kids are a jungle...

So remember when they said that teachers get the summer off...someone LIED! I feel like I've been busier these last few months than I was the entire school year! So it all started when Jessica (my lil sis) came in town, even before school was out...She ended up staying for almost two entire weeks and we had a blast! I don't really remember everything we did but most of it involved the beach. Oh yeah and making foam crowns for ourselves and of course the King of the household...Jus. He was lovin' him some crown okay. It was quite manly if you ask me, with turkey feathers and all. Anyway, soon after that was VBS at our church in which I was teaching the 5th graders. I don't know if normal people are like this...wait, nope, normal people are definitely NOT like this...I just have to make everything perfect. They said our rooms were supposed to look like locker rooms so I jump into the idea that I am going to make three deminsional lockers and sports equipment, and let me just say......by the third or fourth day of spray painting and gluing and cutting, I was soooo over it! I always do that to myself. But VBS went well and out of the 12 kids I had in my class 6 of them had already accepted christ and I got to pray with the other 6 to recieve him!! PTL, it was all worth it after that.

Whew! So the day bible school ended I jumped in the car and headed straight to Bama for my mom's surprise 50th bday party. It was awesome. I had worked so hard to keep everything a secret and it totally paid off! She was terrified when she walked in the door! haha. I'll have to post the pictures when I get them on my computer.

So immediately after that weekend we left for Student Life Camp with the high schoolers, which I wrote about in my previous blog so I won't bore you again...

The next week was semi-free of stress. I mostly slept to re-coop from the weeks prior. Then lots of old friends came in town for Heather's wedding. We did some awesome pictures on the beach (which I'll post more of when I have copies) and Heather's wedding was awesome. In the middle of that somewhere I went back up to Bama for a few days to go to the Shakespeare Festival with my mom and sisters.

The next week Brandy (my oldest sis) and Jeff and their 4 kids came to visit for a while.

Things are hectic with all those kids but I liked it...kind of reminded me of my childhood =) We spent a few days at the beach (of course!)
Here is Jeff and Tyler posin' but I'm not sure what Tyler is trying to look like here??? a ganster?? who knows?
Cole and Cory spent most of their time standing at the very edge of the water and watching their big brother and dad boogey board. They seriously spent hours standing just like this, haha.
And my little Tatum bug spent her time in the sand with the girls (her mom and I). She was lovin' some sea shells but when it was time to go made the entire beach laugh as she threw herself in the sand and refused to get up. It was seriously hard to scold her while everyone around is laughing histerically. she was so dramatic about it that it wasn't even one of those annoying fits that kids throw, more entertaining really. Gotta love her.The boys spent the rest of their time wrestling with Justin or boxing with Justin's oversized boxing gear. They were stinkin' hilarious. Then of course Tatum HAD to get in on the action.
Here is Tatum after I put this keychain type thing on her pacey. She called it her pacey "bling bling". It was so funny, even when I took it off she would frantically start looking for it, and asking for it! ha

Then she proceeded to put every bow that she owned in her hair and crack up laughing when everyone looked at her funny. She is such a ham at age 2!

While there were here we had a 4th of July cookout at our house. The place was packed and Justin grilled his fingers to the bone so all ba-gillion of us could eat. It was Goooood.
Here is Whit and I enjoying watching all the boys playing badmitton (sp?) in the front yard...this is their new sport of choice, weirdos. We all spent the rest of the day playing a massive game of trivial pursuit, boys against girls. There was like 15 people on each team, hahaha, and we STILL managed to get questions wrong.

This is just a great picture of Tatum in her ballerina gear. Prima Ballerina!

The next night we took Brandy and the fam to see "Cinderella:The True Story" at the church. It was a Dinner theatre and it was GREAT! The dinner was especially amazing. We beached it up a few more days and they sadly had to go. And now Sharry and Josh are coming this weekend and we are all going canoeing and camping. fun fun!

So, in the meantime I'll be playing with my sweet Audrey until she leave a few days nevermore to be seen again (or like two years from now). Oh yeah, that reminds me during all this chaos I had to say goodbye to Kristi as she headed off the Europe, but she will be back again before leaving for Africa, thank goodness.

Two URGENT prayer requests: I know most of you don't know these people but the more prayer warriors the better: Shannon and Robert Carver had a little baby girl yesterday afternoon, her name is Cori. She was born with a cleft lip and no hard pallette, but worse is that her lungs and heart are not functioning correctly. she is currently at Sacred Heart on 6 different machines. Doctors have given her a 50/50 chance at survival. They are now flying her to Birmingham. Please pray and pray hard for complete healing for little baby cori and comfort and strength to her mom and dad who will be here in Pensacola.

#2 - Greg and Ashley (I forgot their last names) are expecting their first child (7 months pregnant). Greg is only 32 and has just been diagnosed with the more rare type of cancer. I can't tell you the name of it but in all cases when treated with Chemo it has always come back immediately. Best case scenario for him would be life-long chemo. Now he has blood clots and they have had to put filters in his lungs. Prognosis is grime but God is in the healing business. Pray!