After a crazy week and a half of multiple children with sickness, we are better! Thanks for your prayers.
This past Thursday, I went to Mississippi with my mom and Parker. I am a Mississippi girl, but we moved to Tennessee when I was 4. All of my extended family lives in Mississippi. In fact, my parents are the only ones to have moved from the great state! My mom is from Laurel, which is in southern MS and my dad is from OVETT. It is about 20 minutes from Laurel.

This trip to Mississippi was special, sort of . My cousin, Haley, was competing in a preliminary pageant to get into Miss Mississippi for the Miss America pageant. This past summer she was 3rd runner up to the Miss Mississippi for Miss USA. My niece, Morgan, was going to be her attendant, so being the great aunt I am, I went to see her. Anyways, needless to say, it was an experience. I discovered a true southern tradition- the parading of girls across a stage in various degrees of clothing, looks and talent and the ability to speak well on stage!

Now, I consider myself a southerner, but I have learned that Tennessee may be a little less south than Mississippi. I have never seen, know of, been to or heard of a pageant in Tennessee.
But, I learned, while visiting the Pageant Dress Shop in Laurel, that it is a quite common thing in MS. Thus, the Pageant dress shop! While we were visiting the shop, there was a 7 year old picking out her pageant dress and a BOY came in to get his tux for the local Elementary School pageant. On Friday, one of the local high schools had their pageant and next weekend another one does! Their pageants are for the MOST BEAUTIFUL title.

So, the big night came, and my sweet, beautiful cousin, who is really just wanting the scholarship money, looks gorgeous. She sang a great song from Aida, the musical, looked stunning in her evening dress, did okay in the question part, and was a knock out in her swim suit. I wish I could describe all that struck me as stereotypical and funny, BUT I know myself well enough to know that I would cross the line and definately offend someone! It was some of the best entertainment for 10 bucks I have had in a while, though! I was sitting next to Kendall, my brother in law, which greatly added to the evening because he has some of the best one liners and never fails to crack me up!

The results were in and I feel Haley was robbed. She was first runner up. But, in my education of the pageant system in Mississippi, I learned that Miss Mississippi is a rite of passage. The girl who won the Miss Jones County title, who will go on to compete in the Miss Mississippi pageant, was first runner up last year! Who knows, maybe she’ll try again next year!

And if she does, I am going to be there with a cowbell!

I finally took Emery to the doctor today, knowing that she probably has RSV, as well. Sure enough, she does, but the good news does not stop there. She has pnumonia. She was such a big girl getting her chest xray and Bradley just sat and smiled in his stroller. For all the illness, they have truly done remarkably well. Jason and I had a conversation that went something like this earlier today.
K-”I am a little spent.”
J-”What does a little spent mean exactly?”
K- “It means I am tired and I want to go to the Y tonight.”
I am feeling a little stir crazy!
My cup feels a little empty after full on mommy/nurse duty this past week. I feel kind of selfish writing this knowing that so many moms are in tougher situations with kiddos much sicker than mine. I am reminded at times like this that I have a great husband who leads by serving us. For us, sickness is not a constant, but just enough of a reminder of how blessed we are by our Father.
The bigger reason, my cup is empty is because I have not spent enough time filling it with God’s Word. At times like this I am shown that my time with the Lord should not be optional, but is a necessity. Too often, it is the first thing to go. I’ll say short prayers through out the day or read a small devotional, but I am learning (this is a many repeat lesson) that just as Jesus went out early in the morning to spend time with His Father(Mark 1:35), I need to do the same. Not some new revelation, obviously, just a restating of the facts. I need to be filled by Him, in order to live each day in a way that honors Him and my family.

This next August, Jason and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage, so we have decided to go on a little cruise! Our friends, Nathanial and Ashley and Christy and David, are also celebrating 10 years, and are going to go as well. We are super excited! Jason and I have had weekends away, but not an extended trip. We are going on the Carnival Liberty and will stop in Freeport, Bahamas, Grand Cayman, and Costa Maya, Mexico. None of us have ever cruised before, so hopefully, it will be a great experience.
If you have any cruise tips, let me know!

On Tuesday, Bradley started running a fever, which got up to 103. THe doc said it was an ear infection, and he seemed much better by Thursday. But, Friday, he was coughing a ton and still had a fever. Saturday, he had a fever, so I took him back in and we discover he has RSV. He was wheezing pretty good and he got a steroid shot and a breathing treatment. He was pretty puny yesterday. Today, has been better, but still had fussy moments.
Emery, who is our asthmatic, cough child, has been coughing pretty good since Thursday. She started running a fever last night and has been puny all day. She has watched a lot of tv and layed on the couch. Motrin is our friend!
SO, please say a little prayer that wellness sets in for our family.
Have a great week!

The girls went back to MDO this week and they were so excited! I don’t know if I should feel good that my children like spending time away from me! They love it and learn so much.
Last night, we made a rare trip to the mall as an entire family. With 3 kids 5 and under, you can imagine why we don’t do this very often! Jason and I both needed to make some returns, so we decided to brave the adventure. They did well, for the most part, with many reminders that obedience brings blessing and in this case, ICE CREAM!
We experienced a first, though. The mall we went to has an indoor play area, so we let the kids run around and to our astonishment, they were the biggest kids playing. Both had to be put in time out at some point for almost taking out a toddler or jumping in front of the said toddler to climb up the tree. When did they become the big kids? Jason had a discussion on helping younger kids out and being aware of those around you. SO, you know, THOSE kids at the playground that you secretly cringe at and think , oh, not my child? You know the one who runs around and almost knocks your child over and does not stop to say sorry? The one who has no idea how much bigger they are ? That was pretty much our kids in the play area at the mall!

Jason spoke at church on New Year’s Eve. It has been such a joy to me to watch him develop as a speaker through the years. He spoke on a principle that we have tried to wrap our lives around for a lot of years. His main point was, “It is both powerful and convincing when the body of Christ IS the body of Christ.” Many of us know people who were embraced, encouraged and loved by other believers and thus began to see their need for Christ. But, how many more do we know who have equated God with the actions of Christians and have thus turned away from the Church, but more importantly, from a life altering encounter with Jesus. I was convicted to think of how my actions have the power to turn people off from Christ, because I am His representative. Jason talked about all the “One Anothers” in Scripture, most of which Jesus taught. Love one another as I have loved you, do not forsake meeting with one another, be kind one to another, forgive one another… The list goes on.
SO, as we begin 2007, I am reminded that I have the privelege of letting Christ rule in my life, in my heart, and in my actions. His Words come through mine. His hands serve through mine. His love is shown through me. His forgiveness and grace is revealed in my ability to do those very things. His mercy is mine every morning to claim and offer to those around me. His glory is made known when I become less and He becomes More.
I am amazed and humbled by the task to become more like Christ. I have so far to go, but the journey is the prize of knowing Jesus daily, each hour, each minute. I don’t want to be so focused on my corner of the world, my life, my family, my growth that I don’t allow God’s Word to become who I am and thus change how I live. His command is not rocket science. He has given us the formula to show the World that we are changed by Christ. My prayer is that in this new year, my words may be less and my actions scream that I am forever changed and daily changing by Jesus.

Wow, I can’t believe how long it has been since I last posted. We have been deep in the throws of all things Christmas and I am still trying to catch my breath! Christmas lasted a week at our house, so I have been preoccupied elsewhere. We had a blast! Jason’s dad and his wife, Beth came to Nashville on the 23rd and we spent the day opening presents, eating and having a great time of fellowship. We went to church on Christmas Eve morning. My parents came to the first service and Dan and Beth to the second service, so I doubled communioned that morning! After lunch, we headed to my sisters to let the kiddos open presents. SO much fun! Paper was everywhere and Bradley just played and had a blast. We went to the Christmas Eve service at her church that evening, where I had my third communion of the day! Seriously, what a great way to celebrate the birth of Christ by remembering his death and all it means to us. We went back to Kim’s and had dinner and the adults opened presents.
Christmas morning we had our family gifts. After we opened gifts I felt like I began the mad dash to get everything packed, kids bathed and dressed, and in the van. We left after lunch to head to Knoxville. We celebrated with Jason’s mom and her husband, and his brother that evening. We had a great time. The next morning I got up super early to meet mom for the after Christmas crazy! I got some cool things for the tree next year!
On Wednesday we headed up to the mountains to spend time with Jason’s mom’s family. Papaw, Jason’s grandfather, built a cabin up in Pigeon Forge several years back and we usually go up the week after Christmas. Our girls had such a great time, playing outside with thier cousins. We played games, ate and had a fun couple of days in the Smokies.
Finally, on Friday, we headed home. I have been in unpacking, toy opening, decoration packing, and general cleaning frenzy since then.
I am ready to get back in the groove!
We went to see a Pediatric Dermatologist today for Bradley. He has eczema and a heightened immune system which can lead to hive when he is exposed to skin irritants. Basically, he has super sensitive skin. A cold can cause him to break out, walking down the lotion isle or perfume counter can as well. We have been a basically fragrance free family, but we will be even more so from now on. To me, this explains his random hives more so than food allergies.
I will post pictures later. I am having a hard time downloading my pics for some reason!
Glad to be back! I missed you guys!

I just thought trying to get two children to look at the camera was hard! Three was a true test of my patience and sweet voice! Bradley is not crawling at 9 months, but he is a scooting man, so he kept scooting toward me and the camera. In his defense, it was bedtime and he was ready for his bottle. Hope you enjoy!
This was the first picture of about 20 that I took!

Christmas is official at our house! Last night, Jason and I watched the movie White Christmas and wrapped presents. This began for him as a child, and for me, after we were married. We love to share this with friends, but since having children, it is usually just the two of us!
What is your favorite holiday movie?

As many of you may recall, our oldest daughter, Parker, was set to star, I mean perform, in the preschool Christmas play, as a sheep! You may also remember that she was not wanting to be a sheep because “all of my friends will make fun of me.” Well, all of her friends were sheep as well, so that argument went out the door! She did really well and said her line, but as you can see from her picture, she was not exactly proclaiming the “Good News” with “Great Joy.” Jason is planning on making a video of all their Christmas performances and I will post those later! Here is a glimpse of the sheep in action….

“We saw Jesus in the Manger”

“I am really not happy in this get up”

How sheeply do they look!

Merry Christmas from our sheep to yours!