Moving at the speed of light!

Well it's the busy time of the year where it seems like we're running, running, running. Alex is playing soccer and baseball and Addie is in gymnastics. so it seems like most days we have something planned. Saturday alone we had 2 soccer games, a birthday party and baseball practice! Whew... Alex had a baseball game Monday night, Tuesday night and Addie has gymnastices on Thursday. Then Alex has a soccer game on Saturday! So that leaves Wednesday and Friday for downtime. Praise the Lord we do have some down time.

The kids are doing great. We had parent teacher conferences last week and both kids are making straight A's. So proud of them.. Alex is doing really well in soccer. I have to brag and say I think he's the best kid on the team.

Addie's really enjoying gymnastics. Ashton took the kids over to Johnny's Uncle Mike's Sunday. Addie got to milk a goat. I'd loved to have had a picture of her. I know it'd have been way to cute.

Last weekend Joe, Johnny and Alex went mushroom hunting. They asked Addie if she wanted to go and she decided not to. After they left she asked if mushrooms were animals. I told her no they were not. The she said... "How are they going to get the bullet out of them"... what a hoot!

We're planning our 25th wedding Anniversary. We're going to take a trip to Yellowstone. Looking forward to getting away and seeing some new sites. I hear Yellowstone is beautiful and we are so blessed to have the opportunity to be able to go.

Jonathon and Shawna have a firm date of June 11th at 5 PM for their wedding. It'll be held at Astounding Grace in Hindsville. Everyone is invited. If you need directions please let me know.

I hadn't updated in a while. Thought I'd better at least let you guys know I've not dropped of the face of the Earth.

Have a Blessed week.
Tina

Finally Recovering

This week is the first I've felt fairly normal in about 2 weeks. Yeah you laugh and say Tina when are you ever normal... Anyway I had the Flu week before last and it has really drug me down. My nose had sores inside and out and I went through 3 boxes of kleenex in 2 weeks. I'm down to a small sniffle and an occasional cough. I am so thankful to almost have this past me! I've been absolutely miserable. The kids had spring break last week and will be headed to Winslow with my Sister-in law. They stayed in a cabin for a few days. The cabin had no running water. I gave them a shower when they got home and the tub turned brown. I think they must have had a lot of fun.. Jonathon and Shawna are working on wedding plans. Hopefully we'll have a confirmed date in June next week. Please keep them in your prayers as they make this commitment to each other. Jaylynn got her ears pierced over the weekend and I'm anxious to see how she looks. Joe, Ashton and Bentley are all doing well. Bent now has two new teeth that shine when he grins. We still need to sale the cafe. Please keep us in your prayers that God will send the right person our way. I was talking with my Aunt this weekend and she asked about our dog in the freezer. I'm happy to report she had a proper burial about a month ago! Be a blessing and be blessed. thanks, Tina

Letter of Faith

Have you ever had one of those nights when you lay there and realize that you've gotten quiet enough to hear God speaking to you? Not in an audible tone but none the less you know you heard from God. Last night was one of those nights.

We're starting a new Sunday school class for our teenagers and I've been honored with the opportunity to plan and teach the class. Yesterday I received our new curriculum and went over it so I could plan for our first class on Sunday. One of the things to preplan to do with the kids was have them to bring something with them to class that they love or admire. The class is about how we are created in God's image. Well as I was lying there thinking about this particular class the subject took a slight change. My thought was regarding asking the kids to bring something in that speaks to me of who they are. I lay there thinking if someone had to preach my funeral based on one particular object in my life without any other knowledge of me what would that object be. As I lay there thinking about this I thought about my Bible. If someone was to open my Bible they'd see a bunch of miscellaneous papers that would probably tell them I'm not very organized, they see art work from my kids which would show them I love and respected my kids and brought them to church, they'd see miscellaneous book marks which would show them that I'm sentimental. But what else could they see in that Bible? They would see that I received the Bible as a young girl and loved, respected and protected God's word by covering it with a Bible cover. They would see that the pages are well worn with many scriptures highlighted showing my desire to learn from His word. Would all this show them my love for Christ? Then a thought came into my head. Why not have my Statement of Faith located in my Bible. So then I started thinking about my statement of Faith and what it would say... so here goes from my memory last night.

• I Love Christ.I Believe that Christ came to Earth and was born of a Virgin.
• I Believe that He died for my sins.I Believe that He arose on the third Day.
• I Believe that He now sits on the right hand of our Father.
• I Believe He sent us the Comforter.I Believe in worshipping God.
• I Believe the Word of God is a living breathing document that is revealed to the believer as you grow in Christ. I may read the same scripture today as I did a year ago and have a different revelation to it's meaning. Not that the word changed but that God saw fit for me to see more of His revelation.
• I don't add a denominational title to my Christian faith.
• I believe in the entire word of God and do not want to limit my beliefs based on a few scriptures tied to a specific denomination.
• I Believe that God may convict me regarding an issue and someone else may never have that same conviction.
• I Believe God called our family to adopt.
• I Believe He gave our family the spirit of adoption so that we can be an encouragement to others. If we could only open our hearts to the orphan as Christ has by adopting us as His children there would be no orphans in the world.
• I Believe I am responsible to teach, to preach, and to testify God's word throughout the Nations.
• I Believe that God's word is true and that one day we will each face judgement.
• I Walk by Faith and not by sight. Knowing that God speaks to me thru His word and thru the Holy Ghost who dwells in me.
• I Believe I can make a difference and that God saved my soul for His glory.
• I Believe the Lord continues to work in me.
• I know that Christ has never left me and will never forsake me.
• I Believe that I am a Christian.
  

My question to you is what do you believe? Have you considered putting it in writing? As I grow in Christ the list above may change or grow. Since Christ continues to grow in me I doubt the list will shrink or decrease.

So now back to my Bible. If you found my Bible and had never met me I hope that some how, some way this is a testimony to Christ. Not of myself but of the work that Christ has done in me.
Blessings through Christ my Savior and Lord.Tina

Update

Mr. Alex is feeling 100% better. Still has a slight cough but over all he's back to his normal self. He came home the day before yesterday and said it had been a long ruff day. I felt sorry for him. As any of you that have been around him know Alex stutters. Sometimes worse than others. Well I guess the kids at school told him that he needed to learn to talk right. I ask that you keep him in your prayers. We've never tried to make a big issue out of it because we don't want him to be self conscious about it causing it to be worse. So I'm checking with the school to see if they feel like he needs some type of speech therapy. Honestly we keep thinking he'll out grow it since one sentence he'll speak without stuttering and the next he stutters all the way thru it.

Mrs. Addie is doing well. We had her ears pierced again last weekend. You may remember we had them done several months ago but she decided to take her earrings out at school one day and we couldn't get them back in that evening. She's such a girlie girl. She loves bling so we got big fake diamonds this go round. Her issue last time was she wanted to wear earrings that dangle and have bling. So I opted for more flare this time hoping she'd be happy with them for 6 weeks and we'd get them healed up and be good to go.

Shawna just sent me this family photo so of course I needed to share it with you all. She went back to work on Tuesday and Miss J is now going to a baby sitter. Joe has been sick with some sinus stuff but overall I think his family is doing well also. Bentley is really at that fun age right now. He's started eating solids now and Nana is having a fun time feeding him when he comes over.

Blessings to you,

Tina

Tonsillitis

Well the Little man of the house has had a cough for a few days and started complaining about a sore throat. We've been giving him over the counter medicine for his sore throat but this morning he woke up in tears with his throat hurting and running a fever. So Johnny took him to the doctor and sure enough he has tonsillitis. He's on medication and hopefully he'll be back to his normal self in a few days.

Last night we were at Ferns eating dinner and Addie finished eating before Alex. She gets up from the table and says Alex I'll be in the new hiding spot when you get done. He responds you mean behind the chair? Now how's that for giving away the location of the new hiding spot? LOL

Alex and Addie are over half way thru with school now. They're now bringing home books to read and taking spelling tests. I can't believe my littles are already reading. I'm so proud of them. They're doing well in school and reading seems to be coming easy for them. My two BIGS both struggled with reading.. So when did kids start reading in Kindergarten? I know I didn't and I know my two BIGS didn't. Man they start teaching them earlier and earlier.

Baby J came and stayed with us last Thursday night. She slept the entire time she was at the house. Believe me Nana tried to wake her up but to no avail. Jonathon and Shawna went out for a Valentines dinner celebration. Then we got to keep Bent on Saturday evening while Joe and Ashton went riding on Joe's new 4-wheeler. Bent's had ear infection but seems to be doing better. Jaylynn went to the doctor last week and she now weighs 9 lbs 15 oz.. Bent's going to have to do some growing or J's going to catch him!

Have a wonderful week.
Blessings,
Tina

SNOW, SNOW and More SNOW

I've refrained from complaining about the snow. But really that's all we've seen for weeks now so I couldn't pass up the need to voice that I'm really ready for some sun shine and some clear roads! Alex said this morning he was ready to go back to school! If school is in session on Monday (we've had 15, count them 15 snow days) the kids will enjoy a valentines party.

Back to the snow so over the last week I've to my count I have fallen 5 times. Yes 5 times. You ask why? Well I have to go feed the horse and I have to walk to the bottom of a very slick hill to feed the horse. So far no major injuries. My left shoulder is a tad bit sore but overall I'm good. I don't think I've ever fallen so much in my entire life. Just praising God no injuries.

For those of you that are keeping track on our loss of pets I do need to report that we made the choice last Friday to have Katie put down. Katie was somewhere around 18-19 years old and last Friday when we came home she had a huge knot about the size of a walnut come up on her side in one days time. She'd been falling a lot and getting VERY thin so we decided it was time. Over the last few years Katie was not the dog I remember when she was younger. Of course as we all age we're not the people we were when we where young. But at age 19 she NEVER complained about anything. She never whined. She just went with the flow. We will miss her a lot.

Here's a picture of Paulie and Katie in 2005. We miss them both.

Back to the snow... So what do you do with a dead dog when the ground is frozen? Well she's in the freezer! Yeah I just had to share. Odd I know but what else were we to do. We wanted to bury her at home so that is our only option at this time. Hopefully over the next few weeks the ground will thaw out enough so we can bury her. Besides that I kinda think the shock and awe of telling someone you have a dead dog in the fridge. Hey I have to have something to laugh about!

The news said yesterday that if it warms up next week we'll have almost a 100 degree difference in temperature change. 100 degree difference in some areas! Negative 30 is cold... 70 degree weather next week = 100 degree difference. To live in Arkansas!

The kids and grandkids are all doing well. Jaylynn will be a month old on the 17th and Bentley is now 6 months old. I haven't seen Jaylynn in about a week and I saw Bentey last weekend. Addie and Alex are with Ashton today so I'm sure they're spoiling him.

Well I hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend. I hope you stay warm and enjoy your time with your family.
Blessings to you,
Tina

Baby Jaylynn is here!

I realized yesterday that I hadn't let you all know that Jaylynn joined our family on Monday. She weighs 8 lb 1 oz and is 20 inches long. Mom, Dad and Baby J are doing well.

Jonathon holding Bentley and Joseph holding Jaylynn.

We think she's a keeper for sure!

We praise God for Blessing us with two wonderful Grandchildren in the last 5 months.