Oh the CHANGES we're seeing...

So, I'm writing this post with a still aggrivated heart...not a good thing I know, but "it is what it is"-my new life moto...
Well, I must start by saying that Thanksgiving was wonderful! It was such a blessing to spend time with family and eat until our hearts were content :) The day after Thanksgiving shopping was not so great! Fun-we had it (me, momma, Shannon and Shae), but money-we didn't! We spent most of our time this year people watching and window shopping. If you weren't aware, my daddy lost his job the day before Thanksgiving! He was okay with it, but I just can't figure out how you can be so cruel! It's funny we keep hearing about how things are getting better, but when my dad went to the unemployment office on Monday he waited over 4 hours to be seen!!! That doesn't sound like things are getting much better people?! Trent and I are also in a bind right now...at the mercy of the government...They said he was under investigation b/c he was hired w/G.C. Schools as a sub; however, he hasn't worked a single day, so his unemployment shouldn't be affected. We got confirmation just before Thanksgiving that things were okay; however, we have yet to receive a check in 3 weeks!
Okay, that's enough venting about adult life...let's talk the wonderful innocent world of children...
Brayden and Asher are growing up so quickly! It was so cute...on Thanksgiving we made t-shirts with them and used their handprints to make turkeys on them. This is a tradition I think I may keep doing b/c it's a neat way to keep up with their hands growing each year! Brayden's favorite thing this Thanksgiving was PUMPKIN PIE! I have never made a pumpkin pie in my life, but now I can say that I have made several. I have the easiest recipe...a can of pumpkin, jar of marshmallow fluff, 1/2 container of whip cream (approx. 4 ozs), and cinnamon to taste. You just mix it all together and pour into a pie shell and put it in the fridge! So easy (and pretty good-I'm not a fan of pumpkin, but I shall say that Brayden ate probably 3 pies!) I'm not sure what Asher's favorite thing was...he typially loves food in general. I would dare say that he ate his weight on turkey day in GREEN BEANS.
You know...it's times like these when you look for the simple blessings in life. We don't have a lot of money, but we have a wonderful family and a great group of friends. Thank you to each one of you for everything!
Please keep us in your prayers...God is Great and He has provided for us soo much, but it just helps to know that we've got friends and family out there praying for us and lifting us up. We too will be praying for you. Times are tough (in my family at Thanksgiving-5/9 of the men were unemployed!) This is the time we must stick together and lift each other up! May God bless you and your family this Christmas season and may we all not forget the true meaning of Christmas...it's not about the gifts, but about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and his birth. Take time to spend with the ones you love this season!

CRAFT FAIR/SHOPPING EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

Hey everyone (if there's anyone out there that's still reading this thing)...It's definitely not too early to start thinking about Christmas shopping and I have the perfect place for you to start...Our College and Career group is having it's 1st ever Craft Fair/Shopping Extravaganza in the Fellowship Hall on November 21st!!! We are going to have a variety of vendors with both homemade (bags, aprons, bows, tutus, diaper cakes, candles, ornaments, etc.) and retail items (Avon, Tupperware, Beauticontrol, etc) to sell. We are praying for a large turn out!

Wow...Long Time No See...

Okay, so I have realized that I stink at this whole blogging thing...since I last wrote, there has been so much to happen!!! 1st off we had a wonderful summer! Crazy to think since Trent still doesn't have a job, but we actually went on 3 vacations this summer! We went to Disney World with my family the week after school let out and the boys had a blast! They loved the character dinners and rides and everything that Disney entails. Then we went to the beach with Trent's family. Brayden fell asleep in the ocean and Asher wasn't a fan, but slept on the beach instead. Then we went back to the beach with Paul, Maw-Maw and Ronald (and I went and picked up Shannon and Shae about halfway through the trip). The boys were still about the same as far as the ocean and the sand the second go-round. We also celebrated Asher's 1st birthday on June 30th with a big Mickey and Friends birthday party! I made him a mickey mouse cake using a round cake and a small bowl to make the ears! It was exhausting, but so much fun! We had a little pool and sprinkler for the kids to play in, but Asher wasn't a real fan of either of them! He preferred to just play in the dry grass with a ball or whatever! We celebrated Trent's birthday in Florida. Then we celebrated Brayden's birthday with a Buzz and Woody birthday! I didn't have a pan for these, so I made a sheet cake and literally drew Buzz and Woody onto the cake with icing. Not my favorite, but he knew who it was and loved it, so that was all that mattered. We also got a big jumpy thing for him to play in and after all the kids left, we (me, Trent, Brayden and Asher) got in it and jumped for a while, then did what Brayden wanted to do the whole time...sat in a corner of the thing and read books! It was so much fun!
After our busy summer it was time for school to start back. Trent had a job for 3 days with the CDC, then they let him go saying that they didn't think he would require any training...what job doesn't expect you to need "any" training...but God sustained us and now Trent is watching the boys during the day and going to school at night to be an early childhood teacher. He and Paul are going together (Paul got laid off the day Trent started his job with the CDC-Aug. 3, then Trent got let go 3 days later, so it opened the door for them to do this together!) I know it helps them having each other to be accountable to. My work is same-old same-old...I actually have pretty good kids this year for the most part and although I'm teaching a new subject area, I am really enjoying it! :)
And the kicker...Brayden started pre-school the Tuesday after Labor Day! His teachers are Ms. Lyniece and Ms. Cheryl. He loves them and his friends so much! He is such a big boy now! We just had our first parent/teacher conference yesterday after his Halloween party and we found out that he is doing really well in class. They love his personality, but oddly enough...my child who loves playing the piano at both of his grandparents houses and the drums, saxaphone, whatever will make noise at our house...well, he doesn't like to participate in...you guessed it...MUSIC!!!! This makes no sense to us, but I guess kids will be kids...
Asher is now walking and talking (some). He had a really bad incident a few weeks back with his breathing and was diagnosed with full blown asthma. He was having a hard time breathing and when I took him to the dr. they had to give him a breathing treatment, shot of epinepherin (sp?) and orapred (oral steroid) and nothing worked! That's when they rushed us to Gwinnett Medical (they said they didn't want to chance it with us going to Scottish Rite or anywhere else) and they gave him an hour long treatment! It was so sad seeing him like this. He is still having a hard time with his lungs (coughing/wheezing), but hopefully things will start getting better soon! His best friend is Dusty (Uncle Paul's dog)-just ask Brayden...he'll tell you!
At any rate...all is well and now that I'm getting back into the swing of things at work, maybe I can write on this a little more often :)
Take care everyone and I'm sorry I wrote so much...I tried to shorten 5 months into a single post! :) Oh, and when I get a chance, I will add pics from all our festivities!!!

Praise/Prayer Request...

God is sooo good, isn't He? I've never been more in awe of the awesomeness (if that's a word) of the God that we serve. In the past couple of weeks we have been rained on so much with blessings that I can truly say my cup overflows! For starters, someone in our church has been blessing us by buying our dinner on Wednesday nights for the past couple of weeks. Even if we weren't able to make it to dinner for various reasons, the meal would be paid for and Trent would bring it home...that in turn would become Thursday nights dinner...then, someone or somegroup in our church collected a love offering that was given to us on the Wednesday before the 1st of May...well, the amazing thing is that May 1st was the 1st day that we were not going to have a regular paycheck from Trent. The money that was collected in conjunction with Trent's unemployment will get us through the next couple of months! Then, on Thursday a lady from my work came in and said that she heard I was needing some formula and she had a diaper bag full of samples as well as a case of 24-8oz. pediasures for Brayden! As if that wasn't already enough, Trent was offered two different tickets to our men's conference at church, so we decided that God wanted him there and on top of the blessings from the message itself, sure enough Trent's ticket was drawn for one of the two doorprizes which one was for $50 and the other for $100 and you guessed it...Trent got the $100 door prize!!! It has just been absolutely amazing! Well, you thought the blessings were over (and so did we), but then we went out Saturday night (with $20 that a wonderful man at church gave Trent and said for us to have a date night) and we went to the Gwinn. Braves game with another couple and as I was telling her about all the blessings and the formula, etc. she asked what kind we used and guess what...She had a can left over from her daughter that was the same as what Asher is taking...she said they had kept saying they were going to it take to a food bank, but kept forgetting it, so she just gave it to me (along with several jars of baby food)! Putting the formula thing in perspective...we have been given enough formula now that we will not have to buy anymore formula (Asher will probably not even use all of what we were given!!!!)

Please be in prayer for our family. Trent has two potential part-time ministry opportunities. One is at our current church, but moving up and leading the college and career and the other is at Mars Hill Baptist Church leading the youth. We are currently not sure which way God is leading us, but ask everyone to be in prayer for us. I have never felt stronger that God took Trent's job away so that we would learn to depend more on Him and so that he could open up the opportunities for Trent to be where He wants him to be...in the ministry.
Thank you in advance for your prayers!
God Is Good!!!!

Pictures

Okay, I really wanted to post some Easter pics, but for some reason I can't find the file on my computer...stressing right now because I think I deleted some of my Easter pics from my camera!!! At any rate, below are some pics from Trent's cousin's wedding this past weekend. It was so beautiful! Congratulations Jeremy and Laura and thank you for letting us be a part of it! (Brayden was the bell ringer and Trent was a groomsman)

Spring Break/Happy Easter

Last week was a lot of fun! It was chaotic, but fun. We had a lot of family time doing nothing but painting, cooking, reading and watching movies.
On Thursday my newest nephew was born! Nolan James was 8 lbs 5 ozs and 21 inches long! He's such a cutie! He looks more like Carrigan than Weston. I'll post some pictures later.
On Friday night, Brayden and I made Resurrection cookies! If you have never made them and have children, grandchildren, or a young Sunday School group this might be something fun to do! Check out the recipe online http://www.annieshomepage.com/resurrectioncookies.html Needless to say, Brayden can still tell you parts of the story about Jesus' death, burial and resurrection! We definitely have a little Peter as when we were discussing how the men beat Jesus, he kept saying he wanted to hit those mean men and was swinging the wooden spoon that we were using to break the pecans up. At any rate, I just highly recommend this activity for the lesson (and the cookies aren't too bad...they taste kind-of like divinity)
Saturday we spent the day coloring and hunting Easter Eggs. We had an egg hunt at our church at 2 and then we went to my grandad's for dinner and had yet another hunt.
Sunday morning we went to church, then had lunch with my family and dinner with Trents. And of course...2 more Easter egg hunts! I'll have to post pictures later, but the boys were so cute in their matching outfits!

New Adventure...

Okay, so I've decided that I want to take advantage of this whole looking for money thing by selling the things that I love to do. I am currently starting a blog where I can give some previews of the things that I can do...ie: photography, cakes, and gifts (baskets and such)...if you are interested, you can check out the blog that I've started goodiesnmore.blogspot.com I'm not sure if this will take off or not, but if it does, hopefully I will create a website for it in the future. I haven't quite decided on pricing for the photography, so if you're interested check with me and we'll see what we can work up. Once I come up with something I will post it on the other blog!

Update on the homefront: Trent still hasn't found a job, but God is good and has provided me with opportunities to do some overtime at work and make some extra money! Brayden is doing great (without the 2nd set of tubes!) Asher is doing wonderful (with the 1st set of tubes!) All in all God is Good and Blesses us each and every day...we just have to take the time to Open our Eyes and see it!

Prayer Request

Where to begin...Please keep my cousin Ashley and her son Will in your prayers. Ashley developed pre-elcampsia and was told that they were going to have to take her baby at only 28 weeks. Fortunately, they were able to keep Ashley's blood pressure down long enough to be able to get some steroid shots in before having to take him. This morning they planned the c-section at 8:00 and little Will came at 8:11 am. He weighs 2.02 pounds and is only 14 inches long. He is truly a miracle baby. They said that he will probably come off the ventilator either tonight or tomorrow morning! This is amazing since we were expecting it for at least a couple of days. But please keep the whole family (Ashley, Mark (Ashley's husband), Will and the extended family) in your prayers. Will still has a long road ahead of him and Ashley still has a lot to go through before she'll be back on her feet. I am just asking that you'll be praying for everyone!

Some recent fun we've had...at the park, then in the snow, then back at the park!!!

This weekend we went to the park with some friends...

Brayden and Asher had so much fun...we had a play date with Abbey and her mommy and daddy, but Brayden found some boys (Diesel and Jake) to play with while we were there...

Brayden didn't understand that he couldn't walk under the swings...he and Abbey bumped and he busted her mouth...he was so sweet because he didn't understand and he kept saying he was sorry and he didn't mean to hurt Abbey, he even said a prayer for her last night when we said our prayers...

I just loved this picture of Abbey...and it was funny to me seeing the difference of a baby laughing down a slide and Brayden who just looks like such a big boy going down!!!

Below are the pics of the snow...Asher wasn't too much of a fan, but Brayden had a blast!

Brayden had fun throwing snow balls...unfortunately for me and Asher, we became the target!

This was our first trip to the park that we found...it was a bit chilly, but definitely didn't see the snow coming the following week! We made this trip with Uncle Paul...

Boys just wanna have fun!!!

Update...

Just a few pictures since I never added any...I'll have to upload the pics from the snow, but who know's when that will happen! :)

Okay...so here's the latest with everything else....

Asher is going to have to get tubes on March 19th, but Praise the Lord - - - Brayden's surgery has been postponed to April 7th and hopefully indefinitely!

Trent is still searching for a job. Please pray for God's will to be opened up to him so that he knows where he is supposed to go.

My mom is still not doing well. They are afraid that she may have a mass on her kidney's and she apparently has busted some of her stitches?

And Shae is doing ok. She is going to the doctor sometime this week. They believe she may have chrone's disease...we'll hopefully find out sometime this week.

As for me...I'm just working and trying to keep it together for my family. Please pray that God will open up opportunities for us to find creative ways to save money and make money. I've thought about trying to do some photography on the side, but I am not sure if that's going to pan out...

Until next time...

Family Update

Okay...so we have had a LOT going on recently....for starters, Trent lost his job on February 4th! It was totally unexpected, so please keep us in your prayers! Then, along with the news, my momma had to have a total hysterectomy on Monday and is still recovering from her surgery and will be for several weeks. Then there's Brayden...he has an appointment on the 25th and is most likely going to have tubes and his adenoids removed on March 5th. Then there's Asher...he is having a lot of troubles with his ears as well and is going to the ENT on the 26th and we'll be exploring the possibilities of tubes with him as well! Needless to say, we've had quite a bit going on recently and that's the reason I haven't been able to post recently.
I am going to be posting some pics soon of the boys! They're growing up so quickly and it's so funny seeing how they are starting to interact!!!

Pictures from all of our family get togethers!!! Needless to say, we have several get togethers throughout the month of December :)

These are not in any particular order, but I have tried to group them together according to which family gathering it was...

The Waldrip's...all 10 great-grandkids in one picture...

My Maw-Maw's house Christmas night...there were so many people in the house it was CRAZY, but oh so much fun!

Trent's Grandma and Grandpa's at lunch on Christmas...the boys had so much fun with their cousins and opening presents!!!


Trent's parent's on December 26th...we had Christmas the day after this year and the boys enjoyed having an extra day of Christmas!

My parents on Christmas Eve...notice the three oldest all have fingers in their mouths??? Won't be long till Asher will join in with copying the "big kids"....

Christmas with the Brinkley's...

Christmas with Trent's Maw-Maw's...that's Brayden and Asher with their great-great-grandmother...

After Christmas at my Grandy's, we went to Lake Lanier...Brayden was trying to get the "snowflakes" that were going over momma's van...

Christmas at Grandy's...Brayden and Carrigan decided to play cards with the adults...