Sliding Into Some Fun Times

We decided last weekend to get Quinn a swing set for the back yard. He had a swing hanging from our big walnut tree, but it's one you use for babies and little toddlers, the kind you strap them in to.  Quinn is much too big for that. Our yard isn't that big, so the wooden ones are just too much for our yard. I found a good deal on one with a big slide and a few swings, so we got that. 

One of the many things I love about my husband is how good he is with tools and completing projects. He is manly enough to come up with ideas in his head and build them (for example, the sandbox), but he is smart enough to know when he should consult the instructions (the crib, the swing).

Here are a couple of pictures of the swing set in its stages of completion.



Quinn's absolute favorite thing is to slide down the sliding board, so needless to say, it was the first thing he tried out when we brought him outside to play.

Quinn has learned a new way to swing at school...on his tummy. And he wasted no time in showing us this cool move.

After a few minutes of tummy swinging, he looked up at me and said "Mommy would you push me....pwease?!?"

I think the only way we could have had any more fun was if the swings would hold the weight of an adult...because I love to swing.

I love this boy and can't wait for the hours of fun we will have this summer playing on the new swings and slide!

Easter 2011

A belated Happy Easter from my precious little Quinn.



Not sure why he loves to run under the tree when it is time to take a picture. Next year, he won't be able to stand under this tree.   :-(

What a little man....so handsome!

Mommy and Quinn....who is not looking at the camera.....

First Time Dyeing Eggs

 This year I decided that Quinn was old enough  I was brave enough for us to dye eggs for Easter. One thing I learned....do not wait until the night before Easter to buy your egg dyeing kit. If you do, you will be stuck with only the 99 cent version of dye kits, which is just regular colors...nothing fancy, nothing sparkly, nothing! We did have fun though, and next year I will buy my fun kit early!

As you can see, Quinn was super excited to be dyeing eggs.

He had a lot of fun placing the eggs in the different colors. We let him pick which color he wanted to do and then he placed the egg himself. Yes, it made a mess, and yes, he knocked over a color or two, and yes, we had a blast!



For a three year old, dyeing eggs is fun.....waiting....not so much....

The final product. We did have fun, and Quinn had fun playing with his color eggs for a few days!

Easter Egg Hunt

On April 16th, our Sunday School class at church had the annual Easter Egg hunt. Our class is made up of all married couples. Most couples have kids already, some are expecting children over the next few months, and some couples are enjoying life as "just the two of us" right now.  Our class is so good to plan events for the whole family, and this is one of the best ones we do.  Unfortunately, this year, it was scheduled to pour rain all weekend (which it did...this was the weekend of the NC tornadoes!), so we had to have the egg hunt inside the gym of our church.

Here are a couple of pictures of the egg hunt. 
Quinn managed to find a huge pile of eggs inside this stack of chairs.

On the search for more eggs....

After all the eggs were found, Quinn sat down and examined his loot and counting his eggs. I was impressed that he got all the way to 15 before he started skipping numbers!

He came home with a whole bucket full of eggs! Way to go Quinn!!  This was much better than last year when he forgot to hunt eggs and made a bee-line for the swing set and sliding board!

And to think, we almost left early due to a certain little boy throwing a tantrum.......but that's another story!

Heaven Is For Real!

I went to Barnes and Noble on Saturday with Buddy and Quinn. While I was looking for a couple of books to get Quinn for Easter, I noticed a book on the shelf called Heaven is For Real. I have read other books about people who say they had been to Heaven and came back, as a result of a car accident, coma, etc. This one struck me as different because the person who went to Heaven was an almost 4-year old boy.  Being the mother of a boy practically the same age, it definitely caught my eye. I had to have this book.

I started reading it in the afternoon, and read off and on the rest of the day, finishing the book about 9pm. I could not put this book down. Without giving too much away, the main plot of the book is that a young boy gets super sick from undiagnosed appendicitis and has to have an operation. During his operation he goes to Heaven. A few months later, in conversations with his parents (his father is a pastor) he begins to reveal things about Heaven, Jesus, and God that no child would have learned in a Sunday School Class. At first his parents aren't sure what to think, until he begins to reveal things about his family that happened years before he was born. He describes family members they way they looked in their younger days.

The part of the book that hit home the most for me was when Colton (the little boy) tells his parents he has two sisters. They say, "No, son, you only have one." And he tells them, "But what about the baby that died in Mommy's tummy? I met her in Heaven." You see, his mother had lost a baby before Colton was born, and he met his sister! His mother had miscarried at 2 months, and didn't even know if the baby was a boy or a girl. This was the part that made me cry, because I instantly thought of my own little Heaven baby.  I may not know what he or she would have looked like here on earth, but that baby will know who I am!

I've always wondered what Heaven will be like. What will we wear? Who all will I see there? I mean, I know certain family members and friends who have accepted Christ as their Saviour, but who will I see that I didn't know was a Christian. Will there be animals there? What will Jesus and God look like? What will it be like to have understanding about things that we don't understand here on Earth? 

This book was an incredible read and has definitely given me another reason to look forward to Heaven!  I highly recommend this book. If you believe that Heaven will be your home, it will increase your excitement!

If I could save time in a bottle.....

That song was popular back in 1976....the same year my parents got married! Momma always said she wanted to have this song sung at their wedding but for some reason she didn't.

I had the best parents a girl could ever have! It was always just the three of us and I never doubted for a minute how much my parents loved me and how much they loved each other. I am so thankful to have had Christian parents. They made sure I was in church, and that influence on me was just one of the many reasons I accepted Christ at such an early age. They were always supportive of anything I wanted to do, including when Buddy and I had to move away shortly after we got married. I have enjoyed seeing them become grandparents to Quinn.

HAPPY 35th ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!

This picture is from March 2008, but was the only one recent one I have of them together....

Sharing Songs for Easter....part four

Another song I love to hear, no matter when I hear it is "Arise my Love" by NewSong.  The
first time I heard this song was when the interpretive movement team at my church performed to this song. They would dress like mimes (without the white faces)...all black with white gloves. They "acted" out the song while using sign language. The youth pastor dressed in all white with white gloves and was the part of God in the song. I can't describe this and do it justice, but anytime I hear this song, I can see the performance in my head.

"Arise My Love" by NewSong
Not a word was heard at the tomb that day.
Just shuffling of soldiers feet as they guarded the grave.
One day, two days, three days had past.
Could it be that Jesus breathed His last?


Could it be that His Father had forsaken him?
Turned his back on his son despising our sin.
All hell seemed to whisper 'Just forget Him, He's dead.'
Then the Father looked down to his son and he said..


Arise, My love. Arise, My love.
The grave no longer has a hold on you
No more death's sting; No more suffering


Arise...Arise...my love.


The Earth trembled and the tomb began to shake,
and like lightening from Heaven the stone was rolled away.
And as dead man the guards they all stood there in fright
As the power of love displayed its might


Then suddenly a melody filled the air
Riding wings of wind, it was everywhere
The words all creation had been longing to hear
The sweet sound of victory, so loud and clear.


Arise, my love. Arise, my love.
The grave no longer has a hold on you.
No more death's sting no more suffering
Arise...arise....


Sin, where are your shackles?
Death, where is your sting?
Hell; has been defeated.
The grave could not hold the king!!


Arise, My love. Arise, My love.
The grave no longer has a hold on you
No more death's sting; No more suffering
Arise....Arise....Arise

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you while he was still with you: The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again!" Luke 24: 5b-7