Ok I havent posted in a bit, just have had one of those terribly crazy weeks.
Last Friday I was in so much pain, went to the Dr and was told I had bursitis. I have not had that kind of pain before and dont want to ever have it again. It has alot of calcium buildup on the shoulder....IKS! Then as this week started Gabby had her MRI, she did great but was grumpy that in the day...not fun...add it with storms coming through ...4 girls who are terrified when it storms...makes for a long day!

I then woke up Wed with a personal issue and oh boy was I scared...by Thurs morning I am at the Dr again...this time I was in tears.. THANKS SHELLEY for listening to my cry~ today I feel 100% better. PRAISE THE LORD!

Wednesday I had to go to the dentist at 8 am for a emergency cavity fill...It was hurting!!!
Wednesday night my son finally returned home from his AIT military training. HE is now officially done with basic training.

Today I will take G & G to school to meet their teachers..School starts Aug 10th. We leave Sun for Gatlinburg for a week and wont return until the following Sun, a day before school starts. The girls are all so excited for vacation and for school to start back.......SO IS MOMMY!!!!!


I can not believe I have 3 girls going into first grade!!!! Bella has one more year of preschool.....she is ready for her big girl school....

Well thats my week..can you say nuts...and pain!!!!

I have two Britax carseats for sale:

First one is the
Britax Decathalon Tiffany style. Retails for 249.99 I am asking 125. Firm.
This carseat is for 0-65 pounds in a 5 pt harness.

The second one is a Britax Marathon and also for 0-65 pounds. The style/color is Brooke I think. It retails for 279.99 I am also asking 125 firm.

Both of these carseats are in perfect condition. The only reason we are getting rid of them is because we have FOUR carseats in our Surburban and need thinner ones..They are both pink in color with a floral type design. The girls love them. you can google the seats and see first hand the information on them and the colors. I just took apart the covers and washed them so they are fresh and ready to go for the next person. We have owned these for maybe a year. We are the only owner and they have never been in a wreck or had any tee tee accidents in them. LOL

IF you dont personally need these can you please pass the word around, as i would really like to see them go soon. Our new ones come in today and I dont want these sitting around too long. This is a awesome deal!

Today was a very important day for my one and only son...
HE GRADUATED FROM AIT IN THE MILITARY!
He will be on a plane tonight and come into the Montgomery airport at 7pm. We are going to surprise him. He has asked for two of his best buddies to pick him up, well they are but we will be there too! The girls are so excited to see their brother!

Congratulations Michael. We are so proud of you and knew that you could do it...

Today was a relaxing day. I went to a few yard sales this morning and took Lily with me..she enjoyed her time with just mommy. After I got home, we ate lunch and played in the pool. William took a Lowes run and bought some new garage organizing utility benches/cabinets... He is now still in the garage moving things around and working in there. He found in the corner a 3 ft partial snake skin...YIKEs....I pray it went on out of the garage..I would probably die if i seen it! PLEASE pray it is GONE!

Tomorrow is gonna be a FUN day!!! Details to follow.

Lyndsey is in TX and Michael will be home Wednesday night!

I just had to share this....
every single night when we put our girls to bed each of them pray. Each of them pray for everyone in our family, for the children of Guatemala, Colombia and India...they each pray for sweet Varsha...for God to send her a mommy and daddy a grandma and grandpa. It is so so sweet to hear and Im standing there praying that one day Daddy will say she does....US. Only in God's timing!

Well this week they have gone to VBS at our church, last night..."Jesus" washed their feet to show them how He loves us and how we should live our life to serve others as well...and then he asked if anyone wanted to pray...GUESS who wanted to pray in front of 90 kids??? My Giovanna! I missed this but everyone had to tell me about it. "Jesus" said she prayed for everyone in our family, lyndsey and michael in the army, for a little girl named Barsha and so much...he said she was preachin....I started to cry! She loves to pray...they all do...but to hear that she wanted to stand up in front of all those kids and give her prayers to Jesus...just made my heart sing!

Gatlinburg..

We are gearing up for a week long trip to Gatlinburg...We are leaving Sunday Aug 2-8. Do any of my readers live there or will be visiting there? William, my dad, Michael and bro in law JR will be riding their motorcycles up through the mountains for two days. There is a mountain with like 300 curves on it within a 11 mile track that takes forever....they will enjoy it..but the girls and I dont know what to do. Any ideas? It is hard for me to take all 4 of them in a tourist type atmosphere alone because of all the people...

We are excited to get away...wish lyndsey was home to go with us. She has landed safely in TEXAS and will start school on Aug 4th. Oh if you couldnt tell she took her PT test a week early and passed it. Praise the Lord. She was praying for Him to give her wings to glide across the track and she got just that! We are so so proud of her for NOT giving up. It would have been so easy to do but for 4.5 months she has kept up the good attitude and fought the fight to heal. She is now in TX and is so excited to start the next journey of her life.

Thanks for all who have prayed for her. Please continue to do so as this next phase will be a mind bogling task.

Blessings to you all.

VERY VERY SAD DAY....PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THE BILLINGS FAMILY... Byrd and Melanie Billings
BYRD "BUD" STARLING BILLINGS 09/23/1942 - 07/09/2009 MELANIE ANNE BILLINGS 09/12/1965 - 07/09/2009 Bud and Melanie have been welcomed to heaven by their three angels, John, Nikki and Bailey. Bud and Melanie have left this world together. They were two people that shared more love than humanly possible. They loved each other, they loved their children, they loved their lives. They were the most giving people, they never met a stranger. They had a deep hope to make the world a better place, one person at a time. Bud's world revolved around Melanie, everything he did was for her and the children. He worked everyday of his life to give her and their children the best life possible. Melanie's world revolved around her children. All she ever wanted to be in life was a mommy. She had more patience than 20 people together. She wanted her children to have lives that were filled with fun, learning and love. She lived her life to serve her children. They both were very special people, but together they were indescribable. They have been taken from us too soon, but in their short time here on earth, they impacted so many lives. Bud and Melanie are proceded in death by Kathleen Billings (Bud's mother), Byrd Billings (Bud's father) Elizabeth Engstrom (Melanie's mother). They leave behind many heartbroken children, Ashley and Blue Markham, Melissa and Tom McClure, Mike, Justin, Kristyn, Adrianna, Jacob, Ricky, Matthew, Princess Tori Beth, Nicholas, Princess Katie, Ethan, daddy's heart, Princess Emma, and a new grandson who they did not get the chance to meet, Forest John McClure. Other family include, Ed and Sandy Brock (Melanie's father and stepmother) Ed and Shannon Brock (Melanie's brother and sister-in-law) Chris Brock (Melanie's brother), Rick and Julie Tittle (Melanie's sister and brother-in-law) and Angel and Allister Adkinson (Melanie's sister and brother- in-law). Also Judy and Bobby Sission ( Bud's sister and brother-in-law). Other special family includes April Spencer, Carla Ard (the twin sister) Robert, Morgan and Olivia Dazey, Cline and Lori Breland, Joey Breland, Brock Tittle, Grayson Westmoreland, Anna Brock, Judy Sisson, Jennifer Sission and Chris Sisson. There is a host of other cousins, relatives and very, very special friends. Everyone Bud and Melanie ever met was special to them in some way!! A celebration of their lives and their love will be 11:00 AM Friday, July 17, 2009 at Liberty Church with a funeral procession to Pensacola Memorial Gardens immediately following the service. The family will receive friends Thursday, July 16, 2009 from 5pm-8pm at Liberty Church. A special thank-you to the Escambia County Sheriff's Department and to the community for all the love and support. Our parents would be so full of joy to see the love and caring given to our family. Mommy and Daddy, rest peacefully and give us the strength to make it through until the day we are reunited with you. Give our brothers and sister in heaven a BIG hug and kiss from all of us!!! In lieu of flowers, a fund will be established at a later date in memory of Bud and Melanie for their nine children who lived with them. Fund information will be available at pmgfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are by Pensacola Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home. Melanie Byrd's brother, Dr. Ed Brock, also spoke at Fridays news conference. He called Byrd Billings, Bud, as did many of the Billings friends. "Today is not the day to focus on the vicious crimes that have been inflicted on our family and upon this community. Today is a day to celebrate Bud and Melanie's lives. It's a day to remember their laughter, their selflessness, and their enduring spirit. Today is a day to challenge ourselves to embrace the differences among us and to find the kindness in our hearts. By example, Bud and Melanie taught us to overlook disability, to be colorblind, to be patient with others and to give of ourselves. Their lives centered around children, their family and each other. They loved deeply and unconditionally. They embraced the complexity of raising children with special needs and they were their advocates. They gave these children a joyous childhood and a much needed voice. Their lives were cut way too short, but their legacy will live on," said Brock. Brock then quoted Albert Einstein "Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children."

Here are the MOO cows ready to go eat at Chick Fil A for appreciation night....We were Moo Papa, Moo Momma, and Moo 1 2 3 and 4. It was a fun night. The girls loved dressing up.

Dear Friends,
As many of you have heard about the murder of Melanie and Byrd Billings, I want to ask for prayer for the entire family. Melanie has been an online friend of mine for nearly 5 years. We have spoke on the phone numerous times about family, friends, our babies with DS and the joys and struggles that arises when parenting a child with DS. I am so devastated about this. I cant sleep at night, I cry at any moment just thinking about it...I was just chatting with Melanie the afternoon of Thursday, the day they were shot. They were considering adopting another infant...she was so excited. All I can ask is WHY??? WHY would someone be so hateful, thoughtless, MEAN, unloving, and filled with evil rage to take these two lives...any life at that????

I am planning on going to the funeral service on Friday...as long as nothing goes astray here at home. I have spoken to Melanie's cousin and she is letting me know about donating to a memorial for Bud and Melanie. We would love to donate books about DS for new parents as a reminder that there is HOPE...our children are a JOY! OR better yet, we would like to donate to Reeces Rainbow for a waiting child grant fund, in hopes that a child with DS could find their forever family...what a honor...I know Melanie and Bud would be thrilled.

Melanie and Bud (this is what friends and family called him) had a plan. They had a plan in the event both of them died. They knew that one day it was a possibility (one we pray never does happen) that they would be gone before their children and felt they must have a plan. I am just so sad that this day DID arrive and now the plan must be put into place. Their oldest daughter Ashley will care for the children with her husband. They have an older son as well but he lives in Tampa. Friends and family will also step into help as well as their therapists, teachers and paid staff will continue to remain the same..this is good for the children...to have some form of consistancy in their routine. Those children were loved unconditionally...Melanie and Bud didnt see any disability in them, they loved them for exactly the being our Lord created them to be....

PLEASE pray for the children, for the family and for the friends that these two beautiful people have left behind. The children are going to mourn their parents loss, for the children who seen their parents laying there and ran for help, for the ones who will never understand WHY Momma and Daddy arent there playing with them anymore....Oh my heart breaks! PLEASE PRAY! Financially the children are going to be cared for. They will have the love of their family and siblings. They will remain together...but they will never be held/snuggled by their parents again....for this my heart breaks! PLEASE PRAY!

Again I ask for all my blog friends and family....continue to pray for God's healing hand, for His almighty LOVE and for His will be done for the entire BILLINGS family.

Blessings..

Kids are so quick to answer....

Children Are Quick




TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ?
CLASS: Maria.
____________________________________

TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.
__________________________________________

TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.
____________________________________________

TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.
__________________________________


TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago.
WINNIE: Me!
__________________________________________

TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.
_______________________________________

TEACHER: Millie, give me a sentence starting with 'I.'
MILLIE: I is . . .
TEACHER: No, Millie . . .. Always say, 'I am.'
MILLIE: All right . . . 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.'
_________________________________

TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand.
______________________________________

TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.
______________________________

TEACHER: Clyde, your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?
CLYDE: No, sir. It's the same dog.
___________________________________

TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher

oh my word this is just too cute to not share!! Enjoy!

I hope you all are having a fantastic 4th of July. I pray that you all will stop and tell a soldier THANK you for giving you the freedom to celebrate this great nation we live in. Happy Birthday America...
I am proud to an American
where I know I will always be free!

This was emailed to me and wow....so true.


Independence Day. It’s not just a phrase. It’s something that a few good men over 200 years ago spent their whole life to see. It’s something that men and women still fight to see today. Even so, we take it for granted. As a nation,, we have been blessed with far more than we deserve, yet we still seem to do the wrong thing. Those in Washington (whom we elected) don’t have a clue what’s going on, our President is afraid to take sides, and a bill to pay back the size of Mt. Everest looms upon us. Independence Day has been stretched to something it was not intended to be.

Independence Day was not meant for each of us individually, it was meant for us as a whole. The founding fathers wrote it to make this nation free from those trying to bear power upon them. They were not thinking of their individual goals when they signed it, they wanted what was best for this land, the people and places home to me and you. From this document forward, America grew more and more, writing a constitution to explain the rights granted to the government. In today’s world, we seem to think that the Constitution gave us more than that. We do as we choose, that’s what freedom is right? Wrong. Freedom is freedom only if it is protected from those who abuse it.

I understand that we have differences among us in this country. If we were all the same, life would be boring anyway. Democrat and Republic, Liberal and Conservative serve as steel-wall dividers. However, I don’t understand how we all cannot face the truth. Since we are on the subject of Independence Day, I think the way our military is viewed is an appropriate topic. Not too long ago, there was a Marine recruiting officer murdered by a man who was anti-military and was obviously somewhat radical in his beliefs. This incident was viewed as “an isolated incident of violence.” That same week, an abortion doctor was gunned down by a man who murdered him for his hatred of abortion doctors. This event was broadcast all over the news as “terrorism, terrorism, terrorism.” A man who served his life for this country was given little to no respect, while one who took away the right to life was placed on a pedestal. Let’s face the truth: Murder is a terrible thing. Every murder is bad, but when a man serving his country is killed, I believe he deserves far more respect than any of us civilians do.

That’s not the only incident. there are more than a handful I could talk about. Across America, people line up and protest the war we are in right now. They talk bad of our troops. People shout obscenities about this country that gives them more than they deserve. I don’t quite understand, If it’s so bad here and you hate it so much, then why don’t you move somewhere else? The door’s always open. If it is that hard to stand behind those who are fighting to keep you safe, if it’s that hard to stand behind and support those who are dying for your well-being everyday, if it’s that hard to stand behind the people who give the ultimate sacrifice, then feel free to stand in front of them. Maybe then you won’t see this world with rose-colored glasses anymore. It just might change your opinion of how you view things.

There isn’t a thing in the world that could give the thanks needed to those who have served and continued to serve this country. Even more there isn’t a thing that could give God thanks for what he has blessed us with. It all started with Him when the founding fathers met to begin this country. Face the truth: This country started with the God who created the heavens and the earth. You can say what you want about the documents and what-not, but for one to say that this country had no mention of God in its birthing is completely ignorant, and is the definition of denial. There is no such thing as selective truth, truth is not what you make it. Truth is truth. As people turn their back to God in this country, I think they should be reminded of something that is a part of all of our lives.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Those words ring a bell? They are the last verse to The Star-Spangled Banner. Our national anthem, what we hear when we win gold at the Olympics, what we sing before ball games to remind us of where we are, is inscribed with the one who is responsible for all of our blessings, God Himself.
May you have a wonderful 4th of July. Thank a soldier you know, and thank the God who blesses us with life.

" Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance."
Psalm 33:12
Thank you for reading. God Bless.

Well once again I come to apologize. We have been so busy. The girls and I have been hanging out and trying to enjoy a little bit of down time here at home. All of the VBS we had planned are now finished up except our church mid July. The girls have had a blast with the 5 they attended in June.

The tooth fairy is going broke visiting our house. Giovanna has lost another tooth and Lily lost her first two teeth a day apart. She now has 2 little nubs growing back on the bottom of her mouth. Giovanna just walked over to William one night and said Daddy look....and pushed on her tooth...It was totally just hanging there. I barely put the paper towel on it and out it come. They both were very excited to have "prizes" from the tooth fairy.

William and I along with the 4 little ones are packing up and heading to TN for the 4th of July. My best friend Susan and her hubby Mike moved there 2 yrs ago and we dont get the spend near enough time together! She was her on the 4th of June for the musical I won tickets too....that was a blast.

I hope that everyone out there has a fantastic 4th of July and remember to stay safe. In many places it is far too dry to do fireworks...so please keep that in mind.

I will be updating pics soon.
Giovanna dropped my new camera William got me for Mothers Day and broke it. I was SOOO upset. It was a Nickon S230. Small, lightweight and would do movies and nice pictures...I kept it in my purse.. The other day when i took pictures in the pool, she seen it on the patio table after we were out and drying off and wanted to take a picture...well when i seen her i tried to say it quietly for her to put it down, she did alright....dropped it right on the concrete. There is now a crack on the screen from corner to corner. It no longer does movies and the touch screen doesnt work. All i can do it take pictures, which is good..but no video's or no touch screen. I was so so so upset! William told me I could go buy another one and this time we now have a 2yr waranty on it that covers those "drops on the concrete" with full coverage...they will give me another one!!!!


Lyndsey and Michael are doing well. They are both counting down the days...Micheal is at 27 days until he graduates and can come home. Lyndsey is counting down the days that they will allow her to take a final PT test. She is hoping she will be done by the end of July to take a test and leave for TX. Please continue to keep her in your prayers!!


Be safe.....