World Class Families

Awesome, awesome, awesome! That is the only way to describe todays World Class Families seminar for the ladies. So many timely things were said that I can't even begin to type them all here. To sum it up, I guess I would say we as mothers and wives need to spend time with our children, pray without ceasing, and devour the Word of God like never before. The ladies that serve as our examples at the Rock Church are World Class to be sure, and their leadership is unparalleled. Thank you Sis. Wilson and Sis. Young for your burden for our families and your committment to seeing the women of TRC become the BEST moms and wives in the World!

After a wonderful Holy Ghost filled first session with a question and answer panel and of course the great and inspired teaching of Sis Wilson, we had lunch out in front of the church by the fountain. The sunshine and fellowship were a great way to spend some time with fellow mommies sans kids. Then we reconvened to hear awesome teaching by Sis Young and breakout Q and A groups geared towards grandparenting, parenting boys, parenting girls, single moms, and homeschool moms. We could leave and join the groups throughout the time in order to hear advice and get answers on any of the subjects we needed. I started with the girl group lead by Sis Patty Felt. I heard some great ideas on spending time with daughters, encouraging daddy/daughter time, creating special memories and traditions, how to approach "the birds and the bees", and how to foster a child's independence. I then went to the boy group lead by Sis. Sargent and Sis Jill Lewis. There were many great ideas about how to encourage your boy to be independent, how to plan time for Dad and his son, and how to face those hard dating years.

All in all it was definitely World Class. We are taking a break for the summer, but I know I speak for many, many other ladies when I say I can't wait for the next one and I will spend my summer making those connections with my kids like Sis. Young suggested. Our kids and families are worth ever bit of hard work and sacrifice that we give and the love and devotion and satisfaction that we receive back are immeasurable.

Celebrating Denae's Birthday

For Denae's Birthday, we decided to take her to a resteraunt with a playland. We don't do that very often, so we thought that she would enjoy it. We ended up getting free milkshakes because the meal took a little longer to arrive, so we did her cake the next evening after dinner. We got her a 10 inch bike with training wheels and she loves it. She can't make it go yet, but she sure enjoys getting pushed places and climbing off and on.

Here's the Birthday Girl!

Blowing kisses for the camera

Playing at the Chick-fil-a play land


We have to stay INSIDE the play equipment

Hi, Mom!

Delaney posing in front of the wacky mirror!
Wee! This is fun!!


MMM, this milkshake is good!

Having cake at home (the next day!)
She blew out the candles all by herself!

Enjoying her cake and ice cream

Time to open presents!
Wow! A giftcard to the Children's Place!!(Mommy's favorite kind of gift!)
Money! More favorite gifts!

On my brandnew Princess Bike!

What a great birthday!!!

She also got two new pairs of sandals. One pair is disney princess and lights up which she wears all the time. Another gift is still on the way. She is having the never-ending birthday!!!

Another trip to the ER

Okay, for all those wondering what this picture is about: This is what Dallas and I did Saturday night, May 17. I was giving him a quick shower before bedtime when he slipped and fell, busting his chin open. (I was holding his arm, but the fall happened so quickly I couldn't catch him.) We then spent a couple of hours in ER waiting to get it stitched up. So much for getting to bed at a decent time on Sat night! He was a real trooper. He cried when he first fell, but then didn't cry when they looked at it and cleaned (irrigated) it. He did however scream and required 3 people to hold him still when the 'numbing' shots were given. Apparently that medicine really burns. After a few minutes he was fine and laid perfectly quiet and still while they gave him 5 stitches. His eyes, into which I stared for this entire procedure, still told of the trauma, however, all red-rimmed and full of betrayal. And I was still shaking from the screaming episode even when it was all over with. All's well that ends well, though, and his stitches were removed last Friday, with none of the drama and fanfare. The NP even gave him the stitches to bring home in a little plastic container.

Happy Birthday, Little Angel!

Denae Alysse, my little angel. You have brought so much joy to your mommy and daddy. You are definitly the "baby" of the bunch, and you learned early on how to get what you wanted. You are our Diva. You make us laugh with your silly antics and you love to be the center of attention at home. With others, you can play hard to get, but you still manage to wrap everyone around your finger. You are precious and precocious, a bundle of joy and of energy. I love it when you snuggle close with your blanket, but those moments are getting more scarce as you have discovered your 'independence.' I enjoy watching you play with your brother and sisters. You just know you are big enough to do everything they do. You already figured out how to drive the Gator and are getting frustrated by those 2 wheel bikes that just won't stay up. You would play outside all day if you could. That comes from your "country" roots. Your imagination is really delveloping and you are a wonderful 'mommy' to your babies. You love to sing and will sing along even when you have never heard the song before. You love to pray. The other night in church, during alter call, you laid under the pew talking for a few minutes, then told me you "talk 'a Jesus." I am so grateful that God has already placed a desire in your heart for a relationship with Him. As the years go by, faster and faster all the time, I am amazed to see how much you have already changed from a baby into a "little girl." I know I still have many years to enjoy your childhood, and I plan to do just that, but oh, somedays I wish I could hold you a little longer, even as you wiggle down to play. What a great life you have ahead of you. Your mommy is so grateful to get to go on that journey with you. We love you bunches and bunches, Little Angel.

Happy Mother's Day

I want to wish a happy Mother's Day to 2 very special ladies in my life.

First, my mom, Kathy McDaniel. You are the best mother I could ever have asked for. You have been my encourager, my confidant, my inspiration, and my friend. I really could not say enough to thank you for all you have done for me, from giving me life, raising me in the truth, caring for me, teaching me as only a mother can, and guiding me while letting me test my wings. And now that I am married with children of my own, you are a wealth of knowledge and support, someone I know will be there when I need someone to talk to, no matter what. You are always willing to do what ever you can to help me and knowing that you are there has been a comfort more times than I can count. Thank you for loving me and showing me what it really means to be an awesome mother and a Proverbs 31 woman. I love you, Mom! Wish I could be with you on Mother's Day, but I guess I'll have to wait a few more weeks to see you!

The second lady I would like to honor is my mother-in-law, Karen Reighard. You are a wonderful mother-in-law. Thank you for accepting me into the family when I married your son and moved out here. You really did believe that you did not lose a son but gained a daughter. Thank you for doing such a great job in raising Kevin. He is a wonderful husband and father and a great man. I know the work of a mother is never done and that even when kids reach adulthood a mother's love is still hard at work. Thank you for including me in that love. I love and appreciate you, Mom!

And to all moms, have a blessed and happy day. Enjoy the family God has given you and relish the time spent together. Have a very Happy Mother's Day!

Bible Quizzing Progress

Wow! Have you checked the girls' progress on Bible Quizzing lately? It is on the sidebar with the cute picture of them wearing quiz shirts when they were 2 and 3. We are already gearing up for the Finals Warm-ups tournament to be held here at the Rock Church June 6 & 7. The girls are in the home stretch of learning all their verses this year. They have 9 more verses to learn to qualify for this next tournament, so we will finish up Tuesday I think. But looking at the bigger picture, they are 40 verses away from having memorized all their material for this year! And they can reference it all, too. We are so proud of how hard they are working.


We also started doing one time words with them. The Beginners will start having questions about that this next tournament. Questions like "Abba. Quote the verse of study that contains this word." Or the question might ask them to locate the verse instead. Last night I played a game with them for the one time words. We used Monopoly money and they got $10 when they got one right, or they paid me $5 if they missed it. Then the other player would have the chance to earn $1 if they could answer it. That's what they are playing in the above picture. Darilyn was concentrating on locating a one time word. Delaney won by a little bit, but both of the girls had over $300 in Monopoly money by the time we were done with one page of our one time words.

They also did very well at practice on Wednesday night. Kevin has told them that whoever quizzes out or scores over 100 pts for the night can pick out ice cream to bring home after practice. And if one of them does both, then that one gets to pick out any of the "frozen novelties" in the ice cream department. (Dallas and Denae love this arrangement, too. lol) Well, Wed night, both girls got to bring home something special. Delaney played in 3 quizzes and scored 420 total pts and quizzed out 3 times that night. And Darilyn played in 5 quizzes, scoring 500 total pts and quizzing out 3 times. I guess they had to start subbing her in at the middle of the quiz. Of course it was only practice, but it was really good for Darilyn to realize that she really does know the answers.

Anyways, the girls have worked hard and are excited about Grandma and Poppa being here for the next tournament to watch them quiz. I am too!

To All Moms Everywhere

I saw this on Katie's website and thought I would share it with all the moms outthere.