STEELERS POST BLOG

A BLAST FROM THE PAST TO SAY THE LEAST

I JUST HAD TO ADD THIS TO OUR PREVIOUS STEELERS BLOG ENTRY. THIS IS ANDREW AND MARIE WATCHING A STEELERS GAME ABOUT 3 1/2 years ago. WE HAVE A PICTURE WITH NATTY AS A BABY TOO DRESSED IN A STEELERS' OUTFIT, BUT THAT WILL HAVE TO BE SCANNED IN AT A LATER TIME DUE TO BEING ON THE OLD FASHIONED PRINT FILM. THE YEARS GO ON, BUT WE CONTINUE TO LOVE OUR PITTSBURGH STEELERS.

WE LOVE OUR STEELERS

ROMANS 12:15

"Rejoice with those who rejoice,
and weep with those who weep."

WE ARE DEFINITELY REJOICING IN THE FUN WAY
THIS NIGHT!!

The Super Bowl is usually an exciting time at our house, but it is even MORE exciting when our team makes it and WINS the whole enchilada. Our beloved, Pittsburgh Steelers, took home the National Championship when they won their sixth Super Bowl Title causing them to have more wins than any other NFL team in football history. For Super Bowl XLIII, the Steelers played the Arizona Cardinals and it was a tight game...down to the last wire....final score below...


We were truly on the edge of our seats. My favorite statement was, "I can't talk right now. I'm breathing in the towel (the terrible towel that is)." The terrible towel for all you non Steelers fans is the Gold Towel that Steelers fans wave and twirl over their heads as our friend, Jacob, is demonstrating in the picture below...


In the end, it was a breathtaking win with MVP player of the night, #10, Santonio Holmes, catching the winning touchdown and scoring in the end zone with the tips of his toes.


My beloved husband, Andrew, definitely picked the winning number tonight sporting his fine Pittsburgh Steelers jersey. Here he is below giving his impression of Steelers' quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. Oh, and on his finger is his SuperBowl XLIII ring...so much cheaper if you purchase it at Publix on a set of cupcakes. Our little Natty girl got one too :)!

After evening church, we raced back in time for most of the game. Our friends, the Menkings, Jacob, Bekah, and of course Mama, Russell, and Emmy joined in on the festivities.

By the way, Bekah has her thumb pointing down because she was the only one in the house who was rooting for the Cardinals...they lost, however. We're trying to get Bekah to realize that :).



Our friends, Ben and April, said they were a Neutral Party. Yet, I know they could not withstand the excitement for too long...my dear friend April gave me a hug when Holmes scored the winning touchdown. What a proud moment!

Andrew, of course, had to call his Dad in Illinois, who is also a Steelers fan to rejoice in their team's exciting win.

And yes, I too, was extremely proud of my husband and HIS FINE TEAM!

I'm looking forward to what next season holds. At least the party food of chicken wings, shrimp cocktail, artichoke dip, and ice cold lemonade was a BIG hit! It was followed by our delicious dessert of Football Cake that said "GO STEELERS" and our Super BOWL cupcakes.


In the end, Great FOOD, Great FUN, Great FELLOWSHIP, and GREAT FOOTBALL!

GO STEELERS!!!

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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.