New Camera Pictures

Here are some untouched pictures of my kiddos that I have taken with my new camera. I have some learning to do, but i am enjoying my new toy!

New Camera

I am excited today. My new camera came. It is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 . It seems like it will be great. So far the two features that I am most excited about is the ability to zoom really close up without any added lens (18x zoom) and the ability to stay focused on a fixed object even when the object moves.
I had to laugh when I looked at the cover of the owners manual. It says"before connecting, operating or adjusting this product, please read the instructions completely. " The instructions book is 155 pages long! Then I found a foreign language instruction manual. I think it is French. It is only 31 pages long. It made me wonder if it would be easier to learn French or make it through the 155 pages of English!?! LOL!

Jelly or Jaylie

Ella Beth has a very good friend, I would say she is her best friend, whose name is Jaylie. When they first met, almost 2 years ago, she called her Jelly. We all thought it was very cute and Jaylie's nickname soon became Jelly. Well now that Ella Beth is a little older, Jelly has turned back into her given name Jaylie. The other day, after an Easter egg hunt, Ella Beth was opening some of her eggs to eat the candy. One was filled with jelly beans. Ella Beth proudly announce, "Look Mom, I got Jaylie beans." It was hard not to laugh!!!

Busy Life

I have been really busy since spring break. I am on two planning committees at church, ladies retreat and VBS. Ladies retreat is coming up (thankfully, I need it!) next weekend. I am decorating for it. This year that involves making aprons for the table toppers. I have made one; I need to make eight. Luckily they do not take long to make and I enjoy it.

As you know from a previous post, I am heading up VBS. This consumed a good bit of time last week. I made folders for each lead position describing the responsibilities and give suggestions for things that they can do. The crafts, story telling, and recreation folders were pretty thick. The others (snack, publicity, and registration) were not. Thankfully most of the folders have been given out and our first meeting was very successful. Please be praying that everything goes smoothly. I am a little nervous. We are having a petting zoo to go with the theme "down on the farm" on the last day and that might get a little crazy. I hope it will all be worth it.

We have also been attending various Easter related activities. I took Will and Ella Beth to an egg hunt in our neighborhood. We are blessed to live in a nice neighborhood filled with friendly people and lots of kids. It was somewhat muddy, but we all had fun hunting eggs. On last Sunday, I took Ella Beth to our church's egg hunt. She had a blast hunting eggs, jumping in blow up jumpers, and playing with bunnies. I also had a great time visiting with many friends. And finally, today Ella Beth had her school Easter party and hunt. Being the busy mom that I am, I am co-room mom. That means (for those of you who don't know) making the list of party needs, sending it out, collecting the stuff, getting the things that weren't bought, setting up, taking down, and for this party hiding eggs. Luckily I have a great co-room mom that is very helpful and other parents that pitch in at parties. Once again, the kids had a blast. After all this hunting, I am not sure the bunny needs to visit our house on Sunday, but I am sure he will.

Until then...

Spring Break part 2

We had a wonderful time at Aunt Jenni and Uncle Chris's house. The kids enjoyed playing outside in their big back yard and I had a great time just being with my family.


The big day of our trip was Tuesday. We went to downtown Atlanta.


It was a fun filled day. We ate at the Varsity,


visited King Tut, and saw many fish at the aquarium.

We ended our time in GA by crossing the state line back into AL for an Auburn basketball game.

By the end of the trip this is how we all felt, but we enjoyed it tremendously.

Spring Break Part 1

We had a very exciting and fun spring break this year. We started our activities in Birmingham, AL, by meeting Lee's Aunt Melinda and family for lunch. We had a great time visiting at Ruby Tuesday's.

Then our family split up into two groups - the boys and girls. Lee took the boys on an overnight hiking trip to Oak Mountain State Park in Birmingham. They had a delightful first experience at overnight hiking despite the constant mist and night time downpour.
Ella Beth and I passed on that invitation and continued the journey across AL and into GA heading to Aunt Jenni's house. We took our time traveling though some towns in Alabama that my father grew up in and that I had visited as a little girl. When we made it into Georgia, we were very grateful to be at Aunt Jenni's house and not battling the damp weather, bugs, lack of potties, etc. that the boys were tackling (and as the story goes loving every minute of it). The girls had a very relaxing time visiting, shopping for toys, and sipping lattes at Starbucks.

Until next post when I share the exciting time had when the two vacations become one again.

Don't Give UP

Sorry I haven't posted lately. I have been up to my eyeballs in VBS this week. I promise a post on the happy occurrences of our spring break as soon as I get a few more moments. Until then...