Movie Reviews! YAY!

Has it really been almost two months since my last post? I'm sorry, ya'll, I hope this makes up for it. Anyway, I'm not going to pick up where I left off this time, but Mom had a better idea and I thought I'd give it a shot. Movie Review Time!
Ok so, first of all, last week I took little sis K. to see Tangled for her early Christmas present. She loved it, and I thought it was pretty good for a princess-y movie. Anyone who knows me will know that I'm not a princess-movie-watching kind of person, but it was really funny and didn't have a lot of the mushy-gushy stuff. So all in all, it was a really great movie, but most little boys won't be interested (duh), the girls however, will love it. Most will probably be swooning over the charming Flynn Rider and admiring Rapunzel's pink dresses and ultra-long tresses! (LOL) It's a great addition to the Disney franchise (better than most of the junk Disney puts out nowadays).
Then this afternoon Mom and I were able to go to the movie theaters and see The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (in 3D no less! and thanks to Mimi for funding). Let me just say... IT WAS FANTASTIC!!! WOOOOO!!! I absolutely loved every minute! Dawn Treader was action-packed and sprinkled with funnies, but can be a little scary at times, so I wouldn't recommend it for little kids (the CG was very, very good). Also, I really liked that 1. the movie stayed true to the book, it really bugs me when they add some "Hollywood". And 2. there was a strong Christian influence, which I love. One more thing: to be able to understand this movie, you have to at least be familiar with the origional books or the first two movies.
Ok, ya'll, time for me to shut it down, bedtime. Thanks for enduring another too-long post and I'll blog again soon (hopefully).
Luv ya and later days!
EM

"In the eyes of a Ranger..."

I promise, there is an explanation to this insanity!

Here's what's going on:

Recently, littlest bro M. has developed into quite the Walker Texas Ranger fan. He plans to be Walker for our church's Fall Festival, so our Mimi bought him a pair of cowboy boots (on sale) and Mom purchased a black cowboy hat for him. When he isn't watching the show, he's running around punching, kicking and making obnoxiously loud battle cries. Oh, and pretending to shoot people, which we do not condone. We're trying to get him to stop.

Anyhoo, it's so cute, and watching "Walker" run around playing the other day inspired me to draw this. I think you can guess who it is...

Oh, and just ignore my thumb. My printer does not have a scanner with it, so I had to use my camera to take a picture, and then upload it onto my computer. The shot isn't very good, and neither is the drawing (I'm not a professional), but I had fun doing it, and that's all that matters... right?

Latah gatah's!

Em

P.S. Yes, the poor boy does have some problems pronouncing his R's.

Pic for Thought

Hola mis amigos!

If I may have a moment of your time, there's something I've been wanting to try. An experiment, if you will. Tell me what you think!

(ahem) I, the Overlord of Blogland - hereby challenge everyone reading this to leave a comment, giving your thoughts on this picture. What's going on? Why on earth does that sun have a face? And most importantly: WHAT IS MY BROTHER THINKING?

Have fun peeps!

Em

P.S. Thanks to my bro N. for providing us with such entertaining facial expressions!

My special guest ... Annie Armstrong!

Hello again! Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but a lot of stuff has been going on these past few weeks with our church (if you've read Leap of Faith's blog, you'll know what I'm talking about). Due to the fact that so much has happened since my last post, I'm not going to pick up where it left off, instead I'm going to introduce you to a very special 'person' in my life. Give it up for Annie Armstrong! Okay, so it's not the Annie Armstrong you were thinking, I was talking about my Basset Hound, who is named after said famous lady. Ain't she sweet?





If you'll remember, Annie has been mentioned before, but ya'll haven't been given the full story yet. I thought it's high time I do so, seeing as my sweet girl is recovering from surgery (we'll get to that later).
Since I was little I had been begging for a dog, a real pet- but that never happened until April of 2009. A friend of ours had seen Annie (then named Mary Jane) and her brother on the computer and asked us if we wanted to take the female and he'd take the male. Mom and Dad agreed and a couple of days later Dad and the friend I mentioned earlier - went to get them from the previous owner.
The funny thing was, when I pictured us getting a dog, I always imagined us with a Great Dane or other big dog, and I wanted a male, but when I saw that skinny, sad-eyed, obviously mistreated - little female Basset, I just fell in love. When I said skinny and mistreated, I wasn't exaggerating. Her coat was in terrible condition and you could see every single rib she owned, worse yet, was that she was constantly trembling in fear. At first she was afraid of everyone, but especially men. When my Dad, who is not very threatening- tried to pet her, she would run the other way with her tail between her legs, and though she has always been better with women, she was still incredibly afraid.
I remember the very first day, when we were driving her home. I sat in the back seat with her and just petted her and talked to her, and I promised her that in no time at all she would be the happiest, healthiest, most spoiled rotten dog in SC. Thus far I have done famously well in keeping that promise (she is currently dozing on my bed, the one place I said I would never let her sleep).
As with most new dog owners, we didn't know at the time what we were getting ourselves into. Annie had been given to us pregnant. Her previous owners apparently bred Bassets. So in June, we welcomed a litter of five beautiful, wrinkly little purebred Basset Hounds. Three males and Two females. They were ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!!! Let me tell you, being a Basset Hound midwife was no easy task, but it was the best biology lesson ever!
Anyway, the puppies were loads of fun, but they had to go, so when they were old enough, they all went to loving new homes and are doing very well. Annie doesn't miss them at all.
Since we got her, Annie has been making great strides not only in her health, but also in her social skills. She no longer trembles when she meets new people, but she will still run from a little teacup poodle... go figure...
Now, back to the present. Yesterday Annie had spay surgery, a very simple procedure. She did great, but she was gone the whole day and I didn't know what to do without her following me wherever I go. Mom and I went and got her this morning. Annie and I were both happy to see each other and I am once again at peace.
So now you know all about Annie Armstrong the Basset Hound. I know some of you probably couldn't care less, and I am truly sorry to have wasted about ten minutes of your precious time... you just wait until I blog about my cat! MWAHAHAHA! Okay I'm done.
Goodnight from Em and Annie!

What a week!

...and I repeat; WHAT A WEEK!!! I'm completely worn out. Let me give ya'll a bit of an outline of what we've been doing, this is going to take a while:

I think it was the 16th we left to go visit family in the upstate (we had some partyin' to do for my cousin's b-day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, B.!). That was a Friday, right? I think so. Anyway...

Mom and Dad left on Saturday to go back home and us kids got to stay for a few days. Dad was chaplain-ing for the music camp close by(around 20 children ended up making professions of faith, sweet!), and Mom just stayed and cleaned the house, but she did a GREAT JOB!

Let's see, we're up to Sunday, ok. Sunday morning littlest bro M. and I went to our Dad's parents church with them. And it just so happens that our Grandad (hey, G-Dad!) is the pastor there. We had a great time. While we were at Little River Baptist, little sis K. and slightly littler bro N. went with our Mom's parents to their church, Hepsibah Baptist where Papa is not the pastor... :)

For Sunday evening we did the old switcheroo. M. and I went to Hepsibah and K. and N. went to Little River. I GOT TO HOLD THE SWEETEST BABY! ...sorry, I love babies...

Monday we went to Stumphouse Mountain Tunnel. Which is a tunnel that had been carved for a railroad that never got done. I think it was because of community protesting. So now, it's just a really dark, wet, creepy, awesome place to visit. I kept wondering if I would meet Gollum when I got to the end (if you don't know about Gollum, he's this creepy little guy from the Lord of the Rings, and my hero ;)). Of course N. delighted in doing his evil laugh and freaking Mimi out. Afterwards, we went to the Botanical Gardens and I got some great flower pictures!

Tuesday: MOVIES! YAY! Mimi and Papa took M. K. cousin C. and I to see Despicable Me! It was fantastic! It's such a family-oriented movie. If you haven't seen it, GO NOW!!! By the way, hi Peanut! :D (This you see below is a wallpaper, I just got this off the Internet. It's also my background.) Now for Wednesday. First of all, breakfast, then Mimi and I go to get my hair cut. It's quite dramatic, as my Mom put it. Dramatic as in, a whole lot shorter; a good two or three inches. What do you think?

Wednesday was also water day at Nana and G-Dad's. The four of us kids (+ one cousin; hey M!) got to play/soak in the little blow-up pool and bruise ourselves on the slip-n-slide until lunchtime. It was lots of fun, but I was sore for several days afterward. I think I'm getting too old for slip-n-slides... NAH!!! ;D

Thursday Mimi and Papa drove us home. The first thing my mother said when I walked in the door: "Wow, that's... dramatic." Apparently she liked my hair. I didn't get any rest Thursday evening either. I had a babysitting job at the church. I enjoyed it though, especially getting my coffee payment afterwards.

If I was hoping to get any rest on Friday, ha! Keep dreaming! Friday evening we had a youth fundraiser for a mountain trip I'm not even going on... yup. It was called Cafe on the Hill. Our church is called Green Hill, get it? Anyhoo... It was a super- fancy event. Break out the black pants, white shirts, and new shoes, we're waiting tables! Yay!

Friday night was spent at a youth leader's house (girls and boys split up, don't worry) and I of course slept on the floor. Thank goodness it wasn't hard wood.

Saturday we all got up after only a few hours sleep and washed cars for another fundraiser. Got home and slept a good 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until almost supper. Man, that was a great nap.

Yesterday and (most of) today were pretty uneventfull. Maybe later I'll tell you what I meant by "most of", but not now. I need to quit wasting you're time. Goodnight all!

EM

Let's see some pics!

As promised, here are some photos of the sweethearts in my life!

Here's little Parker (who is doing very well, thanks to everyone for your prayers).

Here's a picture of the REAL Annie Armstrong! Drumroll, please...

NOT! HA! No really, this is my sweet girl, Annie. Of course she is a Basset Hound. Isn't she so pretty?

Now ya'll know that I can't show off my dog without showing off my cat too. Meet my handsome cat, Lewis John! ...Yes, he has a middle name. Deal with it, he's mine.

Last but definately not least, my littlest brother M. riding a tiger of all things! (We were at the zoo. Duh!)

IT LIVES, MY PRECIOUS, IT LIVES!!!

Hey, everyone!
I'm so sorry, I know it's been a while. Let's see, what have I got to report?
1. The rest of Vacation Bible School went very well. We know of 3 little girls who accepted Christ into their hearts during VBS. YEEHAW!!!
2. The next week, my Dad's cousin and his new wife came to visit. (Hey to Keith and Virginia!) We had a great time with them, and hope to see them again soon.
4. The Sunday that they left, our Mom's parents, Mimi and Papa- came to visit. We had loads of fun, as usual.
5. HAPPY belated FOURTH OF JULY!!! WOOO!!!
Alright, to the present.
The whole family trekked back up to Seneca this morning to visit family again. We are currently at Mimi and Papa's house, lazing about.
Mom, Dad and Annie Armstrong (our Basset Hound) are going back tomorrow, but the four of us kids are staying until Thursday. Please pray that our grandparents remain sane during our visit.
I guess that's about it. I'll be updating soon.
Later days!
Em

DAY 2

Howdy ya'll!
I tried to post yesterday, but my computer froze up before I could publish it(how I loathe technology), so I'm going to have to write the whole thing again. I'll just give you the short version.
Yesterday we had 120 people as opposed to Day 1's 112 people.
Yesterday's question was "Does God Care About Me?" and the song was "God Cares." Pretty self-explainatory.
I pretty much stay in the sanctuary the whole time, so I don't know their day-to-day Bible verses, but the Scripture for the whole week is James 1:5. Look it up.
Well, I have to go for Day 3 now. I'll update later.
Em

Vacation Bible School- Day 1

Howdy!
Today was day 1 of VBS! I think I kinda covered that one already... Oh well, moving on.
It was absolutely wonderful! Including workers there were 112 people in all, I think the total number of children was 78. Not huge, but still a great turnout for the first day, and everyone had loads of fun, including me!
I believe I told you in a previous post that I am helping with the music for our VBS. Of course we have the theme song for this year(Saddle Ridge Ranch), but we also have a different song for the kids to learn each day that corresponds (cool word) with that day's lesson.
Today's question was Who Am I? and today's song was appropriately named Who HE Says I Am. Both have LOTS of moving around. Now, can you imagine doing those songs at least ten times a day, from 9 in the morning to 12, five days a week. I can now... and it's only the first day!
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade it for the world, but five or six different classes (and age groups), back to back for 4 hours! Let's just say I'm beat before we're even done, and I pray constantly that the LORD will renew my physical, mental and spiritual strength, and I tell you, He does! It floors me how I seem to forget how tired I am when that new class walks in, and I can smile and laugh and do it all over again! It's totally worth it though, to see the smiles on kids faces, and to hear them say "Hey, Miss Emily!" It's the greatest feeling in the world to know that you've made a positive impact on their lives, and because of the love you've shown them, they may open up their hearts to the LORD and His love.
I can't wait to do it again tomorrow! Yeehaw!
Em
P.S. Sorry grands, no pictures.

Getting ready for VBS!

Hey, again!

On Monday, our family journeyed the two hours to Seneca to visit grandparents. Sans Dad. Being a pastor, he had to go to a convention. As usual, we had a great time seeing them again!

The church that most of our family goes to, Hepsibah- is currently having their VBS. Lifeway's VBS theme this year is Saddle Ridge Ranch. Yeehaw!

Now my family, and a few of my friends- know that VBS is the time I shine. It is what I look forward to all year, and I'm a teenager! I've been helping with our church's VBS since I was 12 or 13. First, I helped teach classes (mostly as law enforcement), but last year I helped with music. I'm doing the same this year. The music leader (hey, T!) is going to do the singing while I do the jumping around for her. Which is a good thing, since I can't carry a tune in a bucket. XP

Every year I've been helping teach I've done a little something fun with my outfit. For example, several years ago for Arctic Edge, I wore a scarf (but only the first day, it was really hot), last year for Boomerang Express, I wore a cool Australian-looking hat, and this year I've got a cowboy hat and different colored bandannas.

I highly recommend doing this if you are a VBS worker. I've found that it really helps the children to warm up to you. They know that you care about them enough to make a complete fool of yourself. I've realized that many of those children come from awful home situations, and they need someone to make them laugh, and to love on them. Of course, I'm always willing to dish out hugs, and I don't mind making a fool of myself if it puts a smile on a kid's face.

Our VBS starts this upcoming Monday, just three days!!! Please pray for the workers who receive great blessings, but no rest, and pray for the children who come. Whether they are regular church-goers, or someone whose parents wanted some free babysitting for a few days- they all need Jesus, they all have the same inner desire to know Him, and they all need His, and our- love.

Em
P.S. Here's some pictures of Hepsibah's VBS. I'll be posting on ours as we go along.

The little girl with the blue bow is my cousin Molly. Hey, miss Molly! The little girl sitting to her left is Shaynah my little friend and distant relation.

Some random decor and music class with the little ones.

The lovely lady in the middle with the hat is my Aunt Michelle. (Shout out!) She's doing music at Hepsibah with two other ladies.

------->

Parker's Plight

This handsome little boy is Parker.

I keep him at church on Wednesday nights while his mother practices with the choir. Our families are good friends(Pitty Pat's Porch is his grandmother, you can find a slideshow of Parker's photos on her blog). He is only five months old and already has had far too much trouble for someone of his small stature.

I probably won't get all of this right, so bear with me.

The poor baby had to have surgery on Monday. Not long ago, his parents noticed that his soft spot was closing too quickly. They took him to the doctor and it was found out that fluid from Parker's brain that was supposed to drain from his brain to his abdomen, was not draining properly. It was causing his head to swell slightly and he probably had a headache since he was born. Well, anyway. They took him in to surgery on Monday and put a stent in. They also put in a tube that ran from his head to his abdomen, draining the fluid.

He was able to go home on Wednesday, and last I heard, he was recovering very well.
Everything is going well, but this is nothing he will grow out of. The stent could last anywhere between two weeks to ten years, but they expect him to live a perfectly healthy, normal life. Nevertheless, please pray for him and his family. They are very near and dear to us, and I call Parker "My Baby". (Hey! I'm the babysitter, I can do that!)

There will be more pictures in the future. I know ya'll are excited about that! ;)

Later Day's everyone!

Em

P.S. Tomorrow I'll try to post some pictures of him the day after he was born.

Been a While!

Hello again, everyone!

I know it's been a while, but I wanted to post and tell ya'll about about the past few days.

Let's see.

Friday: From 11(a.m.) to about 3 (p.m.) my my brother N(shout-out!) and I went to the park with the youth. First we enjoyed sandwiches and Frisbee, and then a nice walk. I took several good pictures, and I believe everyone had a lot of fun, I know I did!

Later, we went to a kid's pool party at a friends house, also fun, but no pictures!

Saturday: ...Nothing out of the ordinary! Tricked ya! Haha!

Sunday: During the morning service the Movement team and I performed Worthy is the Lamb(by Hillsong, I think) and SMS Shine(by David Crowder Band). I don't know what the SMS stands for, so don't even ask. My wonderful and fabulous and loving and very, very patient mother, got one of them on video for me. THANKS MOMMY!!!

Sunday night the youth (myself included) did a musical called LIFE. It went very well, but we didn't get any pictures or video, sorry. After the musical most of the youth went to our music leader's house for a pool party. It was fun, too.

All in all a very tiring, but still wonderful weekend. I hope this weekend is quieter...

Goodnight, all!

Em

Spring Showers Bring... whatever

Hello again!

I wanted to make a quick post and show ya'll some pictures of my Nana's beautiful flowers.

Obviously, she's got the green thumb in the family. The only thing I'm good at with plants is kill them. LOL!

I love you, Nana!

EM

Hey, Ya'll!
I wanted to drop a line real quick and make an announcement on behalf of my whole family.
(Deep breath)
TODAY IS MY UNCLE'S BIRTHDAY!!! WOOHOO!!!
XD HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UB!!! XD
I'm done shouting now. ;)
I Love you so much and I hope you have a great birthday!
Later Days! (Now, where have I heard that? ;D )
EM

Let Us Remember...

I am so very sorry, I can't believe I forgot Memorial Day!!! Someone kick me please...
I know it's a little late, but I just want to thank all the brave men and women who have served and who are currently serving, and remember those who have given their lives for our Country. Memorial Day is not just to celebrate those in our Armed Forces, but also their families. Let us all remember to pray for our troops and their families every day. For the people who have lost sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, moms and dads, those who have let them go to war in spite of the danger. It's because of you we can be safe and worship as we please without fear. You are real-life heros!
GOD Bless America!
Em

...I'm tired...

Hey ya'll!

Many of you may know that yesterday the Atlanta Braves battled against the Phillies at Turner Field. A much smaller percentage of you know that our church's Youth Choir went to see said game. I, being part of the Youth Choir-went along. Let me pause and say that the real purpose of going was, in my opinion- not to see the game, but to get some practicing in for our upcoming musical, but that's just me. It was a very good excuse, too. Going to see the Braves beat the tar out of the Phillies (12 to 3), or going to practice our music and skits on the three hours there and back? Hmmmm... Mrs. T, you're a sneaky one!

Anyway, it was a great game! Now, if it's on the TV, I couldn't care less, but there's something different about actually being there. I got so into it that the poor, innocent empty water-bottle I had in my hands got crushed! I was absent-mindedly wringing it the whole time.

Well, like I said, the Phillies got beat, and I was beat by the time I got home!

It's so good to get back into the swing of things. You see, Tuesday is Library Day in our family. Everyone (minus Dad, who is at work) goes to the Library and picks out some books. We usually come home with quite a few!

Well, I'll quit wasting your time, now. Bye, everyone!

Em

Here I am!!!

Hey, everyone!

It is pretty late so I'm going to write a short post since I just started my blog tonight and I want to do something with it... yeah.

First, the warnings: My family and I are a lot of fun, so naturally my blog is going to be like that too. Fun and sometimes weird, and always giving glory to GOD, so if you are a stick-in-the-mud, do not like to laugh and have fun, or just generally grouchy, then you might want to move on to a different blog. Thank you.

So I guess that's the end of my first blog post. I'll have a lot more to write about very soon, so hang in there and good night!

Em