The Blog Is Done

My blog is finished. It was fun working on the animated header. This one will be up for a while.

Under Construction

Christmas is over so I am updating my blog. It may look a little funny while I am getting things in place.

We are so lucky...

to have Jesus as our Savior. I still consider myself a new Christian but it doesn't take too much thought to imagine how bad our lives would be without Jesus. Yesterday was Jesus's birthday. He was God's gift to us and for that we will be forever thankful. We had a wonderful Christmas. I cooked Christmas dinner at my house for the first time since we moved to Tennessee. I really enjoyed the day with my family and our closest friends. It really was a special day.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Breakfast with Santa

The Spring Hill Raiders football league held a fundraiser at Applebees this morning and lucky for us we were able to have breakfast with Santa. I was really surprised with Matthew. I was going to let Chase go first because I thought Matthew would be scared but he jumped right up on Santa's lap and started jabbering away. Then when it was Chase's turn his fingers got stuck in Santa's beard. I thought he was going to pull it off.

Christmas Musical Video

I finally figured it out! My mom bought us a new camcorder for Christmas. She gave it to us early which was cool because I was able to record Sean's musical and I will have it for Christmas morning. It records a digital file to its internal memory so I've had quiet a time figuring out getting the format right and finding a video host that accepts the .mov file type. My aunt told me about One True Media and it took literally all night to upload the file but it worked! I have been trying to do this for three days.

Anyway, this is a video clip from one of the songs that the kids did in the Christmas musical at church. Sean really had a great time and even mentioned that he may want to be in the kids choir. Pretty cool. He's the one with the mo hawk next to the girl in the purple dress.

**Post was edited to remove video. If you missed it, email me and I will send you the link.**

Today's Blessing

Snow - Part 2

Well it has taken me a few days to get back to my blog but I wanted to post some more snow pictures. We were able to go outside for a little while and play in it. Matthew wasn't real sure about it at first but once his big brother pegged him in the head with a snow ball he caught on pretty quick. They had a good time. Hopefully we will have a few more days like this before the winter is over. I love it as long as I don't have to drive in it :0)


c

We have SNOW!!! Lots of it!

I'm sure everyone's blogs will look much the same this morning if you live anywhere in the vicinity of middle Tennessee. This post is for my loved ones that are living in HOT, SUNNY Florida. My mom said it has been very hot the past few days.

It's been raining here almost non stop for two days. Yesterday around 4:00 it started sleeting and it wasn't long after that that the flakes started falling. BIG ONES. Within probably 30 to 45 minutes the ground had a good coating of snow on it. This is what we woke up to this morning. It's so pretty. Hopefully we will be able to get outside with the boys and play in it for a little while.

While it is a beautiful site it also brings trouble. The roads are slick and there are wrecks all over the interstate this morning. They are saying on the news that on I-65 between Petyonsville Road and 840 is really bad and there are a few wrecks in that stretch. Danny will be leaving for work soon and has to go that way so hopefully it won't be as treacherous as the media makes it sound.

Anyway, enjoy my pictures and maybe later we will have some of a snowball fight!

Someone Else's Shoes

Saturday was the Stone Soup Christmas camp at church. Danny and I have never worked with special needs families before but we were really being led to serve this ministry. It seems like over the last few weeks it has just been in our face if you know what I mean. It was obvious that God wanted us there.

Anyway, I had the blessing of working with the children of a dear friend of mine. She has twin boys ages 3 that are autistic. Lorinda and I took care of them and their other two siblings for the day. Her children were absolutely wonderful the entire time. And it was a long day for them. I have to say that spending the day with these boys gave me a small insight as to life in someone elses shoes. At first the boys were distant and we couldn't get them to sit in a chair for 5 seconds to do a craft or any activity but we quickly learned that these little angels were full of energy and wanted to get it out! So we spent a good part of the day just letting them run and play. They love things with wheels, especially cars. There was a push cart that they liked riding on. By the end of the day they had warmed up to us enough that they played a game where they would sit and wait for you to open your arms and then run too you and bless you with a big old hug. It was great. The boys don't talk so it was a little tough getting to know their likes and dislikes but we made it through.

Being with these children for a few hours and seeing what their parents go through each day to make life as normal as can be for their families made me realize how truly fortunate I am to have three healthy children. The ability of communication is such a huge gift that we take for granted. Another is the ability for our children to focus and find contentment in the company of others. Now, I'm not saying these children are not perfect in every way. God made them so we know they are. I'm just saying it made me realize that what I go through day to day is nothing compared to the daily lives of the parents I met on Saturday.

The next time I get frustrated with my kids because they are being too chatty I will think back on this and be thankful for it.

If you are not familiar with the Stone Soup story here it is:

The Stone Soup Legend

There exists a tale, handed down from times long ago, of two travelers on a pilgrimage. Hungry and tired from a long day’s journey, they come to a small, impoverished, medieval village, where they decide to rest by the side of the road. One of the travelers builds a small fire, upon which he places a large pot, while the other, having drawn water from the town well, fills the pot and places into the vessel a simple stone. As the two men sit by the fire, bringing their "stone soup" to a boil, the local villagers become inquisitive of the curious antics of these strangers. Eventually, several townsfolk decide to investigate the matter and approach the two travelers to engage them in conversation.

Shortly thereafter, there is heard the sound of merriment, as the visitors, who turn out to be quite friendly, share their tales of the lands and people they have met throughout their journey and pilgrimage with the local villagers.

Finally, a young boy asks the travelers "But why, pray thee, are you boiling a stone?"

One of the pilgrims replies, "So we may eat stone soup."

"It must be terribly bland!" says an old woman. "But I have a cabbage, which will add some flavor!"

"And I, some carrots, which will add color!" says another villager.

"Some potatoes!", offers another, until, shortly, by the contribution of a little by many, a hearty stew was made, upon which the entire village and the weary pilgrims dined... and while doing so, shared their tales, talents, and camaraderie throughout the night.

The very next day, the travelers (who by now could be called "strangers" no more), continued their journey, leaving the little town, and its people, behind. But the villagers never forgot them, and the lesson they had learned. In fact, during the hardest of times, in such a time as this tale, that little village thrived, because the townsfolk never forgot how to make "stone soup".

Such is the legend of the "Stone Soup Story".

A Frugal Affair

My Aunt Erin has joined me in the coupon game and she found some really good sites to help save money. If you click the link to her blog she has the savings sites linked up. I used the info on Southern Savers to come up with a Publix shopping list. For $53 I loaded my cart up with some good stuff!

Sending wishes

I want to send all of my readers wishes for a yummy, relaxing, and joyful Turkey day. We are hopefully leaving for Charlotte this afternoon. I say hopefully because Ham (M) has come down with a bug. He started running a fever yesterday and has thrown up a few times through the night. He has not gotten sick in the last two hours and was able to keep down some Tylenol so hopefully the fever will break and the vomiting is over with. Please pray for him to get better really fast!

I found this really cute picture on Photobucket and I wanted to share it because it made me smile. And no, that is not Turkey (C) on the pumpkin.

Freebie Alert

Dr. Pepper is giving away a free 20oz Dr. Pepper to everyone in America. To get it you have to go to there website and register by 6pm. You can register several times under different email addresses. Click on the Dr. Pepper can to take you to the registration page.

Today's Blessing

Every Sunday I'm going to scrap something that God has blessed me with. Today's blessing is my husband.


I also want to say thanks to everyone for the great parenting advice from my previous post. I have realized after talking to several of you that I am too lenient and there is just not enough structure in my home. I've layed the hammer down and we are doing things different from here on out.

Why is parenting so hard?

It's tough knowing whether or not you are going about things the "right way" when it comes to raising your children. How do you teach them to be responsible? I believe in leading by example but I feel like I am a very responsible person and that attribute is not rubbing off on my fourth grader! I've tried the polite talks, I've tried the grounding, and I've tried the yelling. Nothing works. These are my frustrations, the bedroom is ALWAYS a mess, clothes get left wherever they are taken off in the house, homework gets put off till the last minute and then I get the good old "I forgot" and this morning the bus was missed because said 4th grader piddled around. I then told said 4th grader to stand in the driveway and wait for the bus to come back by but instead he stayed up by the house so the bus kept going. This put a wrench in my day because today is the day the M goes to Mrs Bettys so I had to get him ready and I stilled had to feed Chase before we left. But if the 4th grader was late for school then I would have to get the other two out of the car to sign him in. This all looks really trivial now that I'm writing it out but I was super mad. How do I teach him responsibility? Any suggestions from parents that have been there are much appreciated.

Onto fun stuff:

My friend Big Nanny has nicknames, hence the name "Big Nanny", for her family that she uses when she blogs about them. The nicknames make her blog a fun read. Anyway, I've wanted to do this with ours but I didn't want to be a copy cat. Well, I've gotten over that and I hope Big Nanny will be honored that I wanted my blog to be like hers. I have thought long and hard about naming us and it is quite a difficult process. I have figured out names for the little ones though.

Introducing:

The Turkey
Butterball ain't got nothin' on this guy

The Ham
This one is full of himself

The Bologna
You won't get more of it from anyone else

Raising money for a good cause

Some of you may already know this but in the past few months I have discovered digital scrapbooking. Well lately I've also started making some digital scrapbooking kits. I have been giving them away as freebies but this last one I decided to use for a good cause. I made some Christmas Clothes Tags and am asking for donations to support the Stone Soup Christmas Camp. Here are what the tags look like.

To get them or make a donation to the Stone Soup Christmas Camp please check out my digital scapbooking blog at http://www.tabbyscraps.blogspot.com/

Favorite Foto Friday

This is one of many photos that were taken last weekend at Harvey Park by our friend Ricky.
He did a fabulous job and was very patient with us. Danny really liked the idea of us getting our picture made in front of the American flag being as it was just election day and all. I think it looks pretty cool edited like this.

Nicaragua Pictures

TSC Mission Team

This was a school outside of Leon

Danny and kid at one of the churches outside Leon

Road to Paradise

Telling the story of David and Goliath
Here David was slaying Goliath
This is the mission house built by the team that went in March

Volcano erupting in the distance

Guillermo and his family

Halloween Photos

Here are some pages that I scrapped from the kids in their costumes. We did not go trick or treating door to door this year. Our church brought back the fall festival so that is where we spent our evening. Sean was Anakin and Matthew was Yoda, the cutest Yoda ever! Next year Chase will be joining in on the fun. We are already thinking about next years costumes but that's a secret. Shhh...

Finally something to blog about

Well I finally got rid of that nasty little virus that took my computer down. I hate those things. I wanted to post some pictures of Danny's trip to Nicaragua but unfortunately I found out that he didn't take any pictures. Ricky took hundreds though so once I get a copy of those I will post some. From what I've heard they had an excellent trip.

Onto my exciting news...Matthew is potty training! I am thrilled. He tells me sometimes when he needs to go but everytime that I put him on the potty he goes. I'm really trying to be consistent with him because I feel like he's getting it. I think in another week or two he will have it down. I know this is a private moment but he was excited.

Look what I did!

Anyone computer savvy?

We are all back home. I'd like to post details of our trips but my computer has been infected so I can't upload any photos. I have been infected by a virus and I can't seem to get rid of it myself. I need someone to fix it relatively inexpensive. If you know someone please let me know. Not only can I not blog but I can't work! Hopefully I will get pics from Danny's trip to Nicaragua up soon.

He's gone and we will be soon...

Danny left for Nicaragua yesterday. According to the flight status on Continentals website they got there at about 7:45 last night. We haven't heard from him but we probably won't since there are no phones where they are going. We miss Daddy already and are praying for him to have a safe trip and to come back soon :0)

On that note, the kids and I are flying to Florida tomorrow night. I'm not looking forward to flying alone with three kids so please pray for me :0) (I'll need it).

I'll post some pictures from Danny's trip when I get back next Tuesday.

That's it. TTFN

Something to brag about

We received a letter in the mail yesterday from the Babe Ruth League that says,

"Congratulations! Your child, Sean, has been selected to be included in the 2008 Edition of "The Best Players in Babe Ruth League."

This book has been created to recognize the accomplishments of those players who have been named as an All-Star for play in local district competition. These are the best players in Babe Ruth League!

The kids are chosen for this honor based upon their accomplishments as players during the year. The players that are chosen are the "All-Star" elite players of their league and represent less than 5% of the total players from their league. That's straight from the letter.

His biography and photograph are going to be published in the book. We are so proud and excited that he was chosen to be published. What an honor!

Way to go again kiddo!!

Favorite Foto Friday

Kid-isms

I'm going to start a new column on my blog with these kid-ism's but this one was really funny so I thought I'd post about it.

Scenario: Matthew is supposed to be going to sleep for the night but keeps getting up. Danny and I have been taking turns putting him back into bed. This time it's my turn.

Mommy: Matthew, mommy is going to have to spank you if you get out of bed again. Do you want a spanking?

Matthew: mumble noise

Mommy: Do you want a spanking? Yes or No

Matthew: Yes

Now how do I follow through on that???

I can't believe it's been this long...

This post is being written to my husband to let him know how much I love him. It's kind of sappy but what says I love you more than announcing to the world.

Danny,

I really cannot believe that we have been married for eleven years already. I can remember small details of our wedding day as if it just happened. Now, I won't sit here and say that things have always been wonderful between us because they haven't. There have been times that I have truly wanted to hurt you (I still have them sometimes). And I'm sure there are times when you'd really like to let me have it too. I know I'm not easy to live with. But I think you and I have grown together through these years and those hard times have made us stronger. Each obstacle we have faced we have somehow made into a learning experience. Together we are raising three amazing children that God has entrusted into our care and I can't think of anyone else that I would rather share this task with. I love that you and I have come to know Christ together and that you are taking on the role of being a leader for Him in our home. We are both still a work in progress and slip up from time to time but we can always count on the other to pull us back in line. I know I don't always show you the respect and appreciation you deserve but I am so thankful for you. I look forward to spending the rest of my days here on earth with you. Thank you God for giving me this man as my husband.

All my love,

Tabitha

Fall Ball and a Mohawk?

I haven't blogged about the fall ball season because I haven't had the opportunity to take any photos since I've been taking care of the two little ones during our fall games. Now, we have been having an excellent season. Our team was running undefeated 6-0. That would explain the above photo. You see, Sean has become a little superstitious when it comes to baseball. As long as their team was on a winning streak he refused to cut his hair and he was starting to look a little rough around the edges. Well I am sad to say that last night our winning streak ended. We lost pretty bad too. So of course I let Sean know first thing that he was due for a haircut. His reply to me was "Oh, can I get a Mohawk??!!". At first I told him no but as I thought about it I remember my parents did not let me dye my hair crazy colors when I wanted to and I wanted him to have this freedom since it is his hair and it will grow back. And truthfully, deep down I did not think he would go through with it. Well, let's just say I was wrong. As soon as we got home he and dad headed straight for the clippers. Here is the end result:

Interview of a 9 Year Old

This is nuts!!!

We are out of gas!! If you live in our little part of the world then you now how crazy it is trying to find gas. Kroger had it yesterday but ran out quick once everyone found out they had it. Dannys's car is running on empty and I only had a 1/4 tank so we decided one of us had better get some gas. Because of the long lines at the pump yesterday he made a run at 12:30 last night to fill up and guess what. No gas!!! He had to drive all the way into Nashville at 12:30am to put gas in the car and on top of that it was $4.19 a gallon. Apparently this is only happening here so why is that? Anyway, I hope this little shortage gets resolved soon. We are now down to one car and sharing stinks, ha ha.

Grandma is gone

My mom flew up from Orlando on July 24th to be here for Chase's birth and she's been here ever since. I'm so thankful that she decided to stay with us for so long. Having the extra hands and adult conversation around was great. I haven't spent this much time with my mom since before I moved out at age 18. I was very sad to see her go and tried to get her to stay longer.


My dad drove up for Matthews party on Thursday and they left together on Monday morning. It was great to see my dad too. Sean and Matthew have a great time with him. This was the first time my dad had seen Chase but I'm sure they will have just as much fun when he's a little older.

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Matthew Ryan Butler

September 15, 2006

8lb 6oz 21 1/4 inches

Where have the last two years gone? It seems like yesterday that I found out that I was pregnant with you. I remember the morning very well. It was raining outside and I had a doctors appointment for a routine checkup. My doctor did the test as part of the exam and surprise! Matthew was on the way. I called daddy right away and told him. We were overjoyed. So on September 15, 2006 you came into this world and gave us the gift of being your mom and dad. You have been your own person since the beginning. We have watched you grow from a tiny 8lb 6oz infant into a very active 2 year old toddler. We've watched you learn to walk, you've learned to talk and voice your opinions, you've became a big brother and are even learning to use the potty already. You are so smart. I can't wait to see what God has in store for your life. You are special in every way. Thank you for choosing me to be your mommy. I love you.

Matthew Ryan Butler

September 15, 2008

2 Years Old