It's nine degrees outside!! Brr

Aunt Jan taught Emma some words in Spanish when she was visiting this summer. Since then, we've been working on our Spanish vocabularies. We know some body parts, how to count and a few phrases. We went to the church last night to help with the benevolence Christmas packages. On the way home, she kept telling me she didn't want to go home. Then she said, "How do you say I don't want to go home in Spanish"? LOL

Barking up the Wrong Tree

Yesterday, Emma told Adam "you're barking up the wrong tree". We laughed, a lot and when I asked her where she heard that, she said, "Big Bird". Man she kills me. Never a dull moment. This is going to be a fun Christmas. She's loving it.

This morning, we were making Christmas cookies and she kept sticking her fingers in the batter. I told her to quit sticking her fingers in the batter and she said, "I'm not, this is my thumb" and showed me a batter covered thumb. She's a smart one.

I thought this was cute, and appropriate:

NOW HIRING

POSITION:
Mother, Mom, Mama, Mommy, Momma,Ma

JOB DESCRIPTION:
Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an, often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT &PROMOTION:
Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:
None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION:
Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS:
While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.

Happy Holidays!!

Dana

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!

There is a good reason for my lapse in updates. We've been having too much fun. We've had play groups and play dates and craft days and more. Several weeks back I wrote a post saying that I was down and missing my friends and that I hadn't really made any here yet. Don't get me wrong I still miss my friends in PC and Alabama but God must have heard my pleas. I always know that when I've gone through a tough time, that something really good is coming because the tough times are Satan trying to stop the good. In the last couple of weeks it feels like we have gotten over some kind of hump. It seems like some of the relationships that we have been trying to develop are coming through. Also, we've seen some things here recently come out of the kids in the youth group where we're like, "yeah, that's what it's all about, that's why we're here". Some times it amazes me how clearly a teenager can think. I just love it when God does those little things and it's as if He's saying, "Don't worry, I got it, I know what I'm doing".

I got my first experience driving on snow last night. It was a little scary but exciting too. I kept having this urge to do doughnuts but I refrained. My friend Sam had her baby last night and she called me to sit with her little boy until her family could get there. I got to the hospital around 5:45 and there wasn't a snow flake falling and by the time I left at 7:30 the roads were covered. It was crazy. Most of it melted away and we were just left with a little on the grass and a few slick spots today but we did get enough to have a little snowball fight when we got home to last night. Our neighbors must have thought we were crazy. Just the three of us, in the dark throwing snow balls. Oh what fun!

We took Emma to see Santa the other night. She did pretty good. She went right to him and got up in his lap but then she kind of froze and wouldn't say anything. When she got down, I said, "you didn't tell Santa what you want". She said, "Maybe we can write him a letter". We went back today and she saw him again and she told him she wanted dress up clothes. When we got in the car to leave she said, "wait, Santa didn't give us my dress up clothes". These things can be quite confusing for a two year old. Tonight, Adam and I just stared at her for about ten minutes watching her rearrange ornaments on the Christmas tree. I think we both were thinking, "how did we get here" the past two years have flown. Some times she seems so adult.

Tonight, I went to a Christmas party with my Mom's club. It was so much fun. I really like those girls. I love what we do but some times it's nice just to get to be me and not the youth minister's wife.

Well, I could go on and on but I need to go to bed.

Merry Christmas everyone!! Just 15 more days!

Love,

Dana

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT?

I want to hear opinions on this. What is your belief on Corporal punishment of children (spanking)?

Wow, a lot of catching up to do. Since, I last wrote, we traveled down to see my family. Adam had a youth conference in Nashville and we dropped him off and went on down to Alabama. It was very nice to get to spend some time with my family and my mother was so very nice and got Emma up in the mornings and let me sleep in. It was lovely. I think that is the first time I've done that since Emma's been born. My mom and I did a little shopping, and I got to spend some time with some of my friends from high school and their kids.

We met up with Adam's parents in Nashville on the way back and they followed us back home to celebrate Thanksgiving. We had a nice visit and they spoiled my child rotten. It's really probably a good thing that we don't live close. On Wed. It snowed maybe a half an inch. I was very excited and was expecting more to accumulate over night so, I was waiting for Thursday to get pictures. The strangest thing happened, it melted over night. I'm sorry but that is just weird to me. The few times it snowed in Alabama, it happened over night. And here, it melted over night. Oh well, please excuse the pun but... you snooze, you lose. I'm looking forward to more. Adam's mom even bought us this snow sliding thing. Along with half of every store we went in while she was here.

Emma was very excited about the snow "she ran in circles yelling, "It's snowing, It's snowing". A couple times, I would find her just staring out the window. Anyway, we had a good holiday but I'm ready to get back into our normal routine although it won't be long before Christmas. I can't believe how fast its sneaking up.

Ok, Emma said something really funny.. Lynn had these things called greenies that she gives her dog. They are shaped like a toothbrush so she explained to emma that they were a doggie toothbrush and that's how they clean Spikes teeth. The next day, Lynn asked her if she wanted to give Spike a greenie and Emma said, "Actually, it's a doggie toothbrush".

Well, that's all I have for you tonight. I've been trying not to give this computer as much of my time.

Please pray for our ministry!

Love from Above,

Dana

It's Snowing!!!

We're leaving tomorrow. Adam is going to a youth ministry conference in Nashville. I'm dropping him off and going on to Alabama but tonight in West Virginia, it's snowing!! It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!! :)

Fun Week!

Thank God I have a two year old to help me make friends. We've had a really good week. On Monday, we had a play group at Julie's house. It was a lot of fun and really nice for me to get to sit and talk with the other moms. On Tuesday, we went and toured Mr. Bee's Chip Factory. I was going to post some pictures from that but how interesting can pictures of potato chips be? After the tour, we went to the mall and played at the play area and then Emma and I had lunch with Julie and Anna. It's really cute because Emma and Anna really have taken a liking to each other. Anna kept calling Emma sister. When we got home Emma said to me, "Anna is my friend, but she calls me sister". We had a wonderful bible study at ladies bibles study Wed. I want to share something from that with you all but I'm going to share it with the girls at heart to heart first. My class went really well on Wed. night. We talked about prayer and then we made prayer journals. Most of the kids really seemed excited about doing it. I had twelve kids in my class. Five of them were from Powell. I think that's the largest class I've had so far. Then yesterday.. busy busy day. It started off with a sweet suprise. Sam and Anna we're feeling sorry for me because I had a bad week last week and they sent me flowers. Thank you Sam and Anna, that was so sweet. And, it did brighten my day. Last night, I had a Southern Living party which had a great turnout and then we had a lock-in with the teenagers. I left the lock in at two to come home but while I was there, the kids seemed to be having a good time and we had several visitors there too.

Emma constantly amazes me with the new things she comes out with. The other day, we came in the living room and she said, "The sun is shining. The sun is a huge star". I bought a map of the US and we've started talking about where the different people we love live. She can already point out several of the states. I guess I'm going to have to learn them with her because I don't even know where all the states are. She is so inquisitive. I hope I can just stear her so that she keeps such a strong desire to learn.

You can see by the picture of Emma in the leaves that most of them have fallen off the trees by now. Winter, here we come!!

Please pray for our ministry!!!

Love from above,

Dana

Powell

Pictures are from TAG Thursday night

Ok, here is my promised post about Powell. I have written before about how our church busses over some kids from a housing development to church. And, that Melissa Ogden, our teens, and our interns started a vacation bible school type thing with them on Thursday night. Also, we have began to have church on every fourth Sunday night at Powell. Well, some of the adults from Powell are coming to church now too. And, one got baptized the other night. Hip Hip Hooray. We had a planning session Thursday night before TAG and I’m going to go into detail about that but first, I want to tell you about TAG. Btw TAG is the thing we do with the kids on Thursday night. I have no idea what it stands for.

Joe came in and talked to them about Jesus feeding the 5000. That so happened to be one of the miracles that we discussed in my class on Wed. I had a very proud moment when many of the kids raised their hands because they knew the story. They were so excited. It was so neat. They are really learning about God!! It feels really good to get to be able to be a part of that. One little boy, Justin asked Joe if he could ask some questions. Joe thought that he wanted to ask questions about the story he was telling. Joe said, “yes” and Justin jumped up and started asking all the other kids questions about things we have been talking about in class like he was the teacher. It was really cute.

Ok, the planning session.

First of all, I will say that I think this could very well be the most important ministry for our church. When I think, If Jesus was living my life right now, what would he be doing? I think this very likely would be it. So having said that..

Here are two of our goals for Powell this year.

Get more people (especially adults) involved in this ministry.
Like I said, this is a very important ministry. God has put a mission field in our back door. We don’t need to over look this opportunity. I am praying for God to send workers!!

To start a pantry for the Powell residents. This pantry will contain essential items that can’t be bought with food stamps. Things like: toiletries, diapers, medicines, and cleaning supplies. We sent a sign up sheet around church for people to sign up to bring some of these items and had a very good response. I am really excited about this new program. I really feel like this will be a way to reach some people. If you read this and feel inclined to donate something please do!! Also, we definitely will accept money donations and do the shopping for you. Regardless, please pray for this ministry.

Love from above,

Dana


PS: Emma and I tourned Mr. Bee's chip factory with our Mom's Club today. Check back soon for pictures from that

So much on my mind, so few words

Wow, there are so many things that I'm thinking about and I'm having a hard time sorting them out. I'll give it a shot:

It's that time of the year. The weather is getting cold and people are getting down. I remember Lori (our old minister's wife) telling me that November is the worse time of the year. Lori, I miss Lori. I LOVE it here but I feel as I’m having a hard time actually developing close relationships and I’m really missing that spiritual mentor that Lori was for me. I know that it will come in time and that relationships like that don’t come over night but I’ll be glad to get past that point. I’m also missing my girlfriends. The other night, I just mentioned Pam’s name and started crying. I miss her. I hate that I haven’t seen her new baby yet. I hate that Melissa is going through all she is and I can’t be there. If you are here in WV reading this please don’t take this to mean that I don’t want to be here. I do. I’m so thankful that God led us here. I just have a hard time with the whole starting over stuff. Anyway.. Bad time of the year.. The statistics are something like: 50% more suicides occur in November and December than any other time of the year. I can see that others are down and I'm trying hard to fight it myself. However, Adam and I spent a whole lot of time the other night praying and I’m fully expecting things to perk up. Ok, now that I’ve got that off my chest, enough whining, there are lost souls out there!!

Emma… Thank God for her!! For her innocence, for the way she helps me appreciate the important things. We went to the playground yesterday to meet Julie and Anna and I was so proud Emma when she wanted to take one of the rings that Denise had put in her Halloween package to give to Anna. She decided that Anna would have the pink one and she would have the purple one. Anna reciprocated by letting Emma wear her necklace. When we left, they gave each other big hugs. It was so sweet and I’m so glad that she’s already learning to love her friends.

The other day, I was reading a bible story to her and there was a picture of Jesus and another man. “She said, That’s Jesus. Is that Peter? Maybe it’s Matthew”. It was very proud moment for me, realizing that she was really soaking up God’s word. I feel as though these days are flying by and I can’t soak enough of it up. She’s growing so fast. She’s going to be a teenager before I know it and that scares me to death. I know that I only have a limited time where I’m the biggest influence in her life and so I’m trying to pack in enough love and values to last a lifetime. I feel so inadequate for that job. God, please give me wisdom.

Last night, we went to Powell. I’m so excited about that ministry. God has put a mission field in our back yard. I’ve got some pictures from last night that I want to post and do a whole post about our planning session at powell but, I’ve got a big day today I need to get started on. The Cox’s are coming for dinner so lots to do. So be looking for the Powell post in the next couple of days.

Prayers for our ministry are appreciated!!
Love from Above,

Dana

Fall In West Virginia

This is a view from the hay ride up on the hill at Sweet Apple Farms. Aren't the trees beautiful?


I've got a lot of catching up to do so the two posts below are from today.

Mom and Dad's visit

We've been extremely busy. My parents we're here for almost a week and we had a wonderful time. I'm bummed that they had to go back home but am extremely thankful that we had so long to spend with them.

They got here on Monday. They road their motorcycle. Yes, they are crazy but, they have fun. There friends Danny and Kathy road up here with them. They stayed at the Layfette hotel Monday night. We went over their and went to the Becky Thatcher for dinner. If you were thinking of going to the Becky Thatcher (it's a river boat on the Ohio River) Let me save you some money and tell you that it was horrible.

Tuesday, Danny and Kathy went back and mom and dad came here for the rest of the week.
Emma had a tea party like every five minutes. My mom spoiled her rotten playing with her. Mom would go in there every morning and the first thing Emma would say was, "You wanna have a tea party Nonna?" She had a blast. Wednesday. We went to "Sweet Apple Farm". It's a really neat place. And the trees were beautiful. The leaves are changing and it's so pretty!! They had goats, lambs, cows, chickens, and rabbits. We went on a hay ride and froze our rear ends off. We had a really great time though. On Thursday, we went to Amish Country. I thought it was a little over rated but then I found out that we didn't go to the right places. We still had a good time. And, we got a pumpkin for Emma which dad helped her carve while we were at the retreat.

Friday, dad and I road around looking at some houses. We're thinking about buying one to have as a rental. Then we got ready and left for the retreat. Details from the retreat are below. Emma of course had lots of fun with my parents while we were gone and then we took her trick-or-treating when we got back home (Our town did it Saturday night).

Then, Sunday morning mom and dad left to begin their long journey back home :(. We'll get to see them again in three weeks so that isn't too bad. Then Adam's parents are coming for Thanksgiving so that should be fun too.

Well, I've spent alot of time writing this so I guess I better get some other stuff done.

I'm looking forward to your comments hint hint.

Love from above,

Dana

PS, the post below is a post about our retreat.

Orbit: Revolve Around the Son-- Fall Retreat

The Retreat was great! The Theme was Orbit: Revolve Around the Son. Adam did three great, thought prevoking lessons. Everyone got along great (as always). This group does a great job of loving each other. The hotel had a really neat set up with an indoor pool and a hot tub. It looked like a jungle when you walked in. We enjoyed that tremendously. I learned a new game.. Animal Ball. This game is played in the pool and can get quite violent. We were having a great game of very involved Animal ball, when other people, not with our group got in the pool. The teens did not even hesitate when I told them we needed to quit since there were other people in there. They did a good job putting in to practice the things that Adam talked about in his lessons about not thinking the world revolved around us. Like I've said so many times before.. They are a great group and I'm very proud of them.

Lindsey and I found an awesome deal on blue jeans at the mall. They were marked down from $75.00 90% off and then an additional 15% off that. They ended up being like $6.00. We were extremely excited about our awesome fashion deals.

We ended the trip with a trip to a place with indoor go carts and laser tag. We had a girls against guys game of laser tag and the guys beat the mess out of us. I think that Scallywag Tag in Cincinnati spoiled us because no one was that impressed with their laser tag facilities. The go carts however, were a different story. We had a lot of fun racing each other. And, though we tried very hard, we had a little contact where we wasn't suppose to.

Almost everyone in the youth group went. It was a great turn out and tons of fun. Thank you Angie Knost for being a chaperone and thank you Ryan and Jessie Ice for all your hard work!! We love you guys so much!!

Now, let me describe the pictures.

1) This is a picture of most of the people that went. Sorry if you aren't in it. I forgot to get an "official" group picture. I snapped this one while Adam was buying tickets.

2) Picture of some of the girls in the jungle pool room.

3) Jenna and Kylee signing warm fuzzies on our galaxy beach balls.

Real post coming soon

HI,

My parents are here and we're having a wonderful time. I have some great pictures to share with you but I'm missing the cord that connects my camera to the computer. We also have a retreat this weekend that I'm so looking forward to so check back for pictures and a real update.

Until then, please pray blessings on our retreat this weekend.

Love from Above
Dana

A Day Late

Hi,

I realize that I’m a day late updating. There are two reasons for this:
1)I didn’t have anything real amazing to report to you
2)I’m going cold turkey off caffeine and I’m really tired and have a headache.
Anyway, I haven’t been sleeping well and I’m hoping that getting rid of the caffeine habit will help and so far, it has.

Anyway, we had a pretty normal week. MOPS, playdates, church… the usual. We have been working on the alphabet a lot this week and Emma is catching on really well. She has known her ABC’s for a while but we’ve been working on activities where she picks the letter out. I guess if I wanted to stretch the truth a little bit, I could say that she can read because she can pick out the letters I an A and those are words. She has the pledge right now and no longer says Justice frog L. That’s kind of sad because it was cute.

We had the guys night/ girls sleepover on Friday. Both events had a great turn out (probably another reason why I’m tired). We had lots of fun and very little sleep. The rest of the week with the youth group was our usual events. Small groups on Sunday and Heart to Heart on Tuesday. Heart to Heart didn’t go quite as well as I was hoping. Emma kept getting behind me doing “Where is thumb kin”. That was pretty distracting. Anyway, we talked about the passage that says, “His strength is shown in my weakness”. I guess maybe I needed that lesson more than anyone. That page gets a lot of wear in my Bible.

My parents are coming up here. They will be here Monday. I’m very excited about that.

I do have some funny things that Emma did to report:
The three of us were in Toys R Us and Emma announced that Adam pooted. He’s gonna love me for telling you that one.

I told her that we needed to go to the store. She said that she just wanted to stay home. I told her that we could probably go to McDonalds for lunch while we were out. She said, "Can I take a break at McDonalds".

Also, the batteries in my camera are dead and I can’t find the charger so I will put a picture up later.

Love from Above,

Dana

Crazy Week

Picture: Emma and Anna at our play date

Have you ever had one of those days? Well, I've had one of those weeks.

Before I start into my week, I will say that we went to the Zoe Conference with Brian and Angie Knost and had a great time. My mom drove to Nashville and got Emma (I have wonderful parents) and then my mom and dad brought her back to me Sunday.

Ok, now for the craziness....
Matt Wilson had flown to Nashville and road back to WV with us. If you know Matt, you know that he is 6ft7. This becomes important, I promise. Well, we stopped at Chuck E' Cheeses so Emma could have a break. (Thanks to Matt for being such a good sport). It was very crowded. There were like six birthday parties going on. Anyway, Adam and Matt were talking and I took Emma to play in the climbing tubes thing. I stood at the slide because that was the only way down. Well, she was up in the tubes for a while without me being able to see her so I began to get a little worried. I started to walk around trying to see in the windows and couldn't see her. I began to get very worried. I got Adam's attention and he came to the slide. I decided that the only thing for me to do was to climb up into the tubes. I got up in the tubes and couldn't find her. At this point, I organized about ten three and four year olds into a search party. We were all crawling through this maze of tubes looking for a little girl in pink and orange and yelling Emma. This picture seems somewhat amusing now but seriously, this was the most frightening moment of my life. By this time, I was in a full on panic. I was in a full panic and was in a maze. Not good... Since everyone had heard me yelling for my daughter, everyone began to look. I slid down the slide and began to look around. The first thing I thought was to check the bathrooms. So I ran screaming into the bathroom. Then the manager came out and began to very calmly and slowly ask me what Emma looked like. I wanted to hit the guy. I seriously was in the middle of a nervous break down and he was talking like a gay guy. Anyway, about that time Adam came around with Emma in his arms. Matt had spotted her climbing unto a skee ball machine. Thank you God for making Matt tall enough to see over everything in Chuck E Cheeses. Emma will not be getting in another one of those things until she’s twelve. I spent the rest of the trip trying to think of things to tell Matt to prove to him that I was in fact a good mother. But, I’m pretty sure that he’ll always see me as the crazy woman crawling through the tubes at Chuck E Cheeses screaming her head off.

Monday:
We tore down wallpaper at the youth house. We discovered at least five different wallpapers in the many many layers. Maybe more. It's still not finished.

Yesterday:
I left my cell phone on my car and drove off with it on there. Adam went to get it replaced for me only to find out that I had opted not to get insurance.

Today:
Well first, this is the second time I’ve written this post because my computer did something funky and I lost the whole thing.

Emma and I had a play date with my friend Julie and Emma’s friend Anna. Anna is about six months older than Emma. We had a wonderful time. Emma doesn’t usually have girls to play with. But, in the two hour period we were there, Emma pooped four times. And we’re potty training so it wasn’t a pretty picture. I know you may not want to hear about my child’s poop but when you become a mom, poop talk is a normal part of every day life.

Then church…
Our church works with a government subsidized apartment complex. I’m so proud to be apart of a church that does this sort of thing. The kids from this complex are bussed to church. What an awesome opportunity!! I will take a moment to brag on our teens here. Our teens are great. They along with Ryan and Jesse Ice (our interns) go to the Powell Apartment complex every Thursday night and sing songs and do crafts and stuff with these kids. If it weren’t for their hard work, these kids wouldn’t be at church.. Our teens are great!! But, these kids don’t exactly know how to act in church and I had eight of them. It was a crazy night. But, when we were leaving, this kid, Tyrell asked me “Do you want me to come back?” I said, “Well of course I do Tyrell”. He said, “Will you be my teacher?” And so I’m thanking God for giving me the honor of being one of the people that get to show this kid Jesus. And so I’ll pray, somewhat reluctantly, that next week, God will bring me twice as many.

After church:
Emma was taking a bath and the door bell rang. I ran to answer the door. It was a woman from church dropping something off. Then I heard Emma screaming in the bathroom. I ran in there to find that she had poured a bottle of shampoo on her head. I wet a washcloth and handed it to her. She stopped crying and I went back to the door. Emma started crying again. Becky kindly told me she’d let me tend to my child and I went back to the bathroom. Shampoo had gotten into her eyes. I got her out and washed her eyes the best I could. She stopped crying but flatly refused to get back into the bathtub so I could wash the shampoo out of her hair. I then cleared everything off the kitchen counter and told her we were going to do it like Nonna does it at her beauty shop and rinsed her hair in the sink.

But really, after losing her on Sunday, this all seems so small. I really doubt that anyone reads this novel but writing it was definitely therapeutic and certainly cheaper than a shrink.

Before I go, I do have to share with you a couple of…..

Funny things Emma did:

On the way to Nashville, Angie road with me and Adam road with Brian. Emma was sitting quietly in the back seat while Angie and I talked ninety to nothing. Emma piped up and said, “Excuse me”. It may have been one of those things where you had to be there but we lost it.

And, she can say the pledge but instead of justice for all, she has justice frog.

See you next Wed.

Love from Above,

Dana

PS: I spent two hours writing this twice. You could at least leave a short comment

Hilarious

You guys have got to see this. This is the funniest thing I've ever seen. Seriously, whatever you have to download (It should open with Windows Media Player) to view this, do it.
Direction: Click the link below. It will take you to another web page. Then look for the link that says click for video on that page. For some reason I couldn't do a direct link. I want to see some comments on this one people.

CLICK HERE for video.

~~Dana~~

Potty Training

How is it that I'm the only one having trouble sleeping?



Picture: Emma and Connor at MOPS



I've always wanted to be a mother. Most things have come very naturally to me. It's like I'm finally becoming what God has always intended me to be. And then, potty training... God has a funny way of keeping us humble.. Emma is a very smart kid. She has been calling her skin her epidermis for a year now. She can name all of her body parts. She can name about five of her body parts in Spanish. She knows her ABC's. She can pick most of them out when she sees them written. She can count. She knows all her colors. And, she can explain to me in essay format why doesn't need to use the potty. Yesterday, I said, "Emma do you need to TT in the potty"? Her reply, "I don't want to right now". I said, "Emma, big girls TT in the potty". She says, "I don't care". So then she TT's in her underwear and says to me, "It's ok momma, I can change into dry underwear". I will like to say here that I think a lot of mothers rewrite history with their children. It's funny to me that I know so many mothers who say their children were potty trained by two but I know several, several two year olds at the moment and not one of them are potty trained. I feel very fortunate to be living in a place where people move slower. Seriously, that's frustrating when you are going through a fast food drive through that isn't at all fast, but when it comes to potty training, the pressure is off. Most people here don't even start until closer to three and alot of their children aren't trained until more like four. I like that. I sort of look at it like this: Once she's potty trained, that's the end of her not having responsibilities. And that's the beginning of growing up. And I want to keep her a little girl as long as possible. So there, now it's in writing I won't be able to say, years down the road, that she was potty trained early.

Yesterday, we went to our first day of MOPS. I absolutely loved it!! Emma loved it too! It was so much fun. For those of you that don't know, MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers. It's a Christian based organization. The kids go to their own classes and do crafts and games and a bible study and the mom's do the same thing.


Funny Things Emma has said:

Adam and I were reading the story about Adam and Eve to her the other night. When we got done, she said, "Now let me read it to you". She opened up the book and said, "Adam and Eve, don't eat the fruit".

Yesterday after MOPS, we were eating lunch with Adam and I told Emma that we were going home to take a nap. She took my face between her hands and said, "Honey, don't say that".

She is staying with my parents this weekend. We are going to the Zoe Conference in Nashville and mom is going to drive up to Nashville to get her. When I told Emma this she said, "I'm going to Nonna's, you stay here".

Last but not least: She told me, "Connor has a baby brother, I want a baby sister". You people are about to see that she doesn't get everything she wants.


YOUTH GROUP: I'm loving it so much. Last night we had Heart to Heart and we discussed how we were going to decorate the youth house. We are going to go with charcoal, light gray, and aqua. I'm really excited about getting started. We have such a great group. They are growing in so many ways. I think they have a few growing pains along the way every now and then but I think God has great things in store for this group. "I thank God every time I remember them".

Well, I guess that's it for now.

Love from Above,

Dana

The Emma Trilogy

WARNING This is going to be a long entry about Emma. If you want to read some kind of deep theology or such, read Adams. I'm a mom. This is what I do.

Part One: Shaving

Ok, just a random thing on my mind. Taking a shower… Either I have to take a shower before Adam leaves or I take a shower with Emma. I haven’t lost my mind to the point that I let a two year old run around the house by herself. So, this morning we set the alarm clock for very early and guess what, didn’t get up. So as I was showering with my beloved daughter wrapped around my ankles, I began to think… I used to think of shaving as a beautiful art form. Like I was a beautiful swan gracefully perched upon one leg. Needless to say, my swan days are over. But hey, at least I still shave my legs.

Part Two: Daddy’s a Nerd

I have the best role in the world. I am with Emma all day and I get to teach her everything she knows. For now, I’m the smartest person in the world to her. I realize that one day she is going to become a teenager (sorry to take a dig at you teenagers) and I am going to become instantly ignorant but, for now, I’m soaking it up.

So one thing I like to do is show Adam the things she’s learned for the day. First, I taught her to say that “Daddy is cool, I’m awesome, and Momma is my best friend”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m very proud of my honor of being her best friend. But, I decided I didn’t want Adam to get a big head so I taught her to say, “Daddy is cool, but Momma is the coolest and “I’m Awesome”. By this point, I’m having a lot of fun so, “I decided to teach her, “Momma is the coolest, I’m awesome, and Daddy is a nerd”. Since that hurt Adam’s feelings a little, I tried to teach her something new, something a little nicer but no, nerd stuck. But here is the funny thing. Last night, we had one of the teenagers, JT, with us. So I said, “Emma what is momma?” She said, “Momma is the coolest” “What are you?” “I’m awesome” “What is Daddy?” “Daddy is a nerd.” Then I said, “What is J.T.?” She said, “J.T. is sixteen.” And he is!! LOL

Part Three: She wants to be like me

Ok, now for the serious part. Adam and I each have a basket under the bathroom counter that our toiletries go in. And, I must add here, that I married a guy that uses more styling products than I do. Anyway, after Adam leaves each morning, I go into the bedroom and get his toiletries and go and put them back in his basket because of course, he never does that himself. This morning, Emma went and got them, and put them right in the basket. I was very excited about this for a couple of reasons: 1. I’m going to get some help around here. 2. She’s showing signs of not being messy like her daddy. But then, the seriousness of the situation hit. She does everything that I do. So, in light of that, I try not to be cheesy and put song lyrics on here but there are some that I’m thinking of that are just too fitting to leave off. So here they are:

I want to be just like you,
Cause she wants to be just like me
I want to be a holy example,
For innocent eyes to see

Help me be a living Bible Lord,
For my little one to see.
I want to be just like you,
Cause she wants to be like me.

Something like that anyway.. Now, to our busy day.

Love from Above,

Dana

LEAVE COMMENTS PEOPLE

Emma has been sick the last couple of days. She threw up yesterday. But, I cleaned her up and gave her lots of hugs and popsicles and she's feeling better now. I need some rest before I can really update. Until then... Enjoy the pictures grandparents

Picture 1: Emma sick on the couch. You know if she was still long enough for me to get her picture laying on the couch, she wasn't feeling good.

Picture 2: Emma and Kylee (girl in the youth group) Emma loves her teenagers.

Love from above,

Dana

My life is the Grandest

Ok, today was not a great day.. Emma and I both have a nasty cold and when I have a cold, I don’t sleep well so I’m tired and have a cold. Adam left me stuff here to do that he should have taken care of before he left (thanks sweetie) and I messed it up terribly. So, I’ve been messing with that stuff all day. The highlight of my day was going to Hannah’s (girl in the youth group) volleyball game with Kylee and Anna (girls in the youth group). Williamstown didn’t win but Hannah sure looked cute out there. It was all made better at the end of the night. Right after I got Emma ready for bed and in her pajamas, I looked at her and said, “Emma, you know baby, I really don’t feel very good”. She said, “It’s ok momma, I’ll scratch your back. That’ll make you feel better”. And yes, that’s a direct quote,she said all those words. And so she scratched my back and I basked in her sweetness. And yes, it did make me feel better. So, I’m about to go to bed knowing that my life is the grandest. And, I’ll pray that God takes care of all the other stuff tomorrow. Edit Sept 22: and he did!! God is great!

Love you all,

Dana

Now here’s the thing I’ve been tagged to do about a hundred times now:


10 years ago I:
-was 17 and had just got out of a serious relationship (by the way, serious relationships are for married people) and thought my world had ended.
-was a senior in high school and held the Alabama state championship in high jump
-could do a back tuck

5 years ago I:
-was married to the greatest guy in the world
-was living in Albany GA
-was in college and could do a back hand spring

1 year ago I:
-was still married to the greatest guy in the world
-was loving being a mommy
-lived in Panama City Florida and could do a cart wheel
-
Yesterday I:
-Was still married to the greatest guy in the world
-still loving being a mommy
- had 20 something teenagers at my house and was lucky to be able to get out of bed

5 snacks i enjoy
-cashews
-soft pretzels with cheese from the mall
-cheese
-oatmeal pies
-chocolate chip cookies and milk

5 songs i know by heart:
-Stay by Lisa Loeb
-I’ll be there for you by Bon Jovi
-Patience by Guns and Roses
-many, many church songs
-many, many children’s songs

5 things i would do with a million dollars:
-pay off our house
- put half of it in investments. I’d live off the interest and let my family have the rest after I’m gone
-Set my mom up where she could retire um, in West Virginia J
- Give some to the church
Um, I’m out of money… a million dollars really wouldn’t go very far

5 places i would run away to:
-where ever my momma is
other than that, I pretty much like being at home
-
5 things i would never wear:
-tight rolled jeans. A lot of you probably don’t even know what those are..
-granny panties… ok, I did that once but it was a joke (huh Sam and Anna)
-a girdle… I don’t care how fat I get
-Abercrombie and Fitch… Though I love their jeans, I’m boycotting them because their catalogs have naked people in them.
-one of those glitter t shirts that say princess, or hot or something like that

5 favorite t.v shows:
-The Apprentice
-American Idol
-ER
-Smallville
-Dharma and Greg

5 bad habits:
-losing my keys
-calling Adam a dork
-caffeine
--wearing my heart on my sleeve (me too Heather)
- -caring what people think

5 greatest joys:
-..Emma Elaine Ellis
-Adam Keith Ellis (when he’s not a dork)
-my family
-the kids in the youth group
- -spending time with friends

5 fictional characters i would date:
-the guy Harrison Ford played in Air Force One
-Mel Gibson in Braveheart
-Zorro
-Clark Kent
-Adam Sandler in “50 First dates” Guess I like the heroic type

who needs to do this now:
-Heather Hedden
- -Adam, I’ll believe it when I see it
-Kayla Hammock
-Justin, my nephew
-Justin’s girlfriend Caitlin. I need to know some things about this girl

Home Sweet Home

We’re finally home. We have been in seven states in the past week and I’m glad to be back home. Emma did great. She did not even whine once the whole trip. We made it home yesterday evening in an impressive 10 hours and 45 minutes. With a long McDonalds stop to play. Soon after we got home, we were paid a visit by some of the kids in the youth group. They brought milk and cookies with them. Very thoughtful.. I continuously thank God for bringing us here and blessing us so greatly.

Ok, the last few days of our trip:
We went to church with Adam’s parents Wed night and spent the night with them. Thursday, we had lunch with Adam’s grandmother and then traveled back to Birmingham. Thursday night, we had dinner at my friend Kristen’s house. Kristen is my best friend from high school and elementary school for that matter. I have known her since sixth grade. Our friend Jana also came over (also since sixth grade). All of our kids got to play together. Jana has two, Kristen one and one on the way (she's having a girl woo whoo.. And no, I don’t give in to peer pressure. We sat around at marveled at how much our lives have changed. Most people are not fortunate enough to have friends that they’ve known their whole lives. Thank you again God for blessing me so greatly.
Picture one: Jacob,Jayden(Jana's kids)Emma,Camden(Kristen)
Picture two: Emma,Kristen,Camden
Picture three: Emma and Camden

Today, I kept Connor Whitaker because Rachel had the baby. I’m about to do another post of the baby so their family can see pictures of him.

Have a great night.

All my love,

Dana

Funny thing Emma did:
She stood up in a chair and said to Adam, "Look daddy, I'm going to bust my tail".

On our way

I don't know if you could call this a restful vacation but we're having a good time. We made it down to the beach and were able to spend one day on the beach. We enjoyed seeing some of our friends and Emma really enjoyed getting to play with her old friends. We saw some of the teenagers and parents from Panama City and were glad to see them doing well. Emma has taken to calling the teens in PC "the old teenagers" and the ones from West Virginia "the new teenagers". We're now working our way back up the map. We are spending the night at Adam's parents in Enterprise Alabama and going to church with them tonight. Tomorrow night, we will get together with some friends of mine from high school and spend the night at my parents house. Then Friday, we'll be going all the way home. I'm so glad that I think of it as home already. I could be really cheesy and put in some song lyrics here but I'll spare you. Hope you all are having a great week.

The picture of the pregnant girl is my friend Pam. Isn't she cute!!

Love from above,

Dana

More pictures from the ceremony

Vacation

We are making a stop on our way to the beach. We are in Adam's sister's class room in Prattville, AL. This has been our first chance to get internet access. Our trip is going well. We traveled all day Friday and made it to my nephew's football game. The first picture is Emma with him after the game.My grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows. It was a really sweet moment and the family enjoyed being able to get together. We are missing everyone in West Virginia and have enjoyed the text messages and phone calls we've gotten to keep us updated on everything. We have already had some interaction with hurrican refugees and have some neat stories to tell about how God works when we get back. I will share them with everyone when we get home. Just a little reminder to the Heart to Heart girls, keep up your prayer journals :).

I will post more pictures Wed. night when we get to Adam's parents.

Love from Above,

Dana

This past weekend we went to Summit in Columbus. It was a really great trip. I had been under the impression that it was a youth rally but it was really a sort of family rally. The numbers were low which is somewhat dissapointing because I thought it was a great event. There are very few things that families with young children can go to and worship God and know that their children are well taken care of. They had a great child care section and Emma had a ball. Our group was the largest group there and that was quite a boost for us. The group did great and I was so proud to be a part of them. There were several times that I would see specific kids going to great lengths to make sure another kid didn't feel left out. They do a great job of loving each other. And, since the Bible says that "they will know us by our love", that's a huge deal. And it's working, Linda went and seemed to have a great time and felt really welcome. I'm so excited about all of this. I do believe that this group of kids are going to change the world.

While we were in Columbus, Jan flew in and Emma and I went and picked her up at the airport. Since we've been back in Vienna, she's been spending a whole lot of time with Jason. In case you don't know, Jason is a guy that works at OVU that I introduced her to. Yes, that was me patting myself on the back. This will be interesting to watch.

Now an Emma update... Well, that terrible twos stage probably wasn't really the terrible twos because it didn't last for very long. She's back to her sweet little self. We had her two year old check up last week. Yes, it's two months late but give me a break, we just moved. She was 36 and 1/2 inches tall and weighed 30lbs. She is in like the 98th percentile for her height. Guess she's going to be tall like her daddy. For the grandparents.. Sorry, I haven't taken many pictures of her this week but I'll work on that today. In the one I posted from Summit, her head is turned away. Funny things she's said... Well, I'm not sure this is funny but when I picked her up from her class at Summit, I asked her if she had fun and she said, "Yeah, I had fun playing with the boys". Also yesterday, she came up to me and pulled out her ears and said, "look, I'm a monkey". Then, a few minutes later, she said, "I figured I'd be a monkey". Who knows? She keeps us laughing. I have the best job in the world. I thank God that I'm able to be at home with her and not miss these precious moments.

Yesterday, we went to the park to meet people from this Mom's club that I've joined. We really enjoyed it and I'm really excited about all the events that this group does. They do all kinds of service projects and field trips and stuff. And, it's a chance for me to meet some people out side of church and do a little reaching out myself.

Tonight, we are having Heart to Heart with the teenagers and I'm excited about getting a chance to discuss things that are on their hearts.

We are going on vacation this Friday and will be gone a week so it might be a while before I update. But I'll try to add some more pictures soon. Hope all of you have a wonderful week.

Love from above,
Dana

Today was a good day. I heard from my family down in Alabama and got the update on hurricane Katrina. My parents lost electricity at both their home and buisness and a tree fell on my sister's house. But, all in all, the damage wasn't too bad and most importantly, they all are safe. I thank God for that. Emma and I went to the store and then, while Emma was napping, I had a little chat with my friend Pam. You know how every now and then you make those friends that you know love you just the way you are and you can totally be yourself and know they won't ever think badly of you? Well, Pam is one of just a couple of those people I have in my life and I always enjoy talking to her. This evening, the teens came over to watch a movie. Linda, a new girl came. She is also going to Summit (that's the youth rally we are going to this weekend). Linda just showed up at class Wednesday night and Lindsey stepped out and made an effort to get to know her. I believe that that is a big part of why she came back. Also, Lindsey brought three girls with her tonight. That girl is on fire with the reaching out stuff and I'm so proud of her. The rest of the teens did a good job welcoming Linda too. Anna told me that she is bringing a friend with her to church with her tomorrow night. Is it just me but does all of this "Fishing for Men" get everyone excited? I have this theory, the water that never runs dry that Jesus talked about... I think maybe part of what he was talking about was bringing others to him. I think a fire is starting that is going to spread..
Anyway, my day ended the best way possible. Emma went to bed with no fuss at all and when I laid her down she said, "Momma, I love you sooo much. You're my best friend". It doesn't get any better than that. Life as a child of God is awesome!! I hope your tomorrow is wonderful.

Love from above,

Dana