Trent's 3rd Birthday

My little boy turned 3 last month! Nana made him a cake with footballs and baseballs per his request. PS, Nana makes the "best" cakes!

One of Trent's favorite gifts is this monster truck.

Natalee, Trent, and cousin Carter eating at the kid table.

Trent and his new sunglasses

Here is Trent on one of the mornings after his birthday. He is such a big boy and insists on doing everything by himself. On this morning, he requested a bowl of "pillow cereal". I asked what he was talking about and he told me, "that yellow pillow cereal like Daddy likes!" Well, I looked in the pantry and figured out what he wanted.......Captain Crunch! And, yes, it is his daddy's favorite too.

Easter 2010

EASTER 2010

For Easter this year, we attended Sunrise Services very early in the morning, and it was such a blessing to be able to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with our church family.

We went to my mom's for lunch. She cooked a great meal and then the kids had fun hunting eggs.

Circle of Life

Philippians 1:21 "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

God demands that we live our life to reflect the eternal love of Jesus for those who do not know him. That is how we should live our life, but what should our death say about us?

Nathan's grandfather is on his deathbed. The family has been gathered for two days now since his release from ICU in Jacksonville. Papa Walker is a good man. As the verse in Phil states, "to die is gain", I've been thinking about what Papa will gain from death.

What do you gain from death? What does the person that dies have to gain from dying? I guess that answer is different for everyone, but Papa will gain Heaven. He will be able to see the face of Jesus and walk on streets of pure gold. His body will be renewed and restored. He will be ever-present with his Savior for all eternity.

Papa was a minister for several years. He has shared the Word of God with so many. He was a man of God and God used him in mighty ways. The fruits of his labor are plentiful - that is one thing he has to gain.

He is struggling for every breath he takes and it is only a matter of time before God will call to him, "Come home, my good and faithful servant."

I titled this Circle of Life because as Papa's life draws to a close, there is another life growing inside of me......a boy by the way! This baby's life will be affected by the life that Papa lived. Papa will leave that legacy for all of his descendants to come.

Papa has a lot to gain from "his" death. What do you have to gain from yours?

One more makes three.......

We're having a baby!

I know this may surprise some of you because you had no idea. But, we decided back at the end of last year that we wanted one more baby. God blessed us and now I'm 4 1/2 months! Due date is Oct 4th.

Just to fill you in on some details in case you are wondering.....I haven't said much to anyone until now because the first three months of pregnancy were not pleasant. If there was ever a pregnancy symptom in this world, then I had it. You name it.....moodiness, irritability, lack of energy, sleeplessness, nausea, moodiness....or did I already say moodiness?? : ) It was like, "I cannot control any of this!" It was frustrating. But, as soon as I hit the second trimester at month 3, I could see the silver lining. Things have been better. My energy has picked up and the nausea is gone, but Nathan says the moodiness is still there! I can't believe he would say that to a pregnant woman!

Natalee and Trent are super excited about us having another baby. Trent says he wants another sister, but Natalee doesn't care. She has already said, though, that the baby will have to share Trent's bathroom because he has two sinks and she only has one sink in hers! I think she is marking her territory don't you?

We've been busy planning on getting the "playroom" ready for a nursery for the new baby. The playroom will now move upstairs, and the kids are thrilled about that too. So, this is definitely a fun time for all of us right now.

I don't have a picture to post, but, Yes, I am "showing". I've got Easter pictures that I will post one of these days, and you can tell I'm pregnant in those. Plus, Trent turned 3 and I have to post birthday pictures! I'll get to it, I promise.

I find out next Thursday whether we are having a boy or a girl, but if you ask Trent......"Mama is having a dinosaur!"

Well, that IS how I feel sometimes......

Trent

This is one crazy boy! He got into Natalee's jewelry box and put on a necklace around his neck and bracelets on his ears for "earrings."

I love this picture of Trent. He got a toolbox from Nathan as a gift and he puts it to good use everyday. What I love about this picture is that it is exactly how Nathan works - one leg bent beneath the other one. Trent was using his pliers to "fix" my dining table.

This one is of Trent playing in my closet - his favorite pasttime. Check out all of the toys behind him. He emptied the "trunk" of his motorcycle which included a cow, calculator, paper guitar, spoon, tape measure, thermometer, etc.

Trent can ride his bike - with training wheels!

More Updates

Trent riding his "motorcycle"

Celebrating the 100th day of school: Natalee's class decorated hats with "100" items from home. Fun! We hot-glued pennies, pipe cleaners, buttons, stickers...you name it. Everything but the kitchen sink.

Remember the snow? We drove to my aunt's house in Mt. Vernon because they got a decent enough amount to play in. The kids loved it!

I think this snowball ended up on me - compliments of Mr. Trent!

Me and my snowbunnies

Natalee and her snowman!

Backtracking

Here's what we've been up to since Christmas

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 - Natalee and Trent's favorite gifts from Santa: She got a nurse's uniform with all of the accessories and he got a Georgia Bulldog football outfit. Here: she was doctoring his injury.

Uncle Brad's birthday: Dec 28 - he's how old now??? Or worse, how old am I now???

These kids love to save money.......good trait to have, right? They enjoyed wrapping it.

Girly time! Natalee painting my toes for me.....and she does a good job!

Dinner Party

Two weeks ago I was able to host a dinner party for the women at my church. We meet once a month to study a lesson, pray, eat, and socialize. For the month of December, we decided to explore a new path - we had a "Progressive" Party. This is where the meal is planned out so that the appetizer is at one house, the soup/salad at another, the main dish at one, and the coffee and dessert at another.

I volunteered my house for the main dish and I wanted to impress! I got busy cleaning and Nathan helped out a lot. Also, I knew the best cook around and I knew that she would help me cook that day. Nathan's mom helped prepare a meal of homemade bread with cheese spread, slow roasted pork loin with gravy, twice baked potatoes with everything in them, and sauteed broccoli with cheese sauce. Let me say that the meal was so delicious!

I had the entire house decorated with Christmas everywhere. Wreaths on all of the windows outside, Santas inside, snowmen, a beautiful tree, you name it. We pushed back all of our living room furniture to make room for two round tables. All the tables, including the dining and breakfast tables, were dressed with gold, green, and red fabric table linens. The silverware was tied with cloth napkins, a ribbon and decorated with a candy cane.

The women had a fabulous time. The meal - delicious..... the house - festive....... and the company of a few godly women - a Christmas memory that I will cherish for a lifetime.

Birthday Girl

I wanted to share some pictures from Natalee's birthday party. Her day began around 10 when she finally got out of bed. Her birthday was the day before Thanksgiving and I just let her sleep as late as she wanted. This is her spot at the breakfast table and I fixed her favorite - syrup with waffles! : )

Later that day, we had a family party. My mama made the cake - it was a "lighthouse" cake by special request from Natalee. She also wanted a lighthouse helium balloon. I have no idea why she chose these things, but we delivered because she wanted it!

She had a great party here at the house with her family. Two days after her birthday, she was able to invite two friends over for a spend-the-night party. I promised them a movie and popcorn and guess who had to be right in the middle??? Little brother! The girls didn't mind though - they thought he was cute!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to NATALEE!!!
My sweet little girl turns 6 today!!

Jacob's Here

We picked Jacob up at the airport last Friday and he has been staying with us for the past week. He will be here for another week as well. It is always a treat when he visits because he is such a crazy guy - the same old Jacob from 1994. It's hard to believe that we've known him that long. In case you don't know the story, I met Nathan through Jacob. So, I blame Jacob for all of this!!

Jacob has enjoyed playing with Natalee and Trent. He knew that Natalee would love to draw, so he brought her a gift of coloring pens from Russia.

As I cooked supper one night, I overheard Natalee and Jacob at the breakfast table. He was teaching her Russian......not sure how well that went, but he tried!

Jacob's plans for his vacation here in Patterson included eating some southern cooking, playing horseshoes, doing nothing, and going to Walmart for absolutely no reason at all!! We've made sure he has accomplished everything on his list. He is a southerner at heart....maybe even a redneck!

Dressing Up - Trent

Trent dressed up as a baseball player for Halloween. He has a complete outfit including baseball pants, jersey with his name on the back, batting gloves, and cleats that are two sizes too big. Boy is he cute in it all!!

This picture below was taken at the Fall Festival at our church.

Dressing Up - Natalee

Natalee dressed up as her favorite singer Taylor Swift. She was very beautiful. As soon as she was finished getting dressed, she wanted to hold her guitar so she could pose for pictures. Aunt Bridgett did her hair and make-up. She even put jewels around Natalee's eyes and on her hand. Grammy made the dress. It was very beautiful, long, and it fit perfectly. It is supposed to be similar to the dress in the video "Teardrops on my Guitar."

Getting ready....



Notice the computer in the background....it has Taylor Swift on it.....everything had to be perfect.

Natalee was so excited to be dressed up like Taylor Swift. She sings her songs all of the time.

My Birthday

I am so loved. My husband planned a birthday party for me and invited all of my family including in-laws and out-laws. It was a special evening and I enjoyed being with Nathan, Natalee and Trent, my parents Danny and Judy, brother Brad, Granny Crawford, in-laws Dorothy and Dwayne, Granny Griffin, Bridgett and Rick, neighbor Kathy, and neighbors Batch and Jodi. My older brother James send me a text and I got a phone call from niece Kelsey and nephew Carter.

My mama has made me a cake for every one of my birthdays for the past 32 years. This year, she got a little creative. She added up 19+13=32. I was 19 when I got married, and I've been married for 13 years. How clever.

Bridgett loves me too. She knows I love chocolate cake and this is what she made for me.

Me with my one and only.........

Pumpkin Patch

We visited the Pumpkin Patch the week before Halloween and these are what we found........





Grammy and Grumpy (and Granny Griffin) rode with us to the Patch. This is a picture of them on the hay ride.


Me and Natalee and Trent had to ride the "cow" train. Natalee is riding in a cow named "Jasmine". In case you didn't know, that is her middle name. Me and Trent are riding in "Bessie". It was a grand ole ride, I'll say!