In Case They Ever Wonder

Of all the gifts I've received this year, Lillian Hope is by far the greatest. Still, after 10 months, I just cannot believe she is mine. She is without a doubt the sweetest, funniest, most precious little girl. When I think about this year and the goodness of the Lord in giving me such a laid-back sweet-natured baby in what would be one of the most stressful years our family has known. Lillie can bring a smile to the face of the most sour-faced stranger. She loves nothing better than to catch someone's eye and flash her toothy grin from one ear to the other. In fact, she stopped the whole parade at Disney World because the characters could not waving at her and even coming over to meet her! I won't be a bit surprised if she doesn't grow into an amazing encourager because she seems to love to make people happy. And she has lived up to her name by bringing hope to our family during a year when we so desperately needed it. The other night as I was rocking her, just thinki...

My kids are over-the-moon about their Uncle Derek! Not only is he an amazing uncle, he is truly the best brother-in-law and Matt's favorite partner in crime! We are so proud of Derek's passion for helping transform every day kids into passionate followers of Christ, and we are thankful for the way he willingly shares his many gifts and talents with everyone around him. Our family feels so blessed that the Lord brought he and Tori together, and we are amazed at how perfect they are for one another. Together Derek and Tori form "Team Jones," and in just a few months, that team is gaining one adorable little member named Zoe! We just know that Uncle Derek is going to be the best dad! Partly because Sophie, Will and Lillie have provided him with more training than he ever could have imagined! From building castles and pirate ships to changing toddlers in the trunk of a car, to wearing an infant in a sling to giving countless surprises to his nieces and nephew to hosting m...

We enjoyed a wonderful, though somewhat quiet for our crew, Thanksgiving, with just the White Family. Unfortunately, because my branch of the family tree experienced a week of the little-virus-that-could (first Will, then Sophie, then Matt, finally me - only the baby was spared), our favorite people from Birmingham decided they'd better not risk exposure. (The only thing worse than this virus would be missing the Alabama-Auburn game for this virus!) We missed everyone (not just Birmingham family, but LA and Chicago too!) like crazy, but it will make seeing everyone over Christmas all the more special! I guess he just couldn't handle a Thanksgiving without Mee-Maw, so Matt actually headed south late last night to go with Aunt Pam and Big Dad to the big game! Thanks to lucky Aunt Pammie, Matt is experiencing his first Alabama game with two of his favorite people, traveling in style, by limo with great food (Dreamland, of course), great tickets, and sideline passes! The final verd...

My girls are growing. (Actually my boy is growing too, but he's already so big, it's not quite as noticeable). But my girls, they are changing before my very eyes. For one thing, Lillie is gaining teeth while Sophie is losing them! Poor Lillie was toothless for ever-so-long, then finally got her two bottom teeth, but for months, she's sported huge swollen bulges where her two top teeth should be. All of a sudden, her two rather large (rather Will-looking), top teeth have broken through, and another top tooth is on its way! At this rate, she may have a full set by Christmas! And though Sophie's been claiming to have a lose tooth for at least six months, she finally lost her first tooth just last night! I can literally see how my girls are growing just by looking at their little mouths. And it isn't just teeth. My laid-back Lillie, who seemed liked she'd never sit up strong, then didn't seem to have much interest in crawling, decided she was ready to go mobile...

It may seem strange to refer to my mom as "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything," but if you've read the children's book (one of our Halloween favorites), you know how appropriate it is. Now I, myself, have always been a fraidy-cat. I don't watch scary movies, I make Matt go to the car if I forget something at night, and I've slept in between my mom and dad...as an adult. But my mom... Well, she isn't afraid of anything. Now I've always loved having a mom who isn't afraid of anything. She's always had the attitude, "why should I be afraid?" And she isn't simply naive. For after all, her father owns the cattle on a thousand hills, her God knows the plans He has for her, her Bible tells her that no weapon formed against her shall prosper, and she knows a thousand other promises that make her sure she doesn't need to be afraid. Having a mom who isn't afraid of anything is pretty great because it makes everything...

I'm behind on my reporting about Will School, but the letter C timed out perfectly with Halloween and Matt's birthday! C is a great letter for sweet treats, so we took full advantage! C is for Cranky the Crane , one of Will's favorite Thomas characters! C is for cars , Will's second favorite thing on earth! (He can't wait to see Lightening McQueen when we go to Disney soon!) C is for crayons , and Will loved coloring and hearing Harold and the Purple Crayon . C is for cows and chickens , and Will giggled through Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type ! C is for Corduroy and our favorite monkey, Curious George . C is for cowboys (Will's favorite cowboy is Woody)! C is for Chicago , where is our cousin Joy lives, and Will's top choice of city he wants to visit! C is for candy , cookies , cupcakes , and cake ! We had a little of each during our study of the letter C! We had plenty of candy from trick-or-treating, cookies at Patti-Grams, cupcakes from G...

Happy 31st Birthday Matt! Most people say things like, "I can hardly believe it's been a year since we fill-in-the blank... My, where does the time go???" Well, I know where the time since your last birthday has gone. It's been right here backing over us like a mack truck! All I can think as I remember last Halloween is how has it only been one year since you were celebrating your 30th birthday by going to a Halloween bash designed for teenagers while Aunt Pam and I took the kids trick-or-treating in the rain? It seems like at least three years ago since you and I were in the house with a princess throwing a fit about something while Aunt Pam was on the front porch knocking on the door to let us know our dragon had just made himself throw up to avoid wearing his costume. Seriously. Are you sure you're not turning 35? Since this year has been oh-so-eventful, I thought it would be no problem to come up with 31 memorable moments from the past year! 1. Begin at the b...