Operation Christmas Child

I have spent the past 15 years of my life (give or take a few years) packing a shoe box with Operation Christmas child. I think this is such a wonderful project. This year I wanted to do this with my group of girls at church. All of the teachers wanted to do it as well so we made this our Christmas project for Missionettes. We packed over 30 boxes and have already received information that some of our boxes have made it to Ukraine and another in India. We mostly packed shoe boxes for girls in the 5-9 age range because a majority of the girls are in that age range as well. Some did old and a few did boys. Our girls did such a fantastic job and really took time to think about the kids on the receiving end. We were so proud. 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'" Acts 20:35 NIV

Halloween

Not much here for Halloween..... The girls dressed in full 80's fashion. They already had most of the clothes. I added a few accessories, purchased shirts at the Thrift Store, and did an iron on applique. They were too cute...

We spent the night at our church Trunk or Treat. Next year, we will be on the other end serving the community and handing out candy.

October 13th 2004

On this morning I woke up and had absolutely no idea what I was in store for. I never really pictured myself being a mom and I guess I never really planned on it happening the way it did. But God knew what he was doing. He knew that his plan was far better than what I was doing with my life before I found out that I was pregnant. In a matter of 9 months I found out that my life would be forever changed and I could no longer continue with such selfish, self destructive behavior. I married my husband after dating for a whole 7 months, the beginning was a little rough and we actually broke up several times. We started planning a wedding around 5 months, officially engaged by the 6th month, and married on the 7th. Did I ever plan it this way? No way. I would not change any of it. So on October 13, 2004 I go to St. Vincents to be enduced for labor. My blood pressure was high due to a pregnancy rash that I developed around week 34. It was horrid! Around 2:15 Pm they told me that I was not progressing as I should and they were doing a C-section. At 3:45, Mallory Claire Brannum came into this world at 7lbs 3 oz. I was In love with her instantly. We heard that sweet little cry for the first time and it lasted all but 1 second. They did their thing and wiped her and rubbed her and honestly, she did not make a sound. She stared at them the entire time and her eyes were so big and bright. My OB doctor actually called her bright eyes because every time she came in to my room to check on my, Mallory was staring around the room just taking it all in. She was the perfect baby. She hardly ever cried and was always so content. You could not disrupt her schedule. Even as a toddler, she never went through a bad stage. She would take naps on her own and was such a joy to be around. If anything, she was a little sensitive. She spoke in complete sentences when she was only 16 months old and was reading at 5-6 year old level at age 4. Commen sense comes very easy to her and she is great to get along with. She loves everyone, especially God and she is a wonderful big sister. I love this girl and can not believe that she is 8 years old. She is still as well behaved and content as ever. She also still has those big eyes and always absorbs everything. She really does not miss a thing. I am proud to be her mom. Mallory wanted to shop for her own clothes for her birthday. So we celebrated with a little birthday dinner with family and one of her friends on Friday night at Mizu (she loves Japenese food) and Saturday we had a mother daughter shopping day. We followed that up with a birthday party for a friend from church at the skating rink. And yes, I skated too. I felt like I was in middle school. LOL

She is getting so big and her hair is getting so long......Tear...

School Starts

I can not believe that school has already started back. Time is flying by so fast. All I can really say about summer is that is was H-O-T-T. The girls spent the summer at a summer fun program at the school. I really wish I could have spent it with them, but it all worked out well. It helped Morgan get used to her new school and meet new friends. They will both be going to Kingwood Christian School. Tre and I sit down each year and discuss whether we can afford to send them to private school, and it is really a huge decision. But doing without some things are no substitute for what I know they are getting at Kingwood. The decision could change next year or the next, but for now, it is one day at a time. Just to show off a few key summer events: This past year I started off helping in Mpact Girls club at church. At the start of 2012 I took over the Stars class, which is 3rd-5th grade. At the end of each year we do a graduation ceremony for all the girls moving up and a crowning/graduation cermony for the 5th grade Honor Stars. (this is a pretty big deal) This was my first year to be involved and I really enjoyed it. We ended the year and graduation performing a Human Video that would be presented at camp. The girls did so good and it was powerful. They are all lined up below for prayer in their outfits for the video.

I was suppose to attend Missionettes camp with the girls this year but unfortunately I could not take off work. The girls had a blast. I was able to go to Springville Camp and Conferance Center one night and join in all the festivities. They had so much fun.

This year we ended our summer with a short vacation to a small area near Fairhope, AL. Thanks to Marriott rewards points for making the trip free. The resort was absolutely gorgeous. We did a lot of swimming and bike riding on the bay.

The girls had a wonderful time, as did we. Morgan ended the summer with several goals accomplished. She is doing a great job riding her bike and will soon be withou training wheels and swimming with no floats. It was the much needed family time we needed before school started on Monday. We came back to town ready to meet the teacher and get organized for the upcoming school year. Monday came fast and I was ready. I must say, I had it going on. Everything was together and organized and we were out the door with tons of time to spare. Mallory on her adventure into 3rd grade and Morgan into Kindergarden. Mallory has a teacher this year who is new to both teaching and to KCS. I really liker her though and I think she will do a wonderful job. Morgan has the same teacher Mallory had in K-5. She is fabulous and I love her heart for her kids. She dresses up as the Cat in the Hat and on the first day she was dressed in camo for the bear hunt. She is awesome and Morgan already loves her.

My 2 sweet girls. They look so cute in uniforms. They are so sweet to each other and get along so well. I could not be more proud of them. Morgan is turning out to be quite the little artist. She is very particular about coloring. She is reading full sentences and can count to 100. Most importantly, Christ lives in her heart. Mallory is currently waiting to be baptized. She accepted Christ a long time ago but was very skiddish about being baptized in front of the entire church. She is reading on a 5th grade level. For a girl who is really only suppose to go in 2nd grade, this mom is proud. She is starting piano this year(her choice), which made us very happy. :)She still loves bugs and reptiles and will collect them in a heartbeat. I am also finding it funny how she has started taking an interest in clothes and shoes. She understands that I do not go out and buy her what she wants or the highest price clothes. I love that about her. She has always been perfectly fine with every thing we tell her. But she did pick out her school shoes. They are converse high tops. Totally Punky Brewster. She did some work to help with the cost. But honestly, I have never seen her so excited about anything, EVER. It is ok to just do it every now and then. The smile on her face was priceless. She sat in the driveway and waited for those shoes to be delivered for awhile and has not taken them off, except for bed time. She will be 8 in 2 months and she just wants to go shopping and pick out some of her own clothes. (modest of course) So its a full girls day of shopping! We have had an awesome start to the school year and we have so much stuff coming up in the next few months. It is going to be busy....................

2012 ( A 4 month catch Up)

Well 2012 began like this............

Alabama wins #14! Roll Tide!

Then.....
Mommy gets a small break and goes to West Palm Beach for a seminar. But we did get to dine in fancy restaurants and see the beach!

That would also cover celebrating my 29th Birthday. I can not believe I will be 30 next year.

Ok, so on to the next.....

My baby turned 5 years old in February. It was all about Rapunzel, of course! I am so proud of her and thankful for her. She has such a wonderful sense of humor,and she is so kind and generous. I love the story of how this little girl changed my life when she was only 9 weeks old. Isnt she cute?

Here is where it starts to get crazy......we signed both girls up for a spring sport. Why? I am glutton for punishment! We have actually taken a time out from activities for awhile. Mallory is the valedictorian type of girl. She wants to be involved in EVERYTHING! And she wants me to be involved in everything as well. As much as I want to, it is near impossible with me working. I work for a wonderful company who is so understanding and lets me be with the kids when things are going on but pushing is pushing. This year I let them choose what they wanted to do. Mallory chose softball and Morgan chose soccer. Hey, it was only 2-3 months at most between practices and games. How bad can it be? Ha. Ha. Ha. Hahahaha. Have you ever done spring softball with an older child? ha. ha. hahahahaha. Its insane. But I have to admit. I am kind of liking it. It is actually allowing me to step up as a mother and be with the kids all the time. At home, I find myself cleaning, cooking, ect... At sports, I am just there for them. To encourage and support. Its been crazy but it has been fun and rewarding for us all.

I know Morgan is only 5 but I had my reasons for her to start a sport. Morgan can sometimes keep her distance from people and seclude herself. I wanted to encourage her with being part of a team. In addition, she can be somewhat clumsy. I though soccer could really improve her eye/hand coordination and footwork. She has really enjoyed being part of a team and getting to run, a lot. She has also enjoyed watching Mallory play softball and listening to all their cheers and chants. She has already asked to start playing T-ball or softball next season. (We will see)

Mallory has really taken a liking to softball. It is the very first time she has played and she is still learning the rules but she is enjoying it. She always wants to play or practice and she cant wait for next season. We will see how this turns out but as long as she feels this way, I might let her continue to play and see where it goes. Mallory always wants to improve herself and be the best. She will work for it until she gets it right. I can not fault her for this attitude though b/c even in her efforts to succeed, she never gets discouraged or angry with herself or anyone else. If I personally saw her being hard on herself, I might talk with her. But she is such a graceful person and always carries a smile on her face. I have not had time to download softball pics yet but here are a few of Morgan on the soccer field.

She totally looks like she knows what she is doing...

I will put up pictures of Mallory soon.

Here are a few pictures of our fist Sweetheart Ball at church. The was a decision by the missionette leaders. A lot of hard work went into this night and it was such a success. It was so much fun! The girls looked gorgeous and seeing them dance with their daddies was priceless!

Dancing the Macarena

Melts my heart!

Well, I think that about catches us up to now. We are hopping around everywhere for games and getting ready for Mallory's Fine Arts night (she is a bunny with a speaking part this year), Morgan's 4k graduation, a beach trip for Mother's Day, and end of the year parties. Wow, this semester flew right on by us! And in case you are wondering if there is any "me" time, of course not!! But I do have my own little hobby this summer. My fist garden. We will see how it turns out but this picture does not do it justice. All my plants are 5-6x bigger now then in this picture. I have baby broccoli sprouts and I could not be more proud.

It's all organic!

Well, guess that covers it. Until next time............GOD BLESS!

A Look Back

I was so glad when 2012 started. It started with absolutely nothing to do. This is completely changed and we have not been home any this week. It would take oh so many blogs to catch up to this point but I figured I would start with last year first. The end of 2011 was packed full of awesomeness and wonderful memories for our family!

December:

The holidays were great. As I mentioned in my previous post, we decided to take a short trip and DO Disney (notice the capital D-O). My sister had already planned a trip to spend an entire week at Disney. She is a time share owner and their room did not cost them anything. Of course my mom could not stand to go without my 2 girls (especially considering my youngest had an imaginary "Poppy" who lives in Cinderella's castle). She offered to purchase some of our gas in addition to the tickets for the Christmas parade. After many many months of considerations, and God's blessing & provision, we decided to crash Disney in 2 days. I mean CRASHED DISNEY! We ran around and visited 3 total parks and did everything we wanted to to do and saw everything we wanted to see. What a wonderful 2 days! My girls and my husband can not stop talking about our trip. Words can not express how much fun we had and how God poured out his favor onto us during that trip.

We arrived in Orlando on Tuesday night. The girls had absolutely no idea that we were headed to Disney. They thought we were going to see Aunt Sherry in Arkansas. Needless to say, they were pretty excited when they found out. We were able to purchase 1 night inside the park at a value resort along with 2 day tickets and a Disney Dining plan (all for under a $1000). This was truly a blessing. We woke up at 6 AM on Wednesday morning and headed straight for Animal Kingdom.

We stayed at Animal Kingdom just past lunch. The animal safari was amazing, as was most everything we went to.

Disney can be really magical. Mallory & I rode Mount Everest. She was very proud and even after all the other rides, this was her favorite.

Morgan's favorite part of Animal Kingdom was getting to see Doug & Russell. She loves the movie "Up," which I find a little odd, but her expression was priceless.

And this picture would reflect Morgan's least favorite part. She was thrilled to be able to get on a "big" kid ride but that excitement was bound to run out sooner or later. It just so happened that her's ran out right about the time the huge T-Rex dropped down directly in her face! I must admit though, creativity is off the charts at Disney! (The picture is blurry, we took a picture of the picture. lol)

The weather was perfect and we did not have a wait time for hardly ANY ride so we were finished with everything we wanted to do just after lunch. We ended in A Bug's Life in 4D and it was amazing. But I could have passes on the cockroaches crawling underneath me. :) We headed to our room and checked into the hotel and planned on resting before we headed to Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Christmas Parade and party. Our ticket for the parade did not get us in until 4 o'clock. As I looked at my 2 girls with huge smiles on their faces, I knew "resting" was not in our vocabulary. So off we went. "A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes....."

We were waiting on the rest of our crew to arrive but wait times were so awesome that we managed to sneak in several rides before the festivities began.
Like the Pirates of The Caribbean

I am finally in a picture! Aargh!

And who could forget the famous Haunted Mansion....

We made our way around Magic Kingdom and rode just about everything. Morgan's first big ride with a "drop" was Splash Mountain. That was hysterical! She giggled the entire time. Below are some more pictures of Magic Kingdom.
"Its A Small World" ride was fun for EVERYONE

Christmas Dance Party with the Characters

And of course, Cinderella's Castle. Isn't it gorgeous. The lighting show was mind blowing. Oh, and Morgan's Poppy was at Epcot while we were at Magic Kingdom so we did not get to meet him. :(

Of course I have more pictures and could go on with stories on how great our trip was but I think you get the picture. The weather was perfect, our kids were amazing, and the crowd level was astonishingly low. Oh, and when I say the kids were perfect, I mean PERFECT! Not a single tear, pure joy, even though they woke up at 6 am and did not get to bed until 2 am the next morning and woke up again at 7 am to start it all over again. And with no naps. Morgan did end up passing out on our last day there while watching Fantasmic. Needless to say, we had a magical time. Tre is actually looking into the next trip. And if you know Tre, this type of vacation was not his style. (I think he found his inner child) God truly blessed us.

Oh, and Christmas was pretty good too..... Now on to 2012.......

The Blogger of the Year Award

If you have not already figured it out, I am pretty far away from making it on one of those fancy blogging polls. I signed up mainly to read other people's blogs but with intentions of eventually starting to blog myself. I thought it would encourage me & help me practice my writing skillz. It really didn't work out the way I planned it out in my head. Ever so often I get an itch to write something and once I do, I am rather satisfied for awhile. So forgive me if you randomly find this blog and think to yourself, "What is the purpose here?" I know, I suck at it!

It has been a whole 4 months since my last post & our lives went on (which felt like we were in a 3rd dimension traveling at the speed of light): Mallory officially turned 7 which meant PARTAY, homework, work, school programs (volunteers needed), Girls MPact club at our Church, homework, work, Tre worked 3 jobs, work, Thanksgiving festivities (which included driving for 20 hours round trip), deciding to go to Disney World, planning and preparing for Disney World, Christmas Programs/shopping/decorating, Family functions, homework, work, oh and let's throw our mom a surprises 50th bday party ideas and preparation, going to Disney World, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy birthday, and pass the tylenol! Needless to say, it was hectic. I am so glad to start the New Year off with a to do list which is only half that size. HA!

But looking back, there were some pretty fantastic moments in there. Maybe I will blog about them, at some point. But for now, I am satisfied. HEHE!