Thursday, June 23, 2011

Summer Begins




Just about a month ago I kept Libby’s Sunday School class. She is at least ½ a year younger than all the other kids in her class (I asked for her to be in this class because she was walking and more aggressive than the other kids her age.) While keeping the class I felt like she was really behind when it came to words. Then I remembered that she is at least 6 months younger then all of the other kids. However, since then she has really started to expand her vocabulary and understand more too! Some of her favorites are Dog, Roe (my parent’s dog), Daddy (which she also calls me…still no momma), Hey, Bye, What’s that?, fish, baby, hop, shoes, and there are more, but I won’t bore you.

She still loves to dance. Anytime music comes on she gets to shaking her booty. So it makes my love of So You Think You Can Dance easy…. She enjoys watching it too!

She loves for me to hide behind the couch and jump out and scare her. The more I scare her the louder she laughs. It is so funny. She also started saying cheese when we take pictures (which is really helpful because she usually won’t pause for a picture). Her favorite show is still Micky Mouse Clubhouse.

We just got back from our first 2 (of 3) beach trips. Libby really enjoyed it. She loved to dip her shovel into the sand or bucket of salt water and lick it. Yuck! She hated to get sand on her hands though. One of our trips was to Destin. It was my first time there and it was beautiful. The water was so clear that we were able to snorkel. I also had the most amazing dinner from Dewey Destin. It was Mahi Mahi Parmesan and it was AMAZING!



Monday, May 23, 2011

Easter


So, I realize this is a little late....but here are some Easter pics!


Easter Egg Hunt




Her Basket


I tried to get a good pic of her but she was not really into it


She was also not in to a family pic



BUT isn't she beautiful!


Friday, May 6, 2011

Mother's Day

With all the craziness of life lately, I have not had time to go out and buy all the moms in my life a Mother’s Day gift. So, I thought I would pause to thank them. (I will update Easter and such later).


My Mother- Sandra- Gran- My mother is my best friend. She is the most selfless person I know. She has the gift of service and giving. She is willing to drop what she is doing at a moment’s notice to run help keep Libby or clean the house before it is shown by a realtor an hour later. She has a great personality and is always smiling. Thank you for all you do! Thank you mostly for making sure I was in church so I could eventually love the Lord like you do.

My Mother-in-law- Cheri- CiCi is also an amazing woman. She keeps Libby for us 5 days a week. She is also willing to take her on the weekends if we have a lot going on. I know when I leave Libby she is going to be well taken care of and she will have a great time. She also helps us so much around the house even when we ask her not to. She raised the most amazing man I know. She loves the Lord and has raised a family that loves Him also. Thank you for all you do, but mostly for molding Jason into such a wonderful man.

My grandmother,Joann Gilliam-Mamaw- She is where my mother learned to drop what she is doing to help out. My grandmother was always there for us. As a child, I loved when Mamaw and Pop would come to visit. As a teenager, I loved shopping trips with my grandmother and mom (and not ONLY because they bought me stuff, but we also enjoyed each others company.) As an adult she taught me how to make her famous caramel cake. (Mine are not nearly as good as hers though.)She is a sweet woman who I love dearly.

My grandmother, Ruby Windle- MiMi- Although MiMi is not with us, I still think of her on Mother’s Day. She had a stroke when I was in 7th grade, so I did not get to know her as much as I would have liked. However I know that she was a Godly woman who loved the Lord and touched many lives. I believe that part of who I am is because of who she was. Thank you MiMi for helping me become a woman who loves the Lord. I pray I continue to grow into a woman with the reputation you had.

Jason’s grandmother, Mrs. Pate, Mawmaw- Mawmaw has always welcomed me into her home. The first Christmas Jason and I were dating she welcomed me with open arms. She is also an amazing cake baker and decorator. She did the cake for our wedding and it was beautiful. Mawmaw is so sweet and always has a kind word to say.

Jason’s grandmother, Mrs. Drake- Nanny- Nanny is also a sweet woman. She loves to stop by and bring Libby a new outfit or toy. She is always willing to help out. Like Mrs. Pate, she was quick to include me in family holidays and dinners. I love going over to the Drake’s for family suppers. We always have a great time!

Jason’s great-grandmother, Mrs. Rickman, Grandmaw Rickman- Grandmaw Rickman is a sweet woman with a great sense of humor. I love Christmas Eve night, because all of her children, grand-children, great-grand children, and now great-great grandchildren crowd into her home and enjoy celebrating Christmas together. There is always a lot of food and a lot of laughs.

Jason’s great-grandmother, Mrs Collins- Grandmama- Grandmama lives with Nanny. So whenever we get together for family dinners she is always there and we get to spend time with her. She is a sweet woman who loves the Lord and loves to read. Most days you can find her with Dora, Nanny’s small Chihuahua, in her lap. She is also a very sweet lady.

My Friends are also great mothers. They have really helped me the last 15 months as I stepped into the role of motherhood. They have given me advice and been a great encouragement. Thank you to my friends who are all wonderful women and great mothers!

As you can tell, I am blessed to have so many wonderful, Godly women in my life. It is a lot to live up to! I am so thankful for the families God has placed me in and the friends he has given me. I am truly blessed.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the lovely ladies mentioned above. You are all a blessing to me and my family!







Gran and CiCi





Nanny, Mamaw, Mawmaw





MiMi


Grandmaw Rickman

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Tuscaloosa

For some time now, Parker has written a weekly devotion. This week his devotion is written about the devastating tornado that rampaged through Tuscaloosa. He says well what I cannot

dev175-for Tuscaloosa

by Parker Windle on Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 5:58am

“And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”


Job 42:10

The last few days I have helplessly poured over the news and facebook looking at devastating photos from Alabama. Tuscaloosa. The town that I call home, was pounded by a violent tornado on Thursday, leaving a mile wide trail of destruction where formally sat houses of friends, restaurants that I enjoyed, and churches that were dear to my heart, and barely missing the hospital where I was born. As I gazed at these photos, my heart was broken at seeing these places, that were once so valuable to me, now reduced to a pile of worthless rubble.

It is at is such times as this that the book of Job is meant to be read. During times of peace and prosperity, we can analyze the conversations of Job and his friends with a haughty air. We give explanations on behalf of God, trying to answer the all-important “why” question that people ask when their souls are overwhelmed with the depths of woe. But when we are in the midst of the storm, these proud answers do not suffice. Although surely my friends and family in Tuscaloosa are asking the “why” question after each body they dig up from the rubble, they will never be satisfied by the arrogant answers. God does not need these answers. God’s ways do not need to be defended. They need to be trusted.

Job’s friends took the road of conventional wisdom - if you are being punished, it is because you have sinned. While we certainly see in the scriptures that God sometimes uses natural disasters to punish sin, we do not see that as being the case all the time. And, in the case of Job, we know that this conventional wisdom of Job’s friends was not only incorrect, but was despicable in the mind of the Lord. Man’s reasoning ability is unable to account for the works of the Lord.

The temptation is to either give up God’s sovereignty or God’s goodness. People would like to either say that God did not cause this to happen or that he doesn’t love people enough to stop it. Yet, in Job, God does not leave either of these positions as an option. Job, who God loves, was chastised because he doubted God’s sovereignty. “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

“Then Job answered the Lord, and said: ‘Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.’”

For the moment, we will have to be content without an answer to why my hometown lays in ruins. We are in a position where trust is necessary, and thankfully we have One who is worthy of our trust and who can relate to us in our tears. Just a few days before this tornado brought its worst, the churches of Tuscaloosa met together to remember the time when God suffered for us. They broke bread and drank wine in memory of the Savior that wept over the cup that he would have to drink. Tears are part of what it means to be human in a fallen world. The eyes of God cried tears just like our eyes do. The fact that the sovereign King chose tears tells me that He can be trusted.

Because of His sufferings, eternal life is promised. On account of His afflictions, tears will never be the final emotion. The tears of Tuscaloosa will be turned back into praise soon enough, and therein lies the beauty of the gospel. There could never be any suffering so grave that it would keep the church from praising the One whose wounds healed them.

This Sunday morning in Tuscaloosa there will surely be many “whys” in the hearts of the churches of Tuscaloosa, some of whom will be meeting in new places because of the destruction of their sanctuary. Yet drowning out these “whys” there will be a melody. The great hymns of old will ring through the city like a like a mighty choir ready to welcome in their King. The organs will blast their chords and the drums will bang out the rhythm of a triumphal Savior who has already conquered the death that is staring them in the face. The people from different races, backgrounds, and denominations will unite their voices in harmony in awe of the One who is as sovereign over the storms and as He is over the cross. Why will they do this? Because there will never be a tornado strong enough to keep the church from praising their God.

Alabama, I love you. You are in my prayers, and I will be singing with you this Sunday

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Picnic

Today is a sad, sad day…..the last day of Spring Break. However, I had a wonderful week. It was full of relaxing and spending time with my family. One of the only planned events we had for the week was to go on a picnic. After Libby’s one year pictures we decided we needed to visit a park and have a picnic over spring break. We ended up going to Vestavia Elementary school’s playground with the Hooton’s. It was a beautiful day and the girls really enjoyed the playground.









Tuesday, February 22, 2011

CLOTHES!

So, at her Birthday party, Libby got some Minnie Mouse PJ’s from her great grand-mother. She did not want to put them down. As we opened the other gifts we were trying to take them from her so she could look at what all she got but she did not want to put them down. At that point, I began to realize that I had a little fashion diva that LOVES clothes! Sunday morning before church, she was caught in my closet. She was going through touching all of the clothes and even taking some off of their hangers. She also went to my drawers and began pulling clothes out of them. She is something else. I guess girls are known for their love of clothes….. Libby will be an expensive teenager!




Saturday, February 19, 2011

Let's Have a Ball!


Last weekend was Libby’s birthday! On Her birthday she woke up to a balloon and CiCi had made her a pancake and put a candle in it. That afternoon some of Jason’s aunts and cousins and his mom came over to help me make the food. Libby also really enjoyed playing with everyone. She got two cards in the mail and walked around with them for about 30 minutes. I eventually had to take them from her because she was trying to eat them. Everyone returned the next morning to help us transform Echols’ gym into a fun party for Libby. My mom kept Libby so we could focus a little more and so she could get a good nap before the party. I know I could not have done it without everyone’s help! Thanks to all who helped!

The party was so much fun. We invited several of Libby’s friends and our family to come to Echols’ gym. We had balls, boppy-balloons, a few small ball-pits, and tons of little ones running around.

For food we had cheese balls, cake balls, peanut butter balls, rice krispie balls, and blue berries. Of course we also had Mawmaw’s delicious cake!

It was so much fun! You can tell Libby is loved by all of her friends and family who came to celebrate with her!

Monday Libby got tubes in here ears and did wonderful! She did not cry the whole time! Not even when they took her from us to go to the back. I was proud of how well she did. Wednesday, however, is another story. We went for her well-baby check-up and all she did was cry. It started when they pricked her toe to get blood, got worst when the doctor came in to listen to her heart and check her ears (this part is so bad because we have been to the doctor so much for ears- and they usually have to dig wax out to check them- She HATES it,) and it ended with 4 shots. It seemed that every time I got her calmed down they would return for the next part. However, she survived (like I knew she would.) Her weight is 23 pounds (75-90th percentile) and her height was 31 inches (above 95th percentile.) Yep, that is right; she is now half of my height!

I can’t believe she is one. It makes me so sad… however, I am also thankful because God has brought her through so much this year. From reflux (when we had to get the vacuum out because it was the ONLY thing that would calm her down) to ear infections to her clubbed foot, God has been with her each step of the way. He has also been with me. He has comforted, encouraged, and given me one of the biggest joys of my life!


Playing with Blake


Birthday Cards!



The food



Ball Pit

One of her new faces



I think she liked the cake!



Monday, January 31, 2011

January

We have had a busy January. Jason and I coach a middle school girl’s basketball team. We finished up this year 2nd in the City/County Tournament. It is the best we have done since J and I started coaching 4 years ago.

Libby has also started walking. Before January she would walk at home from the couch to her little chair, but now she is walking everywhere. She rarely crawls. It is sweet!

Yesterday we went to an Alabama Women’s Basketball game with our team to celebrate the season. Libby got decked out in her Alabama wind suit. We got several cute pics of her. (Mainly because our team was laughing and she thought she was one of them!)

We are looking forward to her first birthday! It is so hard to believe that she will be one in less than 2 weeks! SAD! I hope to get lots of good pics at her party.






Just walking around





Watching the game with daddy




My sweet girl




So Silly!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Christmas Part 2

On Monday December 27th we went to celebrate Christmas with the Windle’s. It is always a great time catching up with family. Most of the family we only see once or twice a year so I always look forward to seeing them and I enjoy their company! We also enjoy Dirty Santa. The boys always complain about the bad gifts. They claim the women buy all the gifts. This year however I believe they were for the most part happy!

Then on Friday December 31st, we celebrated with the Pate’s. It was also a great time with another Dirty Santa game. This Dirty Santa was probably the dirtiest….. There was a lot of stealing! However, there were a lot of good gifts too! We really enjoyed all of our Christmas celebrations!



Windle Christmas








Pate Christmas