Quote of the Day

Location: Car ride on the way home from school.

Participants: P and her good pal Ev.

Conversation:

Ev: Did you know there was a painter named Vincent Van Gogh?

P: No.

Ev: Well, there was, and he smelled too much paint and it made him crazy. That same thing can happen to us with sharpies.



Who knew?!

M

Friends, Forts, and Fly Me To The Moon

This past weekend was a first in our house; I'm sure a first of many. This little event has been begged for and pleaded for by three little girls for quite some time. Well, the stars and planets aligned and P had her very first sleep over. Can I just say, these little girls are all about some FUN.
The night began with P's daddy taking her and her two friends to watch the movie Fly Me To The Moon. They had their tickets purchased, their popcorn and cokes in hand, and in their seats twenty minutes before show time. Ryan is such a good sport! Over the course of the next night and morning the girls managed to dress up all of their webkinz, watch yet another movie, build a fort, do some "extercising" out in the cul-de-sac, and then eat some homemade waffles by Ryan for their breakfast. Needless to say, they were lovin' life.
I am so grateful that these little girls are a part of Peyton's life. They have their share of discrepancies but all in all are very sweet and love each other very much. I hope these girlies are friends for many years to come.

What is going on?

I'm not a hyper-political person. I don't follow politics year-round and watch CNN or even FOX news very often. But during election years, I try to study the candidates and pay attention to their positions on the issues. What I don't understand is why everyone thinks it is so important to keep an 'open mind'. Particularly for Christians, there are certain issues that are simply not negotiable. I keep an open mind, until those core issues are addressed – then there's no need for 'open-mindedness'. There are many things about Obama that scare me. But even before considering those issues, there are so many moral issues that rule him out of possibility. Such as Barack's support of the killing of BORN babies rule him out long before I would even consider things like health care and our dependency on foreign oil. I am frustrated and at a loss with how popular he seems to be, and how many Christians are willing to give him a serious consideration.

Many people feel they are forced to choose the 'lesser of two evils.' I agree. But, in my mind, it isn't even close! There are so many things that I could say about this. Instead, go to www.nohussein.com. Read the facts, watch the videos, and pray. I can't comprehend claiming to be a Christ-follower and then supporting this man.

Here are some of the facts:

– Obama kept INFANTICIDE legal in Chicago by opposing the born alive infants protection act.

– Obama had only been sworn in as a U.S. Senator for 143 days before he launched his presidential exploratory committee.

– Obama told reporters that he would not wear the American flag pin.

– Obama is friends with Bill Ayers, an unrepentant terrorist.

– Obama has been praised by Fidel Castro.

– FARC terrorist communiques revealed that they all hoped Obama would win the presidential race.

– Obama has been officially endorsed by North Korea's Kim Jong Il.

– Obama has been officially endorsed by the terrorist organization Hamas.

Source: www.nohussein.com

R

It's the first day of the 1st grade!

Summer is officially over and now it is time to head back to school. Because of Ryan's change of jobs, P got to change schools this year. This school is a good bit larger than the one that she went to last year. She has one of her good friends that goes to the same school, but they did not end up being placed in the same 1st grade. Bummer! But we are going to make the best of it. So, this Monday was her first day of the 1st grade and needless to say, she was a bit nervous. New school, new teacher, new people, and no Mommy? I mean come on, that's an anxiety attack waiting to happen! But all in all, I think she did great!

We prayed on our way to school that she would be comforted knowing that Jesus was walking with her all day. I'm not gonna lie--she and I both got a little teary. Ryan was able to go along with us for the first day, so the whole clan walked her into her classroom and of course, had to really embarrass her and take some pics of her at her desk. She walked in and sat down in her desk like a champ.




I just love these people!!

P--We are super proud of you our little first grader! We are excited to see what God has in store for you in a new school, with new experiences, and new opportunities for you to show His love to others. Work hard and do your very best as unto the Him and not unto men! Love you little sugar! Let your light shine!

JOURNEY

Last Thursday morning I received a text message from Peter Blue, a friend from high school who now owns his own show production company in Vegas. Peter is currently on tour with Journey, who is on their first tour with their new lead singer, Arnel Pineda. The story of how they found him is a very interesting one and can be seen in a CBS Sunday Morning news interview here. Peter asked if Marty and I want to go to the concert that night in Nashville. He hooked us up with a backstage tour and VIP passes. We had an AMAZING time and have posted some of the video clips here.

[Video for RSS readers]


On Friday afternoon Nick, Daniel and I decided to drive to Birmingham, AL for the concert on Saturday night since they had not been able to go on Thursday. Daniel has been a long time Journey fanatic and was just a little bit excited to be there. We listened to the entire Journey catalog for the 3 hour drive down. Once there we watched sound check, toured backstage, went inside the tour buses, hung out at backstage catering tent during set change, had seats right in the front, and of course screamed our heads off. We got home at almost 3:00am, but would do it again if we had the chance!

[Video for RSS readers]


More pictures of our weekend available here.

hi ho, hi ho, it's back to school we go!

This past weekend we took P on our second annual "back to school date." This is a little tradition we started last year with her where we take a night and make it all about her and getting her ready for school. We get the school supply list, get a sitter for Mason, (to which this year she replied--YES!), and hit the town. And then we take her to eat at any restaurant of her choice. So far we are two for two with OG. I'm not gonna complain! My girl knows good eatin'!

This year's list included but not limited to:

• 24ct. #2 Pencils – Wooden unsharpened, Made in the USA
• 1 Pack 24ct. CRAYOLA Crayons
• 6 (1 per color) Folders – Heavy vinyl, 2 pockets, 3 brads/prongs (Red, Green, Blue,
Yellow, Orange, Purple)
• 2 Writing Tablets – ROSELLE 3rd Grade Primary Tablet, 3 tablets x 40 sheets per
tablet, D’Nealian 1⁄4” ruling on both sides, broken midline, red baseline, 1⁄4” skip line,
81⁄2x11” (Portrait)
• 2 MEAD Composition books for journal writing – hard cover, wide ruled (100
sheets/ea.)
• FISKAR 5” Blunt Scissors
• 6ct. Glue sticks – ELMER’S clear (.77 oz)
• 1 Clipboard with flat top clasp
• 1 Plastic White Vinyl 3 Ring Binder - 1” with 2 pockets - (clear view to slip paper on
outside of cover)
• 1 PAPERMATE Pink Pearl Eraser – medium
• 1 Pack 24ct. Wedge Cap pencil tip Erasers
• 2 Tissue Boxes – KLEENEX (120 ct.)
• 1 Pencil box (vinyl with zipper)
• 4ct. SANFORD EXPO 2 Dry Erase Markers – broad tip, black
• 1 Pack CRAYOLA Markers – washable, 10 count, classic colors
• 1 Pack CRAYOLA colored pencils, 12 count
• 1 Set Water color paints
• 1 Yellow Highlighter
• 4 Red ink pens for correcting papers in class

Lookout Target and Walmart...here we come! Can I just say, we opted to do this deal on tax free weekend. Totally will never do that again! My word were there a lot of people out there in tax free land! As you can see a pretty extensive list, but we knocked it out for the exception of a 10 pack of washable markers. I am convinced that these are not on the market. There are 8 count washable markers, 12 count washable markers, and then a regular 10 count of markers that are apparently not washable. We opted for the 8 pack. We did have a bit of a meltdown when we had to purchase folders in specific colors, and she could not get the pinks one with the dogs on them, but we recovered.

All in all it was a success and a fun time for Ryan and me to get to spend some one on one time with just her. She really is a pleasure and a lot of fun to be with. She and I had a little photo op before we left the house. So for your viewing pleasure (or not so much)...

Down With Skinny Lips!

Man! I could just kiss this little dude's lips like there is no tomorrow! This pic was captured on a family ice cream run last week. Needless to say, somebody was lovin' life!




M

Dare You To Move

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to be a part of a creative planning meeting to help plan for an upcoming series at our church. The series is going to be incredible, as the vision for the future of our church will be shared. I am excited about some of the big changes planned for the coming days. The following video was used to announce the series this morning. I laughed so hard at Nathaniel that my stomach hurt! Micah and Crutch, as well as the whole team, did a great job on it.

Seems as thought most churches operate with their goal being to not lose the people they already have, instead of trying to reach the people that haven't been reached. We are so thankful to be part of a church that is willing to take chances and make changes. As the song says, "Greater things are yet to come, Greater things are still to be done in this city".


Dare You To Move Promo from FBCSmyrna on Vimeo.


Go to this page to see all of the videos uncut. HILARIOUS!