School

They did "body art" at school and this is Keira's.

Her princess dress for the Fall Harvest party at school and for Kid's Fest at church on Friday night.

Sibling Love

I happened to catch them on the couch being all sweet! Keira was loving on him and they sat for the longest time together watching Noggin.

The little mommy "reading" to Brock. She has taken on more of the mother role lately, talking sweetly to him, teaching him new words, helping at bath time and getting him dressed. I also noticed the other day when Brock and I picked her up at school, that she was being real protective of him, b/c another little brother was following Brock around and kept touching/pushing him a little and Keira began to shield him and gave the other kid a "look". It was funny but nice to see that side of her. The other mothers were busy talking and not paying attention to the kids, I was watching b/c I noticed this boy following Brock around. I let Keira handle it - lol.

Randon

My little man all smiles! Keira has to be the difficult one!

When taking pictures, Brock now says "Cheese"

Witches

Witchcraft can be defined as the performance of magic forbidden by God for nonbiblical purposes. The word "witchcraft" is related to the old English word, "wiccan", the "practice of magical arts." Both the Old and New Testaments make repeated references to the practice of witchcraft and sorcery. In every instance where these practices are mentioned, they ARE CONDEMNED BY GOD! The Bible forbids all forms of witchcraft, including sorcery, astrology, and magic. 2 Chronicles tells us about Manasseh's involvement in witchcraft: "He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the valley of Ben Hinnon, practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eys of the Lord, provoking Him to anger 2 Chronicles 33:6 Read Galatians 5:19-21 1 Samuel 15:23 "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft...." Now alot can be said on witchcraft but the bottom line is we are to avoid it -it is sin. I don't understand why any Christian would want to be involved in this, there is no good witchcraft as our culture has tried to tells as we have white witches now days who are "supposedly" good.

Ghosts

Our world is fascinated with ghosts and spirits. Everywhere you turn it is thrown in our faces. From movies to tv, and not only at this time of yr but all year we see this increase in this dark side increasing throughout the year. Do I believe in ghosts? No, but I believe in Demons who can deceive us by appearing to take on these forms. Scripture warns us in 1 timothy 4:1 "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons" Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:20 "I do not want you to be participants with demons" Many more verses talk about demons in Scripture also. Why would I want my family to associate with anything related to demons if I can at all avoid it???

Jack-O-Lantern

Our family will not do jack-o-lanterns b/c of how it originally started out as. One reason is that the Celtics used them to ward off evil spirits. Another reason is b/c itis an ancient symbol for a "damned soul" and named for a man called "Irish Jack" The story goes that Jack was a stingy drunk who tricked the devil into climbing an apple tree for an apple, Jack then cut the sign of a cross into the trunk of the tree, thereby preventing the devil from coming down again. Then Jack forced the devil to swear he would never come after Jack's soul. The devil agreed, reluctantly. When Jack died, he was turned away at the gates of heaven b/c of his problem with drinking and his life of selfishness. After beiing dent to hell, the devil also rejected Jack, keeping his earlier promise. Since Jack could not enter eithe rplace, he was condemned to wander the earth. As he was leaving hell, eating a turnip, the devil threw a hot coal at him. Jack put the coal in his turnip and was doomed to wander in darkness with his "jack-o-lantern" until judgement day. With this tradition in mind people began to hollow out turnips, placing candles inside, to scare away evil spirits from their houses. America replaced the turnip with a pumpkin. We choose not to have one b/c of all this behind it. Yes, we could dismiss this, but we could also dismiss a lot of other things too, but we feel this would not be pleasing to the Lord.

satan's influence

Don't you think that Satan just loves Halloween and the lengths people go to celebrate it? Everywhere you turn Satan's influence and image are all around us. People view all this as innocent fun, that it isn't evil or associated with evil. I cannot get over parents who dress their babies up as devils, goblins, etc. It is not cute or innocent fun! Many people question the reality of Satan, even some Christians, but he is real, we know b/c the Bible tells us. We had better wake up - we are in a spiritual battle, not just for this time on the earth, but for eternity, for our souls. It is war people!!! Greater than any physical war. A war between darkness (Satan) and light(JESUS). Our society portrays Satan as a goofy, little, red man, with horns and a pitch fork or the opposite way : horrible creature, evil eyes, etc. Stephen King novels and slasher movies are filled with these kind of images. In a national survey people were aske dif Satan was real? 47% who responded were associated with evangelical churches and 65% of mainline Protestants said no - are they serious????? Satan must be loving this. How deceived are some people! Christians : READ YOUR BIBLES!!!!! Ezekiel 28 describes the true identity of Satan before his fall ( look it up if u are curious or don't remember) Satan was the most beautiful creature created by God, but yet his pride took over and he rebelled, thus leading all creatin into a deadly spiritual war. One which he will never win, but he will try to bring as many people down with him as possible, and from the looks of this world, it is a lot. Study the names of Satan in the Bible. Just a couple : "Ruler of this world" John 12:31 " Father of Lies" John 8:44 "Murderer" John 8:44 Satan's Stategies include : Doubt, Difficulties, Self-Sufficiency,False Teaching, Confusion I could elaborate on these and give verses and explain further, but not time for that currently. If you want more info just ask. Reality of Demons : I beleive Deoms exist just as Satan does. The Bible affirms it. Matthew 10:1, Matt. 12:22-29, Matt 15:22-28, Mark 5:1-16, Luke 10:17 All the writers of the New Testament except Hebrewsmention demons. Even the OT talks about them. Demons possess intelligence (Mark 1:24), emotions (Luke 8:28; James 2:19) , a free will (Luke 8:32), a personality (Luke 8:27-30). Can also possess superhuman strength at times, see Mark 5:1-18 Our summed up victory from God is found in James 4:7 "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." We must be prepared for battle. I am out of time but will continue with the background on ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, etc. If no one reads it, thats okay, I am doing what I feel led to do.

Why our family will not celebrate Halloween

As Halloween is quickly approaching and Keira is quickly growing and ever so observant, I have really had to expalin a lot this year regarding Halloween and why our family doesn't celebrate like the "world" does. We do dress the kids up, attend our church's kids fest, she also has a party at school tomorrow,but they are calling it a Fall Harvest party, and no scary costumes, so that is awesome. Pumpkins are fine at our house, but we don't carve them. so we are not total sticks in the mud - lol. Not until the past few years did I really start to dislike this day so much. Growing up I thought nothing was wrong with getting all dressed up in horror costumes or going to haunted houses, watching horror movies, etc. But as I drew closer to the Lord and dived into Scripture, it became clear to me how much this goes against all the things the Lord wants us to do. Why would I choose to have my children participate in things that are of the dark side and I truly believe Halloween is a spiritual battle and a major way that Satan subtly uses to draw people into his ways and not God's. Even some Christians see nothing wrong with this day or participating in the horrors of it. I am not judging anyone at all, each family must decide what is best for them, I am just sharing our thoughts. After having to confess my past sins in this area and some from not too many yrs ago, I cannot take part in this day. I use to think there was nothing to this stuff, just having fun and that it cannot influence you........, man was I wrong. Satan is on a rampage and look how popular this day is and how many people celebrate it and what lengths our society goes to now for entertainment purposes. Some members of my family think I have become a religious nut (or freak) and that is fine by me. I still love them :) I cannot serve God and pretend that Halloween will not affect my family, b/c it can. Just recently I was so proud of Keira at a family cookout, there was some inflatable ghosts blowed up and she immedialetly told my mother " My family doesn't like that kind of stuff, " I was so proud of her little stand. It is so hard evey day this week to monitor Noggin(cartoon shows) and we experienced this Sunday morning as Noggin had an all day Halloween theme going on. She pitched a fit on us and was so upset. But, we didn't give in, which was the easiest thing to do since we were in the middle of getting ready for sunday school. If you take the time to look at the background of some of the traditions of Halloween, then it is not hard to see why my family has chosen not to celebrate. The origination of Halloween began in the ancient Celtic harvest festival, Samhain, a time when people believed that the spirits of the dead roamed the earth. The Celts adopted Druid beliefs and customs, in pre-Christian days, to commemorate the end of summer and the last day of the year. As winter approached and the sun waned, people were afraid that life itself, and not just the year, wascoming to an end. They imagined that the night was haunted by ghosts and witches, and more particularly byt he spirits of the dead who were revisiting their earthly homes. With the supernatural rampant, the night was full of danger and omens. Concerned for their survival, the people employed every possible means to fortify the flames of the dying sun and to chase away, or pacify, the evil spirits. For this purpose, they lit bonfires and sometimes offered sacrificies. The Celtic New Year, Nov 1, is also the beginning of the new yr for wiccan witches. Nov. 1 was also the Day of the Dead, a time when it was believed that souls of those who had died during the yr were allowed access to the land of the living. I could go on about the festival Samhain. Briefly, some said the bonfires were lit on Samhain to light the way for wandering spirits away from people's homes while others said they werelit to keep spirits away from homes. Go figure!! Christian missionaries then began a redefinition of calendrical celebrations. To a large extent the early church adopted and accomodated the traditional religious beliefs and practices of those it sought to convert. Many of the festivals and holidays observed today resulted from this policy and were derived in some part from already existing festivals / celebrations. Nov. 1 was declared All Saints Day and later Nov.2 was proclaimed All Souls Day. Celebration began at sundown prior to Nov. 1 Since most celebrations began prior to Nov 1 it became known as the Eve of All Saints Day or Eve of All Hallows' or All Hallows Eve. It is the glossing of the name Hallow Eve that has given us the name Hallowe'en. There is even more that transpired but to sum it up, even after Christianity had succeeded in supressing paganism, people continued to practice some of its customs. Photobucket src="http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r306/awages/Signatures/LeffewSign.jpg" border=0>

Gym Bugs

Has anyone ever been to Gym Bugs and took classes? We have done the Little Gym from 5mon-10 months old and then Tatauras that we ended this past April. Gym Bugs is cheaper than Tatarus but I don't know anyone who has been to Gym Bugs. If you have could you please give me some info, if you like it, the instructors.......etc. The reason we stopped at Tatarus was Ms. Jenna was leaving and Keira loved her. The Romanians that would be her teachers did not suit Keira and she did not want to go to class w/o Ms. Jenna. The Romanians are reserved, show no emotion, and in my opinion not kid-friendly. I know gymnastics is not all fun and games, but come on they are in the little classes, and besides my child is not going to be a full time gymnast. Ms. Jenna got on their level but had discipline also. Thanks!

Help?

I have been trying to change my background the past few days and I cannot get the cutest on the block or whatever it is to work? Is anyone else having trouble with this? Also- does anyone know where else you can get headers and layouts done for free? Since great gabbie designs (whatever it was) doesn't do it anymore - i cannot find anyone else who does this for free. As you can see below, I don't know how to get my signature box removed either - any ideas?

Myrtle Beach

We went to Myrtle Beach and had a great time. The ride was the hardest part, due to the fact, that my son doesn't like being contained for any amount of time. He will not watch DVDs and only slept a total of an hour. Keira was great! Mamaw and Papaw wouldn't trade us for Brock -wonder why? Plus, Keira would have pitched a fit if she had to ride with us and Brock with the grandparents. In the above pic, Brock feel asleep after a late supper in his chair. Brandon and I took the kids swimming after we arrived and they were exhausted.

The beautiful sunrise

Watching several dolphins following a boat.

Beach

Family Time!

Check out the tush on this girl! It is about as big as mine. LOL

vacation

We met David, Kathern, and Chance (they happened to be at Myrtle Beach the same time) for dinner and then went to Broadway at the Beach to let the kids ride the rides. Keira and Chance rode several rides and Brandon rode the bigger, faster rides with Chance. Brock loves water and all my change was put into the fountain pool. Keira was being silly with her balloon.

Keira surprised us and did this bungee jumping. I have video of it, but don't know how to post it, plus, it is dark. Chance was doing this and flipping, so she thought she would try it. At first, she told us she did not want to go high, but before long she was very high. Keira is my more hesitant and fearful child, while Brock is at everything full force. She also went down the waterslide at our indoor water park at the condo. This was shocking also. It was very high, fast, and enclosed the whole slide. Everyone had gone up to the room, while Keira and I stayed to swim. Oout of the blue she asks me to take her down it. We went and I wished I could have seen her face at the bottom. It scared her and she never asked again.

More vacation

I love to see our footprints and how they change each time we go to the beach. We had a good time in the lazy river, but Brock would rather be on the go instead of smooth riding.

Keira has finally learned that arm floats are a good thing and that she has freedom with them on. At the end of summer, she finally used them and now loves it. She was all over the pools, but her favorite thing to do was jump off the sides.

Chickens

One of my kids favorite sunday afternoon activities is to visit Aunt Sheila's chickens. They love to go feed, chase, and just explore.

Little man with no fear - I think he has been pecked once, didn't seem to bother him

How many chickens have such a nice house all decorated?