Happy Anniversary, David

We have had a wonderful eight years together today!
We celebrate our anniversary on December 12th every year, as that is the day we were married...though our wedding was in Cancun, Mexico two days later! We both love the number 12, so we had our legal ceremony on the day we wanted for our anniversary. Due to my final exam schedule, we could not leave for Cancun until the 14th to actually have our wedding. Sure saved a lot of money by not paying all the legal fees in Mexico! Ha. The picture above is of Joe Brumfield, a dear friend and our marriage counselor, officiating for us in the faculty library of the McInteer Bible building on Harding University's campus.

Joe Brumfield is in the middle, with our two witnesses (aka, our brothers, Zac Watson and Evan Long) in the faculty library.

Evan, me, David, and Zac

The official paperwork completed and the rings in place! Yippee! :)

Sometime between now and the 14th, I'll post our "wedding" pictures, too. :)

Just thought it'd be fun to share our story and the pictures from our legal anniversary day.

David, I am blessed beyond words to have you as my husband. I am thankful for you daily. I am thankful to have you as my husband. I am thankful to be your wife. I am thankful that our children have you as their daddy. You are still the one that I would choose to marry if I were making the decision today. I have enjoyed these past eight years with you, and I look forward to each day God gives us together. May He always guide and direct our marriage as we strive to serve Him in all that we do. I love you!!!

Sling Shot

Last night we went to the mall. The kids were very interested in the "sling shot" bungee system. We were shocked that they both wanted to try it! The lady strapped Mackenzie in and she was ready to jump. Timid at first until she began to trust the security of the system. Then she jumped for all she was worth! The picture below does not quite capture the height to which she reached. She went higher than the ceiling of the first floor, nearing the top of the elevator in the background. The pictures just don't do it justice.

They have two sling shot systems, side by side, so both kids were able to jump at the same time. Josiah was very timid at first. Then he looked up at me and proudly said, "I am big enough, Momma!" He got the hang of jumping, though he certainly did not reach the same heights as Mackenzie! He was doing good just to leave the trampoline and make it a couple feet in the air.

They both enjoyed it! David and I had a blast watching them. Mackenzie is already requesting that we go to the "triangular mall" again soon. ;)

I've Been Tagged

Here is the 4th picture from the 4th folder under My Pictures on our computer. It turned out to be a pretty cute picture to post, too! This is Josiah in David's arms at Easter April 2007. Josiah was about 11 months old, and we had been to the mall to visit the Easter Bunny and ride the Easter train. All of us had fun; Mackenzie was 2 1/2 years old and afraid of the Easter Bunny. She told us after the visit to the mall that Josiah saved her from the Easter Bunny! How funny that at 11 months old Josiah was protecting his sister already!

I'm tagging anyone who wants to play! Here are the rules:

1. Go to the 4th folder and select the 4th picture.
2. Post it to your blog.
3. Tell us about it.
4. Tag anyone you want to tag!

Thanks, Kim, for tagging me! This was fun. :)

She is Reading

Caution: I am about to brag on my 4 year and 3 month old Baby Girl!

She did it! She can really read! Just a few minutes ago Mackenzie and I were in the kitchen making marshmallow creme fudge when she piped up and said, "Momma, does that say 'Dots?'" I responded with an excited, "Yes! It does say 'Dots!'" At this point I'm thinking to myself that she just might have memorized that somewhere along the way, but a milestone nevertheless. I proceeded to grab the can of sweet and condensed milk (which she's never seen before and it does not look like the milk she's used to seeing while still in the unopened can) and ask "What does that say?" while pointing to M-I-L-K. She studied the word for a few seconds and then began to sound it out. After saying it three times to herself, her eyes lit up as she announced, "Milk! It says Milk!" Feeding off of her excitement and making the most of the moment, I grabbed the jar of marshmallow creme. I pointed to the word Jet (as in Jet Puffed) and asked her what that word was (we refer to this as marshmallow creme, so I doubt she'd ever heard it called Jet Puffed). She paused only a moment before responding without even sounding it out loud to say, "Jet!" Then she grinned up at me and said, "Momma, that's easy. I already know my blend ladders, so the short words are easy."

Indeed, she does know her blend ladders (Abeka curriculum). Kudos to Mrs. Melinda! She has done a fantastic job of taking Mackenzie from where she already was in August and building on that to lay the groundwork for reading. Mackenzie and I have fun at restaurants with crayons and letters. She has been able to read and write words like rat, mat, hat, sat, pat, cat, and bat for a few weeks now. I'm working on "that" with her as it is a little trickier! She loves to spell. I hope she keeps that eagerness to learn and enjoyment of reading and writing as she grows. I know I have certainly enjoyed being a part of her learning to read.

I have to add...she has been able to read and write several words like stop, go, mom, dad, red, Josiah, Mackenzie, Jesus, and Laura for over 6 months now. However, those were ones (and there were a few more) that she had just memorized. This milestone is different in that she is able to read words that she has not already committed to memory. The blend ladders have opened up a whole new world for her.

Way to go, Baby Girl! I'm proud of you, Mackenzie!

Day at the Dentist

Miss Scarlett cleaning Mackenzie's teeth.

Mackenzie was soo excited she just couldn't wait! She went first today. She began asking about a month ago if she could go see Miss Scarlett because it had been so long since last time! Too funny; we go once every six months, so it really had not been all that long...but when you're four years old, six months is a long time. I am very pleased that Mackenzie was excited and ready to go see the dentist. Thanks to Miss Scarlett, a wonderful (understatement) dental hygienist, Mackenzie's view of going to the dentist is extremely positive!!!

Next came Josiah's turn...this was his very first time!!! He was reluctant to get in the big chair by himself, but sat readily and happily in my lap in the chair. Yep, this is a pretty funny picture...not the world's best view of me...but I had to post it as it truly captures Josiah's first experience quite well. :) Again, thanks to Miss Scarlett, the tone has been set for a very positive view of the dental office for Josiah, too. He giggled and opened his mouth in response to Miss Scarlett's questions about whether he had any teeth, how many teeth, are they ticklish, etc. I am amazed that, at 2 1/2 years of age, Josiah sat still while Miss Scarlett cleaned his teeth and even flossed some, too! Impressive on the part of both Josiah and Miss Scarlett. The dentist was fabulous, too! He really had a special way with kids; he listened to them and played peek-a-boo before even entering the exam room.

Close up of Josiah's first dental check-up.

Proud little boy with his sticker! Yes, he is bare foot. I guess he felt quite comfortable and made himself right at home!

My two kids at the end of our day at the dentist office.

(Okay, so we were just there for a couple of hours, not all day!) They played nicely in the corner while I got my teeth cleaned, too! Ahhh...I do love the feeling of clean teeth. :)

Snow Flur

Mackenzie woke up at 7:20am, came downstairs, and announced, "It's a snow flur outside!" Josiah and I had been up since 6:20am and had yet to open any mini blinds, so we were oblivious to the gorgeous white snow flakes swirling outside. We all three scampered to the window and peered out into the morning at the "snow flur," as Mackenzie calls it! Then we scurried around to grab a quick bowl of cereal for breakfast and jump into snow suits to go play in what little snow did actually stay around on the ground. The kids had a blast just running through the snowy grass and scraping the snow off the table top. I'm glad we went out as quickly as we did, because the wee bit of snow that stuck melted within the hour. All in all, it snowed 3 different times today! What fun to get to watch the huge, white flakes falling from the sky as we wrapped Christmas presents in front of the tree this afternoon. Once more I am amazed by the creation that our Creator has made.

David's Family

While David's parents and brother were here visiting, we were able to visit Portrait Innovations for a group photo. That's something that we did in July of 2007 with part of my side of the family, and this week we were able to capture David's side of the family.
And my kiddos even got some new clothes out of the deal! Thanks, Granna, for shopping for all of us. :)

Mackenzie and Josiah with Uncle Zac.