Hangin' in there...

As best as we can. We have some big decisions to make....

Brad was offered the job in VA.

YAY!!!!!! It was an answer to our prayers.

However he has to go through Top Sec*ret Sec*urity Clea*rance (TSSC)....and have his physical AND a Poly*graph test!!!! Which could take anywhere from a month to a year.

BUT they have asked him to start on the 4th of Aug (which also happens to be Popo's Bday!!!)....so he is STILL down there, (in VA) but now has to come back (to NC) to get a bunch of things....including his truck.

The decision we need to make is that Bug's 1st grade starts in late Aug (coming up people HELLO!!) and I need to decide if he will go here or there....thing is I am SOOOOO not keen on moving back to the NoVa area (having been there...done that)....PLUS the kids are very happy and settled here.

TRUST me I have prayed and prayed and prayed and I STILL don't have a clue what to do.

I can't decide if staying here in NC, where we are established and have settled, and sacrificing seeing Brad every 2 weeks (which will be tough on me and the kids!!!) OR

MOVING to VA, and re-establishing EVERYTHING since that is where Brad's job is now.

Here is my thought.

I think the kids and I should stay here for at least 2-3 months.....allowing Bug to start school, and SEE how Brad likes this job....

that being said....if he passes his TSSC...then that makes his odds of getting a job on For*t Br*agg SOOOO much better.

OK.

So if we Do decide to do that....

Question of the day.
What does Brad do?

Rent a place (spending the money that we are TRYING to save?)....he isnt comfortable staying with my parents, and I can't blame him since he is 35 and isn't used to being the one "parented".

Rent a room?

Bite the bullet and stay with the 'rents.....


AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

O.k enough of that.

It's in the Lord's hands and I have to remember that. We will survive no matter WHAT choice we make.

O.K

On to some FUN!!!!!

We went to the imaginiation station a few days ago...

Here are the pics and video....

All Aboard!!!!!!!!!...


Emergency people...out of the way...


Did anyone call for help?


1 little..2 little...3 little indians....


Did someone call for a Dr.???


A Vet perhaps?...


THIS had to be Bug's favorite thing...even though it was stationary...LOL..


Fire Bell....


Hehehehe....he got a kick out of checking me out...


Giddy-Up....


He loves helping at home...so he played with this for a while! LOL....Just gettin' him ready for his future wife! :P



And last but not least.....

SAD

I am sad for my mom, and Cody.

They were visiting NC this past weekend, and got back to VA late last night to discover their home had been broken into. :( :( :(

What a terrible feeling.

Brad went back to VA for a job interview (which went well) and was the one that discovered the unfortunate incident late last night as they got home. He was fearful they were still in the house so he got everyone out, and they called the police. They got some prints and some blood was left behind (maybe from the glass)....but all in all it could have been MUCH worse.

My mom is an amazing person though, because even as I was angry, upset, sad, and scared for them...she was telling me, she was grateful it wasn't more (that had been taken), and she was glad nothing had been damaged (aside from the glass door being shattered), and that we really needed to think about how bad that person must have needed it, and how THEY were the ones needing prayer.

WOW.

I have to admit...I am STILL upset about the incident, but she has a point....if all they lost were some material possesions, and no one was hurt (aside from feeling violated in a small way) then we DO have much to be thankful for.

I only hope I can grow to be more like her. I guess I'll just have to keep taking notes! ;P

My love to all!~

News... News... News...

Come and get your news!

Lots have been going on but FIRST I'll update you on the "revolutionary love" project.

We decided $10 could actually get you A LOT!!

Especially at the DOLLAR store! :)

Here are our supplies we bought...


Bug was excited about glueing the puff balls onto the cards..


Making a card....


Just SOME of the cards we made...


We have an appt at Penwick Village Nursing home this Tuesday to "visit" and hand out our cards! My hope is that we reach at least ONE person. I am so excited to go...I hope I make a friend! :) I would like to do something like this with the kids at least once a month!

God is good! :)

Second Page news is.....

We found a snake in the backyard...gee that's nice...


a video of us saying goodbye to the little bugger....



3rd page.

....a girlfriend/roomie from boarding school (Nancy) came to visit with her family! We had a great time catching up (it had been about 2-3 years)...and her kids were adorable!! I hadn't met Mehdi or the twins yet...see how much can happen in 3 years? LOL :P

Here are a few shots...(oh, and did I forget to mention she has 6 kids....2 are 11 month old twins!)

Setarra and Bug.....


Mehdi and Drama Mama


The nanny and one of the twins (well wouldnt YOU need one with twins and a 2 year old, 5 year old, 10 year old, and 11 year old?


We decided to visit the zoo while she was here...
Here is Drama Mama LICKING the bench! *sigh* she is ALL Brad people!


While at the zoo, we had a LOVELY display of her temper...


and we all cooled off with some ice cream...here is Mehdi....


And last but not least we enjoyed the great weather and the wonderful lake...

Here is Mehdi fishing...this kid was GREAT at casting!...and he's 2!


Bug and Setarra telling each other a story and looking out at the lake...


Everyone (but me and the nanny and twins) in the water...


Taelyn (tai) and Jaelen (jay) paddling away...


Nancy and Mehdi...


Some fun...fun...fun...they played a game called "ghost in the graveyard"...has anyone else heard of this? It's a form of hide and seek..but this is just a video of them playing with the glowsticks.

It was a great 4 day visit! Thanks Nancy for making thats 6 and a half hour drive from Georgia to see us! We had a WONDERFUL time....and..

ya'all come back now...ya hear?

TTFN!~

Revolutionary Love

One Word.

WOW.

I am so impressed and pleased with my church right now I could ....

"Shout to the Lord, all the earth, let us sing
Power and Majesty, praise to the King;
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of your hands,
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You"

O.K THATS out of my system! :P

Anyway...Every year my church Grace...does a thing called revolutionary love, where we have these business cards (you can see what they look like on the link) that we hand out letting people know (as we do a good deed, like carrying someones groceries out to the car for them or whatever) that they are always loved by Jesus.

THIS YEAR however...get this...

This past Sunday right before the service let out, everyone was asked to take a white envelope.

After everyone had taken one, we were told that we were not to open the envelopes until we got home.

That being said....we were informed that there was an unspecified amount of money in EACH envelope (along with the cards) and EVERY single person in all 3 sevices would get one.

There was either a $5, $10, $20, or $50 bill in each one.

THEN it was expained that this year were were going to do more than just TELL people the Lord loves them....we were going to SHOW them through actions. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

How freaking cool is that!!!

The church giving OUT money!!!

For example.....you could buy someones lunch in the drive through, or buy a gift card to walmart and look for someone whom you thought could use it...HOWEVER YOU wanted to do it.

And then we were to go to the GRACE site and click on the link to the blog, and let them know what we did with the money. Then this Sunday whomever used the money in the most unique way, or made the most difference would get $200 to go out and do the SAME thing! :)

wooot wooooot !:)

Well, both Brad and I only got $5 in our envelopes and to be honest my first thought was "what can I do with $5-$10....I mean seriously"

And I put it aside and kinda prayed about it and continued to think "what can I do with that amount to make the MOST difference"...I mean hey....$10 doesnt go far these days!!

But after many prayers (and wonderful advice) I have figured it out!!!

Tomorrow we will go to an office supply store and buy construction paper in every different color (well, $10 worth),
and then we will come home and the kids, I AND Brad will cut out hearts and flowers and write happy messages on every one of them.
Then we'll go to a retirement home and visit and pass them out.

That way not only will we (hopefully) make someones day by visiting, talking, and giving them artwork....
but I think the kids will get a lot out of it as well!

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO....
Now that I have a plan in place I am SOOO excited to get it done!

What a great feeling!!!!

Anyway...I'll be taking pictures so I'll share them with you after our visit.
Please say a prayer for us, and hope that we can impact and make a small difference in someones day tomorrow!

Love to all!!

P.S I challenge YOU to take just $5-$10 out of YOUR pocket and see what YOU can do. Let me know if you do. You may be surprised what you can do, and what an impact YOU can have!

More 4th pics and such....

I don't think I have mentioned it yet, but I have decided to watch a little girl I'll call Angelina Ballerina. She is 14 months old and ADORABLE!!! I was supposed to have her 3 days a week, but have had her every day of the week since she fits right in and her parents are thrilled with how happy she is here. We love her already! :) And YES, they have given me permission to post about her...(I wasn't going to, but I mentioned my blog and she said she thought that was great and she didn't mind at all)...woot woot

ANYWAY...

After she was picked up on the 4th we decided to head to Southern Pines for a 4th of July fest...

Here are a few pic's from that..

Here is Bug....he is ALL red, white and blue...(:P)...


Let's get a walkin'....we had to park aways away!


Here we are a walkin'.....


Drama Mama having a BLAST in the blow up jumper..


They also had a HUGE playground...


All tuckered out!......on our way home...


Then on Sun. we went to the N.C zoo again...


Lollipop anyone?..


I love how pink her cheeks are here...and check out her sticker..if that isn't the truth I don't know what is! :)


Ar ar ar....


~~~~~~~~

Then Daddy decided Bug needed a way cool ramp to run his cars off of....here they are building it together (with old material)...



Giving it a go....



And last but not least....Daddy decided to finally put up the swing that Grandpa got Drama Mama a while back....


Daddy's little helper.....


Wheeeeeee.......


And then decided he needed to make Bug one of his own....

It was pretty awesome!.....Here they both are... ( :>)

Here is Drama Mama pushing Angelina Ballerina....(well, maybe she is trying to pull her out...she was adamant that it was HER swing)...the turkey.

Mom, this is the flower (there are actually 3 of them) I was talking about!! It is GORGEOUS....the brown spots are so bright against the orange and it hangs UPSIDE down!! :P

LASTLY.....

These are a few video's for Popo....I thought she would get a kick out of it....

Here is Drama Mama singing her ABC's.....you may have to turn up your volume though...LOL...

And then....

(:P) (:P) (:P)

Miss you guys!~TTFN!~

HAPPY 4th OF JULY 2008



First off a HUGE thank you to all those brave men and women out there serving our country, and to their families and the HUGE sacrifices they make EVERY day for our freedom.



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

RANDOM RUGRAT PICTURES (and video) GALORE!!!

My sweet little cheeseballs!~

Messin' around...

intense concentration in progress...

He said he wanted his shoes on and no clothes so he could be "like the man with the yellow hat"...ummm....can't recall as I have ever seen him dressed this way...but o.k...

My "gettin jiggy with it" gal....

Heaven help me....




One of her famous (most common) faces...




Yo sweetness...give it to me....




She is into hats right now....can't you tell??


Ahhhhh....the things they come up with...




Arrrrggghh...it's the Sam pirate...




Out back view....




Fun out back...



The name says it all.....


That's all folks...



TTFN!~

P.S Hopefully I will have more pictures and video of the beach trip...MOST of the shots were taken on Becca's camera...and I am hoping we can figure out a way to get them to me...since I have none of us at the beach, carnival, boardwalk...etc..BAD Kristi. BAD girl.

now go sit in the corner and eat your ice cream! :)