Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks...

Father's Day snuck up on me this year. I was not able to get out and go shopping and I just did not have to energy to think of something. This sounds horrible but Kevin understood and did not expect anything for Father's Day. I was not going to let that happen. I wanted to do something special for Kevin but like I said I just could not think of anything.

The week before Father's Day, Kevin was out of town and I asked the kids what they wanted to get Daddy. Faith came up with the best idea. She suggested going to a baseball game. She really meant to go see a Chicago Cubs game. Well, Chicago was a little too far away and Atlanta had already played Chicago so we could not go there. So we decided to go to a Nashville Sounds game. The last time we went to a Sounds game was back in 2005 when Faith was 5 years old and John Derrick was a baby in fact, he did not even go to the game.

We went to the game and it was HOT but exciting. The Sounds played Oklahoma City. We won 11 to 3. We ate all the junk food that you are suppose to eat at baseball games like hot dogs, peanuts, cotton candy and Cokes. After the games, there were fireworks and they allowed kids to come out and run the bases. Both Faith and John Derrick ran. John Derrick was too funny because his shorts were a little big in the waist and he was running hard and hitching up his shorts at the same time.

John Derrick was determined to have cotton candy at the game. We walked in and that was all he wanted. He kept asking when the cotton candy man was going to get there. Finally the man showed up and he got his cotton candy. Notice his sweaty hair. It was very hot and humid at the game.
Here's Faith when she was 5 years old eating cotton candy at her first Nashville Sounds game. Below is Faith this time at age 9 eating her cotton candy. Boy she has grown up so much.

Prayer Request

Please keep my cousin Laura Beth's little girl, Carolina in your prayers. She is being treated for Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) which is a bleeding condition in which the blood doesn’t clot as it should.

You can read about Carolina on Laura Beth's Blog, high on life

A Funny Quote

I just had to share something John Derrick said to me this morning. He can say some of the funniest things. This morning he came to me and told me, "I love tomorrow. Right now it is today and not tomorrow."

He told me that because he is going through the "I don't wanna take a bath" phase. We have been completely off routine since I have not been able to do much and he is taking full advantage of that. Last night all of us were completely exhausted. The kids had been away all day playing with a friend, I had visitors most of the afternoon, and I found out that I would need more surgery so we were completely drained. When he started fussing about taking a bath, we gave in and told him that he would have to take a bath tomorrow. That cheered him up and he was fine.

Now he is going to convince us that he can wait to tomorrow to take a bath instead of today...

A Beach Vacation!!

We went on a mini vacation to Fort Walton Beach this Memorial Day Weekend. We had to get away before our summer got messed up by my surgery. We did a little internet surfing and found a condo on Okaloosa Island at Fort Walton Beach. The kids absolutely had a wonderful time. We got there on Friday afternoon and was able to spend a little time on the beach. Saturday morning, we woke up to a thunderstorm. That was a little disappointing but by lunch it had stopped raining and we were able to get out and play. It was very cloudy and windy but that didn't stop us from having fun. Sunday was a nice sunny day and we had a nice afternoon on the beach and that evening we took a walk down the beach. Of course on Monday morning when we had to leave, it was the perfect day to be at the beach. But, we will hopefully return next year and stay longer.
Starting a sandcastle and not finishing the sandcastle. The water is much more exciting.
John Derrick thinking that his water wings would help in the ocean.

I have a lot more pictures of our vacation but they are on our new video camera and since it is late and I don't feel like taking the time to figure out how to put them on the camera. So once that gets done, I can post those pictures.

An Indoor Picnic

The kids and I were going to meet a friend at the park today for a picnic except it decided to rain so we had to stay at home. The house was a complete mess anyway so I was glad for an excuse to stay inside and clean up. The kids were a little disappointed that we did not get to have a picnic so I promised them an indoor picnic if they helped me clean up the house. The more they helped clean up, the sooner we could have the picnic. Well, kids are kids and I ended up doing most of the work so our picnic was delayed.

When everything was picked up, I told the kids to pick the spot for our picnic. I told them they could go anywhere in the house except the bathrooms (that would just be a little gross). We eat in the living room quite a bit (I know, bad mama for eating in the living room but you have to have one bad habit) so Faith picked my bed. I told her to get a blanket and cover the bed while I fixed lunch. I packed my new picnic basket that I got from one of my moms from Mother's Day Out. We ate lunch on my bed while looking out the window as the rain came down. That was neat to do. We had the blinds open and it was easy to pretend that we were outside and watching the rain was relaxing. We might have to have an indoor picnic again.

My Other Blog

For anyone who is reading this and does not know, I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer on Monday, April 27. I have a long road ahead of me but it is one I will go on to fight this disease. I will be a survivor.

I started a new blog for this journey I will be taking. You can find is here at http://ajourneyofhopeandpeace.blogspot.com .

I hope everyone is having a blessed day.

Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes

This year Faith got to participate in Lads to Leaders/Leaderettes for the first time. I have heard of Lads to Leaders for a long time but I have never had the chance to experience it. I must say it was a great weekend and I am really looking forward to it next year.

This is the first time in about 11 years that Maple Hill has participated in Lads to Leaders so they decided to ease the kids in gradually just so they would know what it was like. Faith particpated in Oral Bible reading, Bible Bowl and Songs of Praise. I could not believe how wonderful a job she did on each event. She read Matthew 5:1-14 in such a clear beautiful voice. I am not sure how well she did at Bible Bowl because I was sitting too far back to see her answers. The Songs of Praise which was a competitive event was amazing. She led "Glorify thy Name". She stood up there and smiled and led that song so perfectly. She unfortunately did not make it as a finalist, but I really think she should have. She was a bit disappointed but there is always next year. Next year we are going to have puppet teams and she is excited about that. Maple Hill was well represented this year and it is just going to get better and the kids get older.

One thing that I think is going to great about Lads to Leaders is the closeness it is going to bring to the kids as they are growing up. This year only 3rd-6th grade participated and there were only about 15 kids. These kids are the future of the Maple Hill youth group and they are getting to share a special time together that they will remember for a long time.
The third grade girls after the Oral Bible reading. Faith, Anna-Cate and Callie

Mrs. Danielle and some of the kids at the Awards Ceremomy.