Monday Monday

It's kind of a slow, very cold day at our house today. I almost didn't blog because I honestly have nothing to really say but I took a few cute pictures and the rest of our week is JAM packed with busyness so I thought I would just post anyway and say Hi! :-) Since we were home and a little bored - I dressed Harper up in a fluffy outfit a sweet little girl passed down to us and tried to get Harper to pose. It's NOT easy these days.

Oh these sweet cheeks!

I wanted to share about a few events that ya'll might want to get involved in. I'm trying to keep things like this limited on my blog because I told you at the beginning of the year I wanted to put the focus back on this being a blog for my family and I just can't possibly put every request I get on here but there are a few things I thought you might like to know about.

There is a local group who is going on a mission trip to the Ukraine. I wish I could put EVERY mission trip on here and have you help but that would end up being every post. But this one tugged at my heart because they are going to help special needs children in orphanages. Most special needs children are given up at birth there and after age four - they are moved to an institution where they are basically put in a bed to live. I know many of you probably have special needs children and your desire is the BEST for them. This just really was hard for me to hear.

This team of doctors and therapists goes to help these kids and keep them out of institutions. They are in need of supplies and support. If you are interested in helping:

go HERE and let Christie know.

ALSO:

One month following the 7.1 earthquake that struck Haiti, an all-star cast of musicians is gathering for “Help Haiti Live,” a two-city ticketed concert event taking place on February 27th, 2010 to benefit Compassion International’s Haiti disaster relief fund. The concerts are sponsored by Gaylord Entertainment Company, They will be ticketed and also streamed live at HelpHaitiLive.com.

With extraordinary need still existing in the devastated country, Alison Krauss & Union Station (featuring Jerry Douglas), Amy Grant, Big Kenny, Mat Kearney, Jars of Clay, Rebecca St. James, NEEDTOBREATHE, Brandon Heath, and a to-be-announced special headliner will participate in two concert events, live from Los Angeles at the historic Wiltern Theater and at Nashville’s famed and Gaylord-owned Ryman Auditorium.

Tickets for each event will range in price from $25-75 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster locations beginning Monday, February 15^th, as well as through The Ryman box office: 800-745-3000 or ryman.com, and through Live Nation for The Wiltern at http://www.livenation.com/venue/the-wiltern-tickets

Nashville/Ryman Auditorium, 7:30pm cst:
Hosted by Big Kenny. Performances by Alison Krauss & Union Station (featuring Jerry Douglas), Jars of Clay, Mat Kearney, Dave Barnes, Matt Wertz, Brandon Heath.

Los Angeles/Wiltern Theater, 7:30pm pst:
Message from pastor Francis Chan. Performances by Special Guest headliner, Amy Grant, Leann Rimes, Rebecca St. James, NEEDTOBREATHE

All net proceeds from Help Haiti Live will go to Compassion International’s Haiti disaster relief fund. All money raised in response to the Haiti earthquake will be used immediately to re-equip Compassion’s local support structure and to provide for the immediate needs of Compassion-assisted children and families.

Compassion has been meeting the physical and spiritual needs of Haitians for more than forty years and will continue to serve them in this time of extreme need. Already Compassion International has supplied more than 15,000 families with clean water, food, blankets, temporary shelter, medical supplies and counseling. Donations will lay bricks, feed, educate, clothe, heal and rebuild Haiti for many months to come in Jesus’ name.

So if you live near Nashville or L.A. - you should go to the concert or you can watch live on the internet that night! Watch a great concert and support Haiti! They still need SO much help!

Have a great Monday night! Stay WARM!!!

Weekend Fun

I've had busy but wonderful few days lately. I thought I better catch up on my blogging! The weekend got off to a good start by meeting nine friends at the movies on Thursday night. We went to see "Dear John". I liked it. I hadn't read the book so that was probably a good thing. We had lot of fun and I have decided one of my favorite things is meeting friends at night for the movies. We need to do it more often! (We should have taken a group picture but I totally forgot.)
Friday my friend Jennifer invited me and Harper over for a lunch/playdate with her three girls. We had SO much fun. Jennifer's husband is one of the doctors who recently went to Haiti. They are planning to go back as a couple this spring. I love hearing about that! She has four kids so I always feel like she is a good mentor for me! Aren't her girls precious???
Her youngest daughter is just six months older than Harper. Harper had a great time - they have so many fun toys! And I enjoyed visiting with Jennifer.
When we got home my parents came over. They had called and asked if they could come spend the night with us and keep Harper after she went to bed so we could go on a date. I was excited. But imagine how much more excited I was when they got here and told us not only were they going to keep Harper but they got us a hotel room so we could have a night away!!

Yes I have extremely wonderful parents. Believe me - I know how blessed I am and I try so hard to be the same to Harper. (Side note - please pray for my dad - he's having a heart cath on Tuesday and I'm worried about him.)

Scott and I headed out for our little mini vacation!!!! Don't we look happy?

(Yes - I'm fully aware this was all part of a master plan by my parents to do everything they can to get a sibling for Harper. ha ha ha ha!)

They also brought some fun Valentines treats for our girl. I think they enjoyed having time alone with her!

We went to our favorite place - Doe's. We shared this steak - it's SOOO good!

We also got tamales. They were SO good. We ate way too much and enjoyed every bite. We headed to Barnes and Noble after just to relax and drink coffee and then we enjoyed a nice relaxing night and got 10 hours of sleep! Oh Bliss!! It was just a perfect weekend!

Today we have just been at home having a lazy day! I hope you have all had good Valentines days. Don't think I'm not thinking about all of you out there HATING this day and wondering when you will ever find the ONE to spend it with. I'll be saying special prayers for you as I get in bed tonight and I hope you will be filled with hope that you are NOT forgotten!

Our Free Canvas

Remember when I had ya'll vote for the picture to use on a FREE canvas???

Well it came in today and I LOVE it! I paid more and got the 16 x 20. I think it was around $40. But I think it's worth it. The quality is GREAT! (it's even SO much better in person) But my picture was 6MB. So I think the key is using a high resolution picture and being careful to leave plenty of extra room for the canvas to wrap. A sweet photographer in AL even did some photo editing for me before I ordered which I think made it even better!

I'm just trying to decide where to hang it and if I want to leave it as is or frame it. I think it would look good either way.

If you want to get your own:

Get Your First Canvas on Us. Free 8x10 Canvas Print or $55 off Larger Sizes.

I hope ya'll have a good weekend - I'll post more later! My parents offered to come in town and keep Harper so we could have a date. Then when they got here they surprised us with a hotel room so we can have a night away!!! Happy Valentines to us! Thank you so much mom and dad!!! :-) I have to go pack............

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