What Grammies Are For

    My mom just got home from spending the night with my sister. Lucas has been following her around since she walked in the door. While she was unpacking her bag, Lucas was talking to her and told her "Mammies are for snuggles."

 
 Of course, Mammie dropped what she was doing to snuggle and eat gold fish with him! With a little prodding, I got Lukie to say it for the camera. It's so sweet!

A Precious Memory

    Tonight as I was tucking the boys into their bed, Logan needed a Kleenex. I took a few minutes to snuggle with Lucas and sing Jesus Loves Me. I have always sang this to the boys replacing "me" in the song with their name. As I was finishing singing it to Lucas, Logan crawled into bed and asked if I was going to sing it to him. I told him of course! When I got to the chorus, Lucas began to sing with me Yes, Jesus loves Logan. It brought tears to my eyes! It was such a precious moment. Such a simple praise song, but what a powerful message! 

   Jesus loves Logan, this I know

For the Bible tells me so.

Little Logan to Him belongs.

Logan is weak;

But Jesus is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves Lucas! 

Yes, Jesus loves Lucas!

Yes, Jesus loves Lucas!

The Bible tells me so.

   

Wordless Wednesday: Crazy Shaw Boys Edition

Fun with Friends

    Heather, Josiah, and Grayson came down from Arkansas to put new carpet in their house here. They're trying to sell if anyone is looking. On Friday night, Heather picked me up and we met Rikki at the Cheesecake Factory. It was so much fun chatting and catching up. I did have a piece of cheesecake since I have been added sugar free. Once I got I home my stomach hurt. It was so sweet; I wished I hadn't eaten it. By the way, I'm proud to say I'm back to being added sugar free and think I'm going to continue except for special occasions after January is over. The fourth member of our little group Krista had other plans and wasn't able to join us.

    On Saturday, we met at McDonald's for lunch and playtime. We're missing Grayson who got sick and the Rikki's girls because baby Hannah was sick. The kids had so much fun eating and playing. They all got along so well. While we were there, there was a little boy who was being a bully. Things settled down again once that child left. Isn't it amazing what one little person can do!

   
    Here's baby Miles! He was such a happy, content baby the whole time. He didn't fuss once!

    Heather and the boys left after our play date since GrayGray was sick. We are so thankful for the time we were able to spend with them!

     On Sunday, we had lunch and the quarterly  business conference after church. We ate pizza, salad, and cookies. Since Hannah was sick and Brice was part of running the meeting, Rachel sat with us and Chelsea joined our table for the eating part. Logan, Rachel, and Chelsea did a great job of sitting quietly during the meeting.

    After Lucas finished eating, he went back to the nursery to play with his friends.

   
    We finished our Sunday with a family nap and just relaxing at home.

Spring Creek Spirit Night

    Tonight was Hobbs Williams spirit night at Spring Creek Barbecue. One of my best friends and my reading buddy Robin and I worked a shift together passing out hot rolls. We had so much fun serving rolls and visiting with the students, teachers, and their families! After we finished our shift, we got to enjoy a free meal courtesy of Spring Creek. It was so good getting to sit down and catch up with Robin. Even though we see each other almost every day, we don't always get to visit because we have our students with us. So many of my former students and their families were there tonight as well. I loved the opportunity to chat with them and their parents.

Fun and Games

    Aunt Calli and Uncle Robert came over tonight for game night. Logan loves playing games and kept asking all day when they were coming.

    The big boys played Mario Party 8 on Wii. Logan and Lucas would climb up next to Daddy and Uncle Robert from time to time to help them play.

    Aunt Calli and I played board games with the boys. Logan was so excited that he could count the dice and write the numbers on score card!

    Lucas loves playing Candy Land and is already really good at naming and matching the colors. I think Grammie enjoyed being on her Nook without little boys trying to help her.

   
    Logan showed off to Aunt Calli the numbers he recognized on the Chutes and Ladders game board. Lucas loved sliding his game piece down the chutes!

Faithfulness

    I'm currently working through Beth Moore's Breaking Free Bible study. This is the third time I'm doing this study; I'm only beginning week 2 of 10 and I am already amazed at what fresh things about captivity and freedom God is showing me in His word.

    Week 2 is all about the benefits God has extended to His children. Beth discusses how if you're missing one of these benefits in your life then it may be a helpful indicator you're in captivity or on the road to being held captive. Isaiah 43:10 says "You are my witnesses", declares the Lord, "and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after Me."

    One of the exercises she had us do what to think about situations that positively and negatively affected our faith. As I was thinking about these experiences and writing them, I realized how I needed to start deliberately recording God's faithfulness in mine and my family's lives. No matter how many or few years you have walked with the Lord, there are times when unbelief or doubt creeps in. The last half of 2011 was extremely hard for me. Looking back I can see how instead of trusting God, I was questioning why. I think it would have been easier for me to let go of my struggles if I would have been consistently searching His Word for examples of His faithfulness and reflecting on His faithfulness in my own life-not only in the "big" things, but in the "small" things as well.

    I feel like God is calling me to start a faithfulness journal to record answers to prayers and even encouraging things He leads other people to do for our family. His faithfulness was shown to me just as much as when LeighAnn wrote me a card and brought me a piece of chocolate cake as much as when He answered our prayers for healing at Logan and Lucas' birth as much as the Word of hope He spoke to us through Joel's sermon the Sunday morning before Logan's traumatic birth as much as Miss Mikki writing on Facebook to check on her boys.  A big part of growing our belief and trust in Him is knowing Him and remembering His faithfulness in the past. Maybe one day this faithfulness journal will become a family heirloom passed down as a testimony to future generations.

Crimson Tide Pride

    I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but we are HUGE Alabama Crimson Tide fans. Tonight the Tide plays LSU for the chance to win our 14th National Championship. 

    Here's Logan and I showing our Tide Pride at school today!

    Here's my lil Tide fan passed out on the way home from school. When he woke up, he told me he needed a little nap so he could stay up a little bit late to watch part of the game.

   
    We're ready for the big game!

    If you're curious, my shirt says L-S-WHO?.

    The Tide has had a remarkable season, and win or lose we're just as proud of our team! Roll Tide!

Just a Lazy Saturday

    Logan and I survived our first week back at school after the winter holiday break...we both had a great week back and it didn't seem months long like 4 day weeks normally do. We've enjoyed a pretty lazy Saturday today. The boys are still in their pjs and playing in the other room. 

    The boys slept until 7:45am which is a HUGE deal at our house! Then when they woke up, I got them breakfast and chocolate milk and they played pretty quietly in the playroom while I laid in bed for another hour. Mom and I caught up on some of our DVR shows Joshua doesn't watch while he worked his half day this morning. The boys did a good job of willingly straightening the house with me before Daddy got home. 

    When Joshua got home, he cooked lunch for everyone, while I worked on one my organizing projects. The first project I tackled was TV shelf in the den. My shelf and the table underneath it had been taken over by movies and Wii games. As a result of it being overtaken I hadn't dusted it well since Thanksgiving break. I took all the movies back to their designated spots. Then I put the Wii games and accessories in one of my cute Thirty-One all in one organizers. I relocated the movies on my table back to their designated areas  and put my pictures and candles back where they belong on my table. Here's what it looks like now.

    As I was writing this post, my boys got really quiet...which normally means they're up to something. I went to check on them and found this precious moment. They're laying on the floor in their bedroom watching Mr. Popper's Penguins on Justin's Kindle, enjoying our lazy Saturday.

2012 Goals

     I don't make resolutions. My impression of resolutions are something that will happen that year, and if it's not accomplished no matter how close you are, it's a failure. That's just my perception. I make goals, that way every little progress that is made is a success and encourages me to continue on. With a goal you have to have a plan...resolutions don't necessarily have a plan attached to them.

Here are our (mine & Joshua's) goals for 2012:

    Our family is going to get healthier by eating healthier foods and eating out less. 

    Be more consistent in the boys' devotional/prayer time before bed and be more deliberate about getting back on schedule with it when something unexpected causes us to miss it.

    Continue with our family Sunday afternoon naps.

Here are my goals for 2012:

    To have uninterrupted time with the Lord 4-5 times a week. It's hard with the little ones to get uninterrupted time, but it's so much for me and them when I do. I decided to work through Beth Moore's  Breaking Free Bible study. When I finish that study, I going to pick another study book. Using a study book, helps to keep me on track and accountable.

    To get more organized at home. I've created a list of 52 organization projects I want to do around the house, and I plan to tackle one a week. I looked at each room in my house and found little manageable projects that I could complete in smaller chunks of time. I was inspired by the Organizing Junkie.

    To blog on our family blog 2-3 times a week. I plan on taking some of my snacking energy I'm giving up and using it to write about my family and our lives.

    To lose 30 pounds by my 30th birthday this year. I'm starting out by counting calories and doing this no added sugar challenge for the month of January. I still have naturally occurring sugars like fresh fruit and dairy, but nothing has sugar listed an ingredient on the package. I LOVE Dr. Pepper and Sweet Tea and sweet treats so this will definitely be a challenge for me. I decided to reward myself on February 1st if I can make it through this no sugar challenge with this:

chocolate tuxedo cream cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. My goal with the no sugar challenge is to become in control my sugar intake again and not letting sweets control me.

Happy 2012!!!