Eric, Renee, Camden, & Mark

Baby Boy has a name!

2009-01-26T10:33:00.001-06:00

As for the name....drum roll please...we are calling him Mark. It will either be Ryan Mark or Mark Ryan. We haven't decided for sure on order, but we will call him Mark. We all wanted to call him Ryan, but I couldn't subconsciously quit referring to him as Mark. I would wake up and feel him move and think "Hi Mark!". I would get ready to work on the room and think "I need to get the bedding put on in Mark's room." I had been praying multiple times a day, and I know Eric had prayed some about it too (just not sure on his frequency) that the Lord would show us the perfect name for this child. It was driving me crazy that he didn't have a name when we first layed eyes on him (at the ultrasound...we knew by then with Camden that that was his name), and I had no peace until we decided. We tried to decide to call him Ryan for a few days, but I couldn't quit calling him Mark. Eric felt good about calling him Mark, and Camden finally said yesterday that he changed his mind and wanted to call him Mark too. So, with that consensus, we feel good announcing it to the world! I really think that was the Lord's way of anointing the name! In case you missed it somehow, Mark is due June 10. :)

Baby Boy's Room is painted!

2009-01-19T13:44:00.003-06:00

Thanks to my sweet husband Eric for painting baby boy's room a beautiful light blue today. I normally get to be the painter because I really do enjoy it, but since I'm carrying the baby, we thought it best I not paint for his safety. Eric isn't fond of painting, but he's a hero always doing what needs to be done whether he likes doing it or not! I can't wait to get the house put back together with the nursery setup. That's always the trouble with these sorts of projects...everything spills into every room until the fruit basket turnover is over! We're moving the boys' playroom to the bonus room in the process too. We've been cleaning out and clearing out, but still have too much junk! This week will be dedicated to getting the place organized again. I used to have the extra bedroom space for my packrattedness, but I really need to purge many old boxes of items that I've been sentimentally hanging on to. I have 2 boys now who need space to play! :)

It's a Boy!

2009-01-15T15:44:00.002-06:00

We had our ultrasound today (I'm 19 weeks, 1 day), and we're adding another boy to our household! Life should be easy this way for sure. Being due the same day as Camden, all the clothes should fit in the right seasons and everything. We just need to paint this weekend (well, Eric is gonna get to paint anyway!), and I need to wash up all the stuff in storage to be ready for our new little boy in June! I can't wait to get the house situated and feel like I'm ready for his arrival.

I don't guess I posted on here, but Sunday, December 7th, Camden accepted Jesus as his Savior. He will be baptized Sunday morning, February 1, at the 10:30 service at our church. We'd love to have you be with us that day if you are available!

I'm off to play "Sorry" with Camden. And, I have to get ready for tonight's all new episode of Smallville. If you don't know me, I'm highly addicted! Have a great day!

Ughhhh!

2009-01-07T16:48:00.002-06:00

Well, over lunch Eric was reminding me that some of you guys actually have links to our blogspot from your own sites. That was his subtle way to urge me to use some of my free time to post a blog since Camden's in school a full day now for Kindergarten. Although, every time I think about posting something, I think, my...how dull my life is. Well, I mean, I love it, but I'm not sure that you care to read about the daily things that excite me. I am an accountant at heart, so my thrills come from getting the 1040 booklet in the mail so I can start my taxes, paying bills, and this time of year, closing out my own little version of an accounting system on our personal finances. I know, you are yawning. Or shrieking in terror at the thought. This is my world. I don't work anymore for pay, so I have to use all that knowledge somehow!

Well, for the UGHHHHH title...today has been a challenge. Perfectly lovely in many regards....a lunch date with Eric at Applebee's, errands run, some sunshine after all of yesterday's flooding (but it also hailed on me at one point this afternoon in between the sunshine...go figure), and even a Dairy Queen blizzard for me and the baby before picking up Camden from school. On the other hand though, here are my gripes:

I go to Applebee's to eat one thing (yes, I'm picky)--Tortilla Chicken Melt...it's by far the most enjoyable healthy item out there...or WAS. You got a rainbow of finely chopped up veggies (so, not able to taste too well the broccoli or other less desirable veggies) with melted cheese and chicken in a sort of quesadilla thingy with some good dressing stuff on top that's sort of a ranch sauce but not exactly...better. UNTIL TODAY! Well, officially, they changed their menu on Monday, but it didn't effect me till today. They no longer carry my favorite dish! This is the story of my life. I will find something I really, really enjoy (I would say love, but Eric reminds me that we love people and use things, and food falls in the "things" category), and then once I'm hooked on it, they discontinue it. I can't tell you how many facial moisturizers, makeup, clothing brands, foods, menu items, etc have been discontinued probably only because someone found out that I like them. So, I had the fajitas (not without nicely but disappointedly making my point to the waitress that I only came there to eat the melt) that were perfectly fine except they are much like the ones I make at home because there is no distinct "seasoning" to set them apart from my own frying pan. We'll call this irritant #1.

I get home and check my mail to find a bill from one of my doctors (if you know me, you know I've seen many in the last couple of years to try to get my undiagnosable illness resolved...which I did and was able to get pregnant thankfully) saying I owe almost $100 balance from visits back in June. JUNE! It's January. Again, noting my above love of year end closing on my personal finances, 2008 was closed! I had posted all the expenses (so I thought) and came out under budget (YAY!) for the year, and I was happy to be starting 2009 organized and ready to go. Now, this is where I have to turn from griping to praise to the Lord because in Eric's last check from 2008, there was a little bit extra in it b/c they didn't have to take out any more SS $ cause they had all they needed already. Given that we have almost already spent everything in our Flex plan that is supposed to last us through June for medical expenses, I figured it would be good to put that bit extra into a medical "account" (not an account like you think....it's more of a designated portion of our savings account...every dollar in savings has a "name" or designation). Well, guess what? That "extra" I was hoping to save for future expenses just happened to be 96 cents more than the happy little bill I was sent. Praise God for His provision when I don't even know I need it! But I'm still gonna gripe that my doc waited forever to bill me for something I didn't know I owed. On to irritant #3 or the one I like to call "the doozy of them all".

"The Doozy of them all": December 26, partly in response to that under budget thing I mentioned earlier, we bought a new TV for our bedroom. We had thought about it and prayed about it and had the money to do it, so we found what we wanted in a great deal online from Circuit City. We even get a free Bluray player with the TV which we are excited about using in our living room. Well, when we ordered it, we noticed that on one screen, it put the player in our cart, but when we checked out, it wasn't there. So, we call their happy little customer service number, and a sweet woman named Mercy told me that it didn't show up because it was out of stock but she did see that we should get one, so she put in a special order at no cost to me to get me my bluray player. YAY! But wait...you thought I said this was an UGHHHH.....WELL, today, I get a call on my answering machine (right after opening that bill) from a guy stumbling over himself obviously with no real clear explanation that something about because I used my $100 off coupon and that they have no more bluray players that we would NOT be receiving our player. Hmmm....now, I didn't call immediately because I have a very short fuse and at this point was steaming mad. I know myself well enough to not talk to anyone I'm mad at until I've had time to calm down. It's that whole...be angry but do not sin thing....I try REALLY hard not to throw the sin on the backend of my anger. (Praise God for grace though.) After detailing the medical bill from looking back at old Blue Cross forms and receipts and resolving that yes, I guess I do owe the doctor more than what he billed me in August that I paid (yes, I thought I had paid all that was left once insurance settled then), I decided to give Dantel a lovely phone call. Only, I get voicemail. Of course! Talking to a real person who doesn't want to hear back from their angry customer is difficult. I left a nice little voicemail for Dantel basically letting him know that I wanted my bluray player and this to be resolved and if the person answering my voicemail did not have the authority to talk to me and make my situation better, they might as well go ahead and have their manager call me back. Guess what? No phone call yet. I doubt it will ever come.

So, will we ever get our bluray player? My answer is yes. My next idea is to go have a nice little meeting with our local store manager. And I do mean nice. I need someone real to plead my case on the inside. However, Eric called another number, and he seemed to be told by some lady that we would indeed get our player, but we would have to wait until they came back in stock. That's fine. So long as one day, we get it. It's about customer service and getting what you thought you paid for. They advertised the deal. It's not like we negotiated a special deal. It was right there on their site. We clicked the little button that says "I'm a sucker and I believe you're gonna give me this deal" (how my mind views it now, obviously), so we expect a TV and bluray player. Note: a side irritant of this ordeal too is that we still don't have our TV yet, and no one can seem to tell us when it will ship either. Moral of story: avoid Circuit City's website for sure. Unless you like a giant headache and lots of your free time on the phone with incompetent people!

June 10

2008-10-28T09:41:00.003-05:00

Well, we haven't officially announced this to the world yet, but for anyone who still checks this to see if anything new is on here, you get a special treat! We are pregnant! After 5 years of trying for a second child, the Lord has answered our petitions of Him! The total God part is that we had completely quit trying as I have a herniated disc in my lower back that cause sciatica. It can be severe, and I was waiting to see a neurosurgeon to find out how bad it was. God thought this would be a good time to surprise us! I am due June 10, which was the same due date as Camden's! God is so good!

I am about 7 1/2 weeks along by measurement, 8 weeks tomorrow by due date. We had our first ultrasound last Thursday, and everything looked good! We heard and saw the heartbeat which was 127 bpm. I was 7 weeks and 1 day, but I measured 6 weeks 4 days. They don't want to change the due date yet, and I certainly don't want them to! It's too cool the way it is. They said that everything looked good and that I had probably ovulated on like day 18 instead of day 14 and that would explain the difference in measurement. The due date is just a guess anyway. Kind of a time to look forward to and have your ducks in a row. Of course, Camden was 3 1/2 weeks early. Some of my ducks were still swimming around the pond when he arrived, so I'll be better prepared this time! I have been talking to the baby trying to convince him or her to wait at least till Memorial Day to make an appearance. (I originally said Labor Day as I often get the two confused, but I had to quickly correct myself as Labor Day is totally out of the question!)

We have our 2nd ultrasound this Friday. I should be at or closer to 8 weeks either way, and things should have changed a lot by then. I'll post pictures after that visit. The baby will be bigger and easier to see by then.

We are praising God for how wonderful He is. Camden is truly excited to be a big brother, and he tells people he will be a good big brother. We think so too. He is so helpful and really loves the baby already. He is trying to help us think of names, except he really thinks outside the box. He is reading very well already using phonics, so he puts letters together for names by the phonics. A few of his names so far have been: Oxo, Clugh, Oraen, & Erec (to be different than him & Daddy). He comes up with many everyday. Camden would like to have a baby brother, but he thinks the baby will be a girl. I know he'll love a sister, but I'm sure he's thinking of having a brother to play with down the road. Either way, it will be fun! He even graciously is giving up his playroom (eventually) to make a nursery for the baby. My sweet little man is so loving toward his sibling!

Sounds so weird to say that! It's been so long. I'm doing pretty well, although I have an aversion to smelling or thinking about food. We've eaten out way too much as I really have a hard time cooking anything. It's either hit the fast food or buffets so that I can eat pretty much as soon as I first smell it. Otherwise, I get really nauseated. Thankfully, I don't have morning sickness like so many do. I just get indigestion and nausea all day long. I'm just glad to not have to stay at the big white throne like others!

Well, I'll end here for now. Sorry it's been so long. If there are any readers still out there, thanks!

We have conquered!

2008-08-16T19:51:00.007-05:00

After a collaborative effort of Daddy, Mommy, Aunt Lori, Mr. Walter, GaGa, Mimi, & even Camden's help and hard work, we have conquered the treehouse/fort/swingset/jungle gym/contraption!
It took at least part of the last 8 days (except for Wednesday cause of church) including one night of Eric working in the rain to put this thing together. 5 huge boxes of pieces of wood, hardware, etc and 112 steps of directions (an example of one step is to screw 32 boards to the main frame...etc) has provided Camden with something to enjoy until he turns 10, but most likely until he no longer fits through it (he's light as a feather).

Now, if you know us well, then you know that there is no way on earth we were going to pay the $1600 price for this thing that Sam's wanted. We had always said that it was way too much, and we could live with the small, hand-me-down swingset we had. Well, that was until last Friday when Sam's marked this thing down to $840. Almost half-price. You know me...I can't pass up a bargain! We did sleep on it to follow our "big purchase" rule. We realized that our sweet little boy wouldn't be little but once, and it was worth it! As you can see above, our little monkey is having a blast! Daddy's outside now with Camden and his friend who lives behind us playing and enjoying the finished product! I think I'll go play now.... :)

First Day of Kindergarten

2008-08-10T13:49:00.009-05:00

Thursday, August 7: Camden's First Day of Kindergarten!

Camden has a great teacher, Mrs. Lumpkin, at his new school. It's a private Christian school that is not far from our house. He did so well on his first day of school. He really likes Mrs. Lumpkin, and he enjoys school already. Daddy takes him to school which Camden really enjoys too. Mommy picks him up. We opted for half-day K because most of the instruction is in the morning, and Mommy didn't want him to have to grow up any faster than he had to! She's loved staying home with him for his first 5 years of life, and a full day of school can start next year!

His school has several campuses, and they want him to learn the name of the campus he attends. It's called the "M&M campus" because of the city/community location. So, they decorate with M&Ms everywhere to help the kids learn. He actually got a pack of M&M's to bring home his first day!The classroom is also decorated in frogs, which is just one of God's thumbprints on Camden's placement at this school. When he was born, we nicknamed him our little froggy because he would pull his legs up and then kick them out like he was a frog wanting to jump around. When we saw his name on a frog on the bulletin board in the hallway and then saw the classroom, we felt so overwhelmed with God's blessings on Camden's life! Below is a picture of our little froggy when he was just a day old:

Camden jumped right in our lives and blessed us immediately with his precious little life God created. As he's growing up and becoming more independent, we are truly thankful to the Lord for entrusting this precious child to us. Camden is such a joy to have as a son. We are truly blessed! I can't believe how quickly time has passed. Tune in next week for high school graduation pictures! It sure does seem like it goes by just that fast....

Mommy & Camden's Last Day Together before Kindergarten!

2008-08-10T13:32:00.006-05:00

Wednesday, August 6, Mommy & Camden went to a local water park to celebrate our last day together as Camden being a preschooler!

We had a great day together eating pizza & cinnapies, floating at the Wave Pool, practicing our swimming skills in the big pool, and playing in the kiddie pools.

We had AWANA registration that night. Visit back soon to see pictures of Camden as a brand new Spark! (He finished Cubbies last year!)

Swim Lessons

2008-08-02T17:41:00.004-05:00

Camden had 8 swim lessons in the afternoons for two weeks (Mon-Thurs) at the indoor pool at our gym. The picture above is the last day of class when the kids raced with the flotation devices. This is his 3rd year to take lessons, yet he has never really swam on his own until now. I guess we didn't spend enough time in the water in prior years for it to stick. However, we are swimming much more this summer than usual, and we plan to swim year round at the gym to keep up his skills.

He was so brave, and he now will swim underwater for short distances (longer ones if you just back up without telling him). We are so excited that he has had successful lessons. The picture below is him swimming to the wall by himself.

The picture below is Camden swimming to the ladder after jumping in the deep end. He swam a long distance (for him) from where he jumped in to the ladder. Sorry the picture is off center...it was an afterthought to take the picture, and I almost missed it completely. Overall, we had a great experience!

Disney World May 2008

2008-07-24T08:03:00.012-05:00

Hi! I thought I'd set a new record and NOT wait 6 months to post vacation pictures! :) We made our first trip as a family to Disney World May 11-18.

Camden's Mimi & GaGa (Renee's parents) went with us too which was a huge help in keeping up with an adventurous 5 year old!

We flew out of Huntsville on Mother's Day, and we spent that Sunday evening at Downtown Disney. We did 6 Park Hopper Days and didn't see everything! My, what a huge place! If you are thinking about going anytime soon, may I suggest that we were really glad we waited to take Camden when he was old enough to not require naps and tall enough to ride almost all the rides. You have to be 42 inches to ride most rides there, and he was 43. We saw so many smaller kids crying because they couldn't ride many of the rides they saw. We were glad to not have to fight that battle! We stayed at the Pop Century Resort, and we used all their transportation to/from airport and to/from parks. We did save money using the Basic Dining plan too. We enjoyed all the major theme parks cram packed full of fun with character meals, thrill rides, and shows. We definitely learned what to do and what not to waste time or money on.Camden wanted to ride ALL the rides, even the scary ones! Here's proof that my brave little boy inspired his Mommy to go on Splash Mountain at night despite the fact that I had already decided that the first time I went (in the daytime) that I didn't have to do that anymore! I wouldn't have even done it in the first place except that I don't want to instill fears in my child that keep me from being "the fun one." I want him to be brave enough to conquer obstacles and only fear (respect) those things that he should (God, touching a hot stove, getting squished by a car, etc).
Eric and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary on Friday, May 16. We spent our anniversary at Animal Kingdom riding the Kali River Rapids over and over until evening. Then, it was time to attend Mickey's Pirate & Princess Party at Magic Kingdom. Eric had gotten me a ring for our anniversary back in November while we were in St. Thomas, USVI. It's beautiful. I had gotten him an iPod. However, that night, I was his princess, and he bought me my very first tiara. It even lights up! Ok, so it's plastic and has Disney characters on it, but it was nice to feel like a princess instead of a slave to laundry and dishes for a change!

Camden was actually 4 years old for most of the trip...he turned 5 at Disney World on Saturday, May 17. He had a good birthday breakfast with Lilo & Stitch, Mickey & Pluto, and family at Ohana's at the Polynesian Resort (Mickey & Camden pictured above on his birthday). We went back to Hollywood Studios to do some things we missed the first time like the Playhouse Disney area where Daddy got a good shot of Mommy & Camden together getting ready to watch the show!

We also revisited Epcot to ride the "Soarin'" ride one more time. That night, we had supper at the Garden Grill at Epcot with Mickey, Pluto, Chip, Dale, and our family. It was really good food. The restaurant slowly turned as you ate, but don't let that reel you into eating there. There's not much to see. However, the food was great, and it is a good character meal. Camden had a great birthday.

It seemed like a good idea at the time of booking the trip to leave early to come home so as to have time to rest at home before going back to the normal workweek on Monday. My mind wasn't processing that catching a 8 am flight out of Orlando would translate to having to have luggage at the bus by 4:30 am. It was nice to have time at home, but I think we will spend more of the day sleeping and at Downtown Disney before catching our flight home next time. Oh the joy of learning from experience!

I'm Not Too Good At This!

2008-05-05T09:37:00.007-05:00

I learned to never make "promises" for my blog now....here you were promised pictures of our cruise in January, and it is May now and still not done! Good grief! I don't know how you guys and gals that post regularly do it. Maybe I just didn't get the "blog" gene....anyway, here is a pathetic attempt to add a few pictures....the first one is from our room balcony on the Royal Caribbean "Mariner" in St. Thomas, USVI. This next one is me & my sweet boy on our balcony in St. Maarten. The third one is what we woke up to every morning of Camden looking down on us from his bunk bed that pulled down across the top of our bed. :) The last one is my boys on the Royal Caribbean private island, Cococay, in the Bahamas. I hope to finally print some pictures this week and get our photo album done for you all to see!

Life has been crazy to say the least. I never knew I could go from coasting along quite well to pure and utter chaos so quickly! It is all good, and God is faithful to provide through it all completely. Forgive me for not updating sooner though. I hope to do better in the future. That's all for now!

Let the Christmas Season Begin!

2007-12-20T11:07:00.001-06:00

Ok...I know you are wanting to see pictures from our cruise and how cute Camden was and so forth. It will come. I promise. But probably not till after Christmas. I've had back issues again for the last couple of weeks which has put me behind on EVERYTHING! Expect your Christmas cards late. If you get yours before Christmas, consider it a miracle of God! If you don't get one this year, my apologies are to you and your family. It's nothing personal. Things have just been chaos lately. Going on vacation the week after Thanksgiving sounded like a good idea. Christmas hit like a freight train. It's all good. We're starting to even enjoy it now (Eric has been all along...). I just had to let my perfectionism go and say that some things won't be done like I want them to be this year. So, I need to go pack because we're starting our Christmas festivities at my Aunt's house tonight, and we leave in 3 hours. You'll have lots to look at come January, I promise! Until then, Merry Christmas. We love you all. Slow down and remember why we celebrate. I'm trying to! Renee :)

San Antonio: Anita & Renee's Excellent Adventure

2007-11-06T15:14:00.000-06:00

Brandon is officially a US Airman now! My friend Anita & I took a short trip to see Brandon (he's like a little brother to me for those who don't know him) graduate from Air Force Basic Training on Friday morning. We watched the ceremonial parade. Afterward, we went to the San Antonio Riverwalk, then to the Alamo, and then to see the Spurs play that night. I'll have to get a pic from Anita of the Spurs game...I was too busy being terrified out of my mind from how high our seats were! We packed alot into a short trip, but we had a blast! We actually got to hang out with Brandon and his family alot of the time as well. We're so proud of him. It was nice to have a great reason to visit such a beautiful city. To see all my pictures, if you have a myspace account, log on and go to www.myspace.com/jesuslovesrenee. Here are some of my favorite pics:

Trick Or Treat!

2007-11-02T23:38:00.000-05:00

For Halloween, we got to enjoy the company of Mickey Mouse!

Here is Mickey preparing for some serious Trick-or-Treating...

The hayride...

With Daddy...

Family Fun Day with FRBC

2007-11-02T23:34:00.001-05:00

Our church, Flint River Baptish Church, celebrated Family Fun Day at Tate Farms on Sunday, October 28th.
Camden enjoying the corn train.

Camden making some new friends. The pig behind him is about to give him a little scare!

Pet the puppy!

Fall Festival

2007-11-02T23:31:00.000-05:00

Camden enjoyed the Fall Festival at Pineview Baptist Church this year. Here he is on a pony ride. He also got to showcase his good arm with several of the game booths.

Daddy Gene & Mommy Nell's Birthdays Party

2007-10-17T12:18:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, October 13, we had a family birthday party for Daddy Gene who turned 89 in Sept and Mommy Nell who's birthday's in October (you never tell a woman's age! :). We missed cousin Jeremy who had to work, but the rest of the gang was there. Camden thoroughly enjoyed playing with his cousin Eleanor who is now 9 months old. This is a picture of what looks like her giving him a kiss but really was purely by accident!

We also went to a wedding of Renee's friend from high school, Kerri. It was a nice ceremony, and it was good to see Kerri after so many years apart! All in all, it was a good day with family & friends!

TTU Homecoming 2007

2007-10-11T22:11:00.000-05:00

The Boys... Together Again!

Just some of the ladies...

Question... Are fraternities a good thing?

More Camden

2007-10-11T21:59:00.001-05:00

2007-10-11T21:54:00.000-05:00

More Pics From Tate Farms!

Tate Farms 2007

2007-09-30T20:49:00.001-05:00

We spent a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Tate Farms in late September...

Goofy Camden

2007-08-20T20:49:00.001-05:00

We have been getting requests for more pictures of Camden. Here are a few pics of Camden acting goofy in his room. He made his crown in Sunday school this past week at church.

Camden watched High School Musical 2 recently. I think he's a big fan! He has been singing songs from the movie ever since I got home from work this evening.

First full week of August

2007-08-09T08:06:00.001-05:00

Well, we've had much excitement this week with many new activities. We've frequented the Fitness Center many times already this week (a miracle in itself....it having childcare really makes it much more possible to get there). Camden is enjoying playing in the childcare area, and on certain days, he gets to do a "Little Fit Kidz" class. He gets to march and jump and play games in there designed to give the kids a mini-workout as well. I like that option. It helps tire him out some too, as I sure am ready for some down time after working out! We've gotten to go swimming, and that will undoubtedly be a great motivator to help Camden do those things I've been wanting him to do (like broadening his food choices). The proper motivation gets us all into good routines and habits.

I (Renee) took my first water aerobics class called "Deep Water Workout" which was what drew me to this gym in the first place. With the slipped disc in my neck, I need a workout that is no impact. They give you a flotation belt to wear around your waist and put you where you can't touch. The belt keeps you up, but if you want your whole head above water (I'm very claustrophobic, and I prefer to have waist up out of the water), you have to keep kicking. Beyond that, the lady has many different exercises that she calls out for you to do, and she counts them off. For at least 30 solid minutes, I was getting an incredible workout. Not sure if it's possible to sweat in water or not, but I was definitely sweating from my head above the water. Now, I was in this class with some older ladies, but they could have swam circles around me! They've taken the class for a long time, so they have it down. I know this is gonna help me get back in better shape.

Now on to more fun news....Camden started his second year of Cubbies last night! YAY! He had so much fun. Cubbie himself stopped by for a visit, and Camden got to meet him in person! They had a fun night making a Cubbie bear puppet and watching Veggie Tales. Camden got popcorn during the movie, so he was definitely happy! He is excited about learning more this year. He will have to know the Scripture references as well as the verses this year, so we are gonna work hard through the week for sure. He is so blessed though with a fantastic memory. It shouldn't be that much more difficult for him.

Eric and I sat in on the youth service last night. We're praying about getting involved there. We kind of want to stay in our adult SS classes though and get to know some people first. We'll see what the Lord has for us. Anyway, the service was awesome. Bro. Derek & his band are really hard core Christian, and they were great. He's a great speaker too, really hitting the hard issues. We are talking with him about doing some drama with the students as a way to ease into the program without becoming Small Group (SS) leaders right away. Drama is definitely our hearts, and it is probably Eric's best area of ministry that he is passionate about where it just comes easily for him. He's such a great actor...most people don't know when he's being serious and when he is messing with them. We're praying about these opportunities as we want to get into serving but aren't quite sure yet what the Lord wants for us.

We are excited about getting to take Camden to a UT game this fall. We are trying to get tickets to the Arkansas game in Knoxville. We have wanted to go every year, but last year we coached Upward football and the years before we couldn't make it work either. There are many home games this year, so that helped us out too. I can remember going up on Saturdays with my dad when I was in Middle school. It was so much fun to be there for the Vol Walk getting to sit on the Library Wall and be a part of the hype before and after the game. Eric and I have only been to one UT game together (although, it was the best one to go to....we got to see UT beat FSU in the National Championship game in Tempe, AZ....we lived in Tucson at the time...it was AWESOME...the desert was definitely painted orange!). We look forward to enjoying being a UT fan together as a family in the heart of Vol Country! It's almost time to say, "It's Football time in Tennessee!" Did I forget to mention that I'm a HUGE football fan? Definitely sport of choice to watch and play.

Well, I better go. I might try to work on some pictures for awhile. I guess you'll find out if I'm successful at it or not! Have a blessed day whenever you may be reading this!---Renee :)

Cabin 1B - Lighthouse Christian Camp

2007-08-04T18:11:00.000-05:00

Here are the kids from Cabin 1B at Lighthouse Christian camp. Four of these kids accepted Christ as their Savior... Praise God!

Summer 2007

2007-08-04T16:58:00.000-05:00

Summer's been fast-paced and is basically gone now! We've done swimming lessons, had fun at some water parks, and visited family & friends. Camden played Upward Soccer where we found out that he is pretty shy and not too sure about running after the ball into a group of kids that probably will knock him down if he tries. He had fun though, and we'll try another sport next year that doesn't involve so much mass chaos. Eric has been blessed to play more golf or go to the driving range this summer than ever. He & Camden enjoy the driving range together, and we all enjoy playing a round of golf. Since Camden is getting older and more independent, it makes it a lot easier to do fun activities like this as a family.

We felt the Lord was leading us to look for a new church back in the spring, so we visited many places in late spring and early summer. We joined a new church, Flint River Baptist Church (http://www.frbc.org/), on July 1. We are so pleased that the Lord made our transition quick and easy into the new place of worship & service He had for us. We enjoyed a great time at our church's "Freedom Celebration" on July 1 where we saw Big Daddy Weave in concert and played in inflatables. Renee has already been enjoying being a part of a huge choir. She is also enjoying her new Ladies Sunday School class. Eric is looking into & praying about working in the student ministry. He is also enjoying his Men's Sunday School class as well. Camden is adjusting well to our new church too. He has so many activities focused at teaching him about Jesus & the Bible here. He finished his first year of Cubbies in the AWANA program last year, and he will start his second year of Cubbies this week. He will be a part of a preschool choir starting soon. Beyond Sunday School, he will have a lesson and focused activities related to the lesson during the worship time as well. We are very excited to be settled in a church home once again.

On with summer:
We volunteered at Lighthouse Christian Camp (http://www.lighthousechristiancamp.com/) for a week in July. It reaches out to children who could never afford to go to summer camp, and most of the children come from rough home lives. The children get to do all sorts of fun stuff while learning about God's love for them. They are given the opportunity to accept Jesus as their Savior, and many of them do by the week's end. Eric got to lead 4 boys from his cabin to the Lord while at camp. Renee helped cook all week for the 100 or so boys, volunteers, & staff. What a blessing! God is so good. Camden spent the week with his Mimi & GaGa (it's in the town Renee grew up in where they still live), and he had a blast! He got to visit with his Daddy Gene & Mommy Nell as well as go on fun adventures to play with new friends at McDonald's, the county fair, etc.

We joined today at the Fitness Center on the local college campus where Camden took swim lessons earlier this summer. We are excited about being able to take him swimming more often & year round (indoor pool--YAY!)

We've had several friends have surgeries and injuries this summer, so we have spent some time showing them God's love in practical ways. It's so great that even though we weren't settled in a church home part of the time that God still gave us opportunities to serve Him. We are certainly happiest when doing the Lord's work.

Open House for Mother's Day Out will be Friday for Camden. He will start "school" on Aug 14. He goes on Tuesdays & Thursdays to help prepare him for elementary school and give Mommy some time to get projects done.

I'll end here for now. I'll try to post some pics soon.

Getting Started

2007-08-04T16:55:00.000-05:00

We're getting started on our webpage. We hope to keep pictures posted to keep up with the fast pace of our lives these days. Seems like the first few years of having Camden around were spent at home teaching him how to be an independent little boy, and now, he's got it! We stay busy and on the go these days. It's so much fun. We wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.