Greysons birthday party

Today we celebrated Greyson's birthday. We had a party at our house and the theme was the movie 'Cars'. Greyson doesn't have a whole lot of little friends here so we mainly just had a family party. Some of the teens from our youth group came too. He had a great time, even though the party was relatively small. He got to eat pizza and cupcakes, hang out with some really cool ''big kids'' and open lots of presents. He got a new (mini sized) bicycle with training wheels that he absolutely loves! When Steve was little, his parents bought him a bike and they tied string from the bike all the way across the front yard and the house and Steve had to follow the string trail to find his bike. We decided to do this same trick with Greyson's bike and it was so much fun!! Steve had that string running all over the house and all over the front yard and Greyson followed it the whole way until the trail led him to his new bike. His Aunt Pam and Uncle Dan bought him a really cool helicopter that flies and lands. He LOVES it...as a matter of fact, Greyson and his daddy are playing with it right now. I can't figure out who loves it the most though, Greyson or Steve. He got several matchbox cars and a launching ramp. He is really into cars and trains right now. He even had cupcakes with little car designs on them for his party. Cael didn't last through most of the party. He zonked out in his high chair long before the pizza was even served.
Overall, it was a good party. Greyson had a great time and we enjoyed seeing him so happy and excited. I will post pictures later...I'm so barbaric, I still use disposable cameras, so I have to take it in to get it developed before I can post any.

Wow! I'm Old!!!!

For those who don't know, Steve is a Youth Pastor at a church here in FL. Once a month we run a coffee house for the teens, right at the church. Last night we had our monthly coffee house and the theme was 'The eighties'. We put a CD together of popular eighties tv show themes and decided it would be fun to play a game in which the teens had to guess the name of the show after hearing the theme song. We played theme songs from shows like Diff'rent Strokes, Whose the Boss, Knight Rider, Family Ties, Growing Pains and Alf. Those teens didn't know ANY of them!! I just couldn't believe it! When I was a kid, these shows were SO popular....some were even on TV everyday! Wow, did I feel so old!! It doesn't seem like it was that long ago when I was sitting comfy and cozy on my couch watching these shows. Time has a way of just flying by so quickly!

We've Come A Long Way Baby...and NOT in a Good Way!

I was watching a rerun of 'Leave it to Beaver' this afternoon. The whole plot of the show was how Beaver got in trouble at school for wearing a sweatshirt with a picture of a monster on it. The school was appauled and called a meeting with Beaver's parents. He ended up getting grounded in his room for the weekend. Isn't it funny how times have changed since then? If they made a TV show like that today, it would be laughed off the air. Okay, I agree it IS kind of a corny plot but back in the day, nobody thought so. In fact, 'Leave it to Beaver' was a hit show many years ago. Today, teachers and principals wish that all they had to deal with was a kid who wore a monster sweatshirt to school. Look at the things that are being promoted and encouraged on TV (and in the media in general)today - pre marital sex, homosexuality, abortion, disrespecting authority...the list goes on and on.
I remember my mom telling me that when Lucy became pregnant on 'I Love Lucy', it was the FIRST time on TV that they ever showed or talked about a woman being pregnant. I guess it was quite a controversial issue at the time due to the fact that pregnancy is linked with sex. Can you imagine that?!?! It was controversial to show a married, pregnant woman on TV!!
Remember all of those old sitcoms where the man and woman slept in two seperate twin beds? It was a big deal when they decided to allow a man and woman to share a bed on TV. When they did share a bed, it was a rule for awhile that the man had to keep one foot on the floor during the entire scene where he was in bed with the woman, even though all they did in bed together was read books, smoke pipes and occasionally discuss whatever the trivial plot of the show happened to be. WOW! Has our society come a long way from that or what?!?! I admit, some of those things were a little corny, but I sure would rather raise my kids in a 'corny' society than in one that encourages immorality, murder and disrespect...along with so many other negative things.

In Case You Didn't See Enough Pictures of the Boys...

Recent Pictures of my Boys

Six Years Ago Today...

I walked down the aisle and said 'I do' to my very best friend. Steve and I have been married exactly six years today. Over the past six years, we have grown so much as a couple as well as in our relationship with Jesus Christ. There have been so many ups and downs along the way but God has seen us through it all...good and bad...and I know that He will continue to do so.
I am so thankful and so blessed that God brought Steve into my life. He is truly a God send and I love him so much! These past six years haven't always been easy or fairy tale like, but In the words of Alan Jackson, 'If I had it to do all over, I'd do it all over again'.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to us!!! :)

A Night Out...YEAH!!!

Tonight, Steve surprised me and hired a babysitter (one of our teen girls) to come over and watch our kids so we could go out for awhile. This was the first time we've been out alone without the kids in a LONG time! We went out to eat and then to Temple's (the school where Steve used to teach and coach football) homecoming game. It was great just to get out and socialize with 'big people' for a change. I love homecoming games too. I love to watch the girls in their pretty dresses and nice cars being driven around the football field while waving like Miss America. The best part is being able to do all of this without having to worry about kids misbehaving or trying to get loose. It was a little weird not having my boys around though. Out of habit, I kept checking next to me to see if Greyson was beating up on his brother. I also kept checking to see if I remembered to pack the diaper bag. As nice as it was to get away for awhile, I kind of missed the kids not being there too. I guess I'm just so used to always being with them that it seemed awkward.
We came home tonight and both boys were sound asleep in bed. YAY!! We got to relax and enjoy the rest of our evening, kid free! Don't get me wrong, I love my boys more than anything, but sometimes it's nice to have a break for a few hours.

It's been a WHOLE year!

We have officially been living in Florida for a year now. I was just thinking about this earlier today. Last year at this time, the moving company had just left and we were up to our eyeballs in boxes. I was looking around at our house just a little while ago and remembering how much work we've done on it over the past year. We have painted every room, wall papered (and/or bordered) several rooms, remodeled the shower in the master bathroom...these are the biggest projects.
Looking past the physical changes that we have made to our house, there have been so many other changes that have taken place this past year as well. We moved here so that Steve could take a job as a jr high/high school teacher and football & softball coach at a small christian high school in the area. I was 7 months pregnant and Greyson wasn't quite 3 years old. Presently, Steve is working as a youth pastor at a completely different church, I have a beautiful 10 month old baby boy and Greyson is almost 4 and playing computer games all by himself!
We received some devestating news this past spring when we were told that my mom had lung cancer. For a short while, we were very scared that our days with her here on this earth were numbered. However, God, our Great Physican, heard our prayers and she is cancer free! As it turned out, the doctors' original diagnosis was wrong and she didn't have lung cancer. Some call it a lucky coincidence, but I know better. I know that my God answers prayer and that christians all over the country were praying for my mom. Her ultimate healing was a miracle of God and nothing less!
In some ways it seems that this year has flown by. It doesn't seem like Cael should be 10 months old already or that Greyson is old enough to be turning 4 next month. In other ways, when I think of all that has happened, it doesn't seem possible that only one year has passed.
God has really taught me so much this past year though all of these changes and experiences. I am truly blessed to be where I am now, living the life that God has intended for me to live at this time in my life.

Catching Up On Us...

This is my very first post on our very first blog. I love the whole blog idea, it's great to keep in touch with people and let everyone know what's going on with us too.
Steve has been keeping busy with things going on at church. For those who don't know, Steve is the Youth Pastor of a church here in Titusville, FL, where we live. The biggest project he is working on right now is getting ready for the Harvest Party on October 30th. He is in charge of planning it and putting it all together. He's got some awesome ideas in the making. I know it's going to be great! We have a youth activity coming up this Saturday - Progressive Dinner, in which we travel to several different houses for different entrees. The kids are so excited about it. It's so awesome just to see them get so excited.
Greyson will be 4 next month!! I can't believe it! It seems like it was just yesterday when he came rolling out into this world and peeing on his daddy all at the same time. He is just growing like a weed. He has some jeans that just 2 months ago were entirely too long on him. Yesterday, I tried those same jeans on him and they were too short.
Cael is almost 10 months old. He is pulling himself up all the time now, crawling around the house (with one leg in front of him and one leg behind him) and when we put him down in his walker, there is just no telling where he might be. He still only has 2 teeth though. He got them at 6 months old and hasn't gotten any more since. Cael has quite a temper on him too. Just tonight, he took too big a bite of a Ritz Cracker, so I gently reached into his mouth to pull a tiny bit out, and he just threw a fit! He did NOT want me taking food out of his mouth, even though 95% of the cracker stayed in!
Well, that's my family in a nutshell right now! :)