I just got my hair did too!

Look Aunt Gabby, Madison has started getting her hair done at the same place Shelby has been getting hers done at.

Heavy Heart

My SIL wrote a post yesterday that moved me to tears (lots of posts have had me crying these last few days). I happen to be a pretty emotional person to begin with, I get that from my mom, but it seems like people are really touching my heart with their words. I have never been a person for change, I like routine, I like things to stay the same, etc.

Cindy wrote this wonderful post about friendships, Gabby (SIL) wrote about God's guidance, Betsy wrote about mourning a "certain" phase of her life, Jim and Laura wrote about moving and a few more people wrote things also. It really got me to thinking.....

Matt and I have really struggled in the last year with God's plan for our family. Most people know what we have been experiencing so I won't go into details. We aren't sure where God is leading us or what we are to be learning from this experience. I can't speak for Matt but I personally feel "lost" like God isn't really with us right now. I know in my heart He is but sometimes struggle to remember that. I know that most people go through a phase like this in life, lots of people go through bigger struggles than this but I can't seem to grasp the "bigger picture" so to speak.

What does God want me to do with life that will bring Him glory? Where does he want me to be? Is it here with friends and family? Or are we supposed to be somewhere else? I need a sign, and not some subtle one either. I need a flashing neon sign. I told my SIL "maybe He has shown me what he wants and I am just too stupid to see/understand it".

I am beginning to see that the stresses of this last year are effecting our entire family. Don't get me wrong we aren't on the verge of falling apart (at least not yet anyway) but we have "stress fractures". I have financial worries. They are hard on a family. I remember back from our "premarital counseling' days our preacher saying that was the #1 cause of divorce (again not on the verge of this just my mind processing everything). We know that isn't going to fix anything at all!!!!! Just remembering what causes stresses in marriage.

I say all this for a couple of reasons. First I would like to ask for everyone to pray that this phase in my life be one that I can grow from. Second I feel like I needed to get somethings "off my chest". I have always felt better after writing things down. I am blessed to know nobody is going to judge me for what I am thinking or feeling. That is the wonderful thing about being part of God's family. I know my friends will pray for me, when we moved to Knoxville almost 10 years ago I wasn't sure I would find friends that I felt that way about but I did :) I really admire my SIL for being able to open up like she did and put everything on the table. It is hard to admit when you do something wrong. It is even harder to admit it to everyone in "blog-land".

Pray that God will show me what I am to learn from this and that I can use my circumstances to bring Him Glory.

Amy's birthday and meeting Coy!

Today was Amy's birthday so we went over to do a little celebrating with them. Plus the kids were driving me crazy to go and visit Amy, Aaron, Clara and Coy. We normally see them a couple times a week so the kids were overdue for their "tomlinson" fix. Clara was excited to see the kids and show off her baby :) The kids couldn't wait to get their hands on Coy. I can't believe how calm they were, of course they had been given the threatening speech about calm hands, feet and voices before going in the house.



The moment we walked in the house they started asking to hold the baby. She was finishing up eating so they had to wait. Taylor was the first to hold Coy. While holding her and afterwards also she kept saying "I want you to have another baby!"



Then Caleb got a turn. I was so pleased at how very gentle he was. He couldn't get enough of her. He has really been pressuring me to have another baby. At first he was insistent that it be a boy but after holding Coy he said a girl would be ok too. He just kept talking about how cute she was. He loved her little noises. He also kept saying "watch out she is going to throw up" b/c he wanted to know what the burp cloth was for and Amy told her that sometimes Coy "spits up" which Caleb promptly got mixed up with "throw-up".



There was no picture of Madison holding Coy as she started getting a little fussy. We decided that she hadn't gotten enough to eat at the beginning and was wanting some more. We promised Madison next time she could hold her. She was a little upset at first but got over it soon enough. We enjoyed getting to spend a little time with the Tomlinson's. Our kids can't get enough of them and to be honest we too enjoy spending time with them :) (A bonus is getting to love on sweet Coy and Clara too)

What's for dinner tonight?

This is what I had for dinner tonight.....



what did you have?



and this is the chef who prepared it





while the other chef was busy ironing his chef hat.




Don't you just love a man who not only cooks but also does the ironing :)

Dollywood Part 2

This post is all about Taylor's experience at Dollywood. This year Taylor was finally tall enough to ride some real rides :) I always thought Caleb would be my daredevil, I thought he would be the one to ride roller coasters not my sweet, quiet, timid Taylor. Boy did she prove me wrong!!

We started our day by riding some small kid rides but quickly moved on to bigger and better rides! She and I rode the Sky Rider, a 70 ft high rotating plane ride. She loved it.







We also rode the Dizzy Disk which is a high speed rotating and spinning ride. We waited the longest for this ride b/c someone threw up on it so it had to be cleaned up and then run twice to make sure there weren't any problems. We didn't see the person throw up nor did anyone on our ride throw-up, thank goodness! We also rode the Shooting Star which takes you up 25 ft and then drops you. It does this numerous times. Taylor had ridden this a couple of years ago with her cousin Haley. It was fun and I loved seeing Taylor smiling so big. She was having a blast :)

She wanted to ride some of the big roller coasters. We checked and she was tall enough to ride everyone that she wanted too. We knew we couldn't get them all in and help Nana and Pops so she had to pick. She chose Daredevil Falls, Blazing Fury and Tennessee Tornado. Now these are not rides for the faint of heart. I have expected her to chicken out when we actually got to the ride (I would have at the ripe old age of 8) but she never did.

First we tackled Daredevil Falls which is a "super flume water ride with a 60 foot drop you make at 50 mph. She loved it! Caleb wanted to ride this one too but couldn't, you had to be 42 in and he is 41. They wouldn't budge on it at all either even though we saw numerous other kids his height get on and survive the ride. He cried a while but got over it.

Then we moved on to Blazing Fury which is an indoor roller coaster. It is dark for most of the ride and has some "drops" that you don't know are coming since it is dark. She really enjoyed it also.

We saved the best for last. We tackled the Tennessee Tornado last. This is a 70 mph triple loop roller coaster! This is definitely not for the weak hearted person. She was the littlest child I saw get on. I really expected for her to chicken out while waiting in line but she didn't. She did tell me she was a little nervous right before we got on but she didn't want to back out. I am so glad! And when it was over her first words were "that was awesome!" She was so proud of herself for doing it and loving it.











We can't wait to go back and tackle Mystery Mine (high-speed, extreme vertical, indoor/outdoor, looping roller coaster), Thunderhead (a 55 mph wooden roller coaster), and Mountain Slidewinder (high speed water toboggan ride). We didn't even get to the side of the park that had these rides. Dollywood is a pretty good size park and it is not easy to cover it all in 1 day especially while toting around a 5 yr old and almost 3 yr old.

Dollywood

Yesterday Nana and Pops took us to Dollywood! They had some free tickets which we ended up upgraded them to season passes so we can go more. The kids had a blast! This is the first time we have gone and Madison actually remembered it really well and was able to ride more than the carousel. She had a blast even if she would only ride with me. We finally got her to ride some things with Nana so I could spend some time with Caleb but it took some convincing (as well as a little crying). Caleb was a little more apprehensive about rides while Taylor was up for anything. (I am actually going to do a separate post about Taylor's experience b/c I believe she deserves her own post!)

Madison's favorite thing was the Rockin Roadway (the little old time cars you could drive). We rode them many times. She especially loved the pink Cadillac! Which made Pops so happy as he is a fan of old cars. They would put a booster in for her and she would get right in and buckle up proudly exclaiming "I drive car! I go beep-beep!" and off we would go. I am so glad that she isn't going to be driving for many more years b/c if those cars hadn't been on a track we might have ended up in Mexico! She had so much fun and it was great to see her smile!



My dad got better pictures but they are on his camera which I will need to get and upload. You can see Madison's face which is one big smile!

Caleb enjoyed a few rides also. He loved the Veggie Tales Sideshow Spin (a mini roller coaster) and we didn't get any pictures of him on it b/c both Pops and I were on it with him and Nana was holding a sleeping Madison so she didn't snap any pictures either. Caleb and Pops also rode the Lemon Twist (spinning tea cup ride)but no pictures were taken b/c I was riding something with Taylor and Nana was holding the sleeping Madison. (Madison only slept about 30 minutes we just rode alot of things while she was sleeping b/c the lines weren't very long yesterday). He also loved the Amazing Flying Elephants! He rode it about 5 or 6 times. Pops rode it a couple times in a row with him while I rode a couple of bigger rides with Taylor.



















Caleb's favorite ride was the Smoky Mountain River Rampage though. We waited till the end of the day to ride it so when we got wet we could change clothes and then be done for the day. We rode it 3 times in a row. The whole time he was laughing and having a blast. He got the wettest of us. It was only him, Taylor and me as Nana and Pops didn't want to get wet and Madison would get on it. I think she would have liked it if we could have convinced her to get on bit we couldn't.



We also rode the carousel a few times. Taylor and I rode the Shooting Star, Sky Rider, and Dizzy Disk (more to come in next post about Taylor's day). We had such a good time and the kids were so good. We wanted to ride the Dollywood Express b/c Madison and Caleb both love trains but it was out of service :( Madison was so upset as we had talked up the train before we got there and then couldn't ride it. We told her next time we would ride it though.

New Baby

Yesterday some of our closest friends welcomed their 2nd baby girl into the world! Amy and Aaron are the proud parents of Coy Shannon who was born yesterday weighing in at 8 lbs 13 oz. She is beautiful!



We enjoyed getting to visit with them and loved getting to hold that sweet little baby. She doesn't look like she weighs almost 9 lbs. She looks tiny. You just forget how little they are until you see a newborn. I love the way they smell and the little sounds they make. I could have held her all day. I offered to move in with them and take care of her at night, so they could sleep :) They were willing to take me up on that offer especially Aaron. Even Matt got in on the holding. Coy "worked" her magic too, she had Matt wanting another one after holding her. (I knew he would cave once he held her in his arms, she was just too sweet to not want).


















We are so excited that Coy is here! We know she is going to be such a blessing to their family and in turn is going to be blessed with awesome parents and a really great big sister, Clara! We love you Coy!