Carsonsmom2's Xanga

Monday, December 07, 2009

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:34:43 GMT

{The love of a brother}

Check out the rest of the sleeping cuties at...

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:14:03 GMT

{Week 47~Photo Challenge at i ♥ faces}

Brooklyn doing a happy dance at Santa Rosa Beach...

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:31:14 GMT

{Santa Rosa Beach}

Just a warning...tons of photos in this post. I did try to downsize them, for those of you with dial-up. *Hi, Mom* :)

We stayed at this lovely little 'bungalow'. Perfect for a small family, with 2 bedrooms upstairs that opened onto a deck.

The Beach was within walking distance, but I only tried that once, since we took Gobs of stuff out to the beach. Much easier to drive. :)

Couldn't hardly keep Avery out of the water...they did warn of rip tides, so I was afraid to let her go very far out. Not a whole lot of relaxing time to lay in the sun with a wild one to watch. :)

And, yes, she ate lots of sand. You would think after the first time, they would get it that it's nasty and gritty. Nope, let's try it again.

Sunday afternoon, we got the children dressed cute and went out to the beach, hoping for Christmas card photos...not happening. No one wanted to look, or smile, or cooperate. So, this mama gave it up. I was disappointed, though.

A kind lady offered to take a picture for us. And her camera was exactly like mine! We thought that was neat. :)

Yes, the water is really that blue. And as clear as you can get it.

Saturday, we went to Bass Pro to satisfy the men of the family. The rest of us enjoyed it, too...we were just done looking long before they were! Barnes and Noble was alot more fun. :)

They had this cool 'tube thing' that you could walk into to see the fish in the tank. The children loved it!

Feeding the seagulls...

The weather was just absolutely perfect! Warm (70-80), sunny and a little breeze. Not a cloud in the sky and not a drop of rain to be seen.

Ring-around-the-rosie

Palms along the road by Rosemary Beach. There were no amusement parks, fast food places, big motels, etc. that you often find along the beach. This is a beautiful place with alot of private homes, little shops and cafes.

That is pure, white sand, at least 3 ft. thick. When the tide comes in, this little inlet gets full of water. When it goes out, you can walk across it to the other side.

Gorgeous sunset.

These little guys exasperate me sometimes, but I sure do love them! And truth be told, they probably wish for a different mommy sometimes, too. :)

And that's the end of vacation. Amazing how fast time goes by. I would LOVE to go again for a month. Ok, that's a serious dream there, since that would not ever happen, but maybe when I'm old and retired. :) Problem is, will it be as much fun then? Hmm, I don't want to ponder that too long, I'm not ready to be old and alone. Guess I'll go enjoy my children. :)

~Amber

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:04:38 GMT

{Anticipation}

While we are waiting to head to the beach, I decided to take time to blog...most everything is packed, but I want to clean up the house, yet. I do hate coming home from vacation to a house in clutteration. I made up that word. We're planning to leave at 6 in the morning. The children played so well today! I heard very little out of them, while I packed.

Thank you to all of you who responded to my last questions! I certainly don't have all the answers, but loved reading your thoughts. Still not sure that my brain is clear enough to sort it all out. I'm so thankful that we are not living under the law, but we have been made free by Jesus' blood! Praise the Lord! I also believe that we can put ourselves under another 'law' by making the church's standards more important than the condition of the heart. And I know, "What's inside comes out". I believe that too. But, when we see someone, who is 'on the line', are we concerned about their heart? Or more concerned that they 'look right'? So often we/I think that if someone looks/dresses right, then they are ok. I have no concern for them if they 'look right'. I also believe that there are alot of people in the Menn. church, who are godly in dress only. And that bothers me alot. I think that in a perfect world, we wouldn't need any guidelines in church. But, we aren't perfect and I think some of that is good. It can give security, but too much focus on that and it can make us lazy. We don't bother thinking about if something is right or wrong for us to do. We go by what the 'little white book' says. God may call us to live above and beyond what is in that book! Follow Jesus, is all I know to say. =) I know I didn't cover all the questions, but that's all I can think today.

We have been loving this weather! The children have been playing outside and trying to sneak out barefooted...

Gotta love jackets and bare feet

Poor Avery...her hair is in the eyes most of the time...and she doesn't care.

One day we drove past the cotton fields...Carson was so intrigued.

He's been singing "High Cotton" ever since. No idea who taught him that.

We planted turnip greens in the garden for the winter and the children like to go out and eat it. Brooklyn was trying to feed some to Avery, but she soon discovered those little teeth are vicious!

Avery bit her!

These crazy chickens come up and look in my back door.

Brooklyn wanted to lick the bowl from the banana pudding...I'll tell you an awesome recipe if you like bananas. Paula Deen's "It ain't yo mama's banana pudding". Google it.

She's her mama's girl. I'd have licked the bowl myself, if she wouldn't have.

Avery is very much into books and plays by herself alot!

These 2 keep me smiling.

And the buck of the week.

I'd have cleaned his mouth up a little, but he didn't seem too concerned.

Last week, Carson gave us a good laugh. Well, alot of them, actually, but I'll tell you one of them. We stopped beside the road to look at deer, and he said,

"Dad, is it a buck or a heifer?"

Have a good week! I plan to! =)

~Amber

{A very belated post}

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:19:37 GMT

I don't even know where to begin... Some of the things I've been thinking about:

How do we become thankful for the hard times?
Why do we tell people "Life isn't fair"?
How do you distinguish between 'religious' and 'spiritual'?
Can a person have a false spirituality?
Do church standards limit the working of the Holy Spirit?
Are we still living under the law or are we really free?

Yeah, my thoughts have been all over the board. Sometimes my head feels to full to think anymore. Which is one of the reasons I haven't been updating...sometimes, it's just too hard to think.

So, what are your thoughts? I hope to have a follow up post later.

Friday, October 09, 2009

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:23:01 GMT

Where there's a will...there's a way.

Brooklyn sees Carson in the tree and wants to get up so badly!

She tries the little trike, but it's not high enough...

Waaa!

This is higher, maybe I can reach...

VICTORY!

Whatever you're facing this week, keep trying!

*************************************************************************

The mighty hunter

Sisters~Best Friends

A wanderer's thoughts...

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:32:54 GMT

If I could give advice to youth today, I would tell them: Get out! Live! Experience new cultures! Eat food you don't think you would like. Spend time in other countries. There's more to life than getting married and raising children. Don't get me wrong, those are good, too. But, I can't stand the thought of youth never traveling, never seeing a world beyond their back door, being content to do what everyone else does. I am so thankful that my parents allowed me to go to Asia when I was 18! It was an amazing experience! And it makes me wish for more.

The first time I studied the book by Debi Pearl, "Created to be his helpmeet", I thought, 'Whew! I'm glad Paul isn't a 'Mr. Visionary'! I would hate to be uprooted because he got a notion to move somewhere else. Now? I think I may have a little of Mrs. Visionary in me. :) I have a huge urge to move somewhere, to be involved with needy people in some way. We waste so much time trying to 'maintain' where we're at. I never wanted to move becuase this is where I grew up. What all have I missed already? Opportunities that may never be there again! I told Paul if he wants to move somewhere, I'll start packing. In my mind I'm thinking, "There are more houses than ours, there are other jobs, there are other groups of Christians to fellowship with..." He's thinking, "Where will we live, where will I work, etc...."

Maybe God has brought us through an extremely difficult year to make us willing to go somewhere else. I don't know. But, I do hope that I see opportunities when they are in front of me. And I'm trusting God to show us where He wants us.

Edited to add: I did not mean to imply that Paul doesn't want to go anywhere else. That's not true at all. He is just more cautious than I. And probably for a good reason, since he is the provider and the head of this little family. :)

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:51:53 GMT

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed He was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from His life. For each scene He noticed two sets of footprints in the sand. One belonging to Him and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of His life flashed before Him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of His life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of His life.

This really bothered Him and He questioned the LORD about it. LORD you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.

The LORD replied, my precious, precious child, I Love you and I would never leave you! During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If I could see a picture of my life the last 6 months, I'm afraid you would see only one set of footprints and they're not mine...I can understand how people who don't know Jesus, could get to the place of wanting to end it all. If it wasn't for Jesus, I don't know if you would see any footprints at all...Surely this is not what God had in mind when He spoke of Abundant Life? God has to have something better in mind for His people! We're searching...

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:14:45 GMT

This cooler weather reminds me that winter is coming! I know, it's a couple months away, but it will be here before I'm ready. It always is. This time of year, is just perfect, in my humble opinion. Not too hot, not too cold.

There are some things that I will not miss:

Grasshoppers
Spiders
All the work of the garden
Feeling like I have to be working outside

And there are things that I will miss:

Being barefoot
Flipflops (when barefeet aren't acceptable) :)
My children playing outside
The flowers in my garden
The warm sunshine
Eating outside on the patio
Hanging my wash on the line in the warm sun
Fresh vegetables and fruit
Green grass
Not having to put on coats, shoes, etc. before you can go out

This list is incomplete. There is so much that I love about summer and fall, even though I don't like 90*...winter, don't come just yet.

The Birthday Girl

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:50:38 GMT

I have lots of camping pics that I could upload and a fun camping trip that I could talk about...but this day is more important than that. Today, my baby turns one! I can hardly believe it!! I know, I always say that, but this year has gone faster than any I can remember ever. In my head, I'm thinking, "She's too little to be one!" But, facts are facts and one, she is. I thank God for all of my children, and don't think that I love one more than the others, but this little girl...wasn't exactly in my plans, but she was in God's. We don't know what we would do without her! We all love her to bits. She is saying more words like, "Hot, Da-Da, Pup for Puppy, Hand (when she wants help down the steps), and a few others. Loves to climb anything. Steps, on chairs, up on the couch by standing on a pillow, and anywhere else she can pull herself up. Her main speed is Running!

This morning, I tried taking pics of her...tried, being the key word. I had cute things in mind, but for some reason, when you sit a toddler in one spot, they're determined not to stay there longer than 2.5 seconds. I did get some that I think I can use and you can help me choose...

Avery Lyn ~ 1 yr. old

This one is very pixely, but I still like it. Prob. wouldn't print any like this, though.

10.

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And there you go. Help me out. :)