Baileigh swimming

Here are a couple of videos of Baileigh swimming at Granna’s house.

Only One

i am only one.

only one person.

with one heart.

with two hands.

with two feet.

i am only one.

i can’t do much.

i don’t have much to offer.

i am only one.

i only have one voice.

i can only do one thing at a time.

i don’t know much.

i am only one.

by myself, i only amount to one.

add me up or multiply,

and i still only come out to

one.

but what can one do

when paired with another?

i guess it depends on who the other is.

if the other is cruel

and dark

and unhappy

then two, a lot of damage

can do.

but what can one do

when paired with someone

Holy?

someone Righteous.

someone Perfect.

someone who loves them.

Then, two a lot of good

can do.

then the two, when multiplied

can become uncountable.

then the two, added together

can be insurmountable.

one, when paired with the Good one,

can love others.

encourage.

uplift.

be positive.

turn sadness into joy.

be content.

the one voice suddenly

becomes louder

and a smile suddenly

becomes sincere.

others want to know this one,

that paired with the Good One,

is different and attractive yet humble.

happy birthday to the

Good One. that makes me

a better one. that when I pair

up with Him, I am restful

and peaceful and the me

I want to be.

International Day & Baileigh says Nana

Carley on International Day at school

Baileigh says Nana

Birthday and Halloween

What an incredibly wonderful birthday I had!  Turning 31 was made a easier by my husband and family   We started with a joint celebration last Monday with Dustin’s sister, Diana; Tuesday night, my mom, sister, aunt and cousin took me out to dinner.  I chose Cracker Barrel so we could take our time and sit on the rocking chairs after and talk.  We never feel like we have enough time to sit and talk, to it was nice to get to do that after dinner.

On Thursday, a couple of friends from church had me over to celebrate.  We let the kids play and ate pumpkin muffins! So fun.

Friday night, Dustin took me on a wonderful date – thanks to our lovely youth volunteers (who got us gift cards!!  Nothing like a free date…it was AWESOME!).  We ate at Cheesecake Factory…and, boy, did we eat!  We made ourselves so sick, we couldn’t even get popcorn at the movie!

Saturday morning, I started off with a run, then Dustin took me to brunch at Mimi’s Cafe, where we pigged out again! This time I got pumpkin pancakes, and they were delicious!  We then went shopping with some b-day money.  I had not bought any clothing/make-up, etc. for myself since JULY!  We are cutting way back on spending, doing a strict budget, so I splurged with the birthday money…after all, since I’m not shopping anymore, who knows when I could get some clothes?

We finished off my birthday with dinner at Mellow Mushroom with my wonderful family (minus my mom, who was sick, and very missed), a stop at Avalon’s Spooctacular and dessert at my house.

Halloween we had an extremely successful Fall Festival at our church.  I am so proud of Dustin for organizing it.  We had inflatables, face painting, live music, hayride, and trunk or treat. Melissa and I decorated a trunk on behalf of our Life Group. We did a beach theme.  Carley & Baileigh had a great time and so did I!

Baileigh’s new words

cookie and yummy

 

 

You’re just an…

Yesterday, Carley got upset with Baileigh and told her: “Baileigh, you’re just an Israelite!”   (Apparently she’s mixing in some Bible stories to her everyday vocabulary )

Words Baileigh can say and/or sign (I’m sure there’s more, but this is what I can think of now:)

• more (and sign it)
• eat (sign)
• thank you (sign)
• please (and signs)
• Papa
• Nana
• Mama
• Dada
• Car-Car
• Amen (and sign…this is also what she calls Amy)
• A-Da (Cassady)
• Pe (Hope)
• Di (diaper)
• Shshshsh (she says this for “brush teeth,” “cheerios,” and “shoes”
• No no
• Night night
• Girl
• Good

Weekend Fun

 

Yes, that is mommy's purse and a pair of panties around her neck. It was so funny I had to share.

 

 

Carley wanted to go on "vuh-cation" so the blue towel was the ocean, and she packed her suitcase full of clothes, then proceeded to dump the clothes in the living room. Ah, kids.

 

 

Some of the clothes Carley took on "vuh-cation." She dumped them behind the couch.

 

 

Matching pj's!

 

 

Sisters!

 

 

Carley with her self-portrait...she had a little help from Daddy

 

 

Carley hates the camera...:-)

 

Carley is rocking, singing “back and forth” and Baileigh is trying her best to sing like Carley

Church Member Appreciation: Part 2

Part 2 of showing my appreciation for the wonderful church members of Avalon brings me to write about Matt & Robyn Nealis.  We first met the Nealis’ when Carley was about 1.  They joined the young married small group that met at our house on Wednesday nights.  That year, we added many new couples to our group, and we all became fast friends.  Matt & Robyn dove right in.  Although they both held down very important full time jobs, they were some of the most faithful ones to our group.  Matt soon began volunteering in our student ministry, and was a big help to Dustin.  Not only did he work with the middle school boys small group, Matt was there early helping Dustin set up, and at all of the special events early and staying late to assist us.

I asked Robyn to help with the middle school girls small group after Matt had been helping for a while.  She automatically said yes and was also a faithful volunteer for us.

None of the volunteers in the student ministry get paid for what they do. They all hold down regular full time jobs that keep them super busy during the week.  For Matt & Robyn, their jobs kept them busy for well over 40 hours a week – like I said, they both have important jobs and at one time, Matt was working every weekend.  Whenever he could, though, he was at 220 on Sunday nights, and even if he didn’t come, Robyn was there helping with the middle school girls.

A couple of years ago, Dustin started a launch for a new ministry called the Care Team.  We invited some key families of the church to help us get this started – one of which was the Nealis’!  They of course jumped right in and were a vital part of the ministry long after it was turned over to the new leaders.  The Care Team is still one of the most important ministries of the church.

Robyn gave birth to a precious little girl on March 31, 2010 named Claire.  As soon as little Claire was old enough, Robyn started bringing her to the Sunday night services, and continued to help us with the middle school girls.

One of my favorite memories will always be going to see U2 in concert last year with Matt & Robyn in Tampa.  It was a super fun night and a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I will always share with Robyn a love for real macaroni & cheese, quiche, and roast

Matt & Robyn will be moving this weekend to live near her parents where Matt recently got a new job.  I know they will be a blessing at whatever church they go to.  As for us at Avalon, we have been more than blessed to have them for the past years.  They will be greatly missed – not only in the ministry, but as dear friends too!

Baileigh saying names…this one’s for you, Papa!

Church Member Appreciation: Part 1

A member of our church has been posting blogs about the different staff pastors at Avalon Church  in honor of Pastor Appreciation Month.  Although I myself am just a member of the church as well, and I certainly appreciate the pastors of Avalon, whom are all very close to my heart (including my husband who I think is the most handsome, kindest, funniest man I’ve ever met ), I wanted to write some entries about our incredible church members.  We have some of the best people in the world at our church, and I want to share with everyone just how special they are – and why.

I thought I’d start with the man that inspired me to do this – Matt Owen, and his wife Heather.  I would proudly take credit for getting them involved at our church, but I must admit – it was the Holy Spirit and not me that called them.

Let me start from the beginning – it all started with me having some extra weight to lose.  Really.  I had given birth to my precious girl Carley in June 2006.  I expected to be able to eat, and eat, and eat, and lose weight.  I was actually surprised when cutting out french fries (except at Chick-fil-A…theirs were healthier cause they were waffle fries…right?), didn’t do anything to help the weight come off.  Anyway, out of frustration and after having worn the only skirt that fit me to church 4 weeks in a row (gasp!), I joined Weight Watchers.  I had great success with the new lifestyle I was leading, the weight dropped off, and I ended up weighing 25 to 30 lbs less by January 2007 than I did when I got pregnant.  In looking for a way to make extra money, I got the bright idea that I should work for WW. I had no idea how to get a job with them, but I did some research, applied, interviewed, and boom!  I had a new job!  I really wanted to become a leader, which they say usually takes a long time, but they invited me to the Leader training weekend in April 2007, and I was given my own meetings straight out of mentoring.  That meeting was held in Chuluota in June 2007, with a bright receptionist that everyone raved about – Heather Owen.

As it turned out, by December of 2007, Heather and I were working at 3 meetings a week together.  Our managers told us what a great team we were, so they didn’t mind pairing us up so much.  I sometimes wondered what had given me the desire to work for WW; and how the doors had opened so easy for me in each aspect.  I remember realizing that all of this had happened for one reason: Heather.

I knew God wanted me to invite her to church, but I was a little scared.  I was worried about ruining our friendship.  I finally got the nerve during the summer of 2008 to mention that she and her husband should visit our church when we made the move into our new church building. Imagine my surprise when Matt & Heather didn’t want to wait – they wanted to go ahead and visit!

I knew the first Sunday they would be there would be a little different, and I almost discouraged them from attending that day. The church was having a ministry fair, and everyone was going to wear football jerseys…we were calling it Kick-off Sunday.  But, I didn’t say anything about it…I thought I would let God take care of that. If God wanted them there that Sunday, they would be there.  And, they were!  They even were brave enough to come back the next Sunday!

Skipping ahead, Matt & Heather are now both members of Avalon church!  They are there every Sunday unless they are out of town.  They got plugged in; Heather helped with the children’s Christmas program last year, Matt attends a weekly men’s Bible Study, Heather has been involved in various women’s ministry events, as well as helping tremendously with the homeless ministry.  They got involved in a Life Group, and were recently asked to start their very own group.

I appreciate Matt & Heather for their dedication and love of Avalon Church.  They are both servants of Christ.  They love the pastoral staff – in fact, they gave Dustin and I a gift to go on a date right around our anniversary, and Heather even came and babysat for us to enjoy our night!

They are giving of their time, talents, and resources.  They inspire me to serve.

PS – Matt is a great writer, and you can visit his blog at:

http://choiceandmighty.blogspot.com