Vacation 2010

Vacation came & went...I still am amazed by how fast summer flys! We drove to Hilton Head on Saturday morning and stayed at a Holiday Inn that took time share points. It was tough all being in one small hotel room...especially since Madison was coughing all night. The good part about this was we spent alot of time together which was nice. Also the Hotel had a great pool and it was right on the beach! So after swimming in the ocean you could just jump right into the pool. I especially liked the pool...I have never been an ocean girl ever since watching Jaws...and the jellyfish stinging me and Adrienne didn't help out either. Those suckers really hurt! It burned for like 2 hours and then left this swollen red brush burn mark...yikes. Anyhow...on Wednesday we drove to Orlando to go to Aquatica (Sea World's waterpark) on Thursday and drove back to SC on Friday. Aquatica  was fun...especially Roa's Rapids. You put a life vest on & it's like floating in a really fast river...a total blast! We stayed at Nana & Poppy's time share at Orange Lake. This was a nice break from the beach at HHI. On Saturday we moved into our townhome. Here we rode bikes all around the Island searching out alligators, spent time on the beach fishing & flying kites. At night when the kids were pooped, we enjoyed playing "Spite & Malice" a fun card game with Nana & Poppy...of course it was more fun when Bill & I won :) We also did pony rides at the local horse stable where we met Harley. He was the sweetest horse I ever met!!! He came right up to us & ate grass out of our hands, let us pet him & he especially loved Matthew. He nuzzled him on his back & head, he almost knocked him off the fence he was standing on! I also read 2 big books from Francine Rivers' series The Mark of the Lion...great books...I cried through them!
Such wonderful memories we have...I am so grateful!
I feel refreshed & ready to take on the new schoolyear!

Happy 40th Bill!

Here's a little slide show of Bill's surprise Party...thanks for the picture CD dad & for taking all those great pictures!
Happy 40th to my honey. I know it isn't official till the 21st but since we'll be soaking in the South Carolina sun and far away from this computer...I thought I would tell you now.
I love you babe! And though 40 may bring a few more greys...you are more handsome now than you were at 20!
Thanks for being an amazing husband and father...and the best best friend any girl could have.
I love you...SHMILY!

No More Surprises!!!

Well...Bill's 40th surprise was a huge success. 80 people (40 kids), lots of silly string, 8 boxes of pizza, a ton of fruit, and 2 cakes!!! Yes 2 cakes. The first one toppled due to the shear weight of Hip-Hop sitting on top (fondant Hip-Hop that is). I felt like I was in an episode of Cake Boss! All the planning went pretty smooth but the whole thing was stressful! I actually lost 4 pounds in the process...woohooo! (but probably gained it all back eating cake :) Could not have done it without the help of my parents who brought food and worked like crazy helping me set it all up...I was grateful they came!!! Bill was so blessed by all his friends, the cards & gifts...and just being with all the people he loves so much. That was my goal...so it was a success. I don't think I will put myself through it again...but who knows...when Bill turns 50, I may have forgotten about the 40th by then :)

Thank You...

Thank you Jesus for saving me...

Fun at the Pool 2010

Follow Me!

My girlfriends asked if they could follow me...my blog.
So if you click on the "Follow" Icon to the left and enter your google or yahoo account, I believe you will be notified when I do a new post. Seeing as I don't update my poor blog every day...I thought this would be fun to try. So follow me if you like...and thanks for coming back to read about our crazy family, and read all my misspellings, poor grammer, and scattered thoughts :)

Why I Read & Thoughts on Marriage

I was never a reader. My mom would tell you. I would rather be doing something else. I always wished I could love it like my sister & my mom. Just sit with a good book in my lap and devour it happily. The reason for this is probably that my comprehension of what I read is pretty poor, so I have to slow down and really focus. Otherwise I end up reading the same paragraph over & over again. As I grew older I learned how to cope. In PA school I learned how to skim my medical books and highlite the important info I would need to learn for the test & actually was very successful doing this.
After I became a Christian and began reading the bible I realized that I had been missing out on alot of wisdom. The bible was full of it. Other books too. So now when I read I really want it to count. A good fictional book that has a great life lesson in it or one that makes me cry in the end...I love those. But mostly I read books that I can use to encourage me along as a Christian. To help me be a better wife to Bill and a mom to Mad, A, and Matthew. I want to grow & learn. I hate feeling complacent and stuck...so I read.
My girlfriend Barb gave me a wonderful book on marriage called Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. The title says this, "What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than happy?" Interesting concept huh?
In Ch. 2 the author says this: "Strong Christian marriages will still be struck by lightning- sexual temptation, communication problems, frustrations, unrealized expectations- but if marriages are heavily watered with an unwavering commitment to please God above everything else, the conditions won't be ripe for a devastating fire to follow the lightning strike. If I'm married only for happiness, and my happiness wanes for whatever reason, one little spark will burn the entire forest of my relationship. But if my aim is to proclaim and model God's ministry of reconciliation, my endurance will be fireproof."
Some really important pieces of wisdom right there. I'm grateful for the little reminders God gives me when I read. And here's the amazing thing. As I strive to become more holy as God calls me to...in His strength & grace...He gives me JOY!!! WOW...pretty amazing!