Another day has dawned a little foggy at first, but bright and sunny now. Isn't it great to live in a world where every morning brings something new. Last night when I went to bed I was extremely tired. We had a music rehearsal last night then had to get my kids home and in the bed and then I had to go to Wal-mart. We have grown quite accustomed to eating at the Sloan house. But somehow this morning, I am refreshed and ready to tackle yet another busy day.

Last night I saw something in both of my children that amazes me. Maggie became re-acquainted with an old friend. The friend isn't old, just been a long time since they've seen each other. His name is Corban Norris and he's the same age as Maggie, just a little taller. Corban is the eldest son of my friend, Joy. They are here from Atlanta to help with our One Voice Workshop. After only a few short hours, Maggie and Corban are old friends. No reservations, no nothing, just good friends. And Lincoln sat with his special friend, Mia Duke in chuch last night while we practiced. Mia's mom said they were great. I think they were both a little upset when they had to part company. This morning when we got to the church, the first thing Lincoln said was, "Where's Mia?" I told him she wasn't here. To which he replied, "Yes, I need to see her."

It's amazing how children love unconditionally and with all their heart and being. I love that about my children. Maybe the verse in the Gospel of Matthew is right when it says, 'we must become as little children.' I want to be like my children when I grow up.

Have a blessed day,
Regina

Good Wednesday morning...as usual it has been a few days since my last entry. I'm still here, just extremely busy. But I don't think I would have it any other way.

Maggie's official birthday was this past Saturday and we celebrated Atlanta style. She had a new outfit and we were planning to do dinner, but the bad weather here caused us to return early. We were in Atlanta for a Music Workshop called One Voice.

Speaking of One Voice, we are hosting a workshop here at our local assembly this weekend. So this may be the only entry this week. But you might get lucky. We have been and will be here at the church every night this week practicing. And I have been here everyday making copies, etc...

This purpose of this workshop is to help out the smaller church or the church who doesn't have a full time music minister, one who can find new songs and get the music ready to teach. We are blessed at our local church, The Pentecostals of Murfreesboro, to have a great Pastor and staff. It is our privilege and honor to offer this service to our fellow music 'people'.

Not a lot today, the copy machine awaits me to push the green button. More later this week, if you're lucky and I'm not dead.

God bless and have a great day,
Regina

She's Back...

WOW...What can I say. It has been 4 days since my last post and boy has it been a whirlwind of a week. Where do I begin? Our lives here in the Sloan household are never boring, never sedate, never....you fill in the blank. So here's a rundown of the week so far at our house...

Friday - I had to take my van into the shop to get the belt replaced. You'll need to know this in a minute.

Saturday - already blogged about our wonderful day, just read about it.

Sunday - Great day at church. We had a bake sale and I bought a wonderful red velvet cake with cream cheese icing made by Michele Johnson. Great !!!! Snack night after church on Sunday night sponsored by the Youth Dept. Great !!!! Can you tell we Pentecostals love to eat, especially on Sunday. The kids gave out their Valentine's in Sunday School class and they had parties. Sugar high, oh yeah.

Monday - Maggie was out of school for teacher's meetings and Eddie took his President's Day holiday too. So we had a family day at home. We had a lot of different things to do and everybody kinda did their own thing, but we came together at the end of the day. We decided that since we were all at home and it would be extremely crowded on Tuesday night, we did our Valentine's Dinner on Monday night at Outback with our children. We got there before the crowd and it was wonderful. Maggie and I worked on her Valentine box. That was especially fun, since we both burnt our fingers with the hot glue gun.

Tuesday - Happy Valentine's Day to you all !! My sweetie has been so good. He's been giving us Clifford valentines and candy for the past week. This morning I got a tear jerking card and a sappy movie I asked for "A Walk to Remember". It makes my heart hurt when I watch it. This night we had dinner in our newly painted dining room on our china and we opened our goodie bags. What a fun day. Maggie had her Valentine's party today at school and got way too much candy. But she had fun.

Wednesday - Maggie's class went to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga on this day. Lincoln spent the day with his Grandma. He stayed in his P.J.s all day and loved it. I went with Maggie on the fieldtrip, but not on the bus. I drove my van with my friend, Debra riding with me. We got to Winchester and the trouble began. We pulled over and found nothing. So on we drove until we got to Monteagle Mtn. and to a garage. The mechanic said everything looks fine and the noise did stop UNTIL we got off the exit in Chattanooga. Of course, by this time we were missing the Aquarium. To make a long story short, we went to Firestone, they replace another belt and told me the pulley was bad and needed to be replaced. We ordered the part to be put on Thursday.
We went to the Aquarium, picked up our girls and went to TGI Friday's then went to Cold Stone to have ice cream. We made it home safely, but tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story.

Thursday - Started off my day at the dentist to have a temporary crown put on. Not the best way to begin your day, but I had to do it. Came home and picked up Lincoln and ran some errands. And there was that noise again. I immediately went home. When I called Firestone to check on the status of the part, I was informed that the part was on back order and wouldn't be in until Tuesday. This is NOT good. We are taking a group of singers to Atlanta tomorrow to sing. We had to rent a van, blah, blah, blah.

So do you see how my week has been and why I haven't had time to blog ?!? If you think about it, say a prayer for me and for my busy family. We like it that way. This way we don't have time to get bored or in trouble.

And we're off again tomorrow...

We did it, we did it

Well, we did it. We made it through one more birthday sleepover/party. The party goers came in slowly and steady from 5:30 - 7:00, even though the party started at 6:30. It took my parents 2 hours to get here from Nashville, because as everybody knows, we don't know how to drive in the snow here in the South. My Mother-in-law, Joyce came early so as not to get stranded by the weather and my brother, Brennan and his wife, Pam didn't get to come at all because of the weather and all the 'crazies' on the road.

Maggie was not daunted by all this. We had one of her favorite meals, spaghetti w/ garlic bread. After dinner we opened gifts and then had cake (chocolate with whipped icing). Wal-Mart did an excellent job of duplicating the napkin on her cake. Maggie got lots of girly things like purses, hair stuff, money, gift cards. You know, all the essentials. But she also got a new 'ride'. She got a new 'purple' bike - they didn't have orange. Even Lincoln got a present, a Curious George book.

The adults left and the girls began the real party. They played games and watched a movie while eating popcorn. They went to bed about 2am. We all got up this morning for donuts and then shortly after went to Chuck E. Cheese. We atie pizza, played games and then when they ran out of tokens, they played hide-and-seek in the tunnels.

Needless to say, Maggie is already in the bed at 9:30. Her actual birthday is next weekend and we have something special in store for her then too. I love it when I know something that she doesn't.

We ended the special day by going to dinner with our very special friends, Nathan, Tammy and Leanna Batson. Leanna proudly distributed her Valentine cards and she had a birthday card for Maggie. What a surprise. We had a great time. Too often we go too long without being with the really special friends in our lives.

Go Big Orange

Today is party day !!

We started out the day at Firestone - repairs to the van. Then onto Donut Country for a quick donut before school. Don't you know the teachers love me. Eddie took Maggie to school today and she loves it when that happens.

Lincoln and I ran errands and took a short nap for the endless night that lies ahead. Maggie got out of school a little early and on to Wal-Mart to finish shopping for the birthday dinner. The menu is spaghetti, garlic bread, garden salad and tea. And of course, we have chocolate cake for dessert. Everyone will be pleased at that selection.

The theme for Maggie's party is just ORANGE ! That's her favorite color, so we have orange plates, napkins and placemats along with some flowers and polka dots to make it a little girly. Eating, opening presents, eating cake, and watching movies are all on the schedule tonight. I stopped planning party things to do a long time ago, girls this age just want to hang out and talk.

In the morning it's more donuts from Donut Country. Can you tell we like this place? Then on to Chuck E. Cheese for pizza and games for lunch. Lincoln and Eddie may even like that.

More tomorrow about the blessed event.

Trash to Treasures

Cold, winter days make me pensive. I think there's something I need to do, but don't feel like doing it. Or another day may bring an attitude of what else can I do, I'm bored.

Those of you that know me really well know that I don't like to do laundry. I hesitate to use the word 'hate' because that's a strong word, but that's almost how I feel about it. But my husband on the other hand can get all of our laundry (approx. 5 loads a week) washed, dryed, hung up, folded and put away in about a 3 - 4 hour time span. I, on the other hand take most of the day and there's still a basket that needs some attention. But something came over me yesterday and I decided to not only do the laundry and try to get it all done, but I cleaned the laundry room. Now, maybe I won't mind doing the laundry. I need to be on that show "Clean House". My alias is Cooper Smith.

While I was busy cleaning out the laundry room, Lincoln was busy setting up an obstacle course in the den with the things I had discarded. I guess my trash was a treasure to him. He had plastic plates for stepping stones and rolls of shelf liner to jump over, a plastic storage box to jump off of and chairs to wind through. And of course, when he was through he helped me put everything back in it's place. He's definitely my child.

Maggie & I are preparing for her 11th birthday party tomorrow night. We'll have a sleepover nd then go to Chuck E. Cheese on Saturday. We ordered her cake and bought plates, napkins and cups yesterday. She has prepared the menu and the evening's events. Should be fun.

6 weeks and 2 days

No, I'm NOT PREGNANT !!! Just in case you were wondering.

It's only 6 weeks and 2 days until we leave for the Dominican Republic. Eddie's brother, Raymond and his family are UPCI missionaries to the DR and we are going to visit them. We are soooo excited about going. We went to see them once before when they were missionaries to Uruguay, South America. That was in 2002 and Maggie was only 7 and Lincoln wasn't even here. My, how time flies.

I'm usually very organized and on top of my game plan, but not today. It normally takes 6 weeks to get a passport back after you have submitted your application with the County Clerk's office. Well we took Lincoln's application TODAY. Pray saints pray.

We will be there for about a week and a half. Nice tropical weather, no panty hose, sandals & flip-flops. Can you picture it? Don't you want to go? We'll be thinking of you, NOT !!

Have a great day !!!

Making Memories

Today was just an ordinary day in the eyes of most people, but extraordinary in the eyes of a child. I believe everyday is an opportunity to make a memory, no matter how big or small.

This morning after having breakfast with my family, Lincoln and I took Maggie to school. We had a little 'talk' on the way about 'life stuff'. Then Lincoln & I were on to the church for our 24-hour prayer chain. Once we were there, Lincoln ran into the auditorium and excitedly greeted his Grandma (Eddie's Mom). They had their own prayer time, complete with goldfish crackers, books and pens. A memory...

Later on Lincoln woke up from a 3 hour nap to find his 'Nana' (my Mom) waiting to greet him. His eyes got big and he ran straight into her arms. Then she fed him 2 plates of spaghetti, his favorite food. Then they played and watched Blue's Clues, his favorite movie right now. A memory...

Maggie came home from school to find her Nana still here. And the first thing she wanted to know was, "How long is she going to be here?" After a private chat in Maggie's room, Nana had to go home. She left with kisses being blown and hands waving. A memory...

Don't hesitate to leave your housework until tomorrow, it will always be with you. Your children won't. Make memories with them everyday, no matter how big or small.

Sweatin' to the Oldies

Yesterday, we took Maggie and Lincoln to the Skating Ring for our annual Christian Education Skate Party. What a blast !!!! This was the first time that Lincoln had ever put on a pair of roller skates. They were the smallest size they had. He looked so cute !!!!!

Maggie and Eddie are great skaters, but as fate would have it, they had a collision with one another. The drama queen in Maggie came out and there were tears, ice packs, etc... But she recovered to come back and win the Limbo contest...how low can you go? A title that she has held for the past several years.

As for me...I went around several times, never fell and then realized just how old and out of shape I am.

Great memories were made and a great time was had by all.

First time for everything

They say there's a first time for everything so here goes...

Just want to keep you up-to-date about our family goings and comings.

Lincoln is quite the entertainer. For so long we were worried about his speech, but not any longer. He talks all the time. Wonder who he gets that from? We have a blast together. He is such a lover and cuddler, what a change from Maggie.

Speaking of Maggie...she brought home straight A's a couple of weeks ago on her report card. How proud we are of her. She is adjusting very well to school and of course, her social calendar is busier than ours. She will be 11 in a couple of weeks and I can't believe it. How time flies when you're having fun.

Eddie is the constant in our family. Thank God for one of those. Last night at our Christian Education Banquet he was awarded the Teacher of the Year Award. He's sooooo good.

I still work for Shop at Home at night from the house. It's great. I wouldn't give up the time I get to spend with my children for anything. It's such a precious time and before I know it they'll be grown and off on their own. Making memories...that's what's important.

Regina