Calling all ice cream lovers

Free ice cream today at Bruester's if you wear your PJs!

It's a waffle cone and yummy!!  

The big one!

I am sure many of you are recovering today from the fun you had yesterday in the snow!  We sure are:)

We had a ball with our five inches of snow!  Isn't God fun to bless us with that white stuff?

It was snowing good and hard after Care Group, so the girls went out for a little bit then.

But to wake up to this was pure excitement!!  Here we all are making the trek to the hill to go sledding
The girls weren't too thrilled once we got there.  There were tons of kids and most of them were older.
How do you like them tails?
Jackson and Danny went down the hills.  And Ellie went down with me twice.
Pipes still isn't sure about all this, and she's thirsty.
Instead of sledding, they went swinging

We were so worn out that Jeremy went home to get the truck to take us all back.  Thanks honey!

And then it was home for lunch and naps.  We spent the evening at Mom and Dad's sledding.  This time the girls were totally in to it and having a ball!!  Mom and Dad have some really great hills.  But there's one little problem...there's a big pond at the bottom.  So the guys had to stand at the bottom and catch the kids before they went swimming:)  It was pretty funny to watch.

Gracie and Tristen
Oh boy, this is hard work...
La La and Gracie
Aunt Abbie and Piper.  Think they are having fun?
This is Gracie and Jack with Papaw pushing them
Piper and Tristen working together to get their sled up the hill
Jack, Pipey, T, and Gracie
Teamwork once again!

Ryan and Jack
La La and Pipes

That was such a fun day!  I sure hope we get more next year!  And now we can look forward to warm weather at the end of this week!  Awesome!

More randomness

Wanna join in?  Over at Metro Moms they are doing a "no complaining" campaign.  Go read about it and join me! Make sure you read Friday and yesterdays posts.  Oh this will probably be one of the most challenging things I've ever tried to do.

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There have been 33 lives saved already during 40 Days for Life!!!! Please keep praying!  I haven't seen a detailed list yet of what to pray for each day.

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Now THAT is some snow!!!!  I've lived here all my life and I only remember seeing this much one other time.  Much fun will be had today!  Stay tuned!

Lots of Random stuff

Our trip to Gamma and Papa's was so much fun!  The girls played and played.

Here they are working from their sand pit

This is their very own playhouse built by Papa.
It houses all their toys and goodies.  Kitchen, riding toys, there are even shelves in there.  And plants!
This is their gigantic playset, once again built by Papa.  Do you see how little they look in comparison to the playset?
Swinging is their favorite thing to do. It wears Gamma and Papa out!
See how high they can swing.  It scares me to death.

Then there's the awesome slide

Thank you Gamma and Papa for such a fun getaway.  We are blessed!

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When we were leaving Angier, I put juice in the girls sippy cups.

Gracie: "Mom, did you know that in Angier they put cheese in their orange juice?"

Me:  "No Gracie, they don't put cheese in their OJ"

Gracie: "Yes they do Mom, I can taste it"

Me:  I sat there for a minute and finally figured it out... "Oh honey, that's not cheese, it's pulp! Some people get OJ with pulp in it.  That's real pieces of the orange."

Gracie: "Oh!"

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Wow! 16 weeks pregnant....

I must say, this is a really bad picture and I think I look a lot bigger than that.  But you'll see plenty more of my big belly:)

Definitely feeling much better.  I couldn't imagine the "all day sickness" just going away once I hit 12 weeks, but it actually did!  God's grace!  That was rough!  The migraines are still coming but the one I had on Friday only lasted for about 10 hours!!  Hooray!!  I am totally convinced it's because of all of your prayers.  So thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I have been really fatigued this second trimester, which is not normal for me.  Usually it's the first one.  So they tested my thyroid and it's pretty low.  So I've started taking meds for that and I'm hoping it will get better soon.  But no complaints out of me!  I'll gladly take the fatigue over the other stuff.

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I found another "must have" for my stain fighting collection.

  A certain little girl left a whole pack of gum in her pocket.  It ended up all in the washing machine and all over the clothes.  I thought I had gotten it all, but opened the dryer to find more!  So after scraping the sides of the dryer to get all the gum off, I had to figure out what to do with all the clothes.  Goo-Gone!!  Took it all out.  

  I am still having trouble with the pants that I didn't catch before they were dried, but I think it will come out.

  You must add this to your stash!  Super helpful for any sticky gummy mess.  Not just for clothes.

How's that for random posting! 

40 DAYS for Life is back!!!

The spring 40 days for life campaign starts today!!  So get ready to do some serious praying for the unborn, their moms and dads, and the abortion mills.  God saved 1, 128 babies!!!! during the fall campaign.  Incredible!

Here is the post I got today from the leader:  Pay special attention to the verses that were shared.  How encouraging!!  I am so often wondering why God would allow abortion.  And here is a good explanation, right from His Word.

If enthusiasm means anything, then the spring 40 Days
for Life campaign getting under way today is going to
be HUGE!!

Here is some of the early feedback I've received...

"I will be at the vigil site every Tuesday from 8:30
to 12:30 as a team leader. I need your prayers. I
hardly know any one and I am not a good public
speaker. But I am saying YES! I am so on fire I can
hardly stand it!"

--Sarah, South Carolina

"We are truly gaining momentum on sign-ups for the
vigil at one of the most notorious abortion centers
in the Midwest. This is our first time doing this and
the effort, both local and nationally, has gripped
our hearts."

--Mike, Illinois

I've heard from people discerning what to do in light
of the 2008 elections. One of the key reasons for
optimism is found in 40 Days for Life: HOPE!

Hope is such an important part of our message! Who is
it that has abortions? People who have lost all hope.
Who has God called to bring real hope? In truth, God
has called YOU!

"After the November election, many of us involved in
pro-life were so discouraged and found the outcome
difficult to understand. I wanted to share a
scripture that has helped me..."

--Audra, Colorado

The passage Audra cited is 2 Corinthians 1:9-11:

"Why, we felt that we had received the sentence of
death; but that was to make us rely not on ourselves
but on God who raises the dead; he delivered us from
so deadly a peril, and he will deliver us; on him we
have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You
also must help us by prayer, so that many will give
thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us in
answer to many prayers."

Jennifer in Cherry Hill, New Jersey has seen that
hope firsthand. She told me the 40 Days for Life team
in Cherry Hill, New Jersey was well into preparations
for this campaign on January 22, the date of the
annual March for Life in Washington. As they were
unable to attend the event, they decided instead to
pray at the local abortion facility during the time
the marchers were gathering in Washington.

While they were praying, a couple stopped and talked
to them, but continued into the clinic. A half hour
later, the man came out to talk some more. He went
back in -- and then the couple left together.

"They decided to keep their baby," said Jennifer. "We
were so excited and felt it was a sign of hope and a
confirmation that we can stop abortion through
40 Days for Life."

As soon as I get a prayer list for each specific day, I will share it with you.

Let's get on our knees!

15 weeks

My OB appt went well today.  I got in trouble for not calling them after my fender bender.  Oops.  But there's nothing they could have done.  I'm too early.  And I had an appt today anyway.  Nurses are the worst patients:)

Baby's heartbeat was good and strong:)  Sweetest sound.

Thanks for checking on me sweet friends.

It happened

Well,

  It happened today.  My first car accident.  It was just a little fender bender but still, I was bummed.  I was at a stop light and the light turned green, I went but the lady in front of me didn't:)  I wasn't paying attention obviously.  And the poor lady, I felt so bad for her.  She was crying:(  I just went up to her car and tried to console her.  She was so shaken.  She was okay after a little bit and we talked for a while.

  The girls were with me but they were totally fine.  Just didn't understand why we had to sit there for so long.  Had to explain to them that their mommy just hit that poor lady.

  As for the cars, the good old jeep has one scratch!  That a girl.  As for the other lady's brand new Rav4, not so much.  She has a big scratch across that tire thing on the back, the door is dented, and the bumper has been dislocated.  Hmmm, sure that will cost me a pretty penny.

  Could have been much worse and I am grateful to the Lord that we are all okay and that He protected us this morning.