Day 7 Beach!!

Sorry for the picture overload!

Callee Bug
Cute Cousins

T and me

Hynlee girl

Kendall Brooke:)

My babies

Feeling the water on her toes

My Love

My precious family...so blessed!

My whole world!

Day 7 plans...BEACH! We always go to the beach but this year was extra special! Tammy and her family joined us. The girls loved it like always but Hynlee surprised us all. She absolutely loved it! Grace and Callee never cared about it when they were that small. But she couldn't get enough of it. The sand, the water, the waves..she loved them all! She was way to cute giggling each time the waves hit her. And as for me, well ever since I have had kids I don't like getting way out in the water. But this year Derick kept pulling me until we were way to far. But we had fun, more fun that we have had in a long time. We needed this!

Day 6

KK and Jonah

My little love bug!

Chip and Dale

She is so beautiful...and doesn't even know it:)

Two of my loves..

Princess Callee, Jasmine, and Grace...I know Daddy wishes he would have went now!! He has a secret thing for Jasmine!

Mommy's favorite Princess
Callee and her Princess Wand!

Cinderella

Magic Kingdom! This is the one place that keeps bringing us back to Disney! This year we had an extra special treat! We have tried on numerous occasions to get reservations at The Royal Table inside Cinderella's castle. It's so hard to get one but this year Nana Kris and Papa Tim went above and beyond! They treated all us girls to a day in the castle!! Grace and Callee were so excited. This is all they had talked about for months!

We had a ball! Except for the fact that I forgot Hynlee's blankie in the stroller outside. So she had a melt down just about the entire time! No blankie, no cover-up so I had to use a napkin...yes a little square napkin to cover up nursing in the middle of the dining room. It was either that or let her scream for the rest of the time!! Then it came time to order and Mom has to announce my allergy to nuts. So what does this mean? It means the Chef..yes the actual chef has to come out and discuss my dining options. What else did I expect? We are one big, crazy family! Did I really think we could have a dinner with out any mishaps?? But we did make memories to last forever!! Thanks again Nana and Papa:)

The rest of the day was how do you say it? HOT!

The girls didn't let that stop them. They rode Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. They liked all of them and rode most of them twice. We finally decided not to waste time standing in lines to meet characters with Hynlee. She wasn't going to have her picture made!

Chef Mickey's Day 5

Today had been planned out for months. Every year we do a character meal, Nana Kris and Papa had asked if they could take all the kids to this one. We didn't have a problem with that..except that Hynlee has never been left. I guess with her being the baby its just been harder leaving her. But we had agreed she could go but that was before her head injury. Well let me start at the beginning. Hynlee still doesn't sleep through the night. So when she woke up early that morning I just left her in the bed with us. I was careful and placed two pillows beside her and then the pack and play was beside the bed so I thought it was all good. Well once again I was wrong. Sometime around seven she rolled over on top of the pillows and fell off the bed. As if that wasn't enough she hit her head on the corner of the night stand. I woke up as soon as she hit the floor. She was lying face down on the floor. When I picked her up there was blood everywhere!! It took us forever to get it stop bleeding. I first thought we needed stitches but she was fine. I thought for sure I wouldn't be able to let her leave me now. But she did and I'm sure she did better than I did. The only problem was they were going for breakfast. They left our room at 9:00 and didn't return until 2:00! What kind of breakfast they had I'm not sure, but I sure was missing my babies!! Poor Hynlee didn't like the characters at all. And looking back at the pictures and how bad she looks, I wish I would have just kept her with me. On the upside of things Grace, Callee, Lane, and Jonah had a blast.

Hollywood Studio's Day 4

One of the soldiers from Toy Story

Look how much taller Callee is than Grace!

The kiddos waiting in line for the new Toy Story ride. They loved it, well everyone but Hynlee. We had to wait in line twice for them to ride it again.

My favorite..and guess what? I took it! I guess maybe I can take a decent picture!!

This was Hynlee's first characters. And she did pretty good. She even reached out and touched one. Can you tell that June is the girls favorite??


My Callee Girl!

Grace and Callee found out they were tall enough to ride Tower of Terror because I opened my big mouth. I never ever thought they would want to ride it. Well, maybe Callee but most defiantly not Gracie. Boy was I wrong. Derick and I will both ride any ride, any time. But neither of us was ready for our girls to take this BIG step. I don't know who was scared more, Derick and me for them, or them. We..or I tried my very best to talk them out of it the entire time we were in line. And I thought I had Gracie. She would say no I don't want to and then Callee would start teasing her and she would decide again that she would try it. I just had a very long and serious talk with them, about how once we were on it there was nothing Mommy or Daddy could do. If you sat down and buckled up then you had to ride it. They both said they understood. So we did it. I was so scared and nervous and excited all at once. But they did good..no they did wonderful! They loved it! But as soon as we got off Grace said I have to go to the bathroom now! And this is big for Grace, cause she DOES NOT use public bathrooms! I guess she was so scared she really about peed her pants! But as soon as she went we rode it again. This time with Lane and I think we have permanently scared him for life. He didn't cry but he didn't like it at all. I wanted so bad to buy a souvenir picture but they were too short and couldn't be seen!

Hynlee loved the Mickey Ice cream head!

This would be my lovely mother, who just about passed out after walking all the way to the top of the stadium for the stunt show. She seriously had to remove her socks and shoes and kick back and catch her breath. How taking off her shoes helped, not sure! But Derick doesn't miss this show. It's his favorite thing at Hollywood Studios. Jonah loved it. He leaned over to me and said,"Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Day 3

On the third day we did NOTHING. This is something we hardly ever do even on vacation. We just hung out by the pool and meet up with the rest of the gang. By that afternoon we were looking for something to get into. We decided to head down to Downtown Disney for the first time(this trip). We always go a couple times while on vacation and always spend way to much on all things Disney. But the kids always have a blast playing with the Legos and the girls love the Dino restarunt. Hynlee even got to play with the blocks this year.

Daddy and Grace posing for the camera

The twins...

Building something new

Derick and his crooked little smile.....I'm sure he was up to something!

This year they had this crazy dee-jay guy dancing and goofing off with the kids. It took the girls a while to warm up to it but in the end they were right down front with all the other kids dancing.

Family Vacation 2010 Day 1 and 2

Lane and Hynlee girl:)

The kiddos playing in the pool in Albany

Derick and Jonah Lance

We just took our annual family vacation. We know there are tons of places we could visit..and I'm sure there more educational,history-filled,nature loving places we could go but there is only one place for us...DISNEY WORLD. But this year made a pit stop on the way here. We decided to stop by Albany, Georgia to visit Sherwood Baptist Church. This is the church who has produced Fireproof and Facing the Giants. I loved this church! I even joked with Derick that since we have nothing tying us to home now we could pick up and move down here. It was everything you would expect it to be. Don't get me wrong, I love my church. Derick and I have grown up in the same church our entire lives and hope to raise our girls there also. But if you have known me long you know I am just about the farthest thing from racist you can be. Most of my family have their views on things but since a early age I have stood out on this subject. Back to my point that was one of my favorite things about this church. I believe just about every race was present. And there was no weird feeling about it. How neat it was to be in a meeting with everyone and no one worried about who was next to them! I REALLY enjoyed the service there. The girls even wanted to go to their assigned age room classes. They had so much fun and really enjoyed their self.

What a difference a day can make....

Too often you take everything for granted. Everything from your children's health and your own, to being able to provide for them the way you always have. As I mention earlier Callee has been VERY sick lately. But in one day on the right medicine and she is a completely different child. Her appetite is slowly coming back and she is step-by-step becoming the wild child she has always been. She's running and playing and finally feels like fighting with her sister again. I'm so very grateful my baby is on her way to recovery! But just as fast as something bad can get better, it can go the other way around. Derick has worked for the same company for the past 10 years. He has been able to provide us with everything we have needed and I have been so blessed to have had the privilege to stay at home with my angels. But he walked in the office Monday and they told him it was his last day. A lack of work is what they are calling it. And yes I understand that things are hard and there aren't that many jobs for them right now. But seriously I wish we would have a warning of some sort! But my amazing husband and his unfaltering faith is not worried. When I first saw him after we got the news he came up and put his arms around me...not the other way around. Hello...he was the one who just got laid off and here he was supporting me. Worried how I was and how I was taking the news. Cause we all know I can sometimes how do you say it?...OVERREACT!!

I was busy asking what are we going to do?

And how long are we going to be ok?

I need to find a job!

He then looks me in the eye and says,

It's your job to raise these girls, to take care of them.

It's my job to provide for you. Don't worry!

Man how I wish I was that strong! To have that kind of faith.

Don't get me wrong. I know the Lord has brought us to this and if we trust in him, he will bring us through it. I just let the devil get the best of me. So just like my last post please say an extra prayer for us again. That Callee continues to improve. And that Grace and Hynlee don't get any worse(forgot to mention they are coming down with the same thing)and that Derick finds a job that not only provides us with the necessities but also makes the most deserving man alive happy. Something that he will enjoy doing and getting up and going to everyday. And for me, that I will continue to put my trust in the Lord. That I will be here to support Derick in what ever it is that he chooses. And that I can be half the spouse to him that he is to me!