Missing ya'll already, And another ~"HELLO"~ :)

HELLO, my good friends! I miss all of you already. It was so good to see all of you on my last trip! When I come back in April, I want to see you all again!

I would also like it if you all started to send comments to me on my blog!
Things are going well up here in Kentucky. Even though my Grandfather just died, I'm okay I guess. I know I'll see him again someday, but anyway,I would "LOVE" to talk to all of you soon! Well, that just about wraps it up for me! Have a GREAT~GREAT~ GREAT day today, my friends!

Love,
~Mary Beth Wooten~

Yes, We are Still Here (and No, We're Not There Anymore)!

Hi, friends! Happy New Year! I (Kristie) have been making a concerted effort to spend less time on the internet, in an attempt to devote more time to the needs of my immediate family--and to "put down some roots" here in Northern Kentucky. Nonetheless, THREE WHOLE MONTHS is a long time to go without a blog post of any sort. I can't really use the excuse that there's been nothing to blog about--there's been PLENTY! I'll try to catch you up here:

About a week after our previous blog post (courtesy of Mary Beth), my "much-taller-but-younger" brother Clint and his wife Tara welcomed their firstborn, Brynnan Grace, into the world, down in Thomasville! We rejoiced with them, but we were a bit sad that our rejoicing was from afar, and we were bummed that we wouldn't get to see her in person until our January trip to Thomasville.

BUT--very shortly after that, God changed our plan. At the end of October, my precious dad suffered a stroke, just before his 60th birthday. God has GREATLY restored almost all of what was damaged at this point, and the stroke itself blessed Daddy with a reminder about some healthy lifestyle habits (and helped wean him off his boiled peanut addiction :)...). In the days immediately following the stroke, the recovery and adaptation needed was extremely stressful for my parents. My heart broke as I attempted a Skype conversation with him on his birthday (Nov. 5) as I listened to him struggle. My birthday is November 7, just two days after his, and my mom's birthday is the 14th. With all that was going on down in Thomasville, Chad knew it would do my heart good to be there with my family, so my sweet man took us down to Georgia for nearly a week between my birthday and Mom's, so we could help my parents adjust to their "new normal."

We enjoyed seeing a few friends during that trip, but we spent most of the time with my family, including sweet little Brynnan.



I was particularly grateful for the evening of November 12, when Believers from all over Thomasville were gathering together for a city-wide time of coporate worship, known as BecomeOne. A friend of mine from high school, who is now a youth pastor there, shared his testimony and a wonderful sermon on forgiveness and on trusting God's "big picture" for our lives. Some of my favorite local worship leaders were on stage, and I was blessed to at least give quick hugs to MANY of the Thomasvillians in the congretation, whom I otherwise would not have seen on this trip. When I arrived back at my parents' house after BecomeOne, we laid down for about 4 hours of sleep, and then we made our way North on I75 once again.

When we arrived back in Hebron, we spend a few weeks finishing out our fall semester of homeschooling. We celebrated Thanksgiving with one of Chad's co-workers and his wife. We thought we'd come out cheaper (and without tempting leftovers) if we celebrated Thanksgiving at the local Craker Barrell, but when we arrived and found a 2-hour wait, we decided to move on to try one of the other FEW local restaurants that were open. We landed, at 1:15, at Frisch's Big Boy, which had a sign on the door stating that they'd be closing at 2p.m. It was a comically AWFUL Thanksgiving meal, but the company we were with made it tons of fun, nonetheless.

After Thanksgiving, we jumped right into our Christmas-related activities. We bought and decorated our very first (in a decade of marriage) full-sized tree with ornaments that were ALL ours! The kids had a great time decorating the house. Mary Beth sang in a childrens' choir as part of 7Hills' Christmas celebration, and Chad and I got to help out with an intro skit one Sunday morning, as well. I don't think we realized just HOW MUCH time we'd need to be spending in rehearsals when we initially committed, but we were glad for an opportunity to serve, and Mary Beth had a ball! After MB's choir presentation on the 7Hills Newport campus, we drove over to the Ohio River so we could take a few photos to finish out our family Christmas postcard. If you've not seen it already, enjoy! :)



It's all pretty much a blur now, date-wise, but right around Christmas, both of the guys in Chad's office took time off, so we were able to go into work with Chad for half a day and hang out in his high-rise office suite. It was really SO COOL to get to watch the sun rising over Cincinnati from 23 stories up! After he finished work, he took us out for lunch, and then also to the Cincinnati Zoo's Festival of Lights.

Christmas day WAS a bit awkward without any extended family around. The hardest part was hearing a voicemail from my grandfather: "Merry Christmas! This is Pops! We miss you and can't wait to see you! Love you, baby!" We'd hoped for a snowy day, but it honestly just felt like a cold day in Thomasville. We opened gifts, had a big breakfast, shared the Christmas story, and also went to see a movie at the "RAVE" theater (this is the one that DOESN'T have $3 admission prices, so it was a rare treat.)!!! The day after Christmas (since we'd been so busy with 7Hills activities previously), we visited a "Bethlehem Town" live nativity of sorts, at Ken Ham's Creation Museum, which is one exit down from ours. To me, this was the most moving part of our entire December. It was neat to walk through and get a feel for what Bethlehem would've really been like around the time when Jesus was born. I left thanking God for the gift of His Son.

On the work days immediately after Christmas, Chad's co-workers were still gone, so MB and Noah each got to pack a sack of snacks, drawing stuff, books, small toys, and a DVD player, and they each got to enjoy a half-day alone with Chad at work, followed by some time "out on the town". They each loved their special day!

Two nights before New Year's Eve, we loaded up Chad's truck and took THE TRIP to Thomasville (the only one we'd actually planned to take back when we moved up here in July, even though we'd actually already managed to return for three visits home).

On Dec. 30, we celebrated a very special birthday (I won't tell you which one, since she still looks 30) for our friend, Vicky. I first got to know Vicky as "Mrs. Vicky." She's the wife of our pastor in Thomasville, and I babysat their kids when I was in college (now THEIR youngest is in college!). Our friendship grew, and she soon became the leader of a small discipleship group for some young women (including me) in our church. Before I knew it, I was getting married, and I asked her to be my matron of honor...she threw an amazing lingerie shower...and very much proved that godly women don't have to be prudish women! She was there for the births of both my children, and for the miscarriage in-between! When that little girl I used to babysit grew up, she married my baby brother, so now Vicky is also family--though I guess she really always has been like family! A dear, dear friend she is!

Chad and I spent New Year's Eve afternoon taking my grandparents down near the Florida line to buy a new rocker-recliner for my grandma. Pops was very feeble (he'd been hospitalized for 10 days earlier in December, and he still had very little strength), and he had a hard time maneuvering through the store, but Chad was able to help him navigate using Grandma's rolling walker. It was a difficult trip, but little did we know then what a special trip it was.

We spent the evening enjoying some time with friends at Sonny's BBQ, and then on New Year's Day, Chad's dad joined us for a service at Celebration and baptized Noah, who had become a Christian back in October. That afternoon, we had a picnic lunch with several friends at one of our favorite local playgrounds, and then we went out to Chad's late grandfather's farm with all those friends to let the kids see the cows, climb the hay bales in the barn, and stomp in the muddy creek.

That evening, my extended family gathered with us at my parents' house in Pavo for a late Christmas celebration with us! Here's a picture of the general ruckus we enjoy when we're all together:



We had a great time, and pigged out, of course! I made some stevia-sweetened strawberry ice-cream for the health nuts in the room, and everyone else enjoyed some delicious-looking chocolate chip cheesecake my sister had made. The kids ran all around, enjoying their gifts, but mostly enjoying being with their little cousin Ethan, who had a constant mantra of "Bebbie-Noah-Bebbie-Noah" all night long. My brothers amazed Pops by finding a youtube version, of a song they've heard him sing for years, on their high-tech phones: "My girl's a corker. She's a New Yorker...She has two hips like two battleships...that's where my money goes!" (Yeah, definitely a tune that'll make you raise an eyebrow, but it was just one of MANY crazy things Pops is famous for saying/singing.) I mostly sat on the couch and held Baby Brynnan...oh, how that child gives me baby fever!

We spent much of the following days visiting precious family and friends. We went nonstop pretty much for a week, enjoying lunch dates, park dates, shopping dates. We went out to another BBQ restaurant with Chad's dad and siblings, and we folllowed up with a trip to the cemetary to see Chad's grandfather's gravestone, which had been installed since our last trip to town.

Mary Beth's 9th birthday was on Thursday, so we had a small family birthday gathering for Mary Beth at her favorite local buffet, Seminole Wind. Lest Johnny Barnes see this blog and faint, MY favorite IS Crawdaddy's, but MB is addicted to those cinnamon rolls at Seminole Wind! My parents gave her a pretty heart-shaped locket there, and then Chad used the box and some ketchup to present MB with a special part of him.



Aunt Sarah brought Ethan to the party, too, so Mary Beth and Noah spent a good bit of time doing their usual "silly faces" routine with him.



That evening, we gathered with some of Mary Beth's Thomasville friends at the local coffee shop, Grassroots Coffee. Mary Beth had asked her Uncle Clint, who lives about a mile from Grassroots, to give her a ride there in style. He gladly obliged:

Motorcycle

Once there, we enjoyed coffees, frappes, smoothies, and all sorts of concoctions. We served MB's cake, which she had helped Grammy bake and decorate:

Cake

For party entertainment, we brought out a large sack of random accessories we'd gathered from Grammy's house, along with a black foamboard picture frame and a camera. The girls had a ball designing their wardrobes and then posing for the camera. The adults even got in on the fun. Here is Noah, posing with my friend Stacey, whom he affectionately refers to as "Mama Monster."



Here are the Owens girls, posing with Mary Beth.

Owens

After a late night at the coffee shop, we enjoyed a fairly laid-back Friday, as we packed up to head home. Chad and I did run back to Thomasville on Friday evening to spend a little more time with my grandparents. Pops had been feeling so badly all week, and I wasn't sure he'd still be around to visit with by the time of our next planned trip. They gave us some pieces they'd found in their cabinets that go with the Magic Bullet they'd given us years ago. We sat around and talked about healthy food, TastyCakes, where interstate highways run in the northeast, and then about Pops's recent non-cancerous colonoscopy results (fun stuff, huh?). Before we left, I asked, "So, Pops, do you think you try to hang around so I can see you again on my next trip home?" He laughed that squeally laugh of his and said, "Kris, only the Lord knows--only the Lord knows!" Shortly after that, I hugged Grandma, then I kissed his baldy forehead as we got up to leave and said, "Bye." I've never said, "bye," before, but this time, it was like the Lord wouldn't let me say anymore. Pops followed us to the door and shut it behind us. As we backed out of the driveway, I looked through the windshield, up into the garage, and I saw his eyeball poking through between the slats in the blinds on the door, and I saw his pointer finger waving goodbye to us. I thanked Chad profusely for coming back to Thomasville with me, and I started sobbing in the truck as I realized that I really wasn't going to see Pops again. I really didn't think he'd still be around in the Spring.

Saturday morning, Chad was just putting the last of the luggage on the truck, when my grandmother called to say that she'd just found Pops unresponsive on the bedroom floor. I really hadn't expected Pops to last three more months, but I also hadn't expected him to get to heaven before I got back to Kentucky. But, that's just what he did. We wound up taking that luggage off the truck and staying four more days as we celebrated the life of the late great George Herbert Rennard.

My mom's extended family came pouring in, and many of Grandma's church friends, who had been such dear influences for me during my childhood, all spent the next few days at Grandma's house, celebrating all that was Pops. As was shared at the funeral, Pops lived to honor God first and his family a close second. He was like a spur in a cowboy boot, always pushing us on to do our best. He had a spunky streak fueled by chocolate. Even though he often had a hard time remembering just what your name was (and therefore called you by a made-up name or a combination of the names of several different family members-just to try to be at least party right), you always knew he loved you and believed in you. He loved to laugh, and he loved his Florida State Seminoles! Here's the last picture we have of him. It's from New Year's Day, when he tried on the FSU Everfan cape my sister had given Noah as a Christmas gift. That, folks, is his final tomahawk chop.

Pops

Pops loved "sound doctrine and the Blood," and he had no greater desire in life than the salvation of his family members and those he loved. Three generations after him, Mary Beth was moved to write this essay about him on the day he met Jesus face-to-face:

"Why I am Blessed to Be a Christian," by Mary Beth Wooten

Jesus is the key to life. He died on the cross to take away our sins. That's why we have communion-to remind us that He died on the cross. Christians have a chance to go to the best place on earth. I feel so, sooo bad for people that are not Christians. They're going to hell, and that's not near as good as going to heaven.

My Pops is going to heaven now. I'll see him again someday. Sometimes, when I look up in the sky, I see his face, telling me not to cry. I tell him I can't help but cry.

I'm glad I get to see him again someday. It'll be great! This is why I am blessed to be a Christian.

***********************************

When we arrived back in Hebron, we pretty much hit the ground running with our second semester of homeschooling. The kids are learning about great American artists during their fine arts time, and they have produced some really nice paintings. I'll try to figure out how to scan their artwork onto my computer so I can share it with you sometime.

So, for a chick who's tried to stay off the computer, I've now spent two solid hours working on this blog post. Hopefully, it won't take you as long to read it! :) I'd LOVE to hear all that's going on in your life! I pray your family is enjoying a blessed and happy 2012 thus far!

--Kristie

Mary Beth misses you

Hello my best buddies!
I miss yall A-L-O-T!

You make me cry when I think about you, LITERALLY!
You rock my word!
I might, just might, be coming down there to Thomasville for a funeral,

My great-grandaddy just died
I miss him,
He was a good man--he had a farm.
I got to do lots of things there,
Such as:
Climb on hay, feed the cows, & go in the corn house, & ride on the golf cart,
Now that I do not live there,
I can’t go as often,
but let me get my mind off that.

I wanted to tell you I have met I girl up here. Her name is Jaden.
She is like Emily Owens to me, because Emily Owens was a really close friend like Jaden.
We took her to pizza last night, and our car got hit but we were not in it. It was so cool! The police came, and the man who bumped into our car bought our pizza!
So now we get to rent a new car or something, while they fix our door.
I’m pretty much done, send me letters, call me, text me, even tell your mom to contact my mom and let us chat on facebook or Skype!

Love ya’ll,
Blessings,
Mary Beth!

Surviving and Celebrating

Well, folks, let me tell ya--Alabama is one LONG State! We had a fantastic remainder of our week in Panama City Beach and began driving home two Saturdays ago. We were told that the drive would be shorter if we drove back to Kentucky through Alabama, so we decided to attempt that route. Chad's sweet daddy drove over to Dothan from Thomasville to meet us for lunch on the way back. We met him around 2 and had a great time at Dothan's very own "Old Mexico." After we departed, we headed north through Montgomery and then Birmingham. I had always though that Alabama sort of ended after Birmingham, and then you just drove on into Tennessee on I65. Well, I was very WRONG!



We originally planned to drive straight through and arrive back in Hebron in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Well, once 10:30 rolled around, and we discovered we still hadn't escaped Alabama, we decided to stop at Comfort Suites in Cullman and spend the night. I was so glad we did! We left the hotel at 9 the next morning, and we still did not arrive home until around 4 on Sunday afternoon, which was just enough time for me to make a much-needed Kroger run and to unpack all our suitcases.

We started our week with a normal Monday on the next day--Chad went to work, and the kids and I went to Classical Conversations. We had a great morning, but by 1 that afternoon, I was BEAT! I took a nap, and then I woke up to coughing kids. I knew we had "over-sugared" on vacation, and so I knew (based on years of experience), that unless I caught it in time and stopped Mary Beth's carb consumption for a few days, she'd likely be barking like a seal by the end of the week. Unfortunately, she was barking away by Friday, and Noah was a pretty snotty kiddo, too. :(

So......I got to become their worst nightmare: The No-Sugar Nazi Mom! And I mean NO sugar...like no refined carbs...not a bite! Sugar feeds bacteria and fungi--the two things that usually cause coughing for my kids, and I've noticed that the best way to get rid of a cold is to eat soley meat, cheese, veggies, and strawberries for a few days. It's been a while since I've had to be THAT strict with my kids, and we had to work VERY hard on keeping good attitudes about the whole process.

The most difficult part was that Chad and I had signed up to serve at all four services on the main campus at church that Saturday and Sunday. We were to dress up as movie characters and greet children who arrived for our "At the Movies" evangelistic outreach. Mary Beth had already gotten it in her little head that she was going to get to enjoy movie popcorn SIX times over the weekend, and it was very sad when I had to tell her that popcorn is FULL of carbs. :(

I think the kids still had a great time, though. There is a special room called "V-Kids" where children of volunteers get to stay and hang out in a supervised area so that they don't have to attend a whole bunch of identical children's services--unless they just want to. I think Mary Beth and Noah each went to 3 of the kids' services, and attended V-Kids for 3 services, over the weekend. They got to meet LOTS of kids from Seven Hills who don't attend the same Saturday night service that we usually go to, and that was a big treat!

Chad and I had chosen Fred and Wilma Flintstone as the cartoon characters we would be for the weekend. Chad's costume came with a mask, but mine didn't, so--realist that I am--I got up Saturday morning and dyed my hair red (using a product that's supposed to last through a "mere" 28 washes--I'm trying to wash it 7 times a day now to see if we can speed things up!)



We greeted church attendees at both services on Saturday night, and we were joined by a sweet young mom, also from Hebron, who was dressed up as Snow White. She has a precious young daughter, and we enjoyed chatting about a possible future for them with homeschooling.

Randy Christian is one of the friends we made while attending the Summit class series last month at Seven Hills. He is a part-time photographer, and he volunteered to take all the pictures on Sunday. He did a wonderful job, and he was VERY prompt in posting the images to Facebook (which is where I swiped these from). I don't have any actual pics of us in the Flintstones costumes, but here's a pic, taken by Randy Christian, of someone else wearing the Fred costume on a previous weekend.



Chad was originally excited about having a costume with a mask, but he soon realized how quickly heat gets trapped inside that thing, and how he couldn't really communicate with anyone, and how all but TWO of the kids who came were scared.to.death!!!! of him. During the second Saturday night service, we slipped back to the costume area and looked at some more options for Sunday.

The Buzz Lightyear costume looked like it would get a tad warm inside, too, but the Woody costume looked wonderful, and we knew that most kids attending would be able to identify with Woody, so we got permission to switch up and be Toy Story characters on Sunday.

After church, we got to go out to dinner with a really neat couple--Mike and Jeannetta Gaunt. Mike is a pro body builder, and Chad has pretty much coveted his muscles since the first day we saw them at church. We had a great meal at O'Charley's, and we had great conversation about exercise and nutrition.

At 10 p.m., we left O'Charley's and headed for Target. If Chad was going to be Woody, that meant I would need to dress my red-headed self as Jessie. There was no Jessie costume at church, so I talked Chad into buying me a great pair of boots, and I bought some fabric markers to embellish and "westernize" a hand-me-down white blouse I'd found in a basket from Aunt Karen Byron. We'd be able to snag a cowboy hat from the costume box at church the next morning, and if I could just braid my hair right, we'd be all set!

Here is the finished product:



Sunday was much more fun! All of the kids who came INSTANTLY recognized "Woody," and Chad was actually able to interact with them since he didn't have on a mask. Lots of the kids wanted to give hugs to Jessie as well. I was so thankful to be back in my element! Wilma Flintstone's costume had made bending and squatting a bit difficult, but it was very easy for me to squat down on the floor and greet kids in my jeans. Speaking of "Jeans," I even heard some "Miss Pattycake" (Jean Thomason) leak from my mouth at one point when I exclaimed, "My FRIENDS are here!" at some preschoolers! I loved getting to tell little doll-toting toddlers that I was SO GLAD they'd brought their babies to church because Jesus thinks children are VERY special! It was a morning full of smiles, hugs, and photos!

Here are some pics of us doing what my heart loves to do most:






Most of the ministering/greeting Chad and I did was during the transition times between services. We did walk in for the message part of one service. This past weekend, they used the movie, 127 Hours, to share about how Jesus can rescue us when we fall into a pit. Many came to know Jesus that morning! We were way excited! :) During the "message" portions of the other three services on Sunday, we enjoyed finally getting to know some of the other staff members and key leaders from Seven Hills. We'd already been blessed to meet and spend some fun time with Children's Pastor Tony and Amanda Giordano, but it was great to finally meet
Missions Pastor Eric Wagner's wife, Tina! We also got to chat with Creative Pastor Matt Jones and meet his sweet wife and baby. Here's a picture with Senior Pastor Marcus Mecum, along with Buzz Lightyear and Snow White (Kenneth and Sara Holzer). Mark 16:18 comes to mind when I look at this picture. :)



We defnitely felt like we were a real part of the Seven Hills team this weekend, and we are very thankful for the opportunity to serve!

Well, we survived the drive through Alabama, and we've survived fairly well without eating our normal carbs, but I'm so thankful we've gotten to CELEBRATE God's goodness to us, and His love for us! We are grateful that He has surrounded us with people who want to see Him glorified and who want to show His love to the people of this area!

What about you? Do you feel like you're just surviving? In your home? In your church? In your situation? Let me encourage you to do something to SERVE someone in the Name of Jesus...and watch for Him to give you a reason to Celebrate!

Blessings from the North Bend!
--Kristie

Taking Time to Smell the Roses, or at Least to See the Grandparents and Hug the Babies

For nearly two decades, my grandparents from Lexington have been renting a condo in Panama City Beach, FL, for the entire month of September. Usually, many, if not all, of our extended family members have gathered down there on Labor Day Weekend. When we lived in Thomasville, it was an easy three hour drive. We would make it several times during the month. In recent years, since our family has added spouses and great-grandchildren, many of us have even rented our own condos at the same complex. We don't have a whole lot of family traditions, but September in PCB is one that is very special to us. When we moved to Kentucky in July, I pretty well settled in my heart that we probably wouldn't be able to make the 12 hour drive and pay money for all that gas this year. I didn't really like this reality, but I was determined to be content and to try to find something special to do with our own little nuclear family for Labor Day Weekend.

I was absolutely THRILLED when Chad surprised me by sharing that he needed to head to Thomasville to give a presentation at Flowers corporate headquarters this week, and that Flowers would pay for his mileage, and that we could ride with him since our homeschool group isn't meeting this week...and then I was blown away at the goodness of God when we discovered my parents would have some empty bedrooms in their condo rental this week, starting on Monday! God is soooooooooo good! And my heart is really happy! :)

We attended our first "At the Movies" service at 7Hills Church in Florence on Saturday night and had a great time! As soon as the service was over, we jumped in the truck, found our way to I75, and headed south! We chatted a little bit as we made our way to the Chick-fil-a drive thru just north of Lexington. After our chicken was consumed and it started getting dark, we stopped for a potty break and then declared "silence!" in the truck, in hopes that the kiddos would go to sleep in the backseat. It worked! I slept for about an hour between Knoxville and Chattanooga while Chad drove. Once we were in Georgia (12:30ish), we stopped for gas, and I took the wheel so my yawning man could sleep some. I drove on until we got to Cordele around 4, and by then I HAD to let Chad drive. He normally gets up at 4 anyway, so I figured our chances were better with him driving. I faded in and out of uncomfortable sleep for the next 2 hours, while he brought us through the home stretch.

We arrived in Thomasville at Pops and Grandma's house at 6 a.m. on Sunday. The kids had slept most of the night in the truck. Chad and I were rather sleep-deprived, but he can function on only a few hours. I, on the other hand, can't. I went straight to bed to try to catch one more precious hour of sleep before the sunlight came creeping through the slats in the blinds. Pops had just gotten up when we arrived, so he loved on the kids--who were wide awake--and watched cartoons with them, and fed them all manner of junk food while we slept. The kids had a blast! I think Pops had fun, too. :)

Mary Beth rode to church with some friends. She REALLY, REALLY wanted to go back to Celebration and see everyone. Chad and I would've liked to have gone, too, but we were wasted from driving all night. We laid around until about 10:30, and then we went to visit Great-Granddaddy at his assisted living community. It was good to spend an hour with him and catch up. And of course, Noah loved getting into his candy stash.

After we left Great-Granddaddy, we headed over to Celebration to pick up Mary Beth. Even though we'd missed the service, we were glad to get to catch up on some after-church fellowship with many, many friends...and to once again be standing in the foyer chatting when the "door-locking" volunteer pulled out his keys. :)

Before we left Thomasville, we pretty much had a tradition of eating Sunday lunch at Masato's with the Owens family, so of course, we joined them after church. (Yes, the Owens have all girls--and Noah's gotten used to being "odd man out" at this point...but I think payback's coming because our new friends in Hebron have four BOYS and no girls. ;) )



We ran into the Congers there, too, and I was so glad--there were so many people in Thomasville that we wanted to visit with, and the logistics of seeing them all within 24 hours was more than we could handle. I was glad God allowed us to cross paths with a few friends unexpectedly. :)

There was MUCH excitement in the air as our kiddos feasted on ice cream and played with many of their Thomasville friends who had gathered to meet us at Dairy Queen!



My apologies to anyone not with our party who was at the Thomasville DQ between 2 and 4 on Sunday afternoon. I know it was a three-ring-circus back there, but it was just to wet and nasty for us to take our fun to the park.

Noah's buddies were there, and he was so glad to see them!



Mary Beth was THRILLED to get to spend some time with her "B.F.F.'s" (she has lots!) :)



My sweet flag-waving, Jesus-praising Eliza was there with plenty of hugs for me...



...and with plenty of salt to lick off the table. :)



One of our favorite babysitters (who was also the flower girl in our wedding when she was 3), Hannah, came to visit us, too.



Apparently, the newest kid craze in Thomasville is a slight-of-hand trick that makes a chapstick/lip balm lid "disappear." Every kid knew the trick, and just about every one of them had to perform it for me...and I was impressed, all 20 times! :)



I really enjoyed getting to visit with some of my favorite "mommy" friends.



While the kids and I hung out at DQ, Chad went to visit a friend who is in the final stages of a long battle with cancer, and then he got to spend some quality time (translation: uninterrupted by the grandkids) with his dad. Then he went to see a movie with his buddy Scott. Noah got to have a fun playdate with his buddies Kelon and Robert. I sat in Stacey's SUV and talked Jesus and homeschool for a good while. Mary Beth spent a few hours at the movies with Cousin Makayla, and then she got to play for a bit at Makayla's house.



After we picked up Mary Beth at Makayla's house, we stopped in for a few minutes at Randae and Joy Davis's house. It was good to get a squeeze hug from Timothy and to hear about all they are learning in their first year with Classical Conversations. :) Wish I'd remembered to bring my camera in.

Chad's dad, a.k.a. "Dandy," (because Mary Beth couldn't spit out "Granddaddy" when she was little, and "dandy" was the best she could do) treated us to a yummy dinner at Sonny's. The kids were really glad to see him, and they enjoyed trying to show him the "chapstick top" trick--using the tabasco sauce lid.







We hunted down Chad's grandparents, "Papa and Granny Weeks," at their favorite after-Sunday-night-church hangout: WENDY'S, and we surprised them with a little visit there.



I wish I'd been able to get some photos of the other great-grandparents, but they were basically ALL in their pajamas the whole time we were with them, so I didn't take my camera out. We missed seeing Chad's mom and siblings on this trip because they were all out-of-town. We're looking forward to seeing them when we come back after Christmas.

We arrived at the condo on Monday morning in time to polish off the breakfast leftovers and spend most of the day with my siblings and our sweet nephew Ethan. They were standing on the balcony, 10 stories up, waiting on us to arrive. As soon as we got out of the truck, Ethan spotted "his Noah" and started squealing for him. We could hear him all the way down at ground level. The weather at the beach was still NASTY from the remains of Tropical Storm Lee. We spent about 2 hours out by the pool around lunch time, but much of the day was spent inside with plenty of chasing and tickling by the boy cousins and lots of card-playing by the adults.


My brothers left last night with their families, and my parents left early this morning. Papa and Grammy will be back later in the week. Chad has to zip back up to Thomasville to give that presentation, and he'll bring Grammy back with him. My aunt, uncle, and grandparents from Kentucky, along with my sister, and also my cousins from Colorado and Texas, will be here for the rest of the week. I'm glad we'll get to reconnect. I think the weather is going to get better today, and the rest of the week should be beautiful, so you may not hear from us again before we get home, but we are so thankful for this nice little break to reconnect with some special people we've been missing for a few months now. Thomasville's roses aren't really blooming much this time of year--so we couldn't exactly smell them--but were were really glad we got to stop on our way through and hug so many necks! If we missed you in Thomasville on this trip, we hope to see you when we come back to visit during New Year's week. :)

Skip-Counting Memory Work Tool, Part 2

If you'd like to make one of these Skip-Counting Memory Tools, you should go back and start at the beginning, rather than jumping in from the start of this post. :)

So, here are the rest of the instructions:



Turn the page you've just created OVER, and use a glue stick to apply glue all along the two center ("unsnipped") sections of the paper.





Glue the original sheet of paper on top of a second blank page, matching up ends and corners, so that the centers are stuck together and the flaps, well, "flap." :) Turn the tool over so the numbered side is facing up.



Fold the numbered flaps inward toward the center crease, and decorate the backs of the flaps, and the now-empty spots where the flaps used to be, by placing a sticker in the blanks where each number should go.



When all of the flaps are folded IN, place a ruler on top of the folded-down edges along the center crease. You should now see a ruler sitting on top of what looks like a full sheet of paper with FOUR rows of SIX stickers.



To review with your kids, open all the flaps, and have them touch the numbers as they chant/speak/sing/count. Tuck in a flap or two, and have the kids try again, pointing to the stickers while saying the missing numbers that go in those places.
Keep folding in more flaps, until your kids can do all the counting correctly, with only the stickers showing.

Happy Homeschooling! :)

Mary Beth Has a Few Words for Her Friends in GA

Hey girls and boys! I've missed you sooooooooooooooo much! You're an awesome group of friends! I hope to see you soon--this Sunday--in Thomasville. It depends on your parents! Chuch & park.

Noah will not be there for church, but I'll be there. Noah's gonna be there for the park, but anyways..... you're my best B-f-f's, I know you will ALWAYS be my best!

When I move back, the first thing I'll do is have a sleep over. Do me a favor,
don't change a bit, and just be yourself while I'm in KY, well, as Noah would say: "Kentucky, Ohio"!!!!

Well, that's pretty much all. I'll do another post sometime :)!!!!!:)

Love y'all,
Mary Beth :)
P.S. Parents, let your kids check our website out :) vidieos/pics & the kid sent posts ;):) Send letters ;) We love to get mail, and we'll send you a letter back!