Gingerbread houses and Christmas cookies!

Over the past few weekends the kids around here have been getting into the Christmas spirit!
A couple of weeks ago they made cookies to bring in the season...and yesterday they took their hand at making the traditional gingerbread houses! They did not exactly come out perfect, but they were the cutest houses on the block!

It's Fryday Conetest Time over at My Charming Kids!

Hey All!

Small Fryday, herself!

I am posting this to tell you about an absolutely wonderful blog I came across a couple of months ago. MckMama, as she calls herself, is a mother to 4 wonderful, beautiful kids, all under the age of 4, yes 4 years old! Her blog details her everyday life as a Christian mother trying to make it in this crazy world of ours! Go get your fix here, right now!

Most recently she has been sharing with us the story of her latest pregnancy where her baby was diagnosed by a supposedly fatal heart defect when he was just 24 weeks in utero. Through a prayer movement that developed through her blog followers, and others, this baby was born perfectly healthy just weeks ago. The story of this sweet Stellan will warm your heart and wet your cheeks. He really is the cutest thing...

Oh wait, but he has four siblings, which MckMama refers to as Big Mac, McNugget, Small Fry, while Stellan has been giving the nomer, McMuffin. They are truly a delicious sight to behold in the many (very professional) pictures that MckMama shares on an almost daily basis. Being an aspiring photographer myself, I appreciate these pictures that she posts, and really appreciate the wonderful photography tips she will post from time to time. She explains them in such basic terms it is easy to pick up on them! Click here for her most recent photography tips.

Lastly, but not leastly, MckMama is about sharing the word of God and the word of others over at her blog. It is evident her true faith in every post she makes. She often promotes or links to other blogs of note which she thinks will benefit from being shared..Most recently she has promoted String of Pearls, go visit some time.

This is a not a blog to miss!

Request for prayers...

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been following the life of a family going through a domestic adoption. Adrienne, Jim, and Owen are a family who is looking to expand their family by one. They arranged a domestic adoption of a baby girl who was born on Friday. They travelled to get this child. The entire family has gotten the chance to spend time with this baby everyday since Friday. Adrienne even had the chance to meet the birthmother and the Grandmother. Everything was going well until today, when the birthmother was supposed to sign the papers, but now it seems that she is having second thoughts. For the full story go to Journey of Love to read the entire story.

Please send up prayers for this family that God will choose the right path for this sweet baby girl, whatever it might be, and that everyone involved will be given the strength to deal with the serious emotions connected with this situation.

Babies...

It seems like there is a minor baby boom going on in the world around me...somewhat.

A couple of friends from college are having babies soon...Congrats Helen D. and Becky!
And congrats to Helen S. (college friend) and Kacey (childhood friend/college friend) who have had their children, Stephen and C.C., respectively, in the past year!

I also had a good friend from New Orleans who had her first baby, Gabriella, on October 29th. This baby was a long time coming and I am so happy for her parents to finally have their sweet daughter!


Also, since I have began blogging, I have been following a couple of blogs recently. One of them is Journey of Love . This family adopted a little boy, Owen, from Russia a while back. They have decided to add to their family and have been planning on adopting a baby girl domestically.
Their baby girl was born this morning!! Click over to that blog to read Adrienne, Jim, Owen, and this new baby girl's story.

Also, for an amazing story about the power of prayer go over to My Charming Kids to read the wonderful story of MckMama and her baby Stellan who was born about 2 weeks ago.
You just have to read it.
It will leave you speechless.

Abby's Feet
This picture is just one of my favs. I have another picture that I took years back that is actually my favorite but I cannot find my print, and I do not have it digitally...makes me sad! Oh well....




Here's a little guessing game for you! Who is this baby?

Alabama Boy......

Sorry for the lack of posts lately...

I went back through my pictures and tried to find one that I found good, but also interesting to put up...this one doesn't really have a story to go with it, but it just cracks me up because I know all of the kids in it. This picture was taken before we all went to a kid's Halloween party
(it was the party from hell by the way)

If you knew the little boy in the Alabama jersey, he is a cute, adorable, funny (really, his sense of humor for a 4 year old is unbelievable)...and is just one big FLIRT! He has got every woman in his life wrapped around his little finger...seriously. This picture show's just that....I am trying to get a good pic of the four of them and, of course he won't listen to me, and he turns around and all of them just give him these sweet little smiles...At first I didn't see this picture as anything special, but I just adore it everytime I look at it now!

Happy Birthday Little Ones!

Eva and Scout celebrated their 7th and 8th birthdays, respectively, today! They are two of the sweetest girls I know! It is so neat for a close friend and neighbor to have the same birthday as you! They had a joint birthday party two weekends ago, and we had a small dinner party tonight with just family and friends. For dessert the kids got to make their own ice cream sundaes...they enjoyed it VERY much!

Christi and Dan's Wedding....

Here is a little collage I made from the few pictures I took today at Christi and Dan's Wedding in Rock City on Lookout Mountain.
It was an absolutely gorgeous wedding and the weather was absolutely perfect!
I am so happy for these two...
Song of the Day: All You Need is Love by The Beatles...
this was the song that Christi and Dan walked back down the aisle to after they were married!

(feel free to click on it to get a good look at the pictures)

Mission Accomplished--Marathon Weekend Over...

The fam and I before the wedding

Caroline (Bride in New Orleans) and I
(taken with my IPhone...not so great of quality)

I sit here on Sunday night watching Brothers and Sisters amazed that I actually attended both weddings (Caroline's in New Orleans & Christi's in Georgia/Tennessee) and the birthday party (Birmingham) and still came out in one piece! Despite the countless miles I put on my car, I enjoyed pretty much every minute of it!
Here are pictures from the Birthday Party!

On the road again...

I know this doesn't look like my car...but a girl can dream right?

It looks like I am going to be on the road for a while this upcoming weekend....

Weekend Itinerary :
Thursday...Birmingham to New Orleans in the afternoon
Friday...Get hair cut, attend Caroline's wedding in New Orleans during the evening
Saturday...New Orleans to Birmingham around noon, Scout and Eva' s 8th/7th Birthday party
Sunday...Leave Birmingham @ 1 to Lookout Mountain, TN...Christi's Wedding...Lookout Mountain, TN back to Birmingham that evening...
Total Miles: About 888 miles in 4 days...looks like it is going to be a long, extended weekend with a lot of time on the road...luckily I'll have a friend with me for the first leg out of the four, but I am on my own for the rest.

I'll be missing the field trip to the pumpkin patch which I am totally bummed about, but am excited to see two close friends get married!

Some more prayers are needed....

Could everyone just keep my dad in their prayers this weekend. He had chest pains this morning while they were down at the beach house and my mom took him to the emergency room in Baldwin County, AL. They did a bunch of tests and they all came back negative for a heart attack. However is blood pressure and cholesterol were both really high.
They are keeping him overnight for observation.
Let's pray that by tomorrow he is back on the deck of the beach house listening to the LSU game...and that for the sake of his blood pressure etc., that they win! Everyone knows that other than God and his family, his two loves in life are the
LSU TIGERS and the BEACH HOUSE...
Geaux Dad!

Thank God for Answered Prayers...

Thank you to all of those who prayed over this sweet girl. The court hearing went very well and the judge set forth a definite direction and path for this family so that they may be a forever family for this child! I am so happy!

Here is some more pictures from the shoot I did with this family this summer...

Prayers for this baby...

Without revealing too much, I just want to ask you to send up your prayers for this family. The baby in the middle is a foster child that this wonderful and great family have had in their home since February. I will not go into the situation of the birth parents, but they have not done what the courts asked them to over the past 8 months. This family will again (for the 3rd time I think) return to court on this Wednesday for the judge to again re-evaluate the bio-parents rights (each of the times before they have given them two month extensions on their requirements to gain custody back). I would just ask you to send up your prayers for this family so that the judge might find guidance to make a permanent decision, whatever it might be, so this sweet baby can find a forever family. I also ask you to pray for the little boy and girl (in this picture) and their parents so that they, again, can get through this day, where they are in constant worry about the possibility that this baby will be taken and given back to the bio parents, and they will lose this sweet child that has been an integral part of their life for the past 8 months. This family is wonderful and I do not like seeing them go through this pain. I also ask you to prayer for these biological parents in that they might realize what stress they are putting this baby through and find it in their hearts to do what is right for this innocent child.

Sorry I have been rather sketchy in this post, but I do not want to reveal to much information about the case.


Please offer up these prayers until Wednesday!

I can't believe I am doing this...

If you know me well, if you know me at all, you know that the thing I love is taking pictures, the thing I hate the most, is being in pictures...so I can't believe I am posting this picture of all pictures. However, it is just a little insight in my life and work in Birmingham. The 7th and 8th grade volleyball team won their county championship a week ago last Saturday. So as a fun reward and activity for the the whole school to participate in, the teachers came up with an idea to play a faculty/student volleyball game. I have to tell you the truth, I was really excited about it. Since sports were such a big part of my life for so long, I enjoyed getting back into the competition, even though it only lasted about 45 minutes. Last Wednesday, we played the game. It was a blast--even though the faculty lost 28-27. Then entire school came in to cheer on their favorite team--4K-2nd grade for the most part cheered for the teachers, and the rest cheered for the student team. All of the 4K teachers played, and our little students got front row seats to the game and absolutely loved it--I think they cheered the loudest! Here is the pic of the the faculty team...I think we did pretty well for 2 twenty somethings, 1 thirty something, a couple forty somethings, and several 50+ players! Some of these people are some of my closest friend up here! They are wonderful people to work with, and even better people on the inside!

P.S. I was SO sore after this....I didn't feel back to 100% for two days after!

.Margarette....

This is a little girl that lives across the street from me...she's a cutie!

I just loved this picture....that is her "yammy" she has in her hand!

Jon and Kate plus 8!

I'm am not sure if y'all have ever seen the show Jon and Kate Plus 8. It comes on at 8pm on Mondays on TLC. It is about this couple that had twins, then had sextuplets. It chronicles their everyday kind of lives. The kids are just adorable and as a couple they are hillarious. I had the chance to get to see them in person today at the Southern Women's Show here in Birmingham. They are such great people! Here are a couple of the pics that turned out.

Temporarily postponing the alphabet blogging...Here are some photos...

So, despite starting off so well with the alphabet blog, I have hit a plateau of creativity with it, and am halting it, temporarily.

Beginning last week, I am taking an evening photography class at Samford University, in which I am learning out to use my camera I got earlier this year. It is definitely a challenge for me, as I am not at all familiar with the technical aspects of a camera. I have been able to get by with what I can do up until now, but I think/hope it will make me a better photographer in the long run. So far I have had two classes, three more to go.

Today I was hanging with Eva and Davis and the weather was so pretty outside...I just had to try to start trying out some of the stuff I am learning. These pictures aren't great, but they are different that my "normal" kind of picture in slight ways. I have also recently downloaded a new editing program, so I have played around with a lot of the pictures. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Q is for Queasy...

I have felt queasy all day...I apparently have caught the stomach bug. So in an effort to start up this blogging again and get past the letter "Q." This is the best I can do today...

Side Note: I am so excited to begin a photography class at Samford University on Wednesday. I will hopefully be better by then, and be able to better my photography. Although, it is making me nervous because this is the first time my photographs will be judged publicly by others than family and friends. I will post future pictures on here.

P is for....Prayers

I have been really busy and stressed lately...so I this is the first post I have made in a week. Originally my P entry was going to be for photography because it is one of my passions in life. However, from a development occuring in the past few days named Gustav, I am asking for prayers instead. I find it ironic that my last post over a week ago (before Gustav existed) was one honoring the rebirth of the wonderful city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Now, the next entry is for prayers for the same city which is possibly facing another storm of great magnitude. There is already start of a major evacuation of New Orleans---somewhat humorously, somewhat not, all of the prisoners have been evacuated first....my mother saw it first handed.


So I now plead for prayers to whatever god/higher-being you might believe in...

Prayers for....
the people who are living in the city and throughout the Gulf Coast...the leaders of the city and state-that they get it right this time...the levees-that by some miracle they hold under a great storm...for those people who might not have the means to evacuate...for the children who were uprooted at the beginning of their freshman year of school (college or high school) and who are now facing the same threat as seniors...for those people who were not able to return to New Orleans but still have a great amount of love and adoration for the city...for those who have ever lived and loved in the city...it is a great place!!

Of course, I am praying the that the storm weakens or that it takes a sharp turn elsewhere, however it does not look like that is possible....but I will have faith that history will not repeat itself in this case!

One good thing out of this situation is that my wonderful sister is evacuating to Birmingham and getting to spend some time with me! I look forward to her visit!

Let the Saints Go Marching In.......forever!

O is for Orleans...as in New Orleans...NOLA

I was going to New Orleans for my N entry, however since I was so tired last night, my brain forgot...so I decided to do it for my O entry today. I was lucky enough to get to grow up in New Orleans from the age of 4 until 18. My parents and sister still live there and I enjoy going back to visit! I enjoyed living in the quaint suburb in Old Metairie and attending the Academy of the Sacred Heart for 12 years. I met absolutely wonderful people throughout those years that I am still friends and those I'll never forget.

My house

Although I was not there during Hurricane Katrina, I was still greatly affected by it. I was not in contact with my parents for 24 hours after it happened, and I was greatly relieved to find they were safe in Baton Rouge with my aunt and uncle. When Millsaps closed for those two weeks after the hurricane, I had no where to go. I could not go home. I was lucky enough to have a friend in Birmingham to take me in (which has partly led to my living here now...it is a wonderful city that reminds me of NOLA in some ways). Not only was it hard being apart from my family, but it was there most odd and disturbing feeling to know that everyone whom you encountered every day in your life for 14 years had up and spread across the United States...fighting for their safety, home, and livelihood at every second. My heart hurt for my family and friends terribly. I am lucky to have gotten back in contact with a lot of my friends from them, however there will always be those lost to the confusion and tragedy that was Katrina. In the following months, as I returned to New Orleans, I realized I was driving back into a different city. Yes, I toured the parts that were hit the hardest, but that is not what affected me most. It was the people. There was a blanket depression that seemed to spread itself over the city. People's ways of living had been dramatically altered because of school closings, homes losts, and the loss of friends and family members to the flood and to relocation. It was extremely hard to keep returning home this situation.

The Fam in front of St. Louis Cathedral

However, in the true New Orleans spirit, people began to recover it seemed. By Mardi Gras of the next year, the true spirit of New Orleans had been re-birthed and has grown stronger ever since. Since returning home in the past couple of years, I have seen the city use this opportunity to grow and change for the better. It has made me become a tourist in my own hometown. Here are just some of the pictures I have taken recently...I will try to go back in my archives at a later date and pull out even better ones.

NEW ORLEANS, PROUD TO CALL MY HOMETOWN!

City Park

French Quarter Entertainers and Musicians

Jax Brewery

N is for nap time....

One of the greatest thing about teaching 4 year olds is that you have nap time built into your day....so many people who have full time office jobs tell me they wish they had a time to sleep in the middle of the day. I consider myself lucky to have this opportunity to take if I want to! I have never really fallen asleep...usually I have a lot of busy work to do. However sometimes it is nice to be able to lay down and rest!

I know this wasn't a very exciting post...but it's all I could come up with....I'm exhausted!

M is for Millsaps, really?!

Side Note: I dedicate this song to all of my Kappa Delta Sorority sisters...thank you for a wonderful 4 years...not a senior!

Really?! This is a link to an article quoting the president of the lovely institution, Millsaps College, which I was lucky to attend for 4 years. It really was a wonderful school, however, while I was there, the president of the college, was against two things...Greek Life and Partying/Drinking. Having come from Emory, where she did away with the Greek system, for all purposes, she made every effort she could to hamper Greek life. I was very involved in Greek life and my participation in it changed my life for the better. Wheat, Barley, Tea, Give 'Em Hell KD! That is my first beef with her. Secondly, she was a main factor of why Thursday night parties, which had been epic at Millsaps before I arrived, were banned. NOW, I read this link: http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080819/NEWS/808190359&re
which is an article where stating that this same president is a supporter for dropping the drinking age down to 18 from 21. This does not make sense to me!! I am not sure what my opinion is on the issue....however it seems like the President of Millsaps College needs to figure out what she believes! OK, I'll get off my soap box now...this is the first time I have actually used this blog to express my opinion...woo-hoo!
Cheers, Millsaps! This is an old photo I found from over 4 years ago.
These are some of my Millsaps friends, and I know for a fact that three of us were underage at the time.
Way to control it!
(I am not a big drinker at all (partly because it usually makes me deathly ill), however, I would like to remind everyone to act responsibly if they do :) !!

L is for Laceration...

As I am exhausted for the day, my last activity is to post this blog. The only L word that keeps coming to mind is "laceration" as in an open cut that occured on one of my students heads this morning when she rolled sideways out of a chair and hit it on the side of a play crib. I freaked out when it started bleeding. However, she ended up being fine and dandy and did not even have to leave school!

On a side note...over the weekend one of my students split his chin open and had to get stitches AND another one of my students fell and broke her arm on Sunday and missed school today to get it set and casted :(....

It hurts me to see these young children getting hurt! I hope they all feel better soon! It is the end of a hard day, and I hope tomorrow doesn't hold as much drama as today did!

K is for...Katie

For all of you who don't know...Katie is my sister! She is the best one around! She is 20 years old and living in NOLA right now. I am so proud of her for working so hard at her new job and for continuing with her schooling. She is going places, I tell you! Her new favorite author is Stephanie Meyers...and I am happy to be the one buying her the books to feed this addiction. This November she will be presented in the Baton Rouge Assembly, and I can't to see her all dressed up! Katie, if you are reading this, I love you!

J is for....J words in dreams

Other than talking about myself here (because my name begins with a J), I decided to use the yahoo search engine and search "words that begin with J." The first link I clicked was this one, http://www.dreammoods.com/dreamdictionary/j.htm. It lead me to a site where there were J words list, and if you saw these objects or people that began with J, it told you what they meant in your dreams. You can look up any letter on there. I know this is cheesy, but I just could not think of any significant J words. Here is a few examples of J objects in dreams and what they mean...

Jigsaw Puzzle

To see a jigsaw puzzle in your dream, represents a mental challenge or a problem in your waking life that you need to solve. If there are pieces missing in the puzzle, then it suggests that you do not have all the facts in order to make a good and sound decision.

Jungle

To dream that you are in a jungle, signifies aspects of yourself and your personality that may have been inhibited. You may be experiencing chaos and the unpredictable in your waking life. If you are lost or trapped in a jungle, indicates that your negative feelings are hindering your progress, You need to come to terms with aspects of your unconscious.

Jewelry Box

To see a jewelry box in your dream, represents your own sense of self-worth, self-value, and potential. You need to unleash your stored potential and quit keeping them hidden.

I for Incredibly Tired!

I for I am Incredibly tired right now and can barely think straight! I am getting this one in right under the wire...and I am sort of copping out. I admit it...I couldn't think of anything great or wonderful for the letter "I"....and since it is the end of my first week of school not only my body is tired, but my brain is worn out! It seems like every year I forget how non-stop and tough the first few days of school are. Hopefully I will get some good sleep tonight and be able to enjoy the rest of my weekend!

But that finish by Michael Phelps tonight was incredible...1 100-th of a second! You've got to be kidding me!

H is for Happy Birthday!

H was a hard one to come up with, however, I just realized that two people I know are celebrating their birthdays today. So, Happy Birthday to Wes who is turning 25 and Happy Birthday to Kiah who is turning 5!Kiah is celebrating her 5th birthday in Canada!

Amanda and Wes in Gulf Shores, AL last year! What a cute couple!

F & G, or rather G then F for....Great Falls Park, VA

Great Falls Park, Fairfax County, VA

This past July, I had the opportunity to visit this park with some close friends...we went near sundown and it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. There are great places to sit on the rocks to watch the sunset over the falls and the rocks behind it. If you are ever in the D.C. area, I recommend this as a good place to hike, walk a dog, or even to just go sit and meditate. This was one of George Washington's most favorite places to visit hundreds of years ago, however they have traced its history back to the Paleo-Indians who lived before Christ. It is truly like you are stepping back into history when you go there. Following are two excerpts from the national park website which describe it in better words than my own...

We got to see a kayaker coming down the falls while we were there...

A trading place. A place to fish. A canal and town. An amusement park. A place to discover nature. During the past ten thousand years, the Great Falls of the Potomac has been the location of all of these, and more. From trading to recreation, people have been drawn here for thousands of years.

Sunset

At Great Falls, the Potomac River builds up speed and force as it falls over a series of steep, jagged rocks and flows through the narrow Mather Gorge. The Patowmack Canal offers a glimpse into the early history of this country. Great Falls Park has many opportunities to explore history and nature, all in a beautiful 800-acre park only 15 miles from the Nation’s Capital.