Marie Gets A Haircut

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted..."
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

And it was especially time for a HAIRCUT :)

I'm a little behind in posting this special event, but it is better late than never. Marie got her 1st haircut on Monday, November 24, 2008. Natty received her first ever haircut at the age of 4 and Marie was pretty close. She would be 4 on December 2. There was a big difference between my two treasures when they went to the hair cut place. Natty cried because she didn't want to have her hair cut. Natty has a close friend who cut her own hair at the same time and we showed her the pictures of the outcome...needless to say it helped Natty never to want scissors to ever touch her hair. I know it's hard to be the one who has the child who sets the example, but I truly thank my dear close friend of the little girl who paved the way...love ya, Kelly :). I now never have to fear Natty cutting her own hair :).


Marie, on the other hand, was very excited about the hair cut place. We really pumped her up about going to the special place called Snip-Its to get her first hair cut. I chose this place for both girls because they give you a certificate for bravery, take your picture, and save a lock of your hair from your first cut. They also give you a special key card to insert into their "whatchamadoodle prize machine." It makes weird noises and then spits out a big bouncy ball for your prize. Marie was thrilled. You pay the price, of course, but it is only a one time thing with our family :). After the first cut, you go on to the quick and cheap hair cuttery places.

So as you can see, it was a precious memory for me and my little girls. Natty missed the event because she went on ahead with Mama and Emmy to her violin lesson. Marie didn't miss out, however, on filling Natty in on all the details and showing off her "PRIZE BALL."

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A LITTLE TASTE OF MARIE'S FIRST HAIRCUT

A LITTLE BIT OF FUN AT OUR HOUSE

Philippians 1:6
"Being confident of this very thing,
that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ."

We have been extremely busy this past month, hence the delay of updating posts to the blog. However, we just had to take a little break and have some fun being silly. Tonight, Daddy has been hard at work finishing up a paper for one of his classes at Bob Jones. He decided the girls needed to have a few bed time horse rides to break the monotony before continuing on in his studies. The girls were happy to oblige as you can see from the pictures. To save time, Andrew thought he would take on all three. Well, he was fine until the back went out :)). He says he is not as spry as he used to be :). The girls would beg to differ. Enjoy the pictures.

My Soccer Sweeties

Philippians 3:13-14
"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended;
but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
I press toward the GOAL for the prize of the upward call
of God in Christ Jesus. "

This past Saturday, September 6, Natty played her first official soccer game. I was truly a "proud" parent watching my little girl be a little version of her Mommy. I used to be the player running around on the soccer field and so was her Daddy. Now I am her Coach. I have had the privilege this year to be asked to Coach the first U8 Girls Soccer Team with girls from our Church, Calvary Baptist. We are considered an outside team playing with the CESA (Carolina Elite Soccer Academy) League. I hold practices on Wednesday before church for our soccer families who participate. We started practices mid July. These girls have gone from not knowing a thing about soccer, except that it involves kicking a ball, to really looking (at least uniform wise :) ) like a professional soccer team.

Andrew and I both played soccer years ago and we were both the number 5...isn't that kind of a neat thing to pass on to your little ones. Therefore, Natty of course had to carry on the torch and be number 5.

I chose the team name, the Calvary Sweeties, because we truly do have little Sweeties on our team. We have a Lollipop as our mascot. I wasn't able to take a picture of all our team players yet as seen in the slide show above, but I hope to add to the post over the next few weeks of the updated pictures.

As for Natty, she is catching on very quickly to the game, and my little Sweeties are indeed a joy to watch. I love being their Coach.

We did not win our first game, but we won in the aspect of finishing it well. Our soccer theme verse is the one stated above... "...We Press towards the Goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." My heart's desire is for my little Sweeties to not only play soccer, but to Glorify their Savior, Jesus Christ, while doing it.

LET'S GO SWEETIES!!!


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GETTING READY FOR THE GAME


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Natty Takes a Shot on Goal


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My Natty Girl Can Really Be Polite :)

A TOOTHLESS Smile

PSALM 34:8 KJV
"O TASTE and SEE that the LORD is good:
Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him."

Well, you guessed it. Natty lost her first tooth today. This is definitely another milestone for our not so little, 6 year old, Natty Shumaker. Of all places too, in Walmart. Andrew and Mercy were with her when she pulled it out. Marie and I were in another aisle of the store. They came running around the aisle ecstatic and Andrew was holding the tooth. All Natty could say was, "AHH...see my mouth, Mommy." I was a little queasy from the sight of blood and replied, "Oh, how nice. Let's put it in a safe place in Mommy's purse so Daddy Tooth Fairy can find it under your pillow." Natty was super excited about going to bed tonight. If only children could lose teeth every night for this reason alone :)). She did ask me before going to bed if I thought she might get enough money to buy a Webkinz. I smiled and said, "I think Daddy Tooth Fairy might go broke if he gave you enough money to buy a Webkinz for every tooth." If you do not know a lot about Webkinz, they are stuffed animals that you can purchase and get a code so you can play with them online. They also range in price from $10 to $15 dollars a piece. Just between you, the reader of this blog, and myself, Daddy Tooth Fairy is most likely leaving $3.00 under her pillow for her first tooth.

I suppose I should add that she is not quite TOOTHLESS. There is an ADULT tooth growing up in its place. She is quite excited about that too!

How we LOVE our Natty GIRL!

A FIRST FOR NATTY

"For this child we have prayed, and the Lord has granted our petition which we asked of Him. Therefore we also have given her to the Lord; as long as she lives she shall be given to the Lord..." I Samuel 1:27-28


Natty has had a lot of "Firsts" in her life, but this truly was a special one. Natty had her very first violin recital today.




Many of you know that Natty started taking violin lessons last September. She is quickly approaching her first year of the violin. One of our friends from church, Lisa White, began teaching Natty the violin.




Lisa gave Natty a strong foundational start to the violin. After the birth of her second little one, Lisa needed to stop teaching at the end of April 2008. Emmy and Natty both took from Lisa and then continued their lessons with Mrs. Joan Mulfinger who is currently retired from Bob Jones University. Mrs. Mulfinger is the daughter of a violin child prodigy. Her father was from England and very gifted at the violin. Mrs. Mulfinger continued on her violin heritage with her 11 children, and they in turn have continued on to their generation with the gift of music. Mrs. Mulfinger has a completely different teaching style and structure than Lisa had, but Natty has a warm heart to learn any way that she can. By the Lord's grace, Natty has continued to progress in her violin playing.



Emmy and Natty both performed their selected violin pieces at Bob Jones University, Fine Arts Building Rm 224 on Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 10:00 AM. Natty is currently the youngest violin student who takes from Mrs. Mulfinger. It was indeed a treat to see Natty perform before some of the older students of Mrs. Mulfinger. Natty played two pieces, Allegro by Suzuki, and Long, Long Ago by Bayly. Emmy performed the Waltz by Johannes Brahms.

Courtney accompanied Natty and Emmy on the piano and did a fantastic job by following their playing style. You can feel so much more at ease when Courtney is at the piano :).

What a gift from the Lord our precious Natty girl is! Andrew and I's prayer is that she will continue to grow in her love for the Lord Jesus. Our desire is that her music will be given only to the Lord all the days of her life.


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This segment of Emmy's violin piece got cut off by a few seconds on Dropshots upload so Blogger video was the next best option. It's a little smaller, but you get to see the whole video. Enjoy!


A scanned copy of the front and back of the recital program. Feel free to click on the picture to make it a bigger size so that you can read the wording.

A WELCOME HOME GIFT

Andrew, the Girls, and I returned home from a week's vacation in Florida, on Sunday, June 22, 2008. This was the sight that awaited
our return in our very own front yard. The video clip below captures our first reaction. My words expressed to Andrew were, "Get me the camera!"

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Rubber That Meets The Road

LARGER THAN LIFE TIRES

GOES WITH EVERYTHING PINK TOILET...SAVES TIME INSTEAD OF HAVING TO GO INSIDE TO USE THE RESTROOM FACILITIES...ACCORDING TO OUR NEIGHBOR ACROSS THE STREET

COMES COMPLETE WITH DEAD FLOWERS...
FLOWERS ARE ALWAYS A NICE TOUCH

SUCH ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

When Standing Straight UP, This Tire Was Actually Taller Than Andrew!

Yes, I have to admit the GENIUS of the scheme...Paul Valentine, a "former" friend, who lives down the road from us. He had help though, and according to his wife, Cheryll, it wasn't her. Unfortunately she is married to the man and must bear the consequence of his "SINFUL" action. We have heard from a very reliable source and our neighbors that a Mr. John Everett was an accomplice to this heinous crime. His wife, Jennifer, was also involved with the knowledge of this...and merely laughed at the action of it and told a dear neighbor of mine not to do ANYTHING about it.

I am also told that there were several others involved in regards to this being that this Pink Toilet has passed around our church family. I am also aware that a friend, who I thought was our friend, Mrs. Dayna Ice, was very aware of the situation and did nothing to stop it. Hence Forth, I have also been informed that the ICE family has not been "TANKED" yet.

Several of our neighbors at least had the "decency" to welcome us home with questions, wonder, and anxiousness. We put their fears to ease by telling them that the perpetrators who did this would not go unpunished. We have selected a Bible Verse fitting for the Valentine Family:

Leviticus 24:19-20 NASV

If a man injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so it shall be done to him:
fracture for fracture,
eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him.


AND SO PAYBACK CONTINUES!

P.S. ANYONE INTERESTED IN
MONSTER TRUCK TIRES,
PICK UP IS FREE IN FOUNTAIN INN, SC

A Special Father's Day Treat

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Colossians 3:1-5
"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is our life appears,
then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire,and covetousness, which is idolatry."

Our family has been memorizing Colossians 3 to be our family's theme Bible chapter for this year. Natty and Marie have caught on very quickly thanks to hand motions. It really helps them to remember and Mommy too. We wanted to post the first five verses as a special Father's Day treat for Popop in Illinois. We have been so busy this week that we were unable to get a package in the mail. We thought that this would say our love for you so much better than any package :)!

We love you Popop!
Have a Most Wonderful Father's Day!

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Little Mercy Rose is ONE

Philippians 1:9-11 "And this WE pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere
and without offense till the day of Christ.
Being filled with the fruits of righteousness,
which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."

On Monday, May 19, 2008, our little Mercy Rose had her ONE YEAR OLD Birthday. What a joyful celebration we had looking back over the first 12 months (plus 40 weeks in the womb if we are being particular :) ) of her precious life. She is indeed a treasured gift from the Lord.


We started off Mercy's birthday with a Vacation Bible School Work Day at the Church. She played and crawled all around the gym, of which she loved. We then took her to Sonic for lunch with several of our friends from church. It was a beautiful day to be outside. She then took a very long nap which was good because it would be a late night for all of us. When Daddy and Papa got off of work, we headed to Gatti Town where they have a Merry Go Round and lots of games you can play. Mercy enjoyed every minute of her birthday of which you can see for yourself by the videos and pictures. Mercy was a delight to us all. She was readily available to open her presents. She had a little help from her sisters, Natty and Marie, but seemed to catch on rather quickly. She loved her pizza supper and birthday cake. She especially enjoyed riding the carousal, and we loved riding it with her. How we cherish these precious times we have with our little Mercy. The Lord's "Mercies" are definitely "NEW" every morning.


As for Mercy, she doesn't have any teeth just yet...nothing feels to be cutting through either. She can "GUM" just about any type of food. She loves to EAT! She isn't walking or really trying to make any attempts to. She crawls at the speed of light, however, and she likes to stand up on her own. Mercy may be ONE, but she is still OUR Little BABY.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MERCY ROSE! WE LOVE YOU!



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BLOW OUT THE CANDLE!
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo BooksYUM! YUM!
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RIDE THE CAROUSAL
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AROUND AND AROUND
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THE BABIES

Psalm 100:5
"For the LORD is good;
his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations."

The girls have been affectionately termed "THE BABIES" by Papa, Mama, Coco, and Emmy. I have been running slack on my blog updates, so we thought some smiles could be brought your way with a few of the latest pictures of "THE BABIES."

Yesterday, Natty surprised me by coming around the corner with Mercy sitting in a Little Tikes Grocery Buggy. She had picked her up and put her in the buggy all by herself. You'd be amazed where Mercy has been hauled to and in by her sisters. Mercy, of course, was squealing with delight. Natty pushed her in that buggy all around the house...and she LIVED!! What a precious blessing these little girls bring to our house each and every day. You can't help but love them...despite the messes they make. I probably should have been born with my back in the down right position...leaning over to pick up toys. It would have been more useful that way :).

On another note, we are off to pick up our dear COCO in just a few days. We are bringing her home from college in Wisconsin. She has finished her first year in college! JUST the girls are going...Mama, Myself, Emmy, Natty, Marie, and Mercy. The men folk are staying home to work and Andrew has his exams to take at Bob Jones. We are drawing closer to Andrew's graduation time with another semester coming to a close. What a DAY that will be for my beloved husband! As for the Wisconsin trip, we plan to stop in the Chicago area for a day to spend some time with Popop and Gumma-Gum (Andrew's Parents). We should arrive in Wisconsin on Tuesday to help Coco pack up her dorm room and bring her HOME!!! YARD SALES and PAR-TAY HERE WE COME!!! COCO is our number one Yard Saler and she loves the word, "PAR-TAY!"

How Good the Lord has been to help Courtney finish well in her first year. Lord willing, we will be home on Thursday to post some pictures of the adventures we have along the way. We look forward to what God has in store for each of us this summer. May we ALL be used by HIM in a MIGHTY WAY!





A SHORT VIDEO ENTITLED:
NATTY'S "GROCERY" SHOPPING FIND