Our Trip to the Store

Hello all!!! So Abbi did not like Coke when she first arrived at our house. Now she does. What changed, you ask? Well, as you may already know, Coke has come out with a 1.25 liter bottle to celebrate 125 years. Cute, right? Well, Jacob decided to get one so he could have the cool looking bottle (and drink some too:). Abbi tasted some and decided that she actually did like Coke and...we had to go to the store to get her a cute little bottle of Coke:D


Abbi is excited:)


Alex is excited too:)


On our way to the store...


At the store (don't ask why the meat is behind them...because I did not plan that:)


Abbi proudly presents her bottle of Coke:D


Coming home from the store


The pretty sunset on our way home...


...and the clouds


Abbi claims it as hers:D


And this is her that night:D

Don't worry, she didn't drink the whole thing that night. In fact, she has yet to drink the whole thing. Although we did make a funny video of her and her Coke that night. And then...we stayed up until 4am. Well, at least Jacob, Abbi and I did...others were party poopers:D

Love,
Alex

Summer Blogging

Hello all!!! Can you believe summer is almost here! School will be over in only a few days (well, for me it might be more like weeks)! I so look forward to summer because it is so non-stressful and you don't have to worry about as much. One thing I am trying to do this summer is really be a good steward of my time. Am I spending my time all on movies and games and fun stuff that benefits me? Or could I be reading my Bible, finishing that sewing project that is impossible to finish during the school year and even some charity and volunteering stuff! Which brings me to my point-and I really think God is trying to bring this to my attention because it keeps coming up:D
First of all, I was at a conference where Todd Wilson (awesome, amazing guy) spoke about "Taming the Techno-beast". Mhm, my first reaction: "My iPod will be burnt at the altar now!!!" Turns out, Todd Wilson is nicer than that:) Yeah, he has teenagers too:) But he did talk about the time we spend on the computer on the internet or e-mail. Could this even be...yes I'm going to say it...bloggging? Now stop screaming (or maybe that's just me:). You're thinking, "But blogging encourages other people and is a great way of communication!" I totally agree. But if it takes away time from, let's say, you quiet time (ooh, big one) or time with your family...is it really worth it?
Second, I'm going to use a Bible verse for this one just to make you really guilty:)

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit' whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that'".(James 4:13-15)

Slam. Yep, guilty as charged. How many times have I told you I'm going to blog and haven't? Haha, alot. I refuse to promise you anything concerning blogging anymore (and if I do you have permission to comment and tell me:). Instead, if the Lord wills, I will come and post from time to time this summer and hopefully you'll be encouraged by it:D
Now for the confession...I totally stole that last idea from another blog. All thoughts of me being so mature in my faith may now vanish from your head. Go to www.purplecellar.com. It is an amazing blog!!! She is such an amazing Christian woman and I am reading her book about Contentment. Really good!!! But when I saw that Bible verse there I said, "I'm blogging about this right now!" Yes, I'm not as smart as you thought:(
Well, now I must go. For those of you that were at the conference, "Kill the Beast!!!":D

~Alex

"Our God" by Chris Tomlin

Hey y'all!!! I was in a Bible study group recently that played this song and had us read the lyrics. The words really are so moving and I'm reminded how great my God really is!!!

Water you turned into wine
Open the eyes of the blind
There's no one like you
None like you
Into the darkness you shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There's no one like you
None like you

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God you are higher than any other
Our God is healer, awesome in power
Our God, our God...

Into the darkness you shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There's no one like you
None like you.

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God you are higher than any other
Our God is healer, awesome in power
Our God, our God...
Our God is greater, Our God is stronger
God you are higher than any other
Our God is healer, awesome in power
Our God, our God...

And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
What can stand against?

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God you are higher than any other
Our God is healer, awesome in power
Our God, our God...
Our God is greater, Our God is stronger
God you are higher than any other
Our God is healer, awesome in power
Our God, our God...

And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
Then what can stand against?
Then what can stand against?

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God you are higher than any other
Our God is healer, awesome in power
Our God, our God...
Our God is greater, Our God is stronger
God you are higher than any other
Our God is healer, awesome in power
Our God, our God...




Isn't that just an amazing song? You can listen to it on my playlist too. It is such a neat song. Just listen to it and think about how awesome our God is!

~Alex

Happy Birthday Noah!!!

Happy birthday Noah!!! You bring such joy to the family!!!

Brothers like you don't grow on trees! Swing from them, maybe...


~Alex

Goings-on

Hello all!!! This weather is gorgeous!!!

Gabrielle is so close to crawling it's not even funny. Her smile is so adorable...:) Those two teeth on the bottom make it all the more cute:)One on the top now too!!!

Noah's birthday is nearing. He's been waiting all year:) Seriously. he asks about it every day because he didn't get a family birthday and a friend birthday like the rest of us did last year:D

I just got the new ipod nano:) It is a really nice ipod and I'm really enjoying using it! It's so much easier to find a certain song now instead of having to go through all of them to find one!!! My favorites:

Love Story by Taylor Swift

Life after You by Daughtry

Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts

Welcome to the Show by Britt Nicole

Save Your Life by Newsboys (not on there yet, but it will be!!!:)


See ya!!!


~Alex

Snow Pictures Part II

Hey y'all!!! Aren't y'all proud of me for posting so often?:D Hey Abbi E., this is for you "He didn't make it.......let's go!"



Trying to clear off the streets (here in Georgia we don't drive if there is more than an inch of snow:)



"Whoa, that's a long way down"




I thought it'd be fun to jump off the swing and land in all the podwery snow:D




Look at Gabrielle all bundled up!!! She looks like a teddy bear!


More next time!!!

Love,
Alex

Snow Pictures!!!! (Better late than never!)

I do believe this is mom plunging down the hill.


See how ginormous this hill was? It's awesome, though. I can't believe we never knew about it before!!!


Now that's a lot of snow.


Oh my gosh! They're all dead!!! Okay, so Noah ruined the picture by popping his head up, whatever.


If you're wondering who took this awesome picture, it was mwa:D


More to come dearies!!! This is only Part I!!!!

Love,
Alex

Two Essays

Hello!!! Wow, it's been a while since I last posted...I know you missed me:D Sorry, but I'm not on here to post pictures:( They will be on here eventually though!!! Maybe even some adorable pictures of Miss Gabrielle. Oh, and before I share my essays with you, here's an update on Gabrielle...

She has two teeth!!! Adorable! Her smile is so cute it warms my heart:) She is so close to crawling; she'll get up on her hand and knees and rock, but then fall. Oh, but that doesn't stop her from moving around. She rolls and scoots and rolls some more until she is on the other side of the room.

Oh, by the way, my camera is fixed!!! Thank you Lord for one-time courtesy repair!!!! I'm so grateful its fixed!!!


Now for the essays...



Historical Profile of William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a well-known abolitionist who used his power as a politician in the House of Commons to abolish the slave trade.
He was born in Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire on August 24, 1759 to Robert and Elizabeth Wilberforce. He was baptized at Seaton Ross a moth after his birth.
When he was seven, his father died. He was sent to live with his aunt and uncle while his mother coped with her grief. When his grandparents learned he was being taught to support the Methodist movement they brought him back to Hull.
At college William was more interested in parties and gambling than his studies. But his friend, William Pitt, who would later become Prime Minister, was more studious. Wilberforce decided on a career in politics and later became a candidate for the Parliamentary elections in his home town of Hull. He supported the Tory government led by his good friend, William Pitt. Wilberforce was elected into the House of Commons.
After reading The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul by Philip Doddridge, he regretted his former life and resolved to commit his future life and work to the service of God.


Winnie the Pooh was brought to life by a man who was inspired by his home town and his son's imagination.
During World War I troops from Winnipeg (Canada) were being transported to eastern Canada. On one of their stops, a lieutenant named Harry Colebourn bought a small, female black bear cub for 20 dollars from a hunter that had killed its mother. He named it Winnipeg (Winnie for short). In December of the year 1919 the lieutenant presented Winnie to the London Zoo where Winnie became a popular attraction and lived until 1934.
A young boy named Christopher Robin loved the bear so much he named his teddy bear Winnie the Pooh after him (formerly Edward Bear). Christopher Robin's father, A.A. Milne, was the author of the Winnie the Pooh books. Winnie the Pooh, along with Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger, Kanga and Roo, was a stuffed animal belonging to Christopher Robin. Rabbit and Owl were actual animals that lived in the surrounding areas of A.A. Milne's country home where the 100-acer wood was based.
Winnie the Pooh was a favorite of Walt Disney's daughters and Disney was inspired to bring Winnie the Pooh to film in 1966.
Winnie the Pooh was a real bear known and loved by the people of London. He eventually inspired the author A.A. Milne to write the beloved books known and loved by people even today.

I realize the extreme cheesiness of the latter essay, but I'll have you know I was assigned to do a historical profile on Winnie the Pooh; it was not my choice. It was interesting, though.

Even though these essays were written only months ago, I can tell I've improved since then as far as writing goes. The lack of interesting adjectives, the short and choppy sentences...ugh. Mrs. Morecraft's writing class helped greatly:) I even made some minor grammatical changes and it is still in need of serious alteration.

I turned fourteen last week! I had an amazing birthday!!! My family made it really special:)

I promise to publish part II of the snow pictures soon!!!

~Alex

"One does not read Jane Austen; one re-reads Jane Austen."
-William F. Buckley Jr.

WinterJam

Hey y'all!!! Hope you are having a wonderful New Year!!! The Lord has already shown me so many things in this wonderful, new year: 2011.

We were able to attend an awesome concert recently called WinterJam. It was a blast!!! We all had so much fun! It was so inspiring. There were so many great artists and it was a wonderful time of worshiping the Lord. The Newsboys were outstanding! We just had so much fun going crazy to their music. There was also many times of prayer and a fifteen minute sermon. The speaker that did the sermon was amazing! He had an awesome testimony!!! I encourage everyone to attend. It is a great event!!! But I have to say, the highlight of my evening was meeting Chris August:) He is a great artist!!! LOVE his new album "What You're Looking For".

Gabrielle is growing cuter with each passing day! She adores Garrett; he always makes her laugh!!! She is rolling everywhere and is getting really good at sitting up. Though, she's not quite able to do it by herself yet.

Also, mom had a birthday this month. She turned twenty-nine:D She is such a Godly example to all of us. She is such a great mom!!! Thank you for being so awesome, mommy!!!

~Alex

White Christmas

Hello all you wonderful people!!! Christmas was wonderful here; I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful family! We got a new table in our upstairs den that will fit all of us! Finally!!! We sold the furniture that was in there previously. Praise the Lord!!! I did lose my beloved laundry folding spot, but I LOVE the new table!!! Garrett had a little bit of a hard time adjusting to the change, as is normal for his age:) And...we got a white Christmas!!! I've had one in Colorado when we were vacationing out there, but never here in the South!!!

And now for your usual update on Miss Gabrielle...she is now rolling over!!! Yes, such a talented child:) Also, she loves to do raspberries. What a sweetheart!!! I myself believe she has said my name a number of times (calling for help):D Nevertheless, Daddy is trying very hard to get her to say "Dada" as her first word.

'Tis the time most people are making New Year's resolutions (including myself). Most people want to lose weight. That is not my actual goal, but it will occur as a result of my efforts. My resolution is to stop drinking coke-completely. Aaahhhhh!!!!!! Life without coke seems unbearable!JK:D So, hopefully I'll lose weight when I stop having those daily Route 44's:P Boy, do we love sonic:)

I hope all of you are doing wonderfully. Most of you probably enjoyed that wonderful white Christmas as we did. Our yard is like the only one played in so all the snow is practically gone. Yes, we got out there first thing (that is, when I finally got up at ten o' clock:) and played in the snow. Afterwards we came inside and had hot chocolate!!!

Garrett got a new wii game for Christmas that we are thoroughly enjoying!!! They just called me in there to try the "meter-o-love" and I was the second to the top which was wild. Kind of scary. Laid back Presley was just lovable. BTW, you hold the thing to your heart and it tells you this; I know, very accurate:D

We also got a very special gift for Christmas from our Grandad (mom's dad). He wrote a book about his life for us. I loved reading it and learning new stories!!! Thank you Grandad!!!

Hope all of you have a wonderful New Year!!! If I don't post before then:) Okay, I know; high hopes:D Farewell until next time!!!

~Alex

My camera

So, my beloved camera has broken. Please pray the warranty is not up! That would ruin my day if the warranty was up. I'm very sad. That is the second camera to break in one year!!! That's bad, btw.

Well, Gabrielle continues to grow at a rapid rate. She is already in 6-9 months clothes and she is only 4 months old!!! We're beginning to see the unique personality God has given her. What a sweetie she is. She is very close to sitting up and even closer to rolling over!!! We think she's teething. Poor baby.

So, the other day I walked into the game room to see Noah and Presley playing. Noah comes up to me and asks, "Alex, where did Joshua went?". "Where did Joshua go?" Presley corrected. Then Noah replies matter-of-factly "I don't know!". He's such a sweetie! This morning I asked him if he would like to help me with the laundry by matching socks and he replied, "Of course I would love to do that!!!". I just love him!!!

We are busy preparing for Christmas. I have yet to do my Christmas shopping:) I love Christmas!!!

How about this weather? It's freezing!!!! Brrr.....:D But I love it. Getting bundled up is one of my favorite things to do:) Especially when you have cute jackets and shoes!!!

So I had a recital this week. Can you believe I actually sang? But it was fun seeing all my old classmates. And the food afterwards, delicious junk food!!!!! One of my favorite parts of the evening, though was going to Panera Bread!!! One of my favorite restaurants ever!!!

Love,
Alex

A fun tea outing

Hey y'all, these are pictures from...October. Yes, I know. Very disappointing. Oh well. My mom, Gabrielle, my grandmother and I went to a lovely tea hosted by my grandmother's sweet friends. It was such a darling little place complete with an antique shop! Jackpot!!! Hope you enjoy the pics.












Well, more to come dearies!!!!
Love,
Alex

The Rebelution

Hey y'all!!! Can you believe Gabrielle is already three months old!?!

Oh my gosh, I'm reading the best book ever (besides the Bible). It is called "Do Hard Things" by Alex and Brett Harris. You may have heard of it. It's a great book about teenagers standing up against the low expectations the world has of teenagers. It's so inspiring! Thanks so much to Carri and her family for giving us the book. It's life-changing! They even have a website where they had a modesty survey. It was so cool to see how many people supported being modest. And to see how many guys actually appreciate girls striving to be modest! Thanks so much Alex and Brett!!!! Oh, by the way, they call their idea of "rebelling" against low expectations the rebelution.

Sorry about the lack of pictures. I have yet to download them on the computer.

I can't believe Christmas is next month!!! Well, have a wonderful evening and a stupendous weekend!!!

Love,
Alex

Bigtail the goldfish

Hello everyone!!! Isn't the weather gorgeous!!!! I love Fall!

So, about the title of the post, Bigtail is our beloved goldfish. As you may have already figured out, he has a very large tail for such a small fish. Besides giving me hope of getting married in Paris (don't ask), he serves many other purposes. Here's an essay about him (at least I think it's a him) that I wrote for school.

Bigtail is a goldfish unlike most goldfish. He is one of what was three goldfish won from a fair. He was given the name Goldie at the time. The other two fish died within the first year, but Goldie remained. He was then named Bigtail. Bigtail was given his new name because of his abnormally large tail.
Bigtail sits in his fishbowl on the counter above the sink. It sounds dangerous, and it is. Once his bowl was knocked over, sending him flying into the drain in the sink. After much panic, he was returned safely to his bowl. Not only is he in danger of perishing each day, but he sees 99.9% of what goes on in the house. Oh, if only fish could write books.
His purpose in life is to see how many times he can swim back and forth. Unlike the other two fish, he has not died of boredom.
He continues to surprise everyone in our household as we come into the kitchen to see him swimming back and forth, back and forth. His presence will be missed when he someday dies (heaven knows how) and is flushed down the toilet.

Yes, the sink story is true. That was scary. Anyway, maybe I'll get a picture of Bigtail on here someday.
Have a blessed weekend!!!

Love,
Alex

I'm so glad Grammy (mom's mom) got to come see Gabrielle after she was born. It was so good to have her here!!!


Here she is with some of her grandchildren.



Mother and daughter looking at pictures of Miss GG (Gabrielle).



And here's a picture of Gabrielle herself! This was taken I think about a month ago. She's really filled out since then!!!
Well, once I download pictures you'll have beach pictures and Colorado pictures! Something to look forward to, eh?

Love,
Alex

Playtime!!!

Hello all!!! Well, yes, I am finally posting again! Sorry, we've been superbusy. That's a new word I made up. No not really it's just me being lazy not putting a space between the two words:) Well, here's a post on what is called playtime. They are from several different days of playing. Hope you enjoy!


Part of a photo shoot I did with Josh. I got a total of about five pictures:)LOL



Noah


Joshua


Sweet brothers



Our "train". Yes, it resembles a train if you look at it in a certain way. Since we thought it looked like a train we piled in it and pretended to go to France, Antarctica, Jamaica and lots of other fun places. We accumulated stuffed animals as passengers along the way.



A view of the driver's area. We have really wild imaginations, my brothers and I. Note: Presley was not a part of this extremely childish game.



Okay, he's done playing.

Yes, Josh got tired of Noah stealing is toys and me saying "Say cheese!!!" every five seconds. Speaking of Joshua, I just got done kissing his boo-boo and now I need to change his diaper. Oh, the joys of being a big sister.

Love,
Alex

Okay y'all, I totally still have not downloaded the awesome pics from my new camera. I need to do it, I know. So, my childhood playmate and favorite older brother turned fifteen this week!!! I had to laugh as I typed the word childhood seeing as I am only thirteen! And, for those of you who don't know, he is my only older brother; I am not one to play favorites. But yes, playing make-believe and such is wearing off, or would be completely worn off if we didn't love Garrett (who is seven) so much as to play spies or whatever with him. That reminds me of Toy Story 3 where Andy, who is a college student, is talking about how brave his little toy was. It was by far the most realistic movie I've seen:)LOL
So do you like my new background and little extras that you can't read because part of it is cut off?:D I do!!! It's pretty if you just pretend it looks perfect and move on (sort of like my hair). Speaking of my hair, it needs to be cut. Reason #1: I get so hot when I'm outside. Reason #2: the ends are dead. Reason #3: it's hard to brush.
Anyway, we watched the movie Letters to God as a family a few nights ago and Mom and I cried half the movie. No, not just occasionally wiping tears, but like sobbing continuously for the last thirty minutes of the movie. But it's really good, really!
Well, must go, lots to do when you're a Princess like me:)

Love,
Alex

A random post

Hello all!!! Have I mentioned how much I love Saturdays? We made it through the first week without having help here and though it was stressful, we survived. Somehow it's possible to survive if you sleep in by the end of the week!!!

So...as for your update on Peaches (Gabrielle), she has gained a pound and a half and has grown half an inch! Yes, she is starting to get a little bit chubbier:) That's a good thing Bri:) (another nickname for Gabrielle). So, you are in fact wondering where in the world the name "Peaches" came from. Noah actually was the mastermind behind this great name:D He felt her head and decided it was like a peach(fuzzy and round I guess). So...now we like to call her Peaches every once in a while. Oh, and she smiled the other day!!! At Mom! No one else saw it so as to whether it was a real smile, well we don't know. God knows, though. As He does about every little detail. He is so amazing!

So I have found my new two favorite songs. The first is "What do I know of holy" by Addison Road and the second is "The house you're building" by Audrey Assaud. I think that's how you spell her last name. Anyway, I've listened to them a countless number of times on my ipod. Well, maybe not countless, but you know what I mean. Especially those of you who know how much I listen to a song when I like it. My poor friends are always forced to listen to my favorite songs:)

Well, school is going great! I am having so much fun! I say that on a day there is no school:) Kidding, I really am enjoying school.

Love,
Alex

New Camera!!!

Hello everyone!!! Aren't Saturdays wonderful? After a week of school especially:)

So, as the title of this post states, I have a new camera!!! The latter one was broken. I would show you pictures from my new camera if I actually made the time to download them!

Gabrielle is doing great! She grows cuter each and every day! There are so many babies being born now! We just heard our dear friends' blessing arrived not too long ago!!!
Well, that all for now folks!LOL

Love,
Alex

What a blessing!!!

Hello all!!! School went well today. We discovered we need a better map (after the frustration with my geography today):)

I was delighted to see a brand new follower of my blog! I'm always happy to know people are reading my blog!!! Even though it was off to a rocky start!!!

I'd just like to say what a blessing Gran and Papa have been being here! I don't know what we would do without them! They have been such a big help with the laundry, cooking, cleaning, little boys, etc. Thank y'all so much!!! Also, to all the wonderful people who have brought meals!!! Thank you so much!!!

Presley just came in telling me how spectacular his first essay will be. Well at least he's confident in his first essay:D I, for one, am not excited to write about "My Many Virtues". But I'm reminded that "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13)

Well, lots of fun stuff awaits me to do around this wonderful house. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful amazing family with fun, loving brothers and God-fearing, loving parents! Oh, and the best sister on the face of the earth!!!

~Alex