Texas Baby Shower

I was in Texas this weekend for a baby shower at my mom and dad's house. I had a great time with my family and got some really cute stuff for Ashlyn. I've posted a few pics but I'll have more once Dev'n sends me hers. Our next Dr.'s appointment is Tuesday, July 8. Please keep praying for our little family!

VBS Wrap-Up and a baby shower!

I just finished my 5th VBS at McGregor and it was another awesome week. We had more kids accept Christ than ever before (92 kids) and we baptized 12 kids Friday night during Family Night. With all the elements of VBS my very favorite is our Family Night baptism. Nothing compares to seeing 12 kids in the water, at the same time, all getting ready to show their church that they have made the biggest decision of their lives. I'm already praying for these kids, and I hope God will use them all in a mighty way.

Another really fun element of our VBS is the missions offering. We pick a different missionary every year and raise money during the week for this missionary. Now the incentive to get the kids to bring the money is a pie in the face of a girl and boy on our staff. Since we now have 2 girls (Miss Cynthia and myself) in the preschool and children's areas we had to pick 2 guys and this year it was David Miller and Russell Howard. The boys were ahead with their money all week, until the last night when the girls pulled ahead. We raised over $3,500 for our missionary and I got to put a pie in Mr. David's face AKA "Zee." Cynthia and I were saved again by our wonderful faithful girls who can't handle seeing their Miss Dawn with a pie in her face! :)

I'm heading to Texas this week for my first baby shower. My sister is throwing me a shower on the last weekend I'm officially allowed to fly. I'm really looking forward to going home for a few days, but my hubby is staying behind to work, so I'll miss him. Hopefully I'll post some cute pics of all the girly stuff I get next weekend!

A butterfly in my belly...

Well I have finally started feeling my little girl move around inside of me over the past few days. It started sometime last week and felt like a butterfly fluttering about. Every time she moves, and Hank is around, I try to see if he can feel her also. Well today he put his hand on my belly and she gave him a good kick right on his hand. She is still very breech which means her feet are down in the bottom of my stomach and her head is up high. She should be about the size of a barbie doll right now. I am almost 22 weeks and I can't wait to see her beautiful face. We have another Dr's appointment on the 6th of June, so pray all is well with our little girl!

Our First Parenting Conference....

Hank and I attended McGregor's parenting conference this weekend. Now technically our child won't be here until early October, but I already feel like a parent, and education is never a bad thing. Richard Ross was amazing and he talked about being the spiritual champion to your children. He reiterated a point that I want to tell parents all the time, "It's not the church's job to raise Christian children, its the parents!" His words were very powerful as I am constantly thinking about bringing this new baby into the world. I want to be the kind of parent that cares more about my child's relationship to God than anything else. Hank and I also attended Russell Howard's break-out session. Russell was awesome and had us rolling several times in our hour with him. He talked a lot about how to handle punishment, but also about have a parent-centric house instead of a kid-centric house. He reminded us how important it was to put each other first and then our kids. Our final break-out session was with David and Tamar Miller. This was on surviving life with preschoolers. Many of the same points were made, but I really liked how the Miller's talked about not treating your children differently at home and at church. I can see how being in the ministry could cause you to be harder on your children at church, since you expect them to act a certain way, but I agree with David in that your children should have the same standards at home and at church. All in all a great weekend. I can't wait to start practicing some of these very practical guides with my family.

Slow....

So it's Spring Break in beautiful sunny Fort Myers this week....and I am bored. All of my staff is on vacation. There is no school so the campus at the church is incredibly quiet. Half of the ministers are on vacation which means very few meetings, and several of my friends have left town for the week. I'm getting a lot done this week, but I don't like the quiet.
I used to love Spring Break. I went skiing almost every year I was in college and then I would spend time with family when I was in seminary. It was a great week. Now I am in that in between stage where Spring Break just means a slow week. I know in a few years when our little one is in Kindergarten, I will love getting Spring Break back, but right now it isn't doing much for me. So... I will keep working on the things I don't usually get to finish, and try to enjoy this very slow, quiet week.

6 Months on the 6th!

It doesn't seem possible, but Hank and I will be married for 6 months this Sunday. Last year at this time we weren't even engaged yet, and now, we are married and expecting a baby. It's strange how much a life can change in 1 year. We are going to one of our favorite restaurants, that we save for very special occasions. The last time we ate at Ruth's Chris was for my birthday last year, so I am looking forward to some yummy steak and sweat potato casserole. Happy 6 months honey!

We have a very busy weekend ahead of us. My little GA girls are having their annual Daddy/Daughter Brunch on Saturday. I really do love this morning (even though I get up really early) because I love seeing the girls so excited to spend time with their daddy's. They have breakfast together, do a craft together, and take an annual picture with each other. It's a lot of fun and the girls love it!

We are also attending a wedding on Saturday as well as it being Underground Weekend for the youth of our church. A lot going on, but there always is at McGregor.

The baby will be 14 weeks tomorrow and I'm looking forward to being in the 2nd Trimester. Once I kick this cold, I'm hoping to get my energy back. I know Hank is looking forward to me feeling better. :) Dr. appointment next week, so we'll let everyone know how it goes!

And Baby makes 3...

Hank and I were finally able to announce yesterday about our upcoming baby. We are due Oct. 3 and for those of you that know us well, you know that is 3 days before our 1 year anniversary. We are so excited and never thought we would get pregnant this quickly. It has not been the easiest 12 weeks. I have had terrible nausea in the evenings and have even spent the night in the emergency room. I am slowly starting to feel better, and am looking forward to getting my energy back. We will know in about 6 weeks what we are having, and yes we will be finding out. Hank and I can't wait to welcome our little one and look forward to all the craziness that a new baby will bring.

The Eyes of Texas

I can't wait to go home to Texas next week. I haven't been home since November, and even though I am married and older I still miss home badly sometimes. I'm looking forward to doing some fishing on the pond and seeing how my parent's house is coming along. They have been remodeling for months! I also get to see my sister and my grandparents, which I love, and now that my parent's live next door to my grandparents I see them a lot more when I am home.

There are 3 things I know for sure we are doing on this trip. First, we are having lunch in Lockhart with Bro Gary on Tuesday. I have Hank hooked on Lockhart BBQ so it is great to get down there. I also greatly enjoy spending time with my pastor who has been part of my life now since I was 13. Second, we will eat several times at Tamale King. This is a little hole-in-the-wall place outside of Kingsland, TX but it has GREAT Mexican food. Third, I will catch up on my movie watching with my momma. She loves watching movies and she has been collecting some waiting for me to come home. We usually don't have the same taste in movies, but she has a knack for finding ones that I actually like and usually have never heard of.

I'll take pictures and hopefully be able to show some shots of why I love my home so much! Have a great week!

Super Bowl Sunday and Alabama

This Sunday as many of you know is the Super Bowl. Now those of you that know me know that I am a huge football fan. I watch lots of college games and a few pro games, but I haven't seen the Super Bowl the last four years. Every year during the Super Bowl I am flying to my Metro Conference. This year that conference is in Birmingham, AL. So once again I will be missing the big game for my conference. I really do love my Metro. It's about 50 preschool and children's ministers from all over the country who all work in larger churches. This group has become a great group of friends that I look forward to seeing every year. I hope everyone has fun watching the game Sunday, think of me while I'm flying and battling airports!

PS--Metro is moving to the second week of Feb. next year....so I will finally get to watch the big game! GO COWBOYS!

Wicked!

I feel like I haven't given enough play time to how much I enjoyed the Broadway show Wicked. Hank and I were 4 blocks away on the night we went to see the show. It was raining and snowing so hailing a cab was impossible. We got to the Gershwin Theatre about 45 minutes early and I looked like a drowned cat. My hair was soaking wet and I was freezing cold. I went to the bathroom and tried to dry my hair, but it didn't matter, I still felt like I looked terrible. I sat down in the Theatre where it was cold, I was mad that I was wet, and I was beginning to think I was not going to have a good time. Then the curtain came up and the show began. It was amazing. The story and songs are so moving. This is a great show for anyone who grew up loving the Wizard of Oz. I loved the back story of the witches and all the characters like the lion, the scarecrow, and the tin man. I didn't know much about the show, but I can't wait to see it again. I hear it is coming to Fort Myers next year for their Broadway series.

New York City Trip

Hank and I went to NY this weekend to see a couple of shows and to see the city. We got there late on Thursday night and stayed at a Hotel right off of Times Square. It was actually the same hotel I stayed in with my family when we went in 1988.

After walking around Times Square we went to Central park to have lunch at Tavern on the Green. We also took a carriage ride around the park.

After our carriage ride we went to Macy's, to buy Hank a coat, and to see the biggest dept store in the world. We also went to the top of the Empire State Building and took several pics. It was very cold but it was incredible to be able to see the entire city.

On Thursday night we saw Wicked and it was amazing. It was raining so we weren't able to get a cab. By the time we got to the show Hank and I were soaked. Needless to say there are no pics from that night because we weren't looking our best. On Friday morning we went to Ground Zero on the south part of the city.

Our last night in the city we saw Chicago and walked around Times Square. It was a great trip!

Thank You Cards

Hank and I got married on October 6, 2007 and my goal at that time was to have all my thank you cards written and mailed out by Thanksgiving. Then reality hit after the wedding and I didn't even have all our gifts OPEN by Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving came Pageant and then Christmas and before I knew it I had been married 3 months. Now, Hank and I are really blessed by having our church family and our families in Georgia and Texas. We got gifts from all over the country and it was amazing, the only problem with that is that the Thank You cards start to pile up. We have gone through 6 boxes of 50 Thank you cards. Yes, that's right, over 300 cards have been written and we aren't done. We have about 70 more cards to write, and if you are one of these cards my new goal is to have them all done by Feb. 1. I am almost positive I can make that goal. It will be a glorious day when all the cards are written, but a part of me will be a little sad. It is an overwhelming feeling to know how many people love and support me and my husband and although I know that continues, I will miss looking through all the encouraging cards and gifts we received. We are blessed!

Ghetto Uno

So my friends and I have a little tradition that has come about on Sunday nights. We play this crazy card game called Ghetto UNO. We heard that some of our friends who used to work with us actually came up with this game while they were in college at Liberty. Now we are all addicted to it and the games popularity is spreading. We have taught Hank's sister how to play and she has taught a bunch of her friends in Georgia. If you want to know how to play email me and I will try to explain it, or just come play with us one night. By the way...I won last night!!!

What a week!

Well...Christmas in Georgia didn't go exactly as planned. We were planning on having a very relaxing week in Sandersville, GA with Hank's family. We had a really nice Christmas day and I got to learn about some of the "Garner" traditions. I also got two great gifts from my husband...a new Ipod nano and tickets to see "Wicked" on Broadway. We are going to NY the 3rd weekend of January for a few days.
The day after Christmas, Hank's uncle, George, took a really bad turn in the hospital and ended up passing away that evening. It was a very emotional day for Hank's mom and sister. It was really good that Hank was their to support his aunt and be there with her. The next day they begin planning the memorial service and Hank was asked to officiate the ceremony. We ended up staying in Atlanta for the rest of the week with family, except for a quick trip to Athens to see Matt and Kristen. I got to ring the bell on the campus of UGA. Go Dawgs!
On the way back from Athens something happened to my car and although it wasn't a big deal we spent a few hours in the dealership waiting to get it fixed.
Saturday was the Memorial Service and I really believe God used Hank for that service. He did a great job giving people the truth about death and yet was very comforting to his aunt and her family. We were only able to stay for a few minutes at the house after the service because we had to get back to Fort Myers.
So....after all that we had a 11 hour drive and I have a cold. We got in around 3:30 this morning and Hank got up at 5:15 to head to work. We are definetly looking forward to the next two days off to recover from our "vacation" to GA.
God taught me a lot this week about patience, family, and commitment. I know we didn't get to have the Christmas break we thought we would but it was a divine appointment that Hank was in Georgia this week to be with his family. Marriage is teaching me a lot and I can't wait to see what all God has in store for us this year! Happy New Year everyone!

My first Christmas...

I can't believe Christmas is in 7 days. I am not at all ready, but at least I will be shipping my gifts to Texas tomorrow morning. This will be my first Christmas away from my family, for 30 years I have spent Christmas in Texas at my mom and dad's house. On Christmas Eve we have tamales and Queso and open all the presents under my grandmother's tree. My cousins were all there and we played for hours until it was time to go home and wait for Santa. On Christmas morning my sister and I sit in pj's and let my dad play Santa as he hands out all our gifts. We are assured of a 3 things every year..new pajamas, a calendar, and a new DVD.

I will miss everyone in Texas this year as I celebrate Christmas with my husband and his family in Georgia this year. It is definitely a year for change and even though I will miss my old traditions I look forward to starting new ones with Hank and with his family. It's exciting to be a part of a new family and learn traditions they have. I am also looking forward to being with Hank this Christmas. We have never spent Christmas together, so this will be my first Christmas with him as well. I guess this Christmas is all about firsts. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Parties

I really do love Christmas, but this year I feel like I can't even start celebrating Christmas until Monday, Dec. 17. On that day our incredible Christmas Pageant will be over and I will be through with all the Christmas parties I have this week, two of which are at my house. My first Christmas party was today with the All Staff lunch and it went really well. Lots of fun and some cheesey gifts made everything great.
Tomorrow night Hank and I are hosting his staff (and significant others) at our house. This sounded like a great idea this summer but now I am wondering why I wanted 20 people at our house in the middle of the busiest time of year. I am excited to have everyone over, its just a little stressful.
Wednesday night I will be at our Pastor's house for the Ministerial staff Christmas Party. I really enjoy getting to see all the wives at this party since I don't see them very often and don't get to spend time with them often. We have dinner and then we play games which is usually a boys vs girls kind of thing. Hopefully the girls will dominate this year!!!
Finally, I have a party at my house on Thursday for lunch with my staff. I really enjoy the ladies I work with and so I am looking forward to cooking them a nice meal and spending some time away from the office with them.
So...I hopefully will get to go Christmas shopping next week and get everything for everyone and get it shipped to Texas before Christmas is actually over.

Merry Christmas!

Bad at Blogging

OK, so I just looked at my blog for the first time in 5 months and realized I am a terrible blogger. I am setting a goal for myself to post at least once a week finishing out this year and all of next year.
I am really excited because my sister-in-law Katie, and her boyfriend are coming to see Hank and I tomorrow and are staying through Sunday. Katie is a blast and I absolutely love being around her. Hank and I stayed up too late last night trying to get the guest room painted, which is a project we have had since we got married 2 months ago. It is a really pretty olive green and I can't wait to see it finished.
My precious Bekah is on her way to Chicago to attend her grandpa's funeral. She is tough as nails but losing a grandparent isn't easy. If you can remember to say a prayer for her to get through this and for her to be able to make up a final.
Hank and I will celebrate 2 months of being married tomorrow. I love being married to him and sharing my life with someone. Happy monniversary Babe!

"I ate my craft!"

I love my job. I actually believe working with children is one of the most rewarding things someone can do. I have been told that I should be writing down all the funny things kids say to me. So... last Sunday I was sitting at the desk after church and one of our staff guys daughters came up to me. She has an infectious smile and she is a hugger. She hugs me every week and I really look forward to it. Bethany walked up to me and said, "Miss Dawn, I ate my craft!" Now that is not something I hear every week, and really I laughed so hard I though I was going to fall on the floor. She was beaming telling me about the sheep she made is Sunday School made of marshmallows and raisins and toothpicks. When craft time was over the sheep looked so good she ate it. So far, that has been the quote of the week. I hope I never lose the reason I do this job. It's not for the money, or for the praise from people, I do it so I can see children have fun and love coming to church. I do it for kids like Bethany who make my week!

First Time for Everything

I never thought I would have a blog, or that anyone would want to read it. I love reading other people's blogs. Mark, Doc, Gerald, and Hank's friend Trey have blogs that I look forward to reading. They have great stories, and deep insight, or just funny stuff. So, I started thinking maybe, just maybe, I could do this too. So, here I go, into blogging world.
I just got back from Texas and spending time with my family. I really love my family, they are so unique and fun. My parents live on Lake Travis just outside of Austin, TX. They have a great townhouse on the water and a boat, that I literally crave. I can't wait to get on it, and I look forward to it for weeks when I know I am going home. My sister and her husband, and Hank and I spent hours on the boat on Friday. It was amazing. The water was perfect, and it was just what I needed to rest and recover from an amazing Vacation Bible School. Hank got to meet his future brother-in-law which was a lot of fun. My sister and I couldn't have picked more different men to spend our lives with.
We flew back from Texas on Saturday and had two very different flights. The first flight we were upgraded to first class. Now, Hank loves first class. He is a little obsessed with it, but I can see why. It is addicting, and when you get thrown back in steerage you long for your big seat and Diet Coke. The second flight was NOT first class. I sat in the middle. On my left was my fiancee and on my right was a man who hadn't showered in a few days. Ohh.... to be in first class!