This past weekend, Mom, Kim and I headed out to Atlanta for a little girls Get-A-Way.

It has been a while since it has been the original Bradley chicks, so it was high time to plan a trip.

We decided to go to the Beth Moore Simulcast which was being hosted at First Baptist Church Woodstock, GA and it was

just what we needed to plan around.

On Friday, the girls had Grandparents Day at school.  LuLu had come in for a few days and the girls LOVE being able to share their school

with their GP’s.  They show off some cool things they have learned and enjoy time with them.  I love that our school does this, even if there is a push for the GP’s to

donate money!!

We left after eating lunch and headed south.  We rolled into our swanky Embassy Suites and were pleasantly surprised with our cool suite.

We dropped our stuff and headed to the Ballard outlet and  you know it….IKEA.

We pause for a moment of silence to honor my most favorite place to buy stuff for our home….

Now, we spent a few mindless hours walking around and a few hundred dollars later, exited.

I bought these for our hallway project….more to come on that at a later date.

I also got this and this for outside.  They are a lot larger than they appear. Excited about all the things I can do with these.

We then went to eat at Pappasito’s. I adore this place.  Their tortillas are hands down, the best I have ever had.  It was fun to take Mom and Kim.

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We were up bright and early and headed out.

It was POURING…so we stopped to get an umbrella.

Thank the good Lord for Navigation….that’s all I am saying.

We were early birds.  Seriously early birds.  That is the way we roll for some members of my family.  While I am not ALWAYS late, some members of my family like to point out that I am not ALWAYS on time, either. Some members of my family, on the other hand, are especially fond of punctuality.

Trust me, I am reminded A LOT that I don’t always arrive on time.

Anywho, we were at the Beth Moore Simulcast for her new book

So Long Insecurity.  I have not read the book, but I am a big fan of kissing insecurity goodbye.

I am a girl.

I have insecurities.

Shocking, I know.

Let’s just say, I sooo needed to hear this.  She talked about 6 Signs of A Secure Woman.  She based most of it out of Ephesians 4 and looking at the demon that is insecurity.  Insecurity is, in its most basic form, making it all about OURSELVES.  Insecurity keeps us chronically self-aware…and honestly….how gross is that?

We are caught in the Am I’s….

Am I smart enough, cool enough, skinny enough, Am I witty enough, Am I saying the right thing.

Yet, a life controlled by the Spirit curves out to serve others, love others, forgive others…to Magnify His Glory.  We are so esteemed by our Creator that we don’t focus on ourselves, but rather on Him.

There was so much meat that I can’t wait to read her book, look at myself through His Word and be transformed.

Because it matters to me, my faith and my ministry.

But it also matters for my girls.

To raise them SECURE in His love, His Grace, His AMAZING journey for them.

It matters to every woman, to every mom.

This is a battle we ALL face and I am so sick and tired of being told what I am supposed to be as a woman, a mom, a daughter, a wife by our twisted culture.

The only measuring stick I am to hold to is that of Christ.

I could be the skinniest, most beautiful, talented, confident, witty, woman on planet Earth, but I would still be a quaking mess of fears without recognizing who I am as a Daughter of the King.

I am WORTH it to HIM.

I am PRECIOUS to HIM.

I am BEAUTIFUL to HIM.

I am IMPORTANT to HIM.

I am DESTINED for An ABUNDANT LIFE through HIM.

Needless to say, I could go on and on.  As someone who has worked with teenagers most of my adult life, these are things I have known and said for years, yet it is sooo good to be reminded that I can be enslaved to my own self and be hindered in by obedience to the life God ordained for me.

I don’t want to miss His plan.

After the simulcast, which over 300,000 women heard about finding their security in Christ alone, amazing, we headed to the hotel and then to a local mall and the Container Store.

To me the Container Store is the Pottery Barn of organization and IKEA is the Target…..I am more a Target girl myself.

We ate a Maggiano’s and picked up Cheesecake Factory for dessert.

I soo gained weight this weekend, but I am secure in the knowledge that my pounds do not determine my worth!

We relaxed at the hotel and the next morning headed back to IKEA to pick up a few last things and to Atlantic Station.

All in all, it was a refreshing, relaxing weekend.

And when I got home, I came home to a clean house, happy kids, folded laundry and homework done.

Can I get an amen??

My man is a-may-zing.

A perfect ending…..

I recently decided to give this book review thing a try through booksneeze.com

This book by Lis Wiehl, is the second in her Triple Threat series. The book is based around three women, a federal prosecutor, an FBI agency and a journalist, who work together to solve the latest crime!
In Hand of Fate, a popular and controversial radio talk show host, receives a package of poisonous gas, not only killing him, but causing wide-spread panic in the city of Portland.
I enjoyed the book and thought it was a good read. It had suspense, action, a little love interest and of course, some surprises that kept me engaged. Their are also Christian influences in the book so you don’t have to worry about a lot of “trash.” I didn’t read the first book in the series, and didn’t feel lost while reading this second book.

If you enjoy reading I encourage you to check it out!

A free copy of this book was provided by Thomas Nelson Publishing.

What a crazy week we had last week. We helped out some friends and kept their kiddos a few days, kept my niece over the weekend and the kids were out of school! Not to mention that Emery got strep throat. Needless to say, we had a packed week and weekend. On Friday, we took the kids and Lauren, my niece to lunch and bowl. This was one of the best things we have done in a while as a family. The kids did great! Bradley actually was beating Jason and I through the 7th frame. I kid you not! I think that says a lot about Jason and my skills as well as Bradley’s!

Friday night Jason and I went to Romance and Roses, which is an annual night out for married couples. I LOVE that our church is actively involved in strengthening marriages.  I can’t say enough about what a blessing it is to be on a staff that values our marriage and seeks to protect the relationship that Jason and I have with each other.

So, come Sunday night, it was all about celebrating as a family!  I will be honest, I am not a big fan of  V-day.  But, it does make for an easy family night!

Parker helped me get ready by cutting out a lot of hearts…she also set the table for us!

This is an easy night to decorate for…just throw out some red and call it done! I used red hots, red candles, heart plates

and white serving pieces.  I also picked up some fancy glasses at the Dollar Store. Such a big spender, I am!

For dinner, we had heart shaped pizzas from Papa Murphy’s and breadsticks.

Here are the fancy glasses with cherry 7-up added. Yes, we had several spills….

For dessert, we had Red Velvet Cake Balls

…they have the face only a mother could love,

but were yummy….I am laying off the cake balls for a while….they do too much damage to the ol waistline.

maybe they were a little messy….

We also had chocolate covered strawberries…white chocolate and dark chocolate.

Emery had been battling strep throat, but her meds kicked in and she was able to

join us at dinner.  She is such a trooper..

Next, we all wrote out things we loved about each other.

I helped Bradley a little…

He liked that Emery plays with him, Parker helps get him breakfast,

dad plays wii with him and how his mommy loves him.

This was really cool to hear what the girls wrote.  It is also fascinating to see how they listed

things about their daddy that they loved and just said I am the best mom or that I love them……not sure what all

the psychology of it means, but it is interesting none the less.

The look on their faces when reading their notes and hearing what others said about them is priceless…. (even with a low grade fever)

Jason had also written out scripture on love on some of the hearts. So, we read them, talked about them and how we can live it out….simple devo.

Next, we played a little game of pick up stix, conversation heart style.

We used some sticks and tried to see how many we could pick up in 30 seconds.

This

was harder

than you

might think (check out the tongue for concentration)

Then we tried to use our hearts to make sentences….yeah, not so much!

Afterwards we dumped out the hearts and let the kids build away.  Emery make a city with hers…

and Parker just kept stacking hers…

I hung our hearts in the window to help remind us about loving each other

and about loving Jesus….

Another one in the books…..

Here is our Valentine’s Family Night from last year…in case you needed any ideas!

We had our third family night this week and it was good.  It had been a really taxing day for me, and I was not looking forward to all I needed to do once we got home from school, but we did it!

We decided to have a Valentine’s Day celebration.  This was an easy one, because there are tons of websites, blogs and magazine articles related to crafty ideas focused on the Day O’ Love.  Heaven knows, I am not a Creative Guru, and our motto is “Originality is Obscurity of the Source.” (Rick Jenkins)

I decided to make a fancy dinner, decorate with red and watch our wedding video.  Our children have never actually seen it, and honestly, it had a been a while for me, as well.  Parker’s verse at school this week was 1 John 4:12, “No one has never seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.”  So, we talked about it at the table some.

How pretty are these strawberries??

How pretty are these strawberries?

Check out that technique of dipping the strawberry into the chocolate!

This is so simple to do, but looks super fancy!

Our table, before I added the chargers, dishes and food.

Our pink drinks, to add to the look of love.

Our fancy dinner consisted of baked spaghetti, garlic toast,

strawberry applesauce and our drink!Again, be in awe of how good these look, especially in a footed pedestal server.

I also through in some Ritz/Peanut Butter crackers, dipped in chocolate!Eating her dessert!

Bradley went for the crackers.Loving the strawberry after declaring she would not like it.

Also, take note of the future orthodontic work that will be needed!!

During dinner, the girls told us what they love about each person in our family and a way they could show that person love this week.  Emery said she loved my hugs and kisses, which is funny because it such a game to see if she will let us kiss her!  They also loved that Bradley is wild, yet that is what they also get tired of after he tries to tackle them (out of his love for them) all afternoon!

Here are a few things I learned after watching our video:

1. 1997 Video Technology- NOT SO GOOD.
2. My music, while progressive at the time, or so I thought, included an organ.  Why?
3. My bridesmaids were hot!
4. I still get chills watching it.  Such an amazing day.  I have no doubt that I got a much better man than I deserved.
5. I would wear my dress again, which is no easy thing to say 12 years later!
6. It is a little confusing to an almost 3 year old to watch his parents get married. He kept asking “Where I are?”  Try explaining you were not born yet to an almost three year old!
7. Favorite Line- Parker says, “I didn’t know LuLu had those kind of clothes!”

All in all, it was a good family night!  What have you done with your family this week?

The Stews have been quite busy lately.

Last weekend, we went to Knoxville to visit the grandparents and for me to have a visit with a family who are adopting.

About a year ago, I started working part time for an agency that completes a homestudy for families who are wanting to adopt. This is one of those things that God has
completely took be surprise. I was set on one path, but as usual, He has another plan! Needless to say, I am loving working with families who are
adopting. If you have any questions about adoption, please feel free to ask me. I would love to answer your questions!

So, while we were in, we had a blast. The reason I chose this weekend, was so my sweet man could go watch some VOL basketball. He LOVES UT basketball.
They were playing on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon, so we took the kids out of school and headed to Kville.
Jason was able to go to both games and I actually went with him on Saturday. It was so fun! It had been awhile since I had been to a game, so I was pumped.
They introduced the new football coach while we were there, Coach Derrek Dooley. His kids are just darling!
We won both games which made it even better!

Friday night we went to see the Harlem Globetrotters.

The kids had fun. They were funny, but it is sooo cheesy.  My favorite part, without a doubt was the mascot Big G.

It was really cute!

We also went to see Grandad at work. He is a bailiff for one of the judges and wanted us to come by! Bradley had a blast. He got to experiment with the xray machine and made many friends in the process!

Last night, I was able to take the girls to see 101 Dalmatians, The Musical.  Mom, Kim and I got season tickets to the Broadway series at TPAC.    They decided not to go for various reasons, so I took the girls. I will be honest, I was not looking forward to it.  It was raining, it started at their bedtime, I had to drive downtown and I was tired.  But, we persevered and they really enjoyed it.  Beauty and the Beast is coming in June and we are planning on taking all the girls!

Here are the 2 pictures we took before we left.  As you can see, I am taking my time in decorating the hallway!  I also have very few pictures of me with my offspring.  Ohh, the trials of motherhood…

fun times with my girls…

So there is a snapshot of what we have been up to…

I am planning a family night this week.  Anyone want to join me??

So, I found these at the Dollar Tree….

So I decided to make them a little cuter, by using this

I took the paper out and cut it to size

And played around with the fonts, until I found what I liked and printed

an example.  I discovered my paper was tooo dark, so I improvised and ended up with these….

It was easy and I knew I could make some even cuter using my mother in laws Cricut machine!

SO i went back and bought 10 more!

If you happen to get one of these, forget that it only cost $1 and love how cute it is!

I am linking up at A Soft Place to Land, DIY Day!

I have so many pictures to post, but Jason has most of them downloaded on his computer.  Isn’t that how is always happens!

So, I am going to post a few of the ones I do have.

We had a total blast.  We arrived on Saturday and headed straight to Magic Kingdom.  We spent the rest of the day there!  When we got to the hotel, we found that Bradley was broke out in some major hives.  He got his first dose of Benedryl.

Sunday we went to Hollywood Studio.  This was a good day. We were still figuring everything out and walked around aimlessly a lot.  I took Bradley to the First Aid station and almost to the walk in clinic but it was a 2 hour wait not including the shuttle waits and rides.  He was dazed most of this day, due to multiple doses of Benedryl.  I still have no IDEA what caused him to break out, but the rest of the week, he was broke out in itchy welps.  Poor guy.  He did have fun, though.  We loved the Toy Story Mania ride, Rock N Roll Rollercoaster (the adults, the kids we scarred for life on this one!), Star Wars ride, Playhouse Disney Show, Monsters Inc, Laugh In and the Army Men from Toy Story.  They were walking around and were really funny! We ate at the Prime Time Cafe and it was really fun and the food was good!  FANTASMIC! was amazing.  Bradley cried quite a bit, but he persevered, triumphed, suffered through it and enjoyed the end.

Monday we went to Epcot.  This was a great, long day.  We went to the Land exhibit first and got fast passes to Soarin’, which we LOVED.  LOVED.  We also toured the greenhouse. We also went to the Sea exhibit and  rode the Nemo ride and look at the Aquarium.  We ate at Coral Reef that night and it was all right. The food was good, but the atmosphere was not that big of a deal.  Some of our favorites were Test Track, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth and the character meet and greet.  When we finally made it to the Nations, we only had about an hour before our dinner reservation, and the girls were going to do the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure.  The dads totally ran with this while Ashley and I had Ryan and Bradley.  We barely made our reservation and didn’t see anything but Norway in the Nations.  When we finally finished dinner, the IllumiNations fireworks had started so we watched them and hustled to the bus stop.  This day was fun, but there is so much to do.  It seemed like we waited a lot to do our fast passes, but it was still a great day!

Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom. More to come later….

Wednesday we were back at Magic Kingdom. More to come later……

Here is at least one picture from our trip!

A few weeks ago, mom, sister and I took Bradley, Lauren and Morgan to the Farmer’s Market and to the fountains by the capital building in Nashville.  So fun, I must say.  Not that I needed anything at the Farmer’s Market thanks to our little ol garden that just keeps on producing veggies.  We are in tomato overload right now.  My mom has frozen quite a bit for us to use and I am stoked about that!

The fun part was taking the kids to run in the fountains… seriously cute pics!

Ready to bolt….. can we say he got his daddy’s skin?

Even Morgan had fun in the fountains…although she probably wouldn’t tell her friends that!

Bradley and Lauren ran from one end of the fountains to the other….OVER AND OVER AND OVER…

Taking a breather….

I love this one because these two are rarely still

Mom and sister Kim.. Trying to stay cool!

This was a fun day we had also celebrating Kim’s birthday.  Next time, I will have to take the girls, too! I know they would love it!

A few weeks back, Emery had her first dance recital.  She has been taking ballet and jazz this past year and has LOVED it.  She is constantly dancing around the house and asking her daddy to dance with her.  She can also provide her own music, which is quite entertaining, I must say!  If you knew me growing up, gracefulness is not a term that could be used to describe me.  I loved all things sports, so to have a kid interested in the artsy stuff, is out of my element.  But, it isn’t about me, it is about Emery, so we started dance to see how this interest progresses.  So far, I think we will be continuing in dance.

I talked to a lot of people before choosing a dance studio.  Many families from our school go to this studio, so I felt comfortable with the choice.  The owner is also Emery’s dance teacher.  I think her picture could be under the word ballerina in the dictionary.  She doesn’t walk, she floats across the room!  She was pregnant most of the year and I kid you not, she was doing splits while 7 months pregnant.  Pretty sure I thought my babies could fall out any day when I was seven months pregnant!

Emery was dancing 2 dances and the recital had a Beatles theme.  I must admit we almost did not do the recital.  I am not a fan of paying a fortune for two costumes she will wear once and paying for dance lessons for her to learn 2 dances, as oppossed to technique and actual moves.  But, Jason and I decided that if she is truly interested in dance, we have to give her the opportunity to be on stage and see if she likes it.  Which, um, she did!

Emery did great.  She knew her dances and smiled, huge, the whole time.  She was loving it.  Having her hair and makeup done all up didn’t hurt either!  I also must give a huge thanks to my mom, who took Emery to the dress rehearsal because J and I were in Atlanta.  It lasted forever, or so she told me.  She is a trooper!

The recital went well. We sat through about 30 dances and this was the first of three shows. They are broken down into ages so we were with the younger ages and they were cute.  I thought a couple of the solo dances, which were older girls, were a little to0 flashy.  I mean seriously, a 10 year old dancing to “You give me fever.”  After talking with other families, afterward, we were in agreement, that it was over the top.  That was really disappointing.

Doesn’t our camera do a great job with no flash, in the dark?

Emery after the show in her ballet costume.

Nana, Poppy and LuLu came for the show.

She insisted on being “lifted.”  I told you she is dance crazed.

Trying to get a family picture. We left Bradley with friends and were so thankful we did!

During VBS last week, she also was on the praise team and helped in the big worship time.  She loved it and did great for a 6 year old.  I look forward to seeing how this dance thing plays out!

Last Monday, we had a little family day and hit the road.  Jason and I had a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT for the kids.  We were super excited to share some fun with them!

We themed it out somewhat, so see if you can guess what our surprise was!

So, we hit the road and didn’t let the kids in on where we were going…

Can you guess where we stopped? The DISNEY STORE, aka DISNEYWORLD.  My kids have always called the Disney Store, Disney World and we did not feel the need to tell them otherwise!  They are just now catching on!  We gave each of them some cash to spend.

Parker, the lover of stuffed animals, chose a Pluto stuffed dog.  Surprise, surprise.  She does know that if a new one comes in the house, an old one goes out!  She still went with ol Pluto though.

Bradley chose a Lightening McQueen car.  It is cool, you can change its wheels, but of course we have already lost a the screw that keeps it on!

Emery has been suffering from a little bit of the gimmes lately, so she could not figured out what she wanted.  She ended up with a TInkerbell pencil set and case.  Afterwards, we went to the food court and got some lunch.  After eating, we gave them each an envelope and told them it had hint to what our surprise was for them.  They opended them and Parker knew very quickly that…… WE ARE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!!!! Yeah.  We are braving DW this fall.   The girls were very excited, Bradley, didn’t really  have a clue!

What is the big surprise??

I am excited/dreading this vacation. As exhausting as it will be, I can’t wait to experience DW with the kids.