Our Little Slugger

Our little slugger experienced his first baseball battle wound last night.  Mommy was in the stands socializing while daddy was on the field.  Next thing I know I hear crying and you know how a mother knows her child's cry.  I am proud to say that I didn't completely overreact and let daddy handle it on the field.  But........ of course my baby wanted his mommy and quickly came to receive his dose of mommy compassion and love.  He did survive and got back out there to practice!  He is our tough little man and we know that this is first of many, sport related "battle wounds". Oh, how we love him!!!

Christmas Time is Here!!!!!

I love Christmas for so many reasons!  I love the traditions, decorations and how excited children are about the festivities to come. We always put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving, Trey just can't wait until it is up!  Another tradition we started last year is the Elf on the Shelf (picture courtesy of Angel Bowen).  It is so much fun and the kids LOVE it!  We don't put too much emphasis on Santa, society does that enough for us.  Our elf, Zeke, leaves notes for the kids, makes messes in the house, prays and reminds the kids to pray with an occasional scripture verse to start our day.  We want our kids to enjoy Christmas, but to also understand the TRUE meaning of the holiday.  
This is also the first year I have taken the kids to see Santa, at the mall of course.  I hadn't planned on going this year, then my friend Tammy called and invited us to go. Trey was so determined to go, that I gave in and off we went.  It was on a school night and we are driving to the Lakeland Mall at 6pm  with a six year old, 7 year old and two two year olds (you probably already see what our future holds)!!  We get there, go up to Santa and of course the girls want NOTHING to do with him!  So, as you will see in my picture below, mommy sat on Santa's lap this year too!  

Oh, the things we will do for our babies!  

Praying Parent

Dear Jesus, please keep my babies safe and healthy....... 

This is how I prayed for my kids, well maybe a little more in depth, but not as detailed as I should have been.  I am currently in a study class at church, based on the book, "The Power of a Praying Parent".  I grew up in a healthy, faith based home, where we prayed together and read the bible together.  Heck, my grandma would wake us up each morning singing one of those "old" hymns and send us out the door with a new scripture every day.  I feel like I should be a "professional" prayer, but I AM NOT!  This book by, Stormie Omartian, is phenomenal!!!
I like to read; BUT with 2 little ones, a house to keep clean, dinner to cook, a full time job, baseball practice, etc. it doesn't always fit in the daily schedule.  This book was read in the bathtub at night or after everyone else was in bed, whenever I could find time to read it, I did!  Every chapter is a new reason to pray for your kids with a prayer at the end to walk you through it.  Her stories are amazing and ones that we can relate to with our own children.  
As my life becomes more hetic by the day, so it seems, I see more proof that I need that alone time with God.  Why am I trying to maintain my sanity alone, when God is there waiting to help me. We all know that raising two stem-winders (as my father-in-law calls them) can cause some moments of insanity!!!
I encourage you all to read this book and explore her other books, I have a list of them I want to read myself.  If you read the book, let me know what you thought of it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0736922067/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1M4M6R35B6PH1XDY1W73&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846

It's the Small Things in Life!

Do you remember when all a child wanted were crayons and a piece of paper?  I remember when crayons were all that made me smile.  Not that I was ever very artistic, Cheri got all the "artsy" our family had!  But, it was so much to see the colors transform that piece of white paper.  Trey never was one that liked to sit and color, however Marlee enjoys coloring and that makes me smile!  We spend a lot of our evenings outdoors and the crayons sometimes have to join us on the porch.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that she inherited some of the "artsy" genes from the Bryan family........

Halloween 2012 - A FAMILY HALLOWEEN

This year we celebrated Halloween a little different than we have in the past.  In years past I have rushed to get the kids costumes made and wanted the perfect candy bucket, to only fight off mosquitos and knock on complete strangers doors.  This year we had the idea of staying home and doing Halloween differently than society claims it should be done.  This time of year is a busy time for Lee at work, therefore he is seldom home before bedtime and works 7 days a week, most weeks.  So, it was a HUGE treat for us all for him to be home in time for dinner, as silly as that may sound, it is true!  Daddy came home early, we grilled dinner, carved pumpkins and Gram and Pa even stopped off for a visit.  I put together a Halloween Bucket for Marlee and Trey and we enjoyed each other! Hmmmm, what a concept, I am shameful that I haven't thought of this before.  It turned out amazing, the weather was perfect, the kids had a blast and still got lots of goodies!  

Gators vs. Kentucky

Trey and I were blessed to be given tickets to this years Gators vs. Kentucky game, and they were great seats to boot!  Trey was so excited to get to go to a Gator game!  We loaded up and headed to G-ville around 6am on that Saturday with my parents, who also happened to have tickets to the game.  All dressed in our orange and blue, we were ready for a great day!  I loved spending the day with my little man and seeing his eyes light up as we entered the SWAMP, it was priceless.  Even though he had been to a game last year, he acted as if it was his first time.  It was worth every bit of last minute planning to make it possible.  Thanks to MeMaw and Pa pa for letting us take along and to Gram and Pa for keeping Marlee that day.

Marlee's Dedication

It was an amazing day to be able to dedicate our baby girl to the Lord. All of our family and friends helped us celebrate and the ceremony was beautiful.

Family Pictures 2010

Big thankyou to Angel for taking our family pictures once again this year.

2 weeks

Marlee has now been present in our family for almost 3 weeks. Of course we all love her dearly and wouldn't trade her for the world! We have had lots of visitors and she is now the most spoiled little girl on the planet. LOL....

I took some quick shots of her and Trey, just to capture this moment in time and thought I would share. We are so proud of our family and are truly blessed by God!

Hope you enjoy!

Nikki