The Buzz About Brandy

Ephesians & Prayer

2012-01-25T19:57:00.000-08:00

Week 2 of the Ephesians Study with Good Morning Girls! This week God is focusing my heart on prayer. Here are the two main ideas God has me thinking about...

1. Praying for "Fellow Believers" constantly. I am sorry to say that I have been convicted this week of my commitment to pray for other Christians. Paul encourages me to not just pray for them but to "Give Thanks" for them. And then he gives me some very direct prayer instructions that I believe I should pray for anyone in any situation. Pray that God would give "Spiritual Wisdom & Insight" & "flood hearts with light" so that His people will grow in their knowledge and understanding of God; the hope He gives & His power in their lives. Now that is something ALL people need!

2. Praying for Myself! Basically, I am in need of spiritual wisdom & insight! Daily, I need the Holy Spirit to flood my heart with light so that I can have a deeper understanding of God, the hope He gives me & His power in my own life.

Prayer is a powerful thing...this I do know. God is calling me to a more commited prayer life for those who believe in His Son.

Ephesians 1

15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere,t16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly,17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdomt and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.

18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.t19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power

Ephesians 1:1-10

2012-01-18T20:43:00.000-08:00

I am excited to be doing my very first Good Morning Girls bible study! For the next 12 weeks I will be journeying through the book of Ephesians but it will not be alone! I personally think it is so neat to be part of something "BIG" that God is doing in the lives of women around the world. Here are a few things I like about this study:

1. Simple: this study does not require a lot of time or resources. Each day you focus on a few verses from the book of Ephesians and then you use a simple method to meditate and roll over what you have read.

2. Scripture Writing: I love to write out scripture! It helps the word sink into my mind and heart better than just reading it. By the end of the 12 weeks I will have copied (in my hand writing) the entire book of Ephesians.

3.Social Encouragement: that's you! It's awesome to know that you are out there taking this same journey through Ephesians with me and that God is speaking to you too! I can't wait to see what God is saying to His girls.

4. God is Speaking: DUH! He has already been speaking to me this week!

God is Speaking:

God is showing me how He loves me and that He is for me. Here are my thoughts from Ephesians 1:1-10:

Do I live like a "faithful follower of Jesus"? v.2
Do I believe that God has "blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms"? v.3
Do I believe that I am "united with Jesus"? v.3
Do I believe that God "chose me before He made the world to belong to His Son"? v.4
Do I believe that I am "holy and without fault" in God's eyes? v.4
Do I believe that God "adopted me into His family"? v.5
Do I believe that God is "pleased" or happy because he adopted me? v.5
Do I give enough "praise" for these truths? v.6
Do I believe that God "purchased me with the blood of Jesus"? v.7
Do I live like I am "free"? v.7
Do I live like one who is covered by "grace, wisdom & understanding"? v.8
Do I look forward to the "mysterious plan" when God will "give all authority to Jesus"? v.9
Do I thank God enough for His "mysterious plan"?

Wow, I certainly could not answer yes to all of these but the funny thing is that the more I focused on these verses God began to change my heart and I began to see how God sees me. I also began to see how I want to live each day and what I will be choosing to believe. God is for me! Thank you God for your Word and thank you that it changes my heart!

Apple Picking

2011-10-09T16:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went Apple picking at the B.J. Reece Apple House in Elijay, GA. Nora had just gone apple picking with her grandparents and cousins at Camp Primo and she loved it! We wanted to go last fall but it didn't work out. So, when I saw that Nora had enjoyed it so much I knew I wanted to go too! It was super crowded but super fun! We picked some yummy apples, saw the cutest/tiniest baby goat (only 1 month),enjoyed a hayride, drank some homemade apple cider, and bought some apple bread & pumpkins. I am so happy that fall is here! I love fall traditions and this might just be a new one!

We also stopped and ate at Poole's BBQ on the way home! One of the best BBQ places EVER!

Meeting up with family in Disney

2011-08-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

It just so happened that my Aunt and cousin were also visiting Disney the same week we were. So, we took a few hours one afternoon to meet up and ride a couple of rides, drink some ice lemonades and catch a parade together. One of the rides we rode together was Splash Mountain and I think it's safe to say that we all loved it! Nora is still telling people that she rode Splash Mountain! It was fun to make a family memory with Rara and Darcy at the Magic Kingdom.

Disney Virtual Photo Book

2011-08-10T20:02:00.000-07:00

One of the best offer we took advantage of was the Disney Photo Pass. We made it our mission to seek out every Disney photo spot we could see at each of the parks and have our picture made! We had bought a special package before we left for Disney. Click this link: Disney Photo Book to view our memories!

Fireworks at Magic Kingdom

2011-08-10T19:49:00.000-07:00

So, the Magic Kingdom is just breath taking at night! The music, the lights, the dramatic effects! Nora and I had special mickey vision glasses so we could see mickey mouse in all the lights! It was a neat effect on the fireworks! Thousands of colorful mickey heads everywhere!

The Castle all lit up at night! Main Street is beautiful!

Disney Character Pictures

2011-08-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

Handy Manny at the Disney Jr. Show in Hollywood Studios

Jimmy Cricket was a surprise guest at Epcot!

Tinker Bell at her fairy garden spot in Epcot!

Alice outside of the tea shop in Great Britain at Epcot.

Alice was the best character we saw!

She talked to Nora for a long time and she was so believable.

Sleeping Beauty in France at Epcot.

Marie in France at Epcot.

Jasmine & Aladdin in Morocco at Epcot.

In Epcot we ate dinner at the Garden Grill with Chip & Dale, Mickey and Pluto. The food was all you can eat and they bring one of everything to your table. The food was so fresh and yummy! We were all so very full! The Garden Grill is inside The Land and it rotates very slowly as you are eating. Very fun!

At the Magic Kingdom

At the Magic Kingdom we had dinner a the Crystal Palace. Excellent food again! I started with two plate of food! Pooh Bear and friends visited us while we ate. We also sat right by the window and we could see the parade in lights going down the streets as we ate. The lights were so pretty and magical!

Nora loved getting her book signed by the characters and having her picture made with them.

Disney characters are a big part of the magic of Disney!

Lucy's Last Birthday

2011-08-06T06:54:00.000-07:00

Enjoy this clip of Lucy's Last Birthday after all Lucy is forever 29 not 100! This clip always makes me cry!

Happy Birthday Lucy! I love that you were silly, beautiful, confident & independent. Thank you for your legacy of comedy and strength. Our family loves you Lucy!

Hollywood Studios

2011-08-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

At Hollywood Studios

Dinner at Prime Time Cafe

We all had the meatloaf...yummy!

Our server was Uncle Richard and he told us to do less talking and more watching TV.

Toy Story Mania!

2011-08-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we headed over to Hollywood Studios for the day. We did some of the usual's The Great Movie Ride (Nora hated it, scared her to death) & Muppet Vision 3-D. We ate lunch at the ABC commissary and after lunch we headed to the new Toy Story Mania attraction. Because we were not thinking, we never got a fast pass that morning...duh, so we had to stand in line for 90 minutes! These two pictures are from the street outside of the Toy Story Mania attraction.

These next few pictures are from the inside of the attraction where you stand in line. The whole inside looks like Andy's playroom. There are toys everywhere even on the ceiling there are giant board games. The giant crayons looked like they had been used. I guess the idea is that we are all the size of toys. Anyway, lots of really fun stuff to look at!

Nora is scratching his arm pit?! This ride was totally worth the wait! It was like a crazy fast, twirling, giant arcade game! We loved it and we wished we could ride it 10 more times! Lot's of fun!

More Pictures of our Resort

2011-08-03T06:14:00.000-07:00

Well, we all loved the pool at the Animal Kingdom Lodge but Nora LOVED it! The best part of the pool was the water slide! She must have gone down that slide 100 times!

That's Jason coming down the slide!

Nora had her face painted while we ate lunch at the resort the first day. Purple mickey mouse!

This is my lizard friend that jump on my chair by the pool! YIKES! He is a jumping lizard! I jumped when I saw him too! There were lizards everywhere in Florida!

Nora and Daddy sitting around the campfire!

Nice cozy beds! Much needed after a long, hard day of play in Disney World!

Animals at the Animal Kingdom Lodge

2011-08-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

This is mama bird...she is an East African Crowned Crane and she was our favorite!

Mama bird was right outside our balcony and she had 2 eggs that she was taking care of. She never left their side. She stayed right there either standing guard or sitting on them. It was so very cool! We hoped that they would hatch while we were there but they told us that it would probably be another week. They have probably hatched by now. Everyday Nora would say "let me go check on mama bird". She loved that bird!

This is the view from our balcony. We could see giraffe, zebra, antelope and more! We loved the view of the animals!

The landscape and animals were beautiful at the lodge!

1st Day of 1st Grade

2011-08-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

I am in denial like a lot of parents that summer is over and we are back to school. I had a sick feeling in my stomach this morning making nora go back to school. Part of me feels like the evil step mother...yuck. Anyway, Nora was excited this morning as she put on her new dress & new hello kitty shoes! We bought her a new mickey mouse backpack in Disney World and it is packed with lunch box, snack, folder and agenda for the day! Jason and I drove her to school and walked her inside. We watched her from the classroom door for just a minute as she started unpacking her backpack and trying to figure out this new place. I know she will have a great day!

Disney Pic of the Day: Animal Kingdom Lodge

2011-08-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

Well, we took 380 pictures on our camera during our Disney trip this summer not including all the Disney Photo Pass spots we stopped to have our picture made! So, I am going to try and post a Disney Pic of the Day each day and then write some kind of memory caption to go along with it!

Picture #1 is taken outside of our fabulous resort the Animal Kingdom Lodge on the first day of our vacation! We loved this resort, the rooms and there African decor, the animals out your balcony, the pool with a slide and movies at night, the $14.99 cups that you can refill whenever you want with whatever you want (coffee and root beer for mom and dad, hot chocolate and root beer for nora), the drums being played in the lobby, the FOOD (BOMA), the kids activities and this is just a taste of it all! I wish we could have stayed another week just to do everything the resort offered! Our first day we did stay at the lodge because it was nice and relaxing and we wanted to explore this new place! I have never stayed in a Disney resort, so this was my first and I am hooked! It was like being on the Disney boat! We swam in the pool and walked around the Savannah to see the animals and sat by the camp fire and heard some African stories. That night we ate at our resort in the restaurant Boma and it was my favorite! Everyday when we would walk past it I would ask Jason and Nora if they wanted to eat again! It was a buffet all you can eat African style foods and if you know me you know those are some of my favorite flavors and foods! We had the Disney dining plan and I think that might be our favorite part of Disney! We ate until we couldn't breath! Disney=Good Food!

October 31st & Cousins

2010-11-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

Nora dressed as "Kit" the American girl this year. I love this picture!

Grandmama dressed as Mary Poppins

Bible Girl, Kit & Handy Manny

Cousins

Sitting in the doorway handing out candy...this was their favorite part!

Another October is gone...hello November!

Berry Patch Farms 2010

2010-10-18T19:08:00.000-07:00

The first weekend in October we took a break and visited Berry Patch Farms for apple cider, a hayride and pumpkins! Pumpkins, Pumpkins everywhere!

I love how each new season brings new memory making opportunities! I love seasonal traditions!

Jason's 30th Birthday

2010-09-26T19:46:00.001-07:00

Nora decorated the house for Jason!

Homemade German Chocolate Cake...His FAV!

Here is a pic of Jason's gift from us!

We took a little birthday adventure/overnight to Chattanooga to celebrate!

While we were there we visited Rock City and Ruby Falls and maybe a Starbucks or two!

Our Birthday Year!

We Saw Rock City...now to Ruby Falls!

Even Rock City had it's very own Starbucks!!!

We had lots of fun celebrating Jason's 30th birthday!

Jason's 30th Birthday

2010-09-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

Nora's Decorated the house for Jason!

Homemade German Chocolate Cake...His FAV!

Here is a pic of Jason's gift from us!

We took a little birthday adventure/overnight to Chattanooga to celebrate!

While we were there we visited Rock City and Ruby Falls and maybe a Starbucks or two!

Our Birthday Year!

We Saw Rock City...now to Ruby Falls!

Even Rock City had it's very own Starbucks!!!

We had lots of fun celebrating Jason's 30th birthday!

My Brain Test

2010-09-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am doing a 10 week bible study with some cool ladies titled "How To Hear God's Voice" by Mark Virkler. In the book he talks a lot about right and left brain functions and he suggests taking a test to see what side of the brain is more predominate. So, I went to his site Communion With God Ministries and took the test. The results: I am balanced between the two. I use both side equally, however I am more visual which is a left brain thing...uh! I got like a 76% on visual so that made the left part of my brain be slightly higher than the right however they were pretty close, like 5 points off from one another. So, I decided to take another style of brain test to test my right and left and I got the same conclusion. However in this test I got the same score for both sides. Crazy stuff! Anyway, if you have never taken a brain test, do it, it's fun!

Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz
The higher of these two numbers below indicates which side of your brain has dominance in your life. Realising your right brain/left brain tendancy will help you interact with and to understand others.
Left Brain Dominance:	(16)
Right Brain Dominance:	(16)
Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz

First Day of School 2010

2010-08-03T05:22:00.000-07:00

I honestly can't believe that the first day of school as come and gone and we are on to day two! I just want to shout, BUT IT'S STILL SUMMER! Anyway, here are some pictures of Nora on her first morning of the first day of school.

Breakfast on the first day of school. Looks like we are still tired.

New "Jesse" backpack and lunch box...so cute!

Let's go to school

Standing outside her classroom

The Big Yellow Bus

2010-08-03T05:15:00.000-07:00

Last year Nora begged us to ride the bus and we being first time parents and new to school life were unsure about sticking her on the bus. However, this being our 2nd year of school and the bus picks up and drops off in our driveway, we said yes to the bus this year! Nora is beside herself with excitement. You would think we were at Disney World. She was so worried that we were going to miss the bus this morning. Silly.

Waiting for the bus

She is so excited!

Nora's new shoes from Grammy! They light up!

Getting on the bus this morning...this picture came out so dark...UGH!

Nora's Song

2010-07-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

Camping at Stone Mountain Summer 2010

2010-07-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

Pictures from our family vacation this summer!

Playing in the hammock at our campsite

Roasting Marshmallows

or catching them on fire

Campsite number

headed to the pool

Lots of swimming!

Craft time

The Famous Stone Mountain

Oops, we got hurt

Riding the Duck

Sky Hike for kids

Nora in the Ritmo at the Rock Show

Nora and some little girl who wanted to be in this picture with

the actors from this extremely cute and funny imagination show.

Waiting outside Miss Kitty's to eat

Building Fairy Houses for Tinker Bell

Getting ready to ride the sky buckets

Going UP

Nora has the city in her hand

HOTLANTA

Eating lunch on the top

Too Cute

Flying a miniature kite

Going down

so sweet

zip line

Climbing the Rock Wall

Putt-Putt Golf

Candy Store

Going Home

We love camping together!

Nora is 6 today

2010-05-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

My baby girl turned 6 today. It's hard to believe. I wish she still looked like she was 2. Check out this AWESOME video her daddy made for her! The video is called Cinco de Nora. Enjoy!

Hunnicutt Valentine/Snow Weekend

2010-03-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

We were so excited about the snow that God sent us for our Valentine weekend!

Nora and I cut out heart snowflakes!

Mr. Snowman with an icicle nose.

Snowball fight!

Baby Snowman with a carrot nose.

What are you doing Jason?!

Snow Angels

I think she might be eating snow...yuck

Don't throw that at me!

I loved spending time with my family in the snow!

Homemade Easy Bake Oven Valentine Cakes!

Nora & Daddy @ Macaroni Grill for Valentines Day!

Surprise: Nora's Christmas Recital Dec.2009

2010-01-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

Nora had her 1st dance recital this past December. She was a beautiful Angel Ballerina! Nora you did a beautiful job! We are so proud of you!

Scroll down to see Nora's new hair!

New Hair 2010

2010-01-25T19:51:00.000-08:00

This morning as I am brushing Nora's hair for school she tells me that she wants to get her hair cut like Kit. Kit is her American Girl doll that she got for Christmas. Guess what we did after school and work today? You guessed it! She looks so cute and she is so proud!

MLK Day

2010-01-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

Here is how we spent our MLK day:

Nora and I took a trip to Target to purchase first aid supplies, basic toiletries, SPAM (yuck), baby supplies etc. to fill shoe boxes for the people in Haiti. We packed our shoe boxes with goodies and Nora made "Praying for You" cards to be tucked inside too.

Then we all took a trip to one of my favorite coffee shops ever! Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee House! I must mention that I don't get to go there often because it's not anywhere near my daily path...but I am considering joining the Coffee Club. So, it's a special treat to visit this groovy place! Anyway, the reason we took our trip there was to drop off our shoe boxes for the precious Haitians with the perk of getting a coffee! Land of a Thousand Hills put out flyers asking people to fill shoe boxes for a local church that was collecting them and shipping them out. What a perfect way to talk to Nora about the devastation as well as allowing her to get involved in a hands-on way! And she was involved! She picked out strawberry shortcake band-aids for girls and Diego for the boys! She also wanted to get bottles for the babies! She was also very interested in the cans of SPAM (yuck)!

Well, we dropped off our boxes and Nora got a cinnamon roll and we got coffee. But, I had already started to feel bad and I didn't really get to enjoy my cup:( Oh, well...the trip was totally about the coffee anyway! We are praying for Haiti!

1st Week

2009-08-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

Here is Nora's school work from the 1st week! She did some cute stuff! Her class read the book "The Kissing Hand" and everyday they did something with "Chester" the raccoon. Her teacher also posted the story from youtube to her blog. I think it's one of my favorite stories now!

One day last week when I picked Nora up from school she said "I'm so proud of myself because I walked all the way to my classroom all by myself!" BIG STUFF!

Everyday she is doing or saying something new and big! It's blowing my mind! She is changing daily in front of my eyes!

She had a great 1st week! Only one sad face last week! Hopefully we put a stop to that becoming a habit. Can't wait to see her work from this week!

Kindergarten Blues

2009-08-11T05:05:00.000-07:00

Baby girl you had such a good day yesterday! You loved your 1st day of kindergarten.

You were so happy about the kissing hand puzzle that you made!

You were so tired yesterday. You wanted to put on your pj's at 5:30. You slept so hard that you never even moved in your bed last night. You were still in the same spot when I came in this morning.

But on day 2 you had the Kindergarten Blues.

My mom came in early this morning...
to get me out of the bed.
She wanted me to get my clothes on ...
but i felt like i was dead.

Then it was time eat breakfast...
but i could hardly eat.
Then my dad said your wearing socks kid...
And I could hardly speak.

And it's so hard...
it's so hard going to kindergarten!

I got the...kinder-garten blues
kinder-garten
kinder-garten blues
kinder-garten
kinder-garten blues!

I know your having a better morning now that you are with your friends in your class!
I love you!

First Day of Kindergarten in Videos

2009-08-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

Nora waking up for school way too early!

Eating breakfast...

I could tell you about her fun day but I think she does a much better job...

Well, at least she is ready to go back tomorrow! This seemed like a forever long day! I am proud of Nora! She was a big girl who had lots of courage for her 1st day!

Going to Kindergarten

2009-08-10T05:08:00.000-07:00

Here she is! A brand new kindergartner! She is ready for the 1st day!

But before I show you more pics from this morning we better back up a little...

Friday was meet and greet at Nora's new school!

Nora is pouting because she wants to ride the bus the 1st day. That is so like Nora.

Coloring her 1st picture in kindergarten!
Her classroom is so cute! Only 16 kids in her class! And her teacher's room theme is Bees!

Later that day Nora and I made a "Back To School" cake!

Yummy!

Ok...back to this morning...the 1st day of school...

Nora and her backpack outside

Nora talking to Grammy this morning! Grammy calling to wish her a fun day!

Kindergarten Nora and Daddy

Kindergarten Nora and Mama

Riding to school in the car not the bus yet!

Walking in with daddy

When we walked into the school the smell about knocked me down! It immediately brought tears into my eyes. How does school smell the same way from when I went to elementary? Crazy! It was so familiar. It was really such a nice feeling dropping her off this morning. There was so much life with in the halls. Lots of staff out ready to assist you in the halls. Lots of smiling faces throughout the halls. I am excited about her school because it feels like home not an institution. It was nice to see teachers stopping to talk to families that have multiple kids and who have obviously been at the school for a while. I just felt good about it.

Nora inside her classroom. Her teacher is giving her instructions about her backpack and lunch. Nora was excited! She is totally ready! After she put her stuff up she ran to the door and said "my teacher said to come and give you a kiss." It was so cute! We kissed her and said goodbye. Jason and I drove back home and then he left for work. I came in turned on the tv and "Mickey Mouse Club House" was on. I had to turn it quick before I started to cry. I turned to Fox News!

I am sure she is having fun! I can't wait to hear and see what she did today! It's hard to believe that Nora is one of those big kids in the kindergarten hall! Hold on here we go...

I will post some video later today!

Fun Videos

2009-08-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun videos we took this summer...

Videos from Camp Rocks!

Stone Mountain Park: Wanda The Tight Rope Walker

Nora's Walking Stick

Pool

Jenny

Hope you enjoyed!

Nora's new hair

2009-07-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

Well I did it! Tonight I cut Nora's hair all by myself! I was freaked out but now it feels good!

Cousin Adventures part 3

2009-07-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

Today we took a family history tour! My grandfather's family is rooted in Woodstock as well as Cobb County. These are pictures of the house my grandfather was born in.

My grandfather's uncles and aunts are buried at this little church.

Uncle Frank lived where the Publix is on 92

Uncle Frank's Wife

Uncle Samuel David McCleskey

His wife

Uncle Elgin and His Wife Helen. They lived where the Walmart is on 92.

We still have a few more "McCleskey" things to visit this week. Stay tuned!

Cousin Adventures part 2

2009-07-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

So, today we visited the American Girl Bistro and Boutique! So much fun!

Quest Jr. Today

2009-07-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

This is what we did at church today!

Cousin Adventures part 1

2009-07-18T18:47:00.001-07:00

My Cousin is visiting this week from Pinehurst. So, today was our 1st day of adventure! We started the day by visiting an Asian market on Buford Hwy. One word for that: Stinky. It was pretty neat but wow the smell! Then we headed to ATL where we ate lunch at the Varsity! Wow was it crowded!!!!! We waited in a mob of people for half an hour.

Frosted Orange...Yum!

Stopped by Centinnial Park and the CNN center

Final stop Turner Field! Braves & Mets! Crowded...standing room only!

Busy but very fun day! Stay tuned for more adventrues this week!

STOP, Mema Time

2009-07-18T18:07:00.001-07:00

Last week Nora and I went to visit our family in Pinehurst, GA.
Here are some pics of my cousin, step brother, and Nora swimming at Aunt Mays'.

We ate lunch at the Mennonite restaurant. It's so good! We stood in line for 40 min.
Everyone loves to stop and eat here.

We also took a day trip to the Flint RiverQuarium in Albany, GA.
Pretty nice and new aquarium. We saw some cool things.

Visiting my dad and his new dog Jenny. She is so cute! 4 months old and full of life! Nora and Jenny were so funny together. Jenny was nervous about Nora and Nora was nervous about Jenny. They finally warmed up to each other and played fetch!

Another fun summer visit with our family!

Summer Camping part 2

2009-07-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July weekend we packed up the van for another family camping trip. This time we took the tent to Myrtle Beach. We had a campsite right on the beach! It was a really nice site but it did get very windy at night and the first night I thought our tent might fall on top of us. But it was still standing the next morning, we had survived!

On Friday after we set up camp we headed down to the beach! Nora didn't miss a beat. She grabbed her stuff and ran for the water. It was as if she had no idea that anyone else was on the beach!

Boogie Boards! Great fun!

Love this mask! I was laughing out loud as she ran up and down the beach with that big orange mask on! The nose part is so big and pointy but her nose is not!

Friday night we decided to eat seafood! We picked a way too crowed and way too expensive seafood place!!!!!! Anyway, the best part of the restaurant was the downstairs. They had a kids area downstairs where they had a boat for the kids to play on, puzzles, a kitchen with lots of nice pots and pans and fake food that looks real, face painting and more. Nora loved it!

Captain Nora is painting the boat!

Going fishing!

The next morning back to the beach! It was so beautiful!

Feet sunk in the sand.

SHELLS!

What a good bike rider! Riding to the general store!

Time for a picnic!

Dinner time! Hot dogs on the 4th!

After dinner we took a walk down the beach to the pier.

Nora playing on a big mountain of sand by the pier.

Sand angels

That night we sat on the beach and watched fireworks up and down the beach. They were everywhere and they were so pretty. You could see miles and miles of fireworks going off.

After fireworks we went back to our tent to watch I Love Lucy on Jason's computer (we are die hard fans) and then off to bed! We were so exhausted. And it was another rough and windy night but we slept just fine! The next morning it was time to clean up camp. It was still extremly windy but we took everything down and packed up the van. Folding anything was imposible. After clean up we hit the beach and the pool one quick and last time. We made PB& J sandwiches for the road and headed home. The trip is only about 6 1/2 hours but the traffic was so bad getting out of South Carolina that it took us 10 1/2 hours! Yep, it was horrible. We plugged the compter in and watched like 6 more Lucy's! Minus the long trip back we had a blast! I wish we would have had one more full day. We are missing the beach today. Nora must have had a good time because she kept telling us that she loved us on the way home. I actually can't wait to go camping again!

Summer Camping

2009-06-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

This summer we are attempting to take two short camping vacations as a family. Here are some pictures from the first one. In May we camped at Stone Mountain Park.

Nora making OJ!

Nora eating in the tent because it started to rain!

Hot dog roasting!

Nora loved the rocks at the camp site!

Banana Boats- Yum, Yum!

Stone Mountain Sky Hike's kids low ropes playground!
This new attraction is a lot of fun! Nora did the low ropes like 10 times. She loved it! Then the 3 of us did the 1st level of the high ropes! Wow, it was freighting to have Nora up there with us but we made it and loved it!

On top of the mountain for lunch and pictures!

More of Nora's rock collection!

In the tent while it rained and rained.

Wanda the tight rope walker at the backyard circus!

Antebellum Plantation

Playing at the mill

We had a lot of fun together! We can't wait for the next trip! Stay tuned for more camping fun!

A Golden Birthday!

2009-06-12T04:35:00.000-07:00

May 5, 2009 Nora turned 5 years old! Wow! So, we did it up Hollywood style!

We set up 3 stations for the girls to enjoy while they entered the party.
1. Hollywood Stars: here the girls wrote their name on a golden star and then they put their hand print in the middle.

2. Hollywood Boutique: this was a little accessory store. Girls could come here and pick out a boa, necklace, lip gloss, hair clips, tattoos and star glasses! All the girls had big eyes and big smiles when they saw all this stuff.

3. Hollywood Salon: this is where the girls got their nails done with paint and stickers. They also got to put on some fabulous body glitter!

Nora putting her hand print on a star!

Cousin Lydia getting the royal treatment with some body glitter!

Next, we had all the girls one by one walk the read carpet for a photo shoot! Each girl got their picture taken on the carpet! The girls were so cute and very serious! We found Nora's dress at a thirft store for $2! Perfect!!!!

This 5 year old just told me yesterday that she wants to be a "super model" when she grows up. Oh, how I pray that she forgets about that one!

Cousins on the red carpet!

After our runway the girls where all cast a part in the old story of Chicken Licken or what you might know as Chicken Little.

Each girl was given a different character in the story. As my husband read the story each girl came up to the front when it was time for their part. All the adults where laughing! The girls were too funny! they didn't have to do much but just stand there and point to the sky when the story said "the sky is falling".

And our grandmama played the part of Foxy Loxy.

Time to blow out the candles!

Present time! Looks like she's having fun!

The party was so much fun! All the girls got to be in the spot light and certianly enjoyed that! This was one of my favorite parties and I think it was for Nora too!

An American Girl Spring Break

2009-04-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

I totally feel like I have abandoned my blog! I feel overwhelmed when I think about all the things I haven't posted! I need to work on it!

Anyway, here is what Nora and I did today for spring break! We took my American Doll (Molly) to the Bistro and Boutique at North Point. We had a 9 AM brunch reservation. They sat Molly in her own chair and Nora thought that was the coolest! She has really been interested in Molly the past couple of months so I thought it would be fun for her to check it all out this week!

These are the "Warm Welcome" muffins they brought us when we arrived!

Nora made Molly a crown out of her napkin ring.

Yummy chocolate muffin!

Yummy french toast with cinnamon apples! I have a ton of it left over:)
As we were eating the song "CiCi My Playmate" came on and that was a song that my Mema would sing to me all the time! It's not one that you hear all the time. We had to take a moment and think about Mema. Mema and Pop are the ones who gave Molly to me. Mema would have loved to be there with us!

Molly is pretty old, probably like 19 years! That makes me feel old:( Ok, so her hair is really different because she is from the first generation of dolls. Her skin is pretty dirty, it just looks a little darker than most. We decided to get Molly's hair done because it was in bad shape. The lady that was helping us said "since your doll is a little older do you want the pampering package." Wow, poor Molly.

Her hair looks so cute! It was fun to see our doll getting her hair done like new!

Wow, Molly is like a brand new doll! New hair, skin and outfit!

After we finished up in the American Girl store Nora and Molly took a ride on a horse!

It was a lot of fun! Totally girly and I could have bought everything in the store! Especially all the fun books they have! I am glad that Molly has a buddy again! It's also just fun to relive the fun and exitment of Molly through Nora! It's fun to share this with her. It's hard to believe that those days are here.

Nora's Irish Jig

2009-03-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

Click To
Play

Some fun stuff!

2009-03-02T17:35:00.000-08:00

Fancy Nancy Dress Up

Mama and Nora Tea Time

Valentines Day

Nora's Valentine's Party at school. I made the cute strawberry mice and watermelon hearts!

Learning to Skate!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T20:54:00.000-08:00

Square Peg Update

2008-12-30T07:30:00.001-08:00

Click this link to see a few more pictures from Holiday House 2008!

A 4 year old Christmas party

2008-12-30T06:32:00.000-08:00

Here are a few videos from Nora's Class Christmas Party:

Marshmallow Game

Jingle Bells

Christmas Book Exchange

This morning she asked me who the line leader was. I think someone actually misses school!

Mama and Daddy's Christmas Present

2008-12-28T07:46:00.000-08:00

This is what Nora made for us at school this year for Christmas!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-27T19:07:00.000-08:00

Take a look at our Christmas:

Nora had her 1st solo in the kids Christmas musical at church this year. She sang "Down in a lowly manger" in "Go Tell It On The Mountain". She did an awesome job!

Baking Christmas Cookies Together!

This year's gingerbread house! Today it is missing half the candy. Wonder why?

Homemade snowmen ornaments at school. They are so cute!

A Lacing Candy Cane!

Nora's first year to see the "Nutcracker". After about the first 10 minutes she asked me "when are they going to talk"? Crack me up! She loved it, however it was a little long.

Christmas at Nana's

Nora's goodies

Christmas Eve Dinner

Present Time

Santa Dylan passing out gifts

Morgan peeking from the tree

I love this picture of my sis and bro!

Christmas Morning at Home

My aunt had given us a twin bed for Nora. So Jason thought it would be cool to put it together with the new bedding we bought her for Christmas and set it in the living room! Then we put all her other presents on and around it. What a fun idea! She was totally shocked when she came in Christmas morning! She opened all her presents on her new bed!

Did I mention we have a new cat? Her name is Lovey. We got her after we had our mouse problem several weeks ago. She is great! We love her so much! She loved all of Nora's Christmas trash! She played with plastic twist ties for hours!

Barbie Skates!

Christmas at Grammy and Papa's

Christmas lunch

More gifts!

Nora and Dylan playing with silly string!

Christmas at Grandmama and Papa's

Decorating Christmas mugs

Girls eating at the kids table.

Waiting to open more gifts

Cheerleading fun from Aunt Lori

Playing Ker Plunk!

Cousins!

My poor Mema had the flu this Christmas so she has postponed our South GA Christmas. Look for those pics in January!

A Mama and Nora weekend

2008-10-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

Daddy was gone for the weekend so it was time for the girls to hang out! We started it all off at a playhouse in our area. A family of 6 kids performed "Town Mouse and Country Mouse." It was so cute! They did a fantastic job! Nora dressed as a mouse herself.

This is where the Country Mouse lived. Nora actually got to go on stage and sing the "itsy bitsy spider" with the spider characters. She loved the whole thing!

Then it was time for lunch at Chick-fi-la and then on to Wal-mart to buy 3 birthday gifts!
Next we went to one of our 2 birthday parties that weekend. They are twin girls and they are so cute! They had a bounce house with a huge slide! Nora skipped the cake because she loved playing on that thing! Then home for dinner, a bath and COOKIES!

We frosted and sprinkled some good old sugar cookies! Yum! We had a fun girls day!

On to "F" week

2008-10-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

Nora had Funny Feet Day at school for "F" week! These are her Funny Feet!

Nora's Frog mask that she made for "F" week. The tongue is actually a party blower stuck through the plate. So cute!

"A" week

2008-09-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

A sleepy ant after a long hard week of learning all about the letter "A"!

Quest Jr.

2008-09-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

Here is our new 4 and 5 year old room at church! It still needs a little touch up but Jason did a wonderful job building and painting it all! Jason and I are the leaders of the pre-k and k worship service on Sunday mornings. This week will be Sunday #3 and we are having a blast!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

A homemade cherry chocolate chip cake with homemade chocolate butter cream frosting made by ME! YUM!!!!!!!!! Yes, it is in the shape of a pirate's hat! Why? Well, if you don't know then click here.

The 4th in South GA

2008-09-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

We went to Mema's the first week in July.

Cotton

Sprinkler Fun!
Nora is playing in the same sprinkler I played in when I stayed with Mema and Pop in the summer. I would spend hours on the trampoline with the sprinkler on it or under it. It seems like only yesterday!

Nora is also swinging on my first swing set! It's a little rusted now:)

Eating watermelon!

Cute pictures of Nora watching some small fire works that my uncle had.

My Uncle Johnny and Cousin Rachel setting off fire works by the field.
They were so funny because my uncle would take off running after he lit one but his head would be completely turned around so that he could watch it at the same time. I was cracking up at the two of them!

Nora riding a big girl scooter!

Playing at Lane's Peach Packing play ground.

We had a fun time at Mema's this summer! It was good to see our Papa Karl and everyone!

1st Day of School!

2008-09-02T15:47:00.000-07:00

Today was Nora's 1st day of her big 4 year old class!

She was so excited! She had a great day with her friends and her new teachers!

My Pictures Are Gone

2008-08-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well, Jason took a look at his computer and in fact my pictures are gone. It is awful. All our cute beach pictures from California and more are gone. It is so sad:( I had the cutest close up picture of the bottom of Nora's feet all covered with sand and now it is gone. They are all gone. That was Nora's 3rd time at the beach and she loved it! We could not keep her out of the water! At one point she walked up to the boogie board, wrapped the Velcro strap around her wrist and headed out to catch some waves without ever saying a word to any of us. She is not afraid! And I had some priceless shots of her swimsuit. At the beginning of the summer I bought her a size 4 swimsuit because that is the size she wears in everything else. Well, we had not been swimming very much before we went to California so I didn't realize that the back end of her swimsuit was completely in her crack the whole time. It totally looked like she was wearing a thong but she didn't notice at all. She kept right on playing and swimming and jumping and bending over for all to see! Everyone thought it was hilarious. I did too, but part of me was way embarrassed. So when we got home I went straight out to buy her a size 5 swimsuit. It is a little better but there must be something about her back end, this one still wants to ride a bit. Oh, well!

Some old but very cute pics

2008-08-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

So I was going to post part 2 of Sunny Cal. but Jason had a computer crash last week and as I was looking for my pictures it does not look like they are there. It just makes me sick to think that I might have lost all my pictures!!!!!!!!! Well, as I was searching I did find some very cute old pictures of Nora. She must have been 2 at the time. Where does the time go? How I miss that little baby girl but wouldn't trade my big 4 year old girl for anything.

Sunny Cal: part 1

2008-08-05T06:09:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to leave for our first plane ride together! Nora has been on a plane once before with her Grandmama and Papa when they took her to California. She was about 2 then but two years later she doesn't seem to really remember that. She was very excited! Jason has tons of family in Riverside, so we are going to visit them and crash his cousins wedding!

Daddy and Nora on the plane.

Mama and Nora on the plane.
At Uncle Joe and Aunt Carol's house. Yes, that is a zip line in the back yard!

Yes, and an awesome play house too!

Playing with cousins!

Then everyone took a dip in a giant bubble bath! Uncle Joe put bubbles into the pool, crazy!

Nora and new baby cousin Aubrey.

A whole lot of little cousins!

More Sunny Cal to come!

The Big 4!

2008-07-31T06:33:00.001-07:00

Spring 08

2008-07-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

Here is everything that happened in the spring. Easter, my birthday, Nora's nails and Mother's Day all wrapped into one!

Christmas In July

2008-07-18T13:06:00.001-07:00

Hi remember me? I know you have been checking everyday and nothing new. Sorry, I have been very lazy! I am so far behind I thought I would start with Christmas! Enjoy some Christmas Spirit!

These are our lovely ginger bread houses.

These are some very fuzzy pics from Nora's Christmas Show. She looks so different now. How time does fly.

Christmas Morning at Home

Very cool pop-up book of the Christmas story.

Christmas at my Nana's house

Everyone is ready to open up their gifts!

Nana and Ice Princess Nora

Christmas at my Mom's house

My brother Dylan really likes to draw these days so we bought him a cool Mickey drawing notebook from Disney and a cartooning drawing book. He's pretty good!

Nora got Baby Alive from Grammy and everyone.

Christmas at Aunt Sheila's House

Aunt Sheila got all the boys some fab wax lips! Nora liked them!

Nora and Lydia, two Christmas packages!

Aunt Sheila got us matching aprons so we can do some master baking together. We have used them a lot and made some really yummy treats!

Jason reading the Christmas story.

David reading the Christmas story.

Christmas at Mema's house

We got my dad a giant remote to match his giant TV. He got a good laugh out of it!

Pictures of Nora always make them happy!

Nora with Cousin Haley, Aunt Morgan and Uncle Matt

Christmas lasts days for our family as you can see! But it is nice to see everyone! We had a nice family Christmas. Ok, so this is a start and I promise there will be more to come!

Jesus the Real American Idol

2008-04-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, cheesy title I know, but it's so true! Jesus needs to be America's Idol! Anyway, I am blown away with the performances that have been about the Lord this season of American Idol. I mean come on...they sang Shout to the Lord last night and tonight! WOW!