It's amazing to me that my little girl turned eleven today! 

Last Saturday we took her with 2 of her friends and Daniella to Wacky Bear.
Trying to choose the perfect bear

There were so many "oooohs" and "ohhhhhhs" over all of the little clothes.

Coming to life

This is a good friend of Marissa's.  They play together a good bit.  She's only a year and a half younger than Marissa.  She's just very petite.  Marissa is actually very small compared to most kids her age.  Another friend below in the blue soccer shirt, is also smaller than Marissa, and she is 9 months older than Marissa. 

They love their bears~meet Bubbles and Morgan.

A successful shopping excursion~4 bears and a dinosaur, not to mention several outfits that the girls bought themselves. 

The extra little girl on the right end is a sibling that came along.  No, Daniella is not that tall (on the left).  She's sitting on the window ledge~hence no feet below the bag.  Can you see all of the photographers reflected in the window? 

We left Wacky Bear and went to a small park close by.  It was a beautiful sunny day, great temp with a breeze, and the park is right on the river. 

Playing tag.  The two facing this way are on base. 

Yes, the bears went to the playground, too!

Taking a rest

What we're resting from

A great time was had by all, and it was a happy day for the birthday girl.

Today the family is going to play putt-putt (mom has 4 free passes!) I have a strawberry freezer cake made (her favorite that she has every year), and I'm making one of her favorite meals for dinner. 

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Heidi made me cry.  Not just once, but twice.  (actually, 3 times, but that's another story!)  She had this video on her blog, and I wanted to share it with you all.  It's called Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman. 

When I watched it the first time, I cried.  When I watched it with James later, I cried and had to go to my room to bawl.  A few reasons (one being I'm probably PMS)---I have 4 girls, the silhouette of the young woman ballerina in the video looks just like my Briana, Ashley and Briana have been ballerinas since they were four, and they are both young adults now and will be leaving our home in a very short time.   If you have daughters, especially older ones, grab a tissue. 

I told you! 

You'll notice I've made a few changes to my blog.  It's not finished yet.  I'm going to try a few more things. 

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Today Briana celebrates her 18th birthday!!  She, too, is a wonderful, amazing daughter.  Briana is one of those who always brings such a sparkle to life.  She has a happy, out-going, light-hearted, "child-like" personality.  She's bouncy!!  From a very early age, Briana had a tender and compassionate heart.  Even when she little, if someone was tearful or upset, she was right there, rubbing on their arm, just standing beside them in loving support.  She still is. 

Briana loves the Lord, and is strongly committed to following him, sacrificing things in her life if they are in the way of a life of purity or of following Him.  She loves, loves, loves drama, but if a part is not pure, she won't take it, even though she doesn't get many opportunities. 

In addition to drama, Briana loves ballet and "broadway or musical theatre" type dance, and is also on a praise dance team.  She has been playing the piano since she was five.  She enjoys interior decorating, and is majoring in that in college, with a minor in theatre. 

Happy Birthday Sweet Briana!

9 weeks old

We had to cut her bangs when she was 3 months old.  This next picture was taken at 6 months.  Look at that hair!

Her first ballet recital

Performing as a mouse in the Nutcracker with the Knoxville City Ballet.  (This year she is the Dew Drop Fairy with the Smoky Mountain Ballet, as well as a demi-soloist!!)

Her senior ballet photo

We love you to pieces!!

Stop by and wish her Happy Birthday HERE!

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Today (the 27th), our oldest daughter, Ashley, turns 21 !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEY!!

WE LOVE YOU!!

Ashley is such a joy and great daughter, with a gentle and quiet spirit.  She has such a servant's heart, and wants to do nothing but have a life pleasing to the Lord.  Since she was in 1st grade, she has felt a calling to missions or ministry of some kind.  That has never wavered, and she is preparing herself through school and her growing relationship with the Lord, waiting for the area God will call her to, whether it's full time ministry, volunteering, counseling, or through her writing. 

Ashley is always there willing to help me out, whether with things in the house, helping me with the little girls, or running errands.  She is my friend.  I frequently ask her input and opinions on things.  She is fun-loving, funny, helpful, sincere, mature, hardworking, devoted, and passionate.  I love to spend time with her. 

Other than mission work and writing, she also dreams of traveling to far off lands (she'll have to wait for a husband that dreams of far off lands!!), having a family, and possibly adopting. 

If you are interested in reading Ashley's exciting entrance into this world, you can click HERE.  There are also several of her baby and growing up pictures there. 

Here is a video that I will probably get in trouble for, but you've just got to hear this southern accent, and see my little cutie.  She was 2 1/2 in this video. 

You can stop by her blog and wish her happy birthday.

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   Marissa and I got back yesterday from our mother/daughter getaway to Gatlinburg.  This is only about 30 min. from our house, but is a different world.  For those not familiar with Gatlinburg, it is a tourist town---many would say trap!--nestled literally at the foot of the Smoky Mountains.  You drive straight out of the town right into the National Park.  Most of the town is along one main parkway, and you park and walk everywhere you go.  This is a picture Marissa took of a section of the parkway.

We had such a GREAT time.  It was really special spending that time alone with her.  Also, as you can see, it was not crowded at all.  She was the only school age child in the whole town, and there were only a few babies and toddlers.  In about 3 weeks, you won't be able to budge on that sidewalk for several weeks!  The weather was perfect--a little cool at night, but beautiful. 

  We got there Sunday afternoon around 4:30.  This was the view from our balcony just after sunrise the next morning. 

After getting settled in the room, we hit the parkway window shopping, mostly.  I bought her and Daniella new outfits for their Wacky Bears (like Build-a-Bear), and she bought herself a couple of things.  We had a nice dinner, and just strolled around. On Monday, we went to a couple of stores and played 2 games of putt-putt, with a break for ice cream in between! 

This is a neat putt-putt.  It's up on the side of a "mountain", overlooking the town.  It's super shady and pretty, and also has markers at each hole telling about the history of Gatlinburg, the National Park, and the settlers of the area.  Marissa loves history, so she read every one. 

Lunch at Quiznos

Some of the fall decorations

We liked the window full of striped candy.  It was cool looking.

  After our late lunch, we went back to the hotel and rested for about an hour, then hit the indoor pool.  We ordered pizza in the room for supper while we showered and got ready to go back out.

  We decided to ride the sky lift, and were surprised we knew the lady working that night.  She gave us comp tickets, so we got to ride for free.  Marissa had never been up the Sky Lift before, and she loved it.  We like seeing all the lights at night. 

Marissa at the top of the Sky Lift

Afterwards, we walked around until the shops closed at 10:00. 

Tuesday morning, we walked up the parkway for breakfast, then packed up.  We drove just a few minutes to the Sugarlands Visitor Center for the National Park, and went to the nature museum.  This has taxidermy animals native to the park, along with native plants. 

Black Bear

 We also browsed the bookstore.  I got Marissa an If You Lived With the Cherokee book and a Step Into Reading book ---The Trail of Tears. 

And our last stop was driving a few more minutes to the river, where we sat and enjoyed the quietness for a few minutes.  We would have enjoyed that longer, but Marissa had reached "worn out" by that point.

I am so glad we took the time for this trip.  We built forever memories, and it was special to spend it with her. 

(The only things I didn't mention were the Cinnamon Melts, the caramel apple with nuts, and the chocolate fudge!)

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  The other day I was putting Daniella's (age 6) hair up.  She gave me one of her adoring, loving smiles, and very seriously, said, "Mama, I think you're cute even when you're hair is freaky."  

That, friends, is true devotion, 'cause let me tell you, some days it can be quite freaky.  Her statement still makes me smile.  It's become my favorite quote this week. 

Daniella at the creek on a hike with her daddy.

   Here's a clip I had wanted to show in the spring, and never got to it.  For some reason our computer won't let us post the video straight to here, so we had to link.  This is my 2nd oldest, Briana, doing the graduating senior father/daughter dance with her dad at the spring ballet recital.  Their moves were kind of limited, because the other dad had just had surgery or been sick (I forget), and he couldn't do much lifting.  It was still sweet and teary.  Briana and James are on the left.  And, no, my husband is not normally a dancer, but he has danced with his girls in 4 performances of the party scene in the Nutcracker.  He's a good dad!

Senior Father/Daughter Dance

Wasn't that sweet? 

   We're off to Dollywood for the afternoon.  Monday the Slidewinder closes for the season, and they've only ridden it once this year.  (horrors)  Hopefully, the holiday crowds won't be here yet, and all the other kids are in school.  So, maybe it won't be very croweded.  Have a great weekend!

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Okay, I know, that's really weird.  But, really.  Did she?  Did she snap Adam's head off for no particular reason when he came in from a hunt?  Did she sit in a dark corner of the cave and cry over nothing?  Scripture says that the woman would have pain in childbirth.  It didn't say anything about once a month.  Or, are we just to assume that went along with it?  However, some women now don't suffer, or very little.  Although, I am unfortunately not one of them, I have heard women say that they barely know it's there.  Well, that's not fair.  And, you'd think that if it was a consequence of woman's sin, then we'd all suffer.  So, is it possible that PMS, or as in my case DMS (During), is a result of the steady decline of our health due to poor diet choices and environmental yuck?  When was the first case of it?  I'm assuming no one really has the answers to my warped questions, but you can't ever tell.

I loved Christian comedian writer Becky Freeman's take on it in her book A View From the Porch Swing.    Her husband thought she was having a breakdown, and she knew it wasn't that time, so he sent her off to a cabin for a few days alone.....

......."It had been a touch of hormones afterall!  Then it dawned on me, if this had been Old Testament times, under Levitical law I'd have been routinely exiled like this--"set apart seven days" for 'customary impurity.'  
    I used to think, How awful to be 'put away' like you were something disgraceful just because it was your God-ordained female time of the month!  Now, I'm beginning to see the brillance of such a plan.  Oh, I might have protested the injustice of it all on some level if I'd lived back then, but eventually I believe it would have dawned on me that this shunning deal was not a bad arrangement for all concerned.  True, the men probably felt slightly superior.  But as long as the woman had a week off to go somewhere to sit and relax without having to skin goats or shear sheep or make stew, who cared?  Could this have been God's gift to women--a seven-day monthly jubilee?
    I keep envisioning that famous children's story where Br'er Rabbit pleads with Br'er Bear, 'Please, oh, please--just don't throw me in the brier patch!'  Only I picture an Israelite woman hiding her smile as she says, "please, oh, please--you're nt telling me I'm unclean are you?  What?  You want me to just sit?  Sit and relax, you say?  I can't even lift a tiny finger to cook or clean or scrub pots or milk goats?  How terrible."

I'm seriously thinking of trying to get this instigated in our house. 

That was just her fun look at the dreamy possibility.  Her point was really about women sometimes needing downtime, but it does sound good, doesn't it?  I'll tell you something, though.  As I've gotten older, I have definitely realized the value of taking it easier during that week.  I don't get to be shunned, but, I am thankful for a husband who understands that there are a few rough days, and on those days there may not be much accomplished.  I have had many years of pushing my way through it, and no one benefits (and as you get old like   me(!) your perspective changes!) .   We need to take care of ourselves, listen to our bodies and our spirits, explain it to our husbands if need be, and "enjoy" a day or two of shunning.  Have an easy supper or two, read a little more that day, stay off your feet, take a nap.....if you feel like I do, then you aren't joking when you say you're taking a sick day!!

Take care of yourselves ladies!  A little care today, will make our families much happier!

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  We really had  great time at our teens and moms get-together last night.  We had Lacy and Allysa, Tracy, Sami, Coie, Ryann, and of course, my girls, Ashley, and Briana.  All teens--very sweet teens.  I love this bunch because I don't have to worry. Lots of giggles and a few loud ROFL is about all you hear out of them.  Just provide them with a lot of food and a place to talk.  They all have precious hearts , and we don't have to worry about whether their conversation is appropriate or what is going on.  It's such a shame that so many parents out there, even some homeschool ones, miss out on the opportunity to have a great time with their teens.  I love the teen years.  We moms had a pretty good time ourselves.  I had great time.  The moms here were Pat, Maria, Gena, and Jen.  Yes, we know Gena didn't have a teen girl here, but we just like her company!  Some of us used to have a group of these girls and moms that got together once a month and did something fun--game night, putt-putt, window shopping, eating out, etc.  Some of these are different girls, but I sure hope we can do this more often again. 

    I am spoiled!  My husband is a contractor.   We bought our house 16 years ago-dirt cheap.  It was a pretty good size house then, but it needed lots of help.  Most of the years we've lived here we couldn't afford to do much to it.  A few projects here and there--mostly painting, new kitchen countertops (replacing the canary yellow ones), and some other hit and miss projects like leveling out our hilly backyard and building a deck.  Once James started building, the projects around here started picking up.  First he added on a workshop next to our garage, a new front door, replacing some floors, etc.  When we started adopting our 4th child, we had to have another bedroom, so he tore the roof off the garage and added a second floor above it, which became a large master bedroom.  A screened porch became our schoolroom and a covered porch adjacent to it became our craft room last year.  This year's biggest project is a new laundry room.  For the last 16 years, guests have had to go through my tiny laundry room to get to the bathroom.  It's a pain, especially trying to hide all the unmentionables.  So, he is adding a new laundry room on the other side of the bathroom.  It will also be big enough for my freezer, extra frig, and laundry sink.  I can't wait!  Also, the spot where the washer and dryer are now will become a pantry.  I'm really excited about that since we buy a lot of bulk food, which now sits in the corner of my den. 

    The only way we are able to do these projects is because he does most of the labor himself, and sometimes what we do have to hire out we get a discount on because they are his subs. 

    The house still has a long way to go before it is close to "there", but it's tons better and more suited to our family.  I need to remember to thank him more often!  Yep.  I'm spoiled.  Sometimes it takes having other people here to remind me of that.

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