The Gibson Girls and Our Man

Ladybugs

2012-01-09T16:28:00.000-05:00

Gracie is part of a little girl's Bible Study group called the Ladybugs. Each family takes turns having it at their house. This past semester they studied the fruits of the Spirit.

Two weeks before Christmas, they had their little party. The moms were invited too. It was fun to be together and eat fondue and fellowship.

The girls each brought a gift and chose a number out of a hat to see which gift they got

Lilly is is the back and Claire is the one closest

The whole gang: Back row, left to right: Angelina, Lilly, Claire, Anna, Abbie
Front row:

Gracie loves meeting with these girls!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

We had a great Christmas! We went to Charlotte the week before and stayed through the Tuesday after Christmas. Even Gamma and Papa came and stayed with us. So we had both of our families under one roof. I loved that.

Get ready to a ton of pictures.

We celebrated with mom, dad, and my sisters and brother in laws, and nieces on the night before Christmas Eve....

Silly La La:)

Bella and Reese were pretty stoked

Bella realizing that she is getting skates!

Piper got an American Girl bed. She wasn't too thrilled because she didn't get the doll. Yet.

Everyone got skates!

And make-up

Sweet Mia slept through most of it:)

Papaw helped her open her presents

Mia was mostly interested in the paper

It's always fun to be with our immediate family and just hang out. When you don't live in the same town anymore, it's even better.

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Christmas Morning: The girls woke up about 8:30 (yes!!) and were ready to come down!

Reese was hilarious this year. She was pretty excited.

I tried really hard this year to keep cost down and just get the girls a few things. I wanted them to be more focused on Christ. Buuuut, I failed. They mostly got small things and a suitcase, which they both needed. But all the little things that were supposed to go in their stockings didn't fit, so it piled up.

The girls were so grateful for the things they got. That blessed my heart.

Gracie was pumped about her sewing machine!

And Pipes liked her watch.

Of course, Reese goes straight for the candy.

Gracie and Piper got to give out the present they bought with their own money:) Gracie gave Papa a book. He said it was actually a good one:)

Piper made sure to include Reilly:) She bought her a toy squirrel.

Dad is always a hoot. He guesses every stinkin gift before he opens them

Santa left a letter where the milk and cookies were. It reminded the girls to celebrate Jesus on His Birthday. Gracie said, "Mom, I guess Santa is a Christian." :)ahhh.

Mom is so animated and grateful for everything she gets. Here she is opening the target gift card Gracie got her. It has $9 on it.

And Piper finally got her American Girl! She was SO excited!

Doesn't she look like her? Her name is Hannah. She even has earrings.

Reese got a bitty baby

We never get pictures with Gamma and Papa in it.

Then we were out the door to church! Don't even get me started on churches that don't have church on Christmas when it's a Sunday! There is something so special about being there all together as a church family, to celebrate Jesus, instead of at home focused on our little family and gifts.

Once we were home from church, the Looper family comes over to celebrate!

It's so funny, usually there's a gift under the tree for Jeremy that we have no idea who it's from. Last year it was super man underwear. This year....oh boy....

That's a snuggie in case you can't tell.

The kids all get gifts and then we send them to play while the adults play dirty santa.

And something new this year...We got a show from the girls.

There was gymnastics moves, and singing and dancing.

Piper can do quite the split. And Gracie is getting there:)

And these two, told us the name of the baby:) His name is Gage Timothy. Timothy is my dad's middle name. I'd say he certainly deserves to have the first boy named after him:)

Whoo! Can't wait!!

Gracie already had an American Girl Doll, but Grandma bought her this coat and added a star to it to match her doll's clothes.

They each got lots of outfits for their dolls.

It was a fun Christmas! I loved being with all of our family and friends.

Keeping 'em busy

2012-01-08T16:28:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! Hope you guys enjoyed celebrating the Lord's faithfulness in 2011 and are eagerly looking forward to 2012. It seems like most of us had some challenges in 2011 and are looking forward to a fresh start. For me, the challenge was moving and I am looking forward to getting more settled in here in 2012. I am eager to learn what God has for our family this year in this new town.

Two weeks before Christmas we were out of school and just hanging out as a family. It was really nice to just be. But I didn't want the girls to get bored so we did some crafts here and there. This day we did foam Christmas Trees!

Reese wanted to eat the stickers instead of decorate with them.

Voila!

Oh and we tried to potty train Reese. But she never peed! I need to be more focused:) I'll try again soon.

She's pretty proud of her potty. And yes, those are Gracie's shoes.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T21:26:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to you our dear friends and family! And hello from the beach!

We have had an exciting and busy year in 2011. In November of 2010, Jeremy got laid off from his job. It was a shock. Immediately he began looking for jobs and by God’s grace, he had two offers quickly. They were both great jobs at great companies. But one provided a better opportunity for Jeremy. Problem...we had to move. It was a grueling several weeks and we sought the Lord and got counsel from our friends and family. It became clear that the Lord was calling us to move. In February, Jeremy started that new job with Bristol Industries in Snead’s Ferry. Yep, at the beach! The girls and I finished out the school year in Charlotte and moved down in June. I can’t believe this week makes six months that we’ve been down here. It feels way longer!

We like it down here. I don’t love it, but Jeremy does! I miss my family and friends a lot. But the Lord has been gracious and faithful to provide new friendships quickly. I really can’t get over his kindness in this area. He is seriously good! We have a new church family that we love as well.

Jeremy is really enjoying his job. It’s been a blessing. He travels every other week for a few days. The mama doesn’t like that too much:) Neither do his girls. We miss him! At church, he is getting ready to start helping with the youth group. That has always been a passion of his.

I am busy running carpool these days! We spend at least two hours in the car getting the girls to and from school. We live way out! 40 minutes to Target to be exact! I am also working on my photography business. I’ve loved learning and growing in this art and meeting new people. It’s always a joy to hear someone say they love the memories I’ve captured for them. It’s lindsaygphoto.com if you want to check it out. I’ve also enjoyed going to a women’s Bible study on monday nights. So refreshing! We are studying Daniel right now.

Gracie girl is 8 now! Crazy. She just celebrated her birthday at the skating rink. She is in second grade and doing really well in school. She just started learning to play the piano too! This fall she played softball and now she is playing basketball. She loves sports! It has been so neat to watch her improve over the season. She works so hard. She is still an amazing helper to her momma. This girl is a servant! She can single handedly run this household:) For a few hours,at least!

Piper is 5 1/2. She is doing gymnastics and loving it. She is really good! Ask her to do a split for you next time you see her. She is in kindergarten and really excels. In fact, she is already finished with kindergarten and is starting first grade in the spring. As her teacher says, and we totally agree, she demands perfection. The girls does not like to be told no. Wonder where she gets that from? She is also taking piano. She’s pretty cute banging away. If you remember my sister Lauren as a kid, you have a pretty good picture of who Piper is.

Reese is 2. Whoa. She is a tornado! Our only blue eyed baby girl loves her dog Reilly, playing outside in the sand, and making messes. Big messes. Like painting the bathroom with vaseline kind of messes. Man we love her though! She is so funny. Talking like crazy and saying the cutest things. My favorite thing she says is, “Ont gib a kiss Gaycee. Ont gib a kiss Pipey (I want to give a kiss to Gracie, and Piper)” when we drop the girls off at school. It melts my heart every time. She is so good at saying thank you. And she’s really working on yes ma’am. I wish you could hear her say that. Two is still my favorite age!

We pray your Christmas is wonderful and that you have lots of time with those you love. Much LOVE, Jeremy, Lindsay, Gracie, Piper, and Reese

Mama.....

2011-12-22T23:07:00.000-05:00

"Mama, is Santa a Christian?" This was Gracie's question to me the other day while we were folding laundry. I was taken aback for a minute. Then I realized, what a great question my girl just asked. So I asked her some questions about how we know someone is a Christian. And we talked about the original St. Nick and how he served the poor. A definite trait of a believer.

Then I asked her if she believed in Santa. She said emphatically, "NO mama, I believe in Jesus!" But what she meant was, she knows that Jesus is the only one who saves. She knows Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
She does believe in Santa. That he delivers gifts and is a kind man. And that the original one was a Christian:) We've never made much ado about Santa, and she hasn't asked me if he's real or not yet. But she knows where his place is, at the foot of the cross with the rest of us.

It was a sweet reminder that God is working in my children, despite me. They are his, and he will capture their hearts.

Piano

2011-12-20T17:54:00.001-05:00

The girls have started learning piano with Dr. Gray. They are loving it!

The week they got out for Christmas Break we got a little concert.

Yeah, that's a crazy Piper face.
She was so cute pounding away on those keys.

Then it was Gracie's turn

Since it was Gracie's birthday that week, Dr. Gray did a celebration around the globe with her. I've never seen this before. But she had Gracie go around the globe 8 times, once for each year of her life and we talked about something important that happened with each year.

It was a sweet time to celebrate our firstborn!

I actually have video of their performance so I'll see if I can get it uploaded.

Six Months

2011-12-19T17:46:00.001-05:00

Ok, I've been writing this post for two days. I want to be real and honest about our new life here. Here goes...

I can hardly believe that 6 months ago this past week, we packed up our little family and moved to the beach. It's still surreal, knowing the town I was born and raised in, is not where "home" is anymore. It has been a growing season for our family. Lots of changes, lots of learning.
Last night Jeremy and I went on a date. It's the first one we've been on in over a year. Since he got laid off last November! We were talking through our marriage and the struggles we face in communication, our very different opinions, and personalities, and just how we are doing. Honestly, I thought this move would be great for our marriage. I thought it would be just what I needed to focus on serving Jeremy more. I would be away from the many distractions I had in Charlotte and I would have more time to be the wife he desires. Whoa, it hasn't happened that way at all. The distractions are different, but the end results are the same. So we are talking through how to find common ground and have things to enjoy together. So that when our kids are grown we aren't looking at each other going, "Who are you?" We've always needed to grow in our friendship with one another. When we first moved here I felt like we were doing really well at this. It seems we've gotten sidelined though with learning to do life here.
It's been the busiest season of our lives since moving! I am constantly in the car running the girls to school, sports, and Awana. And if they want to play with friends, we have to drive for that too. I've learned that living at the beach means you drive for everything. There's not much going on in beach towns friends. We have to drive to the city for entertainment, shopping, sports, and food. You name it, we drive. And people are fine with that. I am learning to be fine with that.
The girls are doing really well. I think this feels like home to them. I am so grateful for that. Honestly, I think they would have been happy to stay here for Christmas. That is pretty amazing. The mama wasn't having that, but they could have been content here. I love that. Don't get me wrong, they love going back to visit friends and family, but there is a contentedness here in their hearts. They love their friends and want to be with them as much as possible. Gracie is loving sports and Pipes, gymnastics. Reesee goes with the flow, or err something like that. She makes her own tornadoes.
We have started searching for land and houses. Big debates are where to live, like closer to the beach and continue all the driving, or move closer in towards Wilmington and cut some serious commute. I love the beach communities though! They are more what I am looking for, but they're further out. Still a little shorter drive than we are now, by about 10 mins. There's one neighborhood I really like with super fun beachy colored houses:) I think it would be a great place to do ministry and raise our girls. The friends would be abundant. Lots of young families in there. On the other hand, being closer to town and having more land is also appealing. Or do we scrap all that, buy a foreclosure and live cheaply? Or does your hubby build you a home that you can get a return on? He's good at it you know. So, so much to think about and pray through. If you think about it, would you pray for us?
There have been some huge blessings moving out here too. First of all, just knowing this is where God called us. There is peace in that. I'm still not sure exactly why he did, but I know he will reveal it in his time. I definitely really miss my hometown. I am trying really hard not to call it home anymore. I hate missing my niece's plays, birthdays, and hanging out with my old neighbors, and watching my sister blossom carrying my nephew, and being with my family. All of these things make me ache to be away. But when God strips those things, he becomes more. More real, more faithful.
One of the big ways he's shown himself faithful is through our new church, Grace Topsail. It's a small church, with about 15 families, and tons of kids! They have been so kind to us. They have befriended us, invited us to whatever they are doing, and just loved us. It's been crazy to see the Lord's hand in this area of friendships. He has provided them, above what I asked or imagined. I imagined it being a long road to true friendships. But it's been natural, and a real blessing getting to know these families. I look forward to lifelong friendships with them.
And, we live at the beach!! Enough said, right?:) It's pretty crazy to be able to just drive over whenever and look at the water. I don't do it near enough. But I am resolving to do better at it. I'm hoping to see snow on the beach this year:) They got 8 inches last year!

So, that's that. Six months at our new place. It's a journey. And I want to be where God calls me.

Gingerbread Houses!

2011-12-18T10:13:00.000-05:00

The girls have been out of school for a week and a few days now and I have loved having them home. I miss them so much during the day.

I was a little concerned this year about having things to do so that they wouldn't get bored just hanging out at home. We've kept busy doing crafts, hanging out with friends, and shopping for gifts. Gracie and Piper wanted to shop this year with their own money for their family. It has been absolutely precious watching them do this. We made lists and budgets, and they've gone to town.

The first day home they wanted to make their gingerbread house....

Reese just sat and ate candy the whole time

I just let the girls go to town and I helped them if they needed me

I promise Reese wears pants. It seems like every post has her half nakey.

Gracie's side

Piper's side

Pipey's side complete

See, we even have hardi-plank siding:) In cool beach colors

Gracie Girls completed side

We deemed this our greatest gingerbread creation to date:) It's still standing too...bonus.

Tree Shopping

2011-12-05T21:55:00.000-05:00

We went to a local tree lot this year for our amazing Christmas Tree. bwahahaha

Honestly, all of their trees were wonky, but the man was soooo nice and I couldn't say no. SO, we picked one out. But I didn't realize it was that bad till I got the thing home. Or, I should say Jeremy got the thing home.

We walked through the lot and picked an 8-9 ft tree. The biggest we've ever gotten! The guy told us the commercial trees were cheaper but they had a messed up side. As long as we had a wall behind it, it would be fine. Just turn the ugly side to the wall. Buuuuutttt, this tree has all ugly sides. hmph I've been told the pictures I posted about the tree weren't that bad. Trust me, they don't do it justice.

Anyway, here are my precious babes with our ah-mazing tree

The sweet man gave the girls goodies:)

Daddy loaded it up

Reese was mesmerized by the blow-ups. If I could stomach them in my yard, I would totally get this kid one. But I can't.

That's Reese standing at the bear just ooohhing and ahhhing

And there you have our Christmas Tree Hunt of 2011

Reese

2011-12-04T21:55:00.000-05:00

This little girl is a hoot. She is growing in leaps and bounds these days, especially in her vocabulary. I spend most of the day just smiling and squeezing her for the cute and funny things she says:)

Some examples: When we drop the girls off for school...."Ont kiss Gaycee. Ont kiss Pipey" (I want to kiss Gracie, Pipey)
"Momma, sit heah" (Momma, come sit here and play with me)

NO Ma'am (she hears that a lot)
yea ma'am (but just writing it does no justice to how she says it:)

She's always so good about saying " tank too" (thank you)

If she doesn't like something we do, she'll say "you mean" And when we give her the look, she quickly says "you niiiiice" Which has now turned into an automatic "you niiiiice," when she wants to call us mean:)

One of her funny habits is to attach herself to a certain thing for the day. Some days it's one of my shirts, sometimes it's her shirt, but this day it was La La's scarf. And she wasn't giving it back for anything. She wore it around the whole day. She likes to rub things and suck her thumb.

La La had given up on ever getting it back. But after two days we were able to rescue it from Reese without another thought of it. She was on to the next thing.

But at the skating rink, and the whole day before...it was hers

When I left for England the week before Thanksgiving I kissed her goodbye and was walking away. She said, "I love uuuuu." All on her own. Melted my heart.

EIGHT!

2011-12-03T22:25:00.000-05:00

Gracie Girl turned EIGHT yesterday! Yikes!

She asked to have her party at the skating rink. She's never been skating before but she assured me that was what she wanted. So I agreed:)

We decided to team up with the Balts and have Ellie's party too.

These are some ridiculous smiles but I had to include them anyway...

Piper, Tristen, Gracie, Ellie, Faith, and Aubrey

Getting her skates

First go...with Nanny

EK (Erik) is Reese's favorite person:) so she sat in his lap most of the night:)

We saw lots of this...falling

Poor T Bird hit the deck lots and lots

Gamma

See, her hiney was so sore. She didn't even want to sit in her seat to go home.

Connor even gave it a go

Reese got lovin from papaw

They were starting to get the hang of it!

Man it's been a LONG time since I've been skating

Me helping precious Anna Cate, with her daddy to our left. He got the cool blades

Ek took his turn too

Sydney

Go Girl! She did really well!

Faith kept wanting to race me. Little stinker is good!

Abbie doesn't looked amused. Neither was I that she was risking my nephew's life out there. Wait...I haven't blogged about that yet have I?! Oh it is coming! YEP a BOY is coming!!!

Kim and I spent most of our time patrolling the middle:)

Avery

The benchwarmers

Kim and Madison

Oh boy, the fun really begins when dad takes to the rink

He makes me laugh so hard

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of him laid flat out on his back. I think he quit after that:)

Aubrey really got the hang of it too!

So cute, stopping for a little break

Even Madison got out there

Yeah, it's super hard to get clear pictures when you are on skates!

Raise your hand if it's your birthday!!

The whole rink sang to them

Ellie was having nothing to do with this guy

Then it was pizza, cake, and present time

Gracie liked reading all of her cards.

Seven and Eight!

Thank the Good Lord for this thing! The littles played in here all night!

Happy Birthday Girls!

O Christmas Tree

2011-12-02T16:45:00.000-05:00

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

How ugly are your branches

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

How ugly are your branches

Your branches, how they droop and sway,

In the most peculiar ways

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, How ugly are your branches

The Faith Grown Farm

2011-11-15T21:59:00.001-05:00

Our friends, the Bestuls, just bought a farm!

We were able to go out and visit them at their new home a few weeks ago.

It was lots of fun and they are adding to their animal family day by day:)

I've never seen a chicken like this!

The girls weren't having any of that petting chicken stuff....

But they finally warmed up:)

Makes me amazed at the Lord to see the animals he creates.

Congrats Bestul Family on your beautiful new homestead!

Cheetahs!

2011-11-14T21:59:00.000-05:00

Gracie Girl's Softball season has come to an end. We have seen SO much growth in her. It was pretty cool to watch:)

This is her fan club, in the sand box

She's hitting back there, see the ball ?

She was three for three her last game!

Now it's off to Basketball Season!

Halloween!

2011-11-14T21:48:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Halloween this year twice. Once in Charlotte and at home on the 31st.

Argh!

Tristen, the cow girl

Mia the chunk monkey, er uh, I mean cupcake

Bellie the nurse

Auntie, don't call me fat

Maggie the most adorable strawberry you ever did see

It's tradition to go to Mom and Dad's church for Trunk or Treat....

Sydney, the go go girl

Piper, the snow princess. But she says she was a snowflake girl.

Reese got them in the hole too!

Guess who won the costume contest??

These two, oh yes:)

Then we were home for the real day...

Gracie was Raggedy Ann. This was my costume when I was her age:)

Many people don't celebrate Halloween due to religious conflict with it, but we've always enjoyed redeeming it and celebrating with our friends and family. And this year, our new friends too:)

Punkin Carving!

2011-11-14T21:29:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, this year we actually got our pumpkins carved early! I wanted to make sure we got it done.

The girls each picked their own out and decided what they wanted it to be carved into.

That's Daddy's job.

Ok, so they totally rotted after about four days. Serves me right for carving early:)

The Fair!

2011-10-30T21:22:00.000-04:00

We just spent a super fun weekend in Charlotte! My mom reminded me I haven't been blogging as much so I better get on it!

A few weeks ago when we were home we got to go to Denver Days, a local fair. We've tried to go for the last several years but it's been rained out.

After we ate dinner, Ellie and Gracie decided they want to ride this thing, it's like the drop zone

We told them we were not riding it with them and they were ok with that.

Up they went....

And boy I sure wish you could have seen their faces when they came back down. Ellie was crying and Gracie had a look of horror on her face. It was sooooooo funny.

They were quickly over it and we were on to the next thing.

La la with Pipey on the carousel...

And nothing says fair more than a candy apple!

Apple Pickin!

2011-10-23T18:34:00.000-04:00

We were so sad to miss apple picking this year, but we ended up coming home for something else and getting to go!

It's always a highlight.

The gang

UP the mountain we go

Reese was pretty stoked to walk this year:)

The girls worked hard to get the wagon up

Stinker 1 and stinker 2

mmmmm, look at them all!

Reese quickly decided riding was wise

We had a harder time picking this year. It was slim pickins

Ms. Balts got the high ones for us

Piper helping Connor

Zander needed a little help getting his loot to the wagon

Success! These were the best tasting apples I've ever had! Seriously!

Nothing says apple pickin like an apple slushy!

Ahhhhh!

Piper:: Gymnastics

2011-10-18T12:28:00.001-04:00

I promise I haven't tried to neglect the blog lately, blogger hasn't liked me too much. It doesn't always let me post.

Here is round 2 of extreme cuteness....Pipey's Gymnastics Class

We sit upstairs and overlook the floor through this chain link fence. Bear with me, the first half are from my cell cause forgot my camera the first day.

This is warm-ups. And these girls get a workout!

Perfecting their splits

The bridge. I can still do one:) Piper makes me try.

She's pretty good!

Look at that cartwheel action

You can't really tell in this one but they are swinging into the pit

Girlfriend can do an awesome split. Both ways. Whoa.

She loves it! We love that she loves it!

Austin

2011-10-06T17:41:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, Kim and I went to Austin TX to see our dear friend Shawnda.

We miss her so!

It was a blast.

We shopped, and shopped and shopped. They have some really awesome second hand stores and we racked up. Kim wanted a cowgirl hat and boots so bad! But she didn't have much luck:(

We would leave in the mornings and not come home till after midnight! It was so nice just to take our time and hang out. They have such a neat culture there in Austin. The coffee shops even sell alcohol! The girls were having gelato margaritas. I was having a dublin Dr. Pepper. Which means it was made with good ole sugar instead of junk.

You can't tell at all what this picture is, but we are standing on a bridge that has become a natural habitat for bats! Every night at dusk millions and millions of them come out to feed. It's quite the tourist attraction! You can smell and hear them squealing and then they just start flying out like crazy!

Here we are at the airport getting ready to leave.

I really liked Austin. Kim and I kept joking that we were out of place though. It's so hip and eclectic. And I am so not those things. But I love the local support and the healthy eating. The people in Austin support local restaurants. So another words, don't even think about coming there if you are a chain. They'll run you out! They did it to cold stone creamery! There are many restaurants where you get grass fed beef and ingredients that are grown on the property! Love. You could even order gluten free hamburger buns at the restaurants! whoa. And I could have all the Dublin Dr. Pepper I wanted:)

Can't wait to get back out there again to see our sweet friend!

*stinky photos courtesy of my iphone

Gracie's Game!

2011-09-21T16:57:00.002-04:00

Get ready for some extreme cuteness...

Gracie's first ball game was Saturday!

They always warm-up before every game and practice

Check out those socks! They're the Topsail Cheetahs

They have a sandbox right at the field. Pure genius.

Getting ready to bat for the first time ever!

Gooooo Gaycee!

Precious:) The sweet ump tied her shoe for her

Mrs. Patti, her coach helping her know what to do out there in left center field.

Mrs. Sheila her other coach helping her before she goes to the plate. Gracie is learning everything just now. She's so diligent to listen and she always looks to them for help:) So sweet.

Good game! We won!

Next game she played lots of places....Second base

She got a hit!

Woohoo, on third.

Then she played right centerfield

Even catcher

Their attention spans aren't so hot

Gracie is loving it! She wants to learn and practice everyday. This league is really good. She is playing coach/machine pitch. But they don't baby them. They keep score and you get out! The rule is 10 batters, 3 outs, or 5 runs per inning. When you're batting you get 5 balls period.

Well, we're off to batting practice!

Our House!

2011-09-16T19:13:00.002-04:00

Finally....Welcome to our house! This post has more pictures than you will care to see...I tried to be thorough:)

Here is the entry way....

To the left is downstairs and the middle is the stairs for the main living space

Entry way

Up to the main living space

Our family room

These need work, that's Lisa's job:)

Into the kitchen from family room

My command center, which I love!

Into the kitchen from the eating area

From the stove looking out. Straight ahead through all those windows is a great porch

From the sink

Hallway outside the master, going to the laundry room

Guest bath

Master

Master Bath

Going up to the loft

It's messy and we don't really use it. But if Jeremy works from home he does it up here

Going down to the bottom floor

Behind me is the garage. This is the girls pad.

We have a wine fridge that the girls store their play kitchen stuff in:)

Gracie and Piper's room

Reese's room. Shhhh, she's sleeping:)

The girls bathroom

And that concludes the tour!

The Fence

2011-09-16T18:44:00.000-04:00

Well, we finally have our fence finished!

Bless Gamma and Papa's hearts for helping and working so hard!

Gracie worked her little tooshie off too:) She was right there with them all day!

I don't have pics of the finished product....I thought I did.

We are loving having these boundaries. The girls can play freely and Reilly can roam out there.

And we haven't seen Spike since the Hurricane. Hmmm

Irene

2011-09-16T18:36:00.001-04:00

I've been trying to post pics of the house, but blogger won't let me. I don't know why?

Anyway, I still need to update on Hurricane Irene....

The Lord was gracious to us. There was intense wind and lots and lots of rain, but we sustained little damage. Many trees were blown over but were able to be stood back up in our yard. We had shingle damage too. It's been fixed. Other than that, Jeremy lost power for several hours on Saturday but that's it!

There was damage however....

This is a gas station

How I spend a lot of my days....behind the wheel

Lots of flooding

Trees down

Many of them had to be cut off of the roads

Indeed, the Lord was gracious

Reese's Party

2011-08-30T22:27:00.000-04:00

Yikes! I am still so behind! But I'm determined to catch up!

We had Reese's birthday party at Nanny and Papaw's pool.

As soon as everyone got there, the bottom fell out of the sky! So we ate dinner first and then the rain cleared up:) and it was pool time!

The diving board is always a hit. Jackson was totally cracking us up with his flips! I wish we had video of it.

This is Jack

Bella Boo

Christopher

Tristen

Piper

Jack again

Jackson

Christopher

Samuel

Oh.my.word.

Rachel

Connor and Zander lovin each other

TWO will be terrific:)

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-26T10:32:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe just yesterday we were on the beach and it was beautiful

I didn't edit these, I don't have time but I wanted to get them up for history's sake.

The waves were already huge and the current was unbelievable

The girls had to stay on shore or barely get in. We were with our new friends, the Jaski's.

Anna Claire and Piper dug in the sand

And Reese wandered to and fro

This is Gracie, Lucy, Lilly, and Lauren

They don't look nearly as big as they were

The surfers were enjoying it

Even though you wouldn't know it from these, we are expecting a category 3 Irene to hit here Saturday. She is bringing some serious wind and rain. We are told we could get up to 10 inches of rain and a 9 ft storm surge. Our neighborhood is on the waterway and there are ponds all over it. Including in our back yard. The town has lowered the water in them in hopes that it will help.

We are guaranteed to lose power and it could be weeks before we get it back.

I am heading to Charlotte with the girls but Jeremy is staying behind. Please pray for him and our friends here. I don't want to leave him.

The bridges and closing and the winds have started.....

Grateful we know the One who controls the storm

First Day!

2011-08-25T22:31:00.000-04:00

School is back in session!

My Piper started Kindergarten!!

And Gracie Girl is in second!

Here they are with their sweet teacher, Dr. Gray

Their workspace

Reese was all about it! She would have stayed for sure!

Piper was beyond excited!

Time for Mommy and Reese to say bye

Man, they are LOVING it! Makes this mama's heart glad:)

Piper said, "It was great! It's better than Chuck E Cheese and Monkey Joe's!!"

And Gracie said, "It wasn't good mom, it was GREAT!"

WOOHOO!!!

Hair, Hair, Hair

2011-08-25T22:22:00.000-04:00

The girls often ask, "Mom, who's hair is the longest?"

They have a little competition going to see who can grow theirs the longest. So a few weeks ago I decided to straighten mine and see how long it was. And then, I decided to join in on the competition. So we took pictures to see where we all stand. I think Piper's is the longest but Jeremy says Gracie's is. Then he made us hang our heads off to measure cause he says that's the most accurate. what? Anyway, Gracie's head is hanging off more so I still say Pipe's is the longest. What do you think?

They've had quite the head start on me but I'm determined:)

Game ON girls!

Christmas

2011-08-24T21:27:00.000-04:00

In July!

I finally got my hiney in gear this year to do Christmas in July with the girls. They were so excited! We baked, played Christmas music, and got out our misfit tree.

Gracie working hard on the peanut butter balls

While Piper and I made messes

They rolled and rolled

And ate and ate

We delivered them to Daddy and our friends, the Jaskis

Fun Memories

Spike

2011-08-24T21:14:00.000-04:00

Well, here he is.

This is Spike-uh, as Reese would say

He's about 5 ft long

We see him for days in a row and then we don't see him for a while

SEE?

Good thing our fence is almost done!

TWO

2011-08-20T16:27:00.000-04:00

On the 11th, our little Reesee turned TWO! So hard to believe.

She is still as spunky as ever. I don't know how the Lord puts that much spunk and sweetness into one little girl! One minute she's having a fit and the next she's grabbing your face to kiss you.

Reese is in the 50th percentile for height and weight, but everyone talks about how tall she is for her age. So, I don't know. But I think she's tall too.

She is saying all kinds of adorable things now. For a while every word ended in "uh." So it was cup-uh, spike-uh. Then everything had an "ee" sound on the end. Many of these, she still uses. Like Poppy, Pipey, uppey, cuppy. For hello she says, "A yo" and for yes she says, "yah" and nods her head really hard. Jeremy fusses at me for not making her say yes ma'am, but the "yeah" is so darn cute. For please, she says "pees." She's really good at saying thank you(tank too)! Her first sentence was "I want down." And she loves to say "no no gay kee (Gracie)." She has started sucking her thumb in the past several months. She is madly in love with her Papaw and Poppy. And Nanny and Gramma are close behind.

I just squeeze her all day long! Can't get enough of this little toddler!

New Gear

2011-08-18T17:31:00.000-04:00

The girls really wanted some snorkel gear this year

And they were thrilled to get them!

Reese didn't get any, she was just happy anyway:)

Piper, Ellie and Gracie

What fun summer days!

Randomness

2011-08-10T21:37:00.000-04:00

We've had a crazy busy summer! Here are some random pictures from my phone. There are more on my camera but I haven't gotten that far:)

The Balts' came to visit us three weeks ago....All the babies love riding the golf cart to the pool!

We spent most of our days at the pool

Ellie Bellie

Deese, who will be TWO tomorrow!!

Madison:)

We went to dinner at a place that's right on the beach. LOVED that! And so did all the littles.

We have a nice little park in our neighborhood. I took the girls one morning and a helicopter landed to airlift someone to Chapel Hill. So sobering.

It was a lot closer than it looked

One afternoon, Reese was up and the big girls were napping. So we spent time outside coloring.

More pool time. Love their expressions.

Errand running here is an all day affair. A few weeks ago I asked Reese if she wanted to get in the ergo. She fell asleep in Wal-mart, I put her back in her carseat and got her back out for Home Depot. She never woke up until I put her back in the car after Home Depot. SO sweet! I cherish these times.

You can't really tell here, but the water at the beach last week looked like caribbean water! It was cloudy but those beautiful colors. These are the Lucas boys:)

And my sweet baby Mia. I love her. She is 3 months old already

Beach Week Day 6

2011-08-04T20:24:00.000-04:00

Our Gaggle of Girls

The stair step:) They are 7, 6, 5, 3, almost 2, and 8 weeks

This was supposed to go in the post the other day, but I couldn't find it. Voila, it shows up here! It's Gracie and Abbie being thrown off

Man, getting the three of them this year was impossible!

My beautiful nieces: Tristen, Bella, and Mia

And this is my girl. Tell us how you really feel, Reese

We are blessed

Beach Week Day 5

2011-08-01T22:08:00.000-04:00

The Day Aunt Abbie comes for vacation is a crowd pleaser:)

She went tubing with Gracie and Piper on the way to and from the sand bar.

Super huge boat went by and....

gone

Then Piper decided to get in on the action

All the little ladies!

Beach Week, Day 3

2011-07-31T21:35:00.000-04:00

The girls wanted boogie boards this year. I usually say no to these kinds of things unless it a birthday or something but I knew it would bless them. And we do live at the beach now:)

We usually spend our days at the sand bar as opposed to the actual beach. We get there by Papaw's boat.

Here's T on her new board...

They spent all day on them!

We get a little wave action when the boats go by

Evidence of their tattoos:)

And when there aren't waves, convince Papaw to pull you:)

We had a chance to see our friends, the Huneycutts too!
This is their adorable baby, Wynn:)

Even Papaw got a turn.

Then there's boat jumping

Then they convinced Daddy to take a turn

Chris and Baby Wynn

Deese is having a walk with Nanny

Bella and Reese usually stay on the beach playing

Piper is incredibly allergic to cats. What does she do? She picks a boogie board covered in them:) Here she is naming them. Each and every one.

Beach Week Day 2

2011-07-31T00:44:00.000-04:00

The girls really, really, really wanted tattoos. The guys told us they would last 3 weeks to 3 months.

So, we obliged. It's vacation, right?:)

Gracie got a heart

Tristen got a dolphin

Piper got a butterfly

And I think Bella got a butterfly too

And they lasted all of three days.

Beach Week!

2011-07-27T21:29:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess technically every week is beach week now, but 5 days after we moved in, it was time for the Looper family vacation.

It was a much shorter ride this year:) And we had so much fun together. I imagine I won't be taking family time for granted anymore. Each day was a new adventure!

I was sick for the first part of the week so I think La La took these pix. I was snoozing in my beach chair:)

Day 1: we spent on the beach

Love this picture!

Gracie Girl and T Bird enjoying the waves

All the kids decided to bury each other. This is Pipey.

She was a good sport:)

Ugh! I really don't like the sand enough to have this done!

Ewwwwhh

Tristen's turn

I'm guessing this was washing off time

And last but not least....Gracie

2011-07-27T21:04:00.000-04:00

This picture didn't make it into the last post. I love these girls.

Kim, Tracie, Lisa, and Cindy

Going Away Party

2011-07-24T22:14:00.000-04:00

A few nights before we left, our neighbors and closest friends gave us a little going away party. I asked them not to do anything big because I knew it would be really hard for me. In hindsight, I think bigger might have been more distracting and easier:) It was a rough night for me.

I managed to get a few pictures....

Kim and I. I miss her so.

Tim is a dork. This is what all our pictures looked like.

My Ellie Bellie. She must have hugged me a hundred times.

Pipey:)

Jeremy and the boys: Steven, Matt, Danny, and Tim

We love you guys! Thank you for blessing us!

Hello, Hello, Hellooooo!!!

2011-07-24T21:57:00.000-04:00

I am finally back! It took us this long to get internet out here in small town usa! Goodness!

Good news is that I wasn't distracted near as much by the internet or cable, so all the boxes are unpacked! I am finishing up some decorating and then pictures will be coming soon of the new house:)

Our last week home, before moving, was so nice. We spent it with our friends and family as much as we could. We had a moving company move us. HUGE blessing! It was so weird not packing a single box.

Many of our last days were spent at the pool. Here is Reese. She was supposed to be going down for a nap and I was getting her sisters lotioned up. I guess she was super excited to be at the water again, so she just got right on in, clothes and all.

Gotta love this crazy little girl.

Beach!

2011-06-21T17:00:00.000-04:00

We're here and most of the boxes are unpacked! Thanks to my mom, sister, and Meemaw. They worked so hard!! Thank you!!

We don't have internet yet but we are at Mom and Dad's beach house for the week for family vacation:)

I was looking through my phone and came across several pictures.....

These are from Gracie's last day of school. They had a luau!

Here they are having a real Hawaiian dancer entertain them:)

Then they had to learn a dance

Then the teachers had to take a turn

The first and second grade...

They said a poem for their teachers

Emily and Savannah with Gracie girl

Limbo time

Go girl!

Balloon toss

I think their faces are hilarious!

Gracie and Emily won!

Gracie's little classroom and class saying their last goodbye's and giving Ms. Inpyn presents

Sweet Mrs. Inpyn

We will miss this school so much! I spent much of my time this last day teary eyed.

Moving

2011-06-13T18:53:00.000-04:00

Well, the movers are here and most of the house is packed. I can't believe it's time to go.
I'll write more soon on this.

In the meantime, please check out Melissa's Blog to see what God is doing at Oasis! This is the orphanage I wrote about while in Uganda. The place that I can't stop thinking about. You will be encouraged!! Go now!!:)
And I will be writing more soon as well about what God is doing in my heart for this place.

2011-06-09T21:11:00.000-04:00

You know it's summer time when the Balts' slide comes out. Woohoo!

Rhiannon, Gracie, and Ellie

Love it!

Last Day!

2011-06-08T20:56:00.000-04:00

We had our last homeschool day a few weeks ago! The last one for a while since the girls are going to a five day cottage school next year!

Usually we work at the table or the bar.

Pipes was working hard this day:)

These pictures are lousy. Sorry about that. Remember what I did to my lens?:) And I didn't have time to edit these. Maybe I'll fix them sometime. Or, not.

She's so funny. Usually she's getting into something during
school. So we try to do it during her nap:)

My sweet Gracie girl. She worked so hard this year! There was SO much growth!

And she made straight A's!!

Pipe is pretty smart:) I can't wait to watch her blossom on kindergarten!

It's been a great year! As always, homeschooling comes with it's challenges and blessings. Liberty Prep was a huge success! We loved it!! And we will miss it!

Elijah!

2011-06-08T09:26:00.000-04:00

Can you help Kim raise money for this adorable little guy? Please cross post this to your blog and facebook!

Kim and I met Erika, Nate, and Elijah when we were in Uganda. We love them and their faith!

Meet Elijah Augustus. Isn't he just the cutest?!

Right now he is at the same babies home that Madison is from. When I was there last summer, he was around 10 months old, he couldnt sit up or even hold his head up. He was found in a garbage bag, discarded and unwanted. Now look at him! He is even starting to walk.

While I was there, I met Nate and Erika, and they were given permission to pursue him in adoption. He now has a family that love him and want him to be their son. He has a forever family!! He is no longer an orphan and I am asking you if you will help this family bring him home. You may not be called to adopt, but we can all be apart of this beautiful story. We can support this family that is called to adopt.

Erika has been in Uganda since March trying to get her son home. The expenses keep adding up and they desperately need your help in bringing Elijah home. So, please buy a ticket and pray for Elijah and Erika to come home soon.

So, to help, we are having a raffle. The prizes have been donated and 100% of the money will go to the family for the adoption. Now for the prizes: First prize is a new 64GB IPad 2 and the second prize is a 32 GB Ipod touch. So not only could you win an AWESOME prize, but you would also be helping this precious boy get home to his forever family.

Here is how the raffle will work:

$10= 1 entry

$25= 3 entries

$50= 8 entries

$100= 20 entries

$150= 35 entries

$300= 80 entries

WAIT, there's more! Once you buy a ticket you can get FREE additional entries by 1) if you re-post this on facebook or your blog, leave me a comment here and a link and you will be entered again (you can do this once a day). or 2) if someone buys a ticket and uses your name as a reference, by leaving a comment in paypal or here, you will be entered TWICE.

How to enter:

1. you can click on the chipin button on the side. It is linked to my paypal account. Under the comment section of paypal, please leave me your contact info. I will send you an entry receipt with a number.

2. cash or check is always welcomed. Just leave me a comment with your email and I will send you my address.

We will hold the drawing for both prizes on July 5 and then you will be notified if you have won. We will also post something here telling who the winner's are. Hurry and enter...it could be you!

Now more about the family:

Here is Nate, the daddy.

Mommy Erika with Elijah. Look how big he is and how well he is doing with his mommy there!

Dishes!

2011-06-07T20:56:00.000-04:00

I had a migraine a while ago and sweet Gracie cleaned up for me while I was in bed. All on her own, just because. She is so priceless.

She loaded the dishwasher.

I thought it was so precious I had to share:) Can you see that she even put ziploc bags in there?

God bless her heart:)

Summer House

2011-06-02T23:50:00.001-04:00

So here it is!! We call it Summer House, because that's the name of the development. I decided to drop my camera lens again, so I don't have many pictures. I only have a portrait lens, and that's really hard to use for pictures in the house:) When we move in, you'll get pictures of the inside:)

So here's the front

Here's the side view

Here's the back

The view from the master porch

Master Porch view again

The backyard view

And now for one of the biggest reasons we chose this neighborhood:)

This is the clubhouse and pool. Well, this is the front part of the pool.

This is the right side of the pool in the front

This is the back of the clubhouse and pool. To the left is the pump room.

And this is the workout room.

The side, going around the clubhouse

Our families came to visit us on Saturday! That was fun!

Makin sweet memories with Papa

And Gamma

Nanny with all of her grand daughters

Tristen and her baby sister:)

Reese was so tired, she fell asleep on me at the sand bar. It was priceless.

Bella Boo. She and Reese spent most of their time in the sand while the other girls were in the water.

How we get to the sand bar:)

Delicious Mia

Mia!

2011-05-20T22:43:00.001-04:00

It's taking forever to upload these, so I'll have to post about Mia in a few separate posts.

My little sweet niece was born on May 6th at 6:22 am. It was a loooong night for poor Lauren.

Mom was cracking us up because she was telling Lauren how strong her contractions were. You catch that? Mom was telling Lauren, how strong her contractions were.

It was pretty hilarious. Most people don't realize that you can't tell the strength of contractions just by what the screen says. You actually have to feel them with your hand, or have an internal pressure catheter. So poor Lauren is laughing and hurting at the same time here.

Yep, torturing her.

Waiting for our sweet baby:)

Here's all of us! And yes, we all stayed:) It was me, mom, Ab, Chris, Megan, Meemaw, and Mimi

Poor Abbie had to work the next morning so she slept in the window sill for a little bit

And then, Mia decided to make her grand entrance!

Perfect. In every way

Momma's first glance

Love this one

Awwwhhh, my namesake:)

Can I take her home?

The time we thought would never come

Auntie Abbie

These pictures were taken by Megan:) I was too busy being a nurse and sister:)

New Wheels

2011-05-19T22:37:00.000-04:00

This was my Mother's Day present! I love it! It will be perfect for the new house:)

Life Christian School! God's Story Part Two

2011-05-18T10:01:00.000-04:00

I thought I already told the story about our new little school right outside of Wilmington, but I just looked back through and I don't see it. And it's part of our God story!

So, when Jeremy and I went to Wilmington back in February to look around, we started researching schools. He found one but the website wasn't available anymore. But that didn't deter Jeremy:), he found Dr. Gray on facebook and contacted her. At that point she was mostly helping people homeschool but she said we should meet with her.

When we went down for Spring Break, we got a chance to meet her. And at this point she decided to reopen her school for next year. Get this, for grades K-2! She wanted God to lead the students so she just let him bring the ages he wanted. Lo and behold, it's just the grades we needed!

Dr. Gray is a chiropractor and she had homeschool her three children. Her office is set up as the school and she does adjustments in the afternoons after school. She is a Godly woman and she goes to a church that we've heard a lot about and are planning on visiting. She showed us around and then we sat down in one of the classrooms and just talked. She gave us her philosophy and what she hoped to instill in the kids. We.loved.her. She plans to do charlotte mason and classical and sonlight, all mixed and balanced:) Gracie and Piper will be in the same classroom! We are so excited about that. There are only three families currently enrolled for next year, and we are fine with that.

After we talked she told us she wanted to take us to the north campus. I had no idea what that meant:) We get there and it's on her parent's land. Her dad built her a little schoolhouse! And there's a playground. She said this is where they would eat lunch and spend the afternoons. Oh my goodness, it's a nature wonderland! There are nature trails, a pond, chickens, a greenhouse, a garden, a goldfish pond, and probably more I am forgetting. Dr. Gray says kids need to be outside and learning! We couldn't agree more. The girls will LOVE this. I can't wait for the to see it.

When we came home and told the girls about the school, they wanted to go see it and meet Dr. Gray. They were shy, of course. Gracie decided to call it fake school. Why? Because she says it's so small:) But it will be right up her alley.

More of God's Story.....

God's Story

2011-05-17T21:58:00.000-04:00

I've held off on posting about our move because I haven't had pictures! Sweet Jeremy tried to get some for me but they're really blurry. I am going next week, so I'll get more. But I wanted to go ahead and write our story down, and I'll post the pix later!

God is writing a story into our lives that we never imagined. And we certainly wouldn't have asked for. Moving away is hands down the hardest thing he's ever asked of me. The roots here are DEEP. And to be completely honest, even now, I can barely think about it. I feel like my heart is being ripped out.

But God is weaving a story and He is confirming this is what we are to do, every step of the way. First of all, there are the things you already know about, the awesome job, and the sweet little cottage school. But there's so much more.

When Jeremy and I went to motorcycle school:), there was only one other couple in the class (There were lots of people, but not couples). One day while we were riding, the lady came up to me and asked me if Jeremy and I were in ministry. I told her no, but that we were really involved in our church. She then says, "There's something different about you guys. I can see it. God is going to use you. He's going to use you to minister to others, especially in evangelism." Then we had to part ways and get back on our bikes. But I just stood there for a minute completely humbled. Whaaaattt? God, I can't believe you just did that for me! You just confirmed once again that you have a plan for us, through a perfect stranger who doesn't even know we are moving. whoa.

Then there is our house. I fell in love with a house this past spring when we went down to look. We signed the papers and put down the deposit on it. Then through a series of crazy ridiculous events, including them telling us we couldn't hang a single thing on the walls (seriously), that door was closed. I was seriously heartbroken. I loved the house. Dear Tracie went with me to look at more houses. She was patient and kind with me, but I was really really sad. So we started looking and a house came up for rent in a neighborhood that we had looked at buying a lot in. It has awesome amenities and the houses are beautiful. We totally couldn't afford the house and Jeremy had already looked at it. But the manager of the property told us to ask the lady to lower the rent, so I agreed to go look at it. Loved it! It's beautiful! And hear me, it's BRAND NEW! Just finished two weeks ago! Jeremy called the lady and talked to her about the house. She told him, "Don't ever build! It's sooo hard!" And she went on about it. Jeremy started laughing and told her he was a builder. She liked that, and she and Jeremy hit it off:) He told her we would love to rent the house but that we couldn't afford the price. So she cut it by $400 a month!!!!! Which means we are paying $400 less than her mortgage on the house! Whaaatttt? Ok Lord! The lady and her husband have been great to us and as you can imagine, Jeremy has already been serving them and getting their house finished for them. He moved in two weeks ago. Wait till you see it, it's so cute:)
  There is one major concern I have....it's 25 mins to the girl's school. But we decided to sacrifice that in order to have the family life we were hoping for. You see, this neighborhood was started right when the economy crashed. Builders bought up the lots and then lost them. There should be a 1,000 houses in the neighborhood, but there's only five. Five. And we have a 10 million dollar pool and clubhouse with a workout room! It's a gated community and there's tons of land to roam. See, whoa Lord:)
  Oh and there's one other concern...the alligators. Yep, apparently they are all over the place down there. I have to admit I've lost a little sleep over this. There's lakes all over the property. It's beautiful. There's a pond right in our back yard. So I asked for a fence. The owners graciously agreed! Once again, the Lord's provision.
  We are also on the inter coastal waterway and about 10 mins from the beach:)
  Oh and one last thing about the house. The company will pay our rent until we sell our house. They give us a certain amount a month and it was a few hundred shy of our actual rent. Jeremy submitted the paper work last week for it and his boss came by to show him that he changed the paperwork. He upped our compensation to cover the whole rent!! Amazing. We didn't ask, he just did it.

  So God is writing this story. I am in faith for what He has in store.
  We will be moving June 14th. Pray for us if you think about it.

Go Pipey Goooooo!

2011-05-04T21:09:00.000-04:00

Pipey is learning to ride her bike without training wheels. This is part of Daddy's job description, so she doesn't get to practice much right now. But she's doing great:))

GO girl!