Goodness Alive, Josey's Five!

Yup, Jo's in a Monster Truck...she liked it waaayyy too much!

Daddy thought it would be fun for Garrison to ride the jet ski...Garrison did not.


Garrison is FINALLY walking. We thought he'd go to Kindergarten crawling...

Josey LOVED all her presents!

Josey and Ms. Betsy...by the way, she gives the BEST birthday presents!

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since Josey has been in our lives...sometimes it feels like it's been longer... :) We had a wonderful time celebrating her life during her birthday celebrations! She had a party at our house on Saturday the 17th and then we celebrated her birth DAY on Monday, the 19th. Everyone was off for MLK day and we enjoyed the day together! We surprised her with a trip to Chic-Fil-A and Chuck E. Cheese. We really hoped she felt as special as she truly is! For all of you who are in Josey's life that are investing in her character, thank you so much and we pray that you will continue to pour into her qualities and characteristics that will make her as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. So, you only turn FIVE once...Happy Birthday Josey...We love you!

Christmas 2008

The sights ,the sounds and the lessons of Christmas 2008...

The Sights: Christmas at Aunt Joanne's, Christmas at MawMaw & Big's ,Christmas at Aunt Bonnie's, Christmas at Home, Christmas at Grammy and PawPaw's. Lot's of presents, presents, and more presents!

The Sounds: Squealing with delight, wrapping paper being torn to shreds, toys that make loud sounds that need to stay at the grandparents house, cardboard being cut to get the toys out, mom folding the tissue paper for next year, rudolph the red-nosed reindeer lyrics being botched and made-up by the girls...

The Lessons: On Christmas day we took the girls to "Sharing the Blessing". This was located at a local middle school where all those in our community who are in need could come and get a hot meal, a bag of food, clothes, and toys for the children. This is the second year Lindsey and I went but the first year we took the girls. It was good for the girls to see all the people who are in need and that they were able to help them. The lesson every Christmas is that we celebrate Jesus' birthday and that we receive abundantly because He gave freely. This year as well as many to follow, we hope that another lesson is learned, it really is more blessed to give then to receive.

Dressin' Up!

What do a Ballerina, A Bride, and A Giraffe all have in common? Their last name is Allen! Halloween was a fun time to dress up and get some teeth-rotting candy! Ryleigh knew she wanted to be a ballerina for months. We bought her outfit and she had it all planned out! On the other hand, Josey change her mind EVERYDAY! It wasn't until she came down the stairs before we were ready to leave that I knew what she would be. A bride...A bride??? I almost threw up. She might as well have actually gotten married to a real boy that day - it was too much for Lindsey and I! Then there was our precious giraffe. He cracked me up and was way too cute for words! I never thought I'd have room enough in my heart for a Ballerina, a Bride AND a giraffe, but I do!

A WHOLE YEAR ALREADY?

I can't believe it has been a whole year since Garrison arrived! His birthday was October 30th! We celebrated on November 1st which was exactly one year to the day we brought him home from the hospital. His birthday party was fun - I made him a baseball cake and he had his own cupcake to tear into. I've never made a round cake before and I will tell you that "round" was relative when it came to my cake. Good thing is that Garrison didn't care. I was anxious to see what he did to the cupcake. He has a little of his mom in him and he picked that cupcake right up and put it to his face. It's hard to believe that his birthday came and went and I'll never be able to sing "Happy first birthday" again. Where did the time go? Oh yeah, just look at the wrinkles around my eyes and the gray in my hair and you'll see where the time went!

So, my baby is a year old. Hmmm...kind of bittersweet.

SHOW BIZ UPDATE

Here's the latest on the show biz scene. The meeting in Bethesda went well. I have to say that I just might get used to the "star" treatment. We were picked up in a limo at the D.C. airport with our production company "Seven Star Media" on it. We ate lunch at a fancy French restaurant - I'm not sure what I ordered, even more disturbing is that I don't know exactly what I ate. We met with all the folks and pitched our show and our ideas. Then, we flew back home that evening. Jimmy Carter was on our flight home and shook every one's hand on the plane. I have to say that I felt mighty safe with all of his secret service guys with their earpieces in. They were probably listening to music, but whatever. After several weeks of them meeting with their alliance partners (Home Depot to name one) and then just last week they received their numbers for the last quarter and had the worst quarter in their history, money has become a huge factor as the economic crisis is not bias on who it destroys. With that said, CASE has offered us all their resources but no monthly financial support. They want us to proceed into the Atlanta Market with ION which reaches 2.3 million homes. We are going forward with that and in doing so, hopefully CASE will see the benefits for them. We'll see what God has in store. In the beginning of this, our vision was set on the Atlanta market and that is exactly where we are headed. Our goal is by March 1, 2009, you will see our show, Remodeling: Case by Case on at 9:00 am on ION network for those of you in the surrounding area. Wherever God takes us is exactly where we want to go... Please continue to pray for His best!

Go Big or Go Home

Here's the latest on the show biz scene. I will be flying to Bethesda Maryland on Tuesday, Oct. 14th for a meeting that could take us national. A few weeks ago, we met with the marketing exec. of Atlanta from ION Television. She was interested in putting our show on her network. In order to do this, we had to have a national sponsor. My co-host, Tracy Tesmer owns a Case Design and Remodeling Franchise in Gainesville GA. He mentioned that maybe we should pitch this sponsorship to the President of Case, who's headquarters is in Maryland. The call was made and they couldn't believe the fit. Case had just held a meeting discussing the desire to have a "Branding" and what better way to brand yourself then with a TV show. They also talked about how they wanted to cross advertise with their suppliers, one of whom is a little home improvement store, also known as Home Depot. Our meeting on Tuesday will include our crew, Rhonda from ION in Atlanta, and her boss, the Chief Marketing Exec from LA. We will meet and see if Case is on board. We've talked as a crew and decided to Go Big or Go Home - I'd like to go big if that's what God wants and I'd be fine with going home, if that's what He wants as well. Would you please pray for His very best! This could very well take us national and we just may be on your tv - Regardless, I know God is in control and I covet your prayers for this journey. I'll keep you informed...in case this goes big, for those of you who knew I was destined to be on TV because of my "drama ability", you can now say, "I told you so."

All Three!

Well, I FINALLY have a picture of all THREE of my children. It's only been, what, a year? So, here are my babies, growing and growing. Garrison will be 1 in just a couple of weeks and I think I'm in denial (and it's not just a river in Egypt)! It seems like it has flown by, but in some ways, it feels like forever ago I was pregnant! I can no longer use the phrase, "I just had a baby..." Life is crazy with three but "crazy" is what I understand so it's a great fit! Be in prayer for Lindsey as he endures the procedure that will ensure that life will be crazy with three children, instead of four.