for the van!! I went into the same store 2 hours later and all the gas was gone. That was after riding past 2 other stores that were out. This gas thing is getting on my LAST nerve! Anyone else fed up????

Movie Night

2008-09-26T22:13:00.003-04:00

Several weeks ago, I saw a movie advertised that peeked my interest. Not only did the story line seem good, but it had one of my favorite "80's heart throbs" in it...Kirk Cameron. The movie is Fireproof. A group of us decided that we were going to go see the movie when it came out and I looked forward to it for weeks. A couple of days ago, someone brought it to my attention that the movie was not coming to our theatre. Sure enough, they were right! So, then I decided that the new Richard Gere (I can't remember it's name) movie would be a good "chick flick". It was not listed either. SOOOOO, we decided to meet at Pizza Hut, eat supper, and then decide from there. Today, the Richard Gere movie WAS listed so we went back to plan B and decided to see it. We ate and headed for the movie. As we headed over, we were going to get into our cars and SOMEONE (it could have been me) suggested walking. The rain had stopped and according to that someone, the sky was clearing off. So, we left our cars and walked. We were already running late, but we waited in line for about 15 minutes to get tickets. When we got up to order, guess what...the movie was SOLD OUT!!! Then, with a long line behind us, we had to make a last minute decision. What movie were we going to see?? The sweet girl selling the tickets recommended since we were a group of "girls", we would probably like The Women. We thought "Well, we are women and we ARE without the kids, so why not? I must say that I enjoyed the movie. It was a little different than anything I've seen, but it was still good. We had a great time. When we came out of the movie, guess what? IT WAS RAINING!!!!! We couldn't help but laugh. I love spending time with my friends!

Help! My head is spinning!!

2008-09-24T10:22:00.002-04:00

When you are a child, these are some choices you have to make...Do I want to play baseball or football? Should I wear the blue shirt or the red one? What should I tell Santa I want for Christmas??? Then, as you get older you have to decide things like...Do I like this boy/girl or that one (maybe I like both!!)? Should I go skating or to the football game on Friday night? Which car should I TRY to talk my parents into buying me??? The teenage years can bring about some pretty big choices...Should I drink that beer? Should I take those drugs? Are these the right friends that I should have? Will it be o.k. if I get home an hour late? Even then, most "kids" have parents (or some other adult) there to help them try to make wise choices and to lead them. Then, after many years of anticipation, you become an ADULT!! You can come home when you want to! You can drink that beer if you want! You can purchase any car that you like! What they don't tell you, is then there are bills to pay, jobs, and BIGGER decisions to make. Do you ever feel like your head is just spinning? Especially after you have children of your own. Not only are you then responsible for yourself, you are responsible for those lives that God has entrusted to you. I feel like my days are CONSUMED with choice after choice and/or helping the kids make right ones for themselves. It drives me crazy to be at a "crossroads" in my life and trying to make the right decisions...not for me, as much as for them! I just have to listen to God and follow Him where He leads. I have to trust Him to take care of my family. I have to pray that if Jeff and I make wrong decisions that God will take care of that too. And, we will mess up...we have in the past. Lord, just help us to always make wise decisions for our family!!

Family

2008-09-22T21:21:00.002-04:00

When I was almost 9 years old, God answered my prayers by sending me a baby. Not MY baby, of course but my very own sister. I was an only child for all of those years and my parents were satisfied with having 1. But God saw fit to send me a sibling. For the first few years, she was MY baby...THEN she grew bigger and I grew older. For years we had absolutely nothing in common. I was into boys when she was into smurfs. I was "cruising" Anderson when she was learning to ride a bike. Eventually, she moved to Hawaii and got married and Jeff and I moved to N.C. For years we lived away from each other (and it's not like you can just hop in your car and drive 3-4 hours to get to HI). In 1999, I had Ben and 3 weeks later, she had her 1st baby, Ryan. For the first time, we had something in common...the name "mama". Around 2000, Jeff and I moved to Greenwood and my sister moved to Belton. Our families became very close. We were together almost every weekend. Reagan thought that my niece, Ansley, was her sister. A couple of years ago, my mother, sister, and her family decided to move to Alaska (the same town that Sarah Palin lives in). We will see them again in about 3 weeks. We are all excited! The kids are excited about Disney World, but not as much as they are to see their cousins. Looking forward to Disney and Family!

Just Wondering

2008-09-19T21:22:00.003-04:00

Tonight I put my oldest (Jeff) and my youngest (Andrew) babies to bed and I took Joshua, Ben, and Reagan to play at the park. While I was watching the kids play, I had a lot of time to just sit and think. It's rare that I have quiet moments where I can just sit and allow my mind to wonder and think about things. As I was looking around, I noticed how the children would run around and play with everyone that they came into contact with. My boys were playing tag with several kids that they met and Reagan was playing with every girl she could find. When we got into the car she said "I played with every girl at that park!" That's a BIG deal when you are being raised with 3 brothers! I thought to myself, it's too bad that as we become adults it becomes harder to make new friends. We get into our little circle of people and make it difficult for new people to break through. I wonder why that is??? While we were at the park, I heard a kids' 2 favorite words ring out..."ICE CRRREAMMM". It just so happened that I had (after we dug up 5 pennies) $3 exactly. I remember the ice cream truck coming around when I was little. I remember the excitement that we felt going up to that truck and I love to see that excitement in my children. Then it made me wonder...why do we lose excitement over the "little things" as we grow up? I don't know. Sometimes, it would be good to be a kid again, wouldn't it?! Anyway, thought I would give you an update on Jeff. He has had a better day today, even though he still feels pretty bad. He had a slight fever earlier and a rash. The Dr. thinks it may be an allergic reaction to the pain medicine, so he can no longer take it. That's probably not good for Jeff! Continue to pray for us. I feel like if we can make it through the weekend, he will be doing much better. BTW...Ben and I will be at BI LO in the morning at 10 selling popcorn. Hopefully, we will sell lots of popcorn!!

Three Things...

2008-09-18T19:54:00.002-04:00

Number 1: All of you wives out there will understand...PLEASE pray for me, as well as Jeff, as he recovers. He is feeling A LOT worse than he thought he would. His patience level is ZERO!! Hopefully, he will feel better tomorrow. Thanks again, to those of you who have called to check on us.

Number 2: Has anyone out there seen my $50.05 gas????? It's missing and I'm wondering where it went!!!

Number 3: Whatever happened to people who bought things from kids whether they needed it or not??? We went to about 50 houses today trying to sell popcorn for Boy Scouts and sold 11 boxes. Maybe THAT'S where some of my gas went...HUMMMM!!!

Jeff's Surgery

2008-09-17T18:45:00.002-04:00

This morning Jeff and I arose at 5:00 a.m. I did not sleep well last night, anyway, so it was one of those times when you say "I might as well get up". I was not TOO worried about Jeff's surgery until his roommate from USC called on Monday night. He's a Dr. and was nice enough to remind me that any surgery is risky when anesthesia is involved. It was then that all of the worst cast possibilities went through my mind! Jeff's mama and daddy came to stay with the kids while I was at the hospital. They took Jeff back at 7:30 and had him "knocked out" by 8:00. The surgery lasted a little of 1 1/2 hours, which seemed like an eternity when you're sitting in a waiting room surrounded by people you don't know. Luckily, there was a nice man sitting beside me who was a talker! Then, Jeff was in recovery until about 10:30. I was glad to see him when they brought him back to the room. Overall, he's doing very well. Of course, he's hurting some, but he was up walking around before we left the hospital. I took the kids to see him at 4:30. They then proceeded to talk me into eating in the cafeteria. When you are a homeschooler, you miss out on some of the luxuries of the world, such as cafeteria food. The problem is trying to push a stroller around AND help 3 other kids get their trays made. All of that was after walking from station to station for 10 minutes trying to figure out what everyone wanted. It would have been much easier to go to a place where we could sit down and order off of a menu, but like most mothers, sometimes I like a challenge!! The chicken tenders were actually good and we all lived to tell about the experience. I want to say that I really appreciate people who have called, e-mailed, etc. to check on Jeff. Most of all, we appreciate your prayers. I'm sure the next few days, maybe even weeks, will be hard. To get Jeff's perspective, visit his blog at www.jeffneipp.blogspot.com.

$50.05

2008-09-14T20:33:00.002-04:00

$50.05...THAT is what I just paid for a 1/2 tank of gas...a 1/2 tank!! This was after going to two other gas stations who were completely out of gas. Hopefully, this will not last long.

On a good note...we made Disney reservations today. We are going to meet my mother, sister, and her children in Florida on Oct. 12. We are all going to spend a week at Disney together. I have not seen my sister in about 2 years. She has never met Andrew. We are all so excited. The girls, Reagan and Ansley, are going to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique on the 13th to get a makeover. They are both going to be Hannah Montana (probably like EVERY OTHER girl in the world). That night, we are taking the kids trick-or-treating at the Magic Kingdom. We did this last year and had a blast! Reagan is so excited about seeing Ansley again that she has a calendar marking down the days. I know they will have a lot of fun together!

HAHA Night Out

2008-09-13T18:56:00.002-04:00

Last night I met a group of ladies that I TRY to get with at least every couple of months. We call ourselves the HAHA sisters. If you ever came to one of our get togethers, you would understand why!! The morning that I went into labor with Andrew, I had been with this group the night before. I still say that I went into labor, because I had laughed SOOOO hard the night before. I love all "the girls", but no one tells stories like Vanessa. Vanessa can take even a bad situation and turn it into a funny story...she's a HOOT. You just cannot beat getting together with great friends, not to mention, it's always good to get a night out away from the kids! Speaking of the kids, our family had a fun time this morning bowling. Jeff beat me once and I beat him once. I guess we will have to have a tie breaker one day!

I just finished watching yet another disappointing USC game. We're getting ready for tomorrow. Jeff is preaching for a friend of ours who's suffering in Hilton Head this weekend. I always enjoy hearing Jeff preach, although I usually worry about what he might say. HAHA!! Sometimes I find myself asking "Did he REALLY just say that?" Right now, we're going for a walk with the kids. They LOVE to go on walks. Hope everyone has a great Sunday tomorrow! Be sure to spend some time with great friends and family.

September 11

2008-09-11T21:48:00.002-04:00

Has it REALLY been 7 years?? I read that today, and had a hard time believing that 7 years have already passed. My grandmother used to say "I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing the day that Pearl Harbor was bombed." I never quite understood, until the morning of September 11, 2001. I had just turned on the t.v. Joshua, Ben, and I were just getting our day started. I saw smoke coming out of the first tower...didn't really think much about it. Then, as I began to sit down to watch the news, I saw the second plane crash into the other building of the World Trade Center. Suddenly, I knew that something terrible was wrong. The rest of the day, everyone was glued to their tv's as we watched people running, the towers crash to the ground, and family members searching frantically for their loved ones. It seems like it was yesterday!
Just a thought from Experiencing God this week..."If you know that God loves you, you should never question a directive from Him. It will always be right and best. When He gives you a directive, you are not just to observe it, discuss it, or debate it. YOU ARE TO OBEY IT." "Don't use human standards to measure the importance or value of an assignment." Just obey God and He'll take care of the rest! What assignment is God calling you and me to? Are we going to obey? Just something to think about.

My Baby

2008-09-09T07:36:00.002-04:00

As of yesterday, my baby is off of bottles and formula. He is completely eating table food and drinking whole milk....from a big boy cup. He is now walking along furniture and behind a toy that he has that he pushes. In two short weeks, we will be celebrating his first birthday. It is sooo unbelievable how fast time flies! I wish that I could slow it down just a little, but unfortunately, I can't. All of my children have grown way too fast, so I know that Andrew will too.

I'm proud of ya!!

2008-09-08T16:06:00.002-04:00

I wanted to take this time today to tell Jeff that I am proud of him. He is into day 2 of his starvation, I mean liquid, diet. So far, he seems to be doing o.k. I have had a few people over the last few weeks ask me questions or say things that made me feel like I, being his wife, should try to talk Jeff out of this surgery. I believe that because I am his wife, it is my "job"to support him. Thankfully, most people have been supportive, as well. I am glad that everything is going well, so far. The only thing, is we need to get him a shirt with a pocket on the front for him to keep some packs of gum in. That way, he can chew! Jeff, I'm proud of ya!!

What A Day!!

2008-09-06T21:09:00.002-04:00

This morning about 8:00, we headed out of town. We spent about 2 hours driving to Skytop Apple Orchard in Flat Rock, NC. Our family has gone there every year for the past 7 or 8 years. We love it so much that we have even taken the children and their families from church in past years. We spent a couple of hours there picking apples, climbing trees (the kids...not Jeff and me), and just running around having a great family day. We had a great time...no phone, t.v., internet...NOTHING; just our family spending time together having A LOT of fun. I deeply cherish these moments that we have together.

Playin' and Prayin'

2008-09-02T21:09:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, our family had a very relaxing Labor Day. Jeff worked for a while and then we grilled out hamburgers and hot dogs. Later in the day, we went to the park to let the children play. Then we went to get an ice cream and feed grandmama her supper. I like days like that! Days where we have nothing specific to do; just hang out with each other. It's rare that we have those days around our house.

Tonight, we hosted the Oasis Core Team at our house. We collected Ramen Noodles and toilet paper (yes, toilet paper) to be handed out tomorrow at an event welcoming the Lander University students back. We had a great time of discussion and prayer. We prayed for the University, the faculty/staff, and students. We prayed that Oasis will be a beacon of light for these people in our community. Then, we finished off the night with ice cream sundaes. It was a great night.

PRAY

2008-08-31T07:18:00.002-04:00

Don't forget to pray for the people who will be affected by Hurricane Gustav. Hope everyone has a great Labor Day!

Scouting

2008-08-30T07:59:00.002-04:00

Scouting has been such a good thing for our boys! They have learned many things that every boy should know and have attended some outings that Jeff and I probably would have never thought about...spelunking to name one! The other day in school, we talked a few minutes about "chivalry"...what that means, etc. Then, I asked them to list 10 ways that people today could show chivalry. Probably 7 out of the 10 items on their lists went back to things they have learned in scouting (the core values). Later today Jeff and the boys are going to be headed up to Greenville with the scouts to watch the Furman football game. After the game, they will meet the players and then pitch tents on the field to spend the night. They are going to be showing a movie on the big screen. In the morning, I believe they will be hearing an FCA speaker for their worship service. Who else has the opportunity to do these things? Not only do they have a good time, but it gives them time to spend with their daddy (and many times the entire family). I hope that they have a GREAT time tonight. I will be spending time with Reagan and Andrew. Not sure what we will do yet, but I know we will have fun!

Good Job, John McCain!!

2008-08-29T15:35:00.002-04:00

Sarah Palin...Conservative, pro-life, mother of 5. She is from the same town in Alaska that my mother lives in, Wasilla. My mother really likes her and what she stands for. As someone who was a little concerned about voting for McCain, I now say Way to Go, John McCain!! I am finally excited about this election!! I can't wait to learn more about this VP candidate and see what transpires over the coming months!

When God Speaks

2008-08-29T08:30:00.003-04:00

From time to time, I've been sharing some things that God has said to me or our group while we are studying Experiencing God. This week, God really spoke to me about something and all I could say was WOW! I'm going to quote, so that I don't leave anything out. On day 3 God used Experiencing God to say this to me..."What our world often is seeing in our day is a devoted, committed Christian serving God". O.K., that's good, I thought. People are seeing us serving God. They are seeing us leave our homes and attend church on Sunday mornings (often Sunday night AND Wednesday night, too). They know that some of us teach, lead, and are on this committee and that committee. They may even know that we are BIG tithers or deacons. Most people, even if church "is not for them", think it's wonderful that we do all we do. So then, what's the problem?? These same people who are seeing us are NOT seeing God. "They do not see anything happening that can ONLY be explained in terms of the activity of God. WHY? Because, we are not attempting anything that ONLY God can do." The writer goes on to say " Our world is not attracted to the Christ we serve, because they cannot see Him at work" They see US doing good things that anyone can accomplish; not things that cannot be explained except that it HAD to be God at work. They don't see us doing anything that they, themselves could have accomplished. Here comes the "spanking"..."If you or your church are not responding to God and attempting things that only He can accomplish, then you are not exercising faith." "Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6). So then I asked myself am I...is "the church"... doing things on our terms that we KNOW we can get done? OR, are we doing things that are God Sized, so that when our community sees it happen, they have not seen US but have seen GOD? How big is our faith??? If we feel God leading us to do something really big, do we do it (even if we have no idea how it will get done) or do we downsize it into something we know WE can do? I must admit, my faith is usually VERY small! Matthew 17:20-21 says that we only have to have faith "as small as a mustard seed" and we can move a mountain. I encourage each of us to ask ourselves this question...At the end of the day, do our friends see us, or do they see God? Because each of us "can complete a JOB and never experience God at all"! What good is that for anyone? Let's check our faith this week and make sure it is GOD-SIZED.

DON'T CALL

2008-08-28T16:31:00.003-04:00

O.K., so today is Thursday, August 28, 2008. Sounds like any 'ole day, right? Just another Thursday. OOOH NOOO! Tonight is the first game of the season for the Gamecocks. I cannot wait!! I looove college football, and I especially love the Gamecocks...I have since I was a little girl running around in my Gamecock overalls (yes, I said overalls). So just wanted to let you know that I will not be answering my phone OR door (unless you're someone with some chips and drinks coming to watch the game) between the hours of 8 and midnight. I'm halfway joking...as a matter of fact, I will probably still be in our Experiencing God Bible study at 8. I thought about cancelling the class, but after MUCH thought decided that I had better stick with the study. HAHA. Anyway, win or loose, I must say "GOOOOO GAMECOCKS"!!!

2008-08-24T09:20:00.002-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Big Boys, Little Boys, and Girls

2008-08-23T08:35:00.003-04:00

Sooo, a couple of weeks ago, we told the kids that they could all invite their friends over for a spend the night party. It's no one's birthday or anything like that. It's just friends that they did not get to see much over the summer. Jeff and I are known as the CRAZY people, because we do CRAZY things like this from time to time. I even laughed yesterday and told a friend "My kids think that every mama and daddy do this" and she said "NOOOO!!!" So, here's what our Friday night was like...I did not give them a limit on who they could invite, so we ended up with 6 boys (that's after 4 could not come and 1 went home early) and 3 girls (1 went home at bed time). It worked out really cute. We have 3 "little boys" (the 4th graders) and 3 "big boys" (the 6th graders). I'm not sure how we ended up with those names, but that is what they are all calling each other. After supper, they all went outside (in the misting rain) and played WAR. It's just not a good night without WAR!! Then the BIG boys decided that they were too old to go see the animated STAR WARS movie and they wanted Mr. Jeff to take them to sit at Starbucks for a little while. Anyone who knows Jeff, knows that he was very happy to fulfill that obligation. Then, he brought the 3 big ones back and took the 3 little ones to the movie. All the while, the 3 girls were just running all over the place SCREAMING at the top of their lungs!! I think a few windows even cracked!! We (should I say I, because Jeff is working today) finally got the boys to go to bed around 2/2:30 am and everyone was up at 7 on the dot. Now they are all outside playing, I think, Star Wars and the girls are jumping on the trampoline. It has been a CRAZY night having big boys, little boys, and girls, but I would not take anything for it. I love to see children having fun with each other. I hope that my house will be filled with this craziness for many years to come! That being said...I only have 1 hour 12 minutes and 15 seconds left and then mamas and daddys will be arriving. Then, it's time to clean my house...it's starting to look like a frat house or something. Have a great weekend!