An early Valentine's Date

This past Friday night my hubby and I decided to celebrate Valentine’s a little early to beat the crowds and make it more special. So on Friday night we started the date at Aspen’s (at The Avenues in Marietta). If you haven’t been to this restaurant the food is amazing and the atmosphere is like being in a ski lodge with huge fireplaces roaring. We were sat a nice quiet table and had some good adult conversation. We love our kids but it is nice when you can talk and not be interrupted. It was a great night in Georgia Friday night. It was in the 60’s so we decided after dinner to take a walk around to the shops to see what we could find. We stumbled into a few shops and really enjoyed ourselves. After our walk and window shopping we went into a bakery. If anyone knows me, hubby and I have been on a low carb diet since Jan 5. We have both lost 15 pounds each. So walking into a bakery was heaven to me. We each got a small dessert to share. So we ended our date by heading home. It was one of the best dates in a long time. It was nice to be out and have some good food and good company. I love you Hubby!! Happy Valentine’s Day!!

PS I am trying in the future to post pictures so you can have visual too. Thanks for checking on us.

Welcome to the world James Anthony!!!

This morning I awoke just like every other work day no knowing exactly what God had in store for me. Well, this morning while I was heading to work I found out that my youngest brother Ryan and his wife Christie had their beautiful baby boy in the early hours of this morning. This was quite a surprise since he wasn’t due for 7 more weeks. Yes he was born at 33 weeks and is doing great. He is on a little of oxygen but should be off that soon. Even though he is a preemie he weigh 5lbs 10 oz and was 18 inches long. He entered this world at 2:18 AM. I am so happy to be an Aunt again and this is my first nephew. Until now I had the only boy grandchild in the family. I am very anxious to get to Tennessee to see this baby. I know there will be a road trip in the near future. Children are a blessing from God and I am thrilled that my brother and his wife had a healthy little boy. Welcome to the world James Anthony Manous!! I can’t wait until I get to meet you face to face. Congratulations Ryan and Christie I know you will be wonderful parents.

Where did the Weekend go??

Well if you are a mom, you know how crazy life can get sometimes. This weekend was no exception between Upward Cheerleading and Basketball games and baseball practice. Let me give you a peak into my busy weekend. It all starts back at Thursday night where I attended my first women’s journey group meeting. We are study on how to pursue God and exactly who this God is that we are pursue. It is a great study and I am so excited about being apart of this group on Thursday nights. Well every other Friday I have off from my job – that is the perks for working for the government. So Friday was a day of errands. I started the day by taking the kids to school, then off to a doctor’s appointment, then story time with my oldest child at school, then off to meet the point person for the military ministry we are starting at church, then grab the kids from school, take the youngest to sign up for softball, the finally over to Mimi’s for dinner. It was a full day for sure. Saturday was no different. Coached Addyson’s Upward Cheer squad at 10 AM then Cade’s basketball game at 11AM – then rushed to baseball practice at noon. Needless to say I was pooped so I took a 2 hour nap that afternoon. I woke up and my wonderful husband had made dinner. So we ate and had family game night. After the kids were asleep we sat by the fire and watched Fireproof the movie. Let me just say what an awesome movie that is. Sunday was of course church and then home to do chores and rest for the week ahead.

This week is a lot of the same. We finally got my father-in law into a nursing home which he is moving into today. Tonight is Upward cheerleading and basketball practice. Thursday the women’s group, Friday baseball practice again, and then Sunday we start our Starting Point group at 4pm. So all of you mom’s out there I know how tired you can be. I work full time and I am out of the house every morning at 5:20 AM and return home at 5:00 PM every night. I would not change my life for anyone else’s because my kids and family mean the world to me. Oh yeah - me and hubby are trying to have another to add into the crazy mix. I have followed what the doctor instructed me to do and we have prayed over it and things seem to be working.
One last thought for today - Moms are often not appreciated enough and their hard work and sacrifice usually goes unnoticed. It makes me think about how we treat God sometimes. Most of the time He is not appreciated enough and His sacrifice goes unnoticed. Take time today to thank your mom and God for all they have given you.