Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to our precious E!  This daughter has been such a blessing to us!  We love you very much, sweetie!

Ladies night out!

Stef blogged again about our ladies night Tuesday night...so I am "sharing" her post!
****************************************

Last night a group of friends and I enjoyed a "ladies night out" - we met at Chick Fil A for dinner...

Katie, the youngest member of our group, enjoyed the fries we shared with her.

Talking to Katie.

So cute!

Kara joined us when we got to Cato.

Abigail - one of the younger members of our group.

Good times!

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

Mrs. B watched Katie and was the "fashion police" for us as we tried things on:-)

My favorite kind of shopping.

Sisters being silly together:-)

Having fun...

Talking by the dressing rooms...

Shopping...

I went to Jenny, and trying to act serious, told her I needed help choosing which pair of earrings to buy:-)

We had fun trying on cute shoes....

Pretty!

This picture is hilarious - me trying to balance in a pair of stiletto heels. I felt so tall, was probably 5 foot, 6 or 7, and gained a new respect for women who can actually get around in them.

Lining up to pay...

Kara took this group picture in front of the store.

All of us together - we got Abigail to take this one. The end of a fun night!

End of Week Two! Let's Get Healthy!

We have completed week two. How did it go for you? I had good days and bad days, but was
pleasantly surprised to see the scale dropping in spite of the rougher days. This morning on the scale it showed another 2 1/2 lb loss..only half a lb away from 5lbs in two weeks! I am excited!

I think my exercising is really helping that. I have been really enjoying those 2 big
miles that I do on DVD. I have been feeling good and energetic. So all in all, I am encouraged.

Keep up the good work. And if you had a difficult week, start fresh!
So, how many of you are hanging in there with me, we didn't hear from some of you last week. Let
me know how you are doing!

Top Ten Tuesday

My Top Ten things that have to be accomplished in the next three weeks:

1. Clean my house for a very busy weekend
2. Finish coordinating and host J's "Knighthood/Manhood Initiation" on Saturday
3. Host birthday party for E on Monday
4. Finalize and print out my schoolyear schedule
5. Finish ordering homeschool books
6. Go with my sister to do the last few things she wants to do while in the country
7. Pack for the family conference
8. Go the family conference for 5 days
9. Take my sister and family back to the airport.
10. Begin school for the year.

go over to Oh Amanda's for more top ten...

My New Phone..from my hubby for my bday!

Keepers Meeting

Stef did such a great job documenting our Keepers Meeting from Saturday I am posting it up here. Enjoy!

Today was the monthly Keepers at Home meeting which I try to go along and help out at when I can. This month we had the opportunity to learn about cake decorating from Jenny's sister Patti. Jenny, Patti, and I had baked several batches of little cakes the day before -- all ready for the girls to try their hand at decorating. I was chosen as official photographer for the day (and babysitter:-) so the picture at left is of me with my camera taken by our hostess, Kara. She, with her husband, opened up their home not only to us, but to the church's group for boys, Contenders of the Faith, as well. The guys met in the front yard (see some pictures further down in this post), then we all got together at the end for cake and some time for the adults to visit, and children to play. We had a fun time together!

Cousins in the van ready to leave. There are no words to describe our van trip, 11 children, 2 moms, 1 grandmother, and me, curvy country roads, lots of noise, and carsickness....yet in the midst of all that I was thinking, someday we'll look back on this as "the good old days!"

Gathering for the Keepers at home meeting.

Most of the girls!

Kara, our hostess.

Patti, the teacher.

Icing.

Colored icing.

Hannah.

Emily.

Genna.

Zoe.

HannahGrace.

Icing a cake with a little help.

Another Hannah:-)

Lily-Ann.

Abigail.

This picture needs no caption...

Hannah gets some help.

I watched Katie along with taking pictures - here she is after getting into the icing - so cute.

Decorating cakes.

I caught Emily licking icing:-)

Grace shows off her finished cake to me - so pretty.

The girls' hard work....all finished.

All eleven cakes!

Contenders of the Faith meeting

Pastor teaching the Contenders self defense, fighting, or something like that....

I'm not sure what is going on here...

I must admit taking pictures of their class was far more interesting.....:-)

A favorite little contender:-)

Robert.

The cake Patti made for our snack!

Everyone -Keepers and Contenders - got together for cake at the end...and this is the last of the pictures because I was too busy helping little ones eat to take anymore:-)