I don't know what you're doing today...

but,

we are celebrating!!!

We've made it to the end of our first six weeks of homeschooling!!

Both of the kids have an overall A average!!

That's A as in A-Ma-Za-Zing!!

Can I get an Amen and a Woop Woop?!!

I am so proud of them!!

We decided to play a little music, bake some brownies and spend the day celebrating!

(oh yeah, and our school work too.)

Phillippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me!

Won't you turn up the music and celebrate with us!!

The stars in my eyes.

As you know, yesterday was our anniversary.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate it as a 25!

It was that great!!

Our kids decided that they wanted to treat us out to dinner, to celebrate the occassion...their treat.

Yep...you read that right.

Their.  Treat.

They had all been saving up their own money from either working, babysitting or their own birthday money.

Be still my heart!!

Here they are in the backseat on our way to dinner.

(iPod picture, not the best, but it will do)

 How cute is that!?!

They decided to bring us to Texas Roadhouse.

They knew their dad would want the biggest slab of cow he could sink his teeth into.

We ordered our food and began to enjoy some fun conversation.

I still sit amazed at times, wondering, how ever did we get so blessed, to have three such awesome kids.

I wonder.

We giggled and talked as we waited for our food.

They snapped this picture of us as we sat waiting.

(again, iPod)

When we received our food, it looked like they were filming an episode of Man vs Food.

Wow!

They don't call it Texas Roadhouse for nothin'.

After we were settled with our food in front of us, my husband asked our oldest daughter to say Grace over our meal.

We all held hands and bowed our heads as she prayed, giving thanks over the meal and over our family, asking God to bring us even closer to one another as we move into the next season of our lives.

That had to be one of the sweetest moments ever.

Proverbs 22:6

Train a chld in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn away from it.

We were just about finished eating, when we heard a loud noise coming towards our table.

Our kids had secretly arranged for the staff to celebrate our anniversary with a LOUD celebratory clapping song.

We had noticed the staff celebrating birthdays throughout the evening, but our kids assured us that they would not do that to us, on account that they would be embarassed.

We believed them.

As they approached our table they all smiled with giddy guilty grins!

They had decided to get us back for all the times we embarassed them.

Us?

Embarass our kids?

Hog wash!!

Yeh well...they got us back.

Let's just say, there was shouting, clapping, a saddle, a spot light, blushing faces, and there may or may not be a video of the whole thing floating around on my daughter's iPod.

(note to self: get that iPod!!)

That's all I'm sayin'.

At the end of our meal, they decided that we needed dessert.

They said that we should go to a local ice cream shop and share a banana split.

My husband and I shared a banana split on our very first date together, so they insisted we do the same thing, being it was our 20th anniversary.

How sweet is that!?!

We left the restaurant and went down the road to the Borden's ice cream shop.

We were much too full for an entire banana split, so we all opted to get a single scoop cone.

The ice cream shop was pretty much empty, with only us and a couple of other people on the opposite side of the bar.

As we were ordering our ice cream, I noticed someone familiar.

As I took a closer look, without looking obvious, I knew who it was.

Faith Ford.

yep!!

Faith.  Ford.

Ya know?

Murphy Brown.

 Hope and Faith.

The Pacifier with Vin Diesel.

Yep!!

Faith Ford!!

I quietly asked the worker behind the counter if I was seeing who I thought I was seeing.

She said it was her.

I smiled and kept quiet.

She looked as though she might have come to this quaint little ice cream shop to avoid a huge crowd.

I glanced over at her and gave her a quick grin, not saying anything.

I began to pay for our ice cream, when I noticed her walking towards our table where my husband and two of the kids were sitting.

She was in town promoting an upcoming movie that was being shot here in Louisiana, called Escapee.

(she is a native of Alexandria/Pineville are)

She began to speak to my husband and kids.

Then her producer walked over to the counter, and began talking to me and my daughter.

Before you knew it, we were all talking with Faith Ford like we were long lost friends.

She said we had a beautiful family.

Awwwe, shucks.

(blushing)

She was so nice and down to earth.
 Her smile was breathtaking.

We talked for a while and she asked lots of questions about us, like we were the stars instead of her.

She was intrigued with Us!

That impressed me.

I even thought she was gonna hug me when she told us bye.

My family told me afterwards that they were impressed with me keeping my composure through the whole thing, not asking for an autograph or a picture.

(I may or may not have, jumped over a fence this one time when I saw Ben Affleck, or I may or may not have, jumped on LeeAnn Womack's tour bus to get a picture of her.)

I responded...

"Tonight is a celebration of us. Our family.  I didn't want anything to distract me from the stars already in front of me."

They take my breath away each and every day.

It was a neat ending to an already perfect night!

Psalm 36:8

They relish and feast on the abundance of Your house; and You cause them to drink of the streams of Your pleasure.

Choose to be.

I John 4:8

God is LOVE

Today, my husband and I celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary.

20!

So many thoughts, and memories come to my mind when I see that number, and think of all the years behind it.

One in particular...

Whew-hoooo!

We finally made it!

There were times that the two of us weren't sure if we could make it past one day, much less that many years together.

Who knew, that two young, scared kids, with their hearts bursting with LOVE and hope, would make it this long?

Well, I know One who knew.

I think of the words that we have spoken to each other in that 20 year span as husband and wife.

Some good, some not so good.

I'm not going to pretend, that being that we have made it to 20 years, that we've got this whole "marriage thing" figured out, or that we have found the deep dark secret to making our LOVE last...

cuz, we definitely aren't perfect by all means.

(We are still trying to figure things out.)

I do know...

that we've come to realize that LOVE is not a feeling that continually fills our bellies with butterflies.

But instead, it is a choice to be.

A choice...

to be with eachother,

no matter what.

Has that always been our choice?

No.

Many times, we have fallen short of just that,

being...

and have chosen to walk a way a time or two.

But, as always...LOVE found a way.

  We have struggled through our stubborness and selfishness towards each other, and sifted through our own personal wants and needs, to have found our choice to LOVE inspite of it all.

God gently urged us back towards one another, and for that, I am grateful.

We have realized that LOVE is more of Christ, and less of  "me" or "I".

We have learned that LOVE is less trying to be right, and more willingness to admit you were wrong.

LOVE is more giving, and very little taking.

We know that for our LOVE to continue, our prayers for one another have to increase.

We've learned that our hands folded together in prayer, is better than our arms folded in anger.

We've learned that the Grace we receive, is the same Grace we must give to eachother.

We've learned that trials come and go, but LOVE doesn't have to.

I know...

that after each trial and struggle we go through, I find myself loving him harder and deeper, from a place within myself that I didn't even know existed.

My heart stretches for him into unending spaces, that I know only God knew were there.

God knew where our LOVE would take us.

And He knew we would go there together.

I know...
that without the One who molded our hearts together, and claimed them belonging to one another,
that we wouldn't be who we are today.

I know...
that without Him, we are not us.

When I was a little girl, I dreamed of that fairy tale romance.

The ultimate love story.

 The one that every girl dreams of.

I thought that it was untouchable.

A fantasy.

As I came to know the Lord, I realized that He was the ultimate LOVE story.

And as for the "fairy tale romance"...

I know now that we've been living it all this time.

What good fairy tale romance doesn't have it's struggles and trials while trying to conquer all in the name of LOVE?  

Then eventually finding and holding on to that LOVE and

making it together to the finish, in spite of all the obstacles.

We have fought off and slayed a few firey dragons...

drug addiction, Bullemia, unemployment, separation and financial struggle.

We have conquered the villains...

deceit, lies and selfishness.

We have stared the monster in its face at times...

as he played the villain, and I played the wicked witch.

We've held eachother tightly, as we felt the sting in our hearts, from the arrows of miscarriage.

We've watched eachother run away from the King of Kings...

and we've watched eachother lay our lives at His feet, then walk away in surrender.

 As we now worship our Savior yoked together, side by side...

we thank and praise Him for the Grace that we once took for granted.

We've realized that our LOVE for eachother is only enhanced by our LOVE for our Father.

It is a gift from Him,

not to be mistaken for anything less.

His LOVE for us runs deep and wide, and so should our love for one another be.

20 years...

I am still proud to be his bride.

His smile is still the best I've ever seen.

He still makes me laugh more than anyone on the planet.

I still catch him staring at me from across the room, and it still makes me blush.

He still tells me that he LOVES me each and every time he leaves, no matter where he is going and how little he will be gone.

And still, after all this time, his gentle and strong hand on my waist, can melt away all the aggravation of a hard day.

I am happy that we chose to say "I do" so many years ago, in the midst of our innocent and not-knowing LOVE.

I am glad we chose a life together.

I'm glad we simply chose to be.

Back then, we were two young kids in LOVE.

Today...

we are partners,

we are best friends,

we are confidants,

we are prayer warriors,

we are parents,

we are us,

and we are still in LOVE.

We choose to be.

je t'aime Frankie.

My beautiful Cajun man!

Happy Anniversary Babe!

Thank you for a lifetime of LOVE.

I love you...

and I love us!

Ephesians 5:21-28 

    Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

Click below to listen:

Our Wedding Song.

Today, where ever you are in your marriage, choose to be...

God will do the rest.

Please feel free to share your LOVE story below in the comment section.

The post birthday post!

Hey Yall!!

So, my birthday has come and gone.

(Boo.)

My day began with a simple gesture from my Hunka-Hunka-burnin' love!

I was woken up by a text message from him.

If you know him, and know that he IS NOT a texter, you'd know what a BIG deal this was.

It read:

Happy Birthday my Baby. I love you and hope you know you will always be as beautiful as the day I met you. Have a wonderfully blessed day. Love you.

Garshk!!

He told me last night at dinner that it took him a reeeaaaalllllllly long time to write it.

(smiley face)

When I stumbled out of bed, I crawled into the kitchen to an already brewed hot pot of coffee.

My favorite coffee cup was sitting next to a clean spoon.

In front of my cup, lay a paper towel rose that he had made for me.

Awwww, shucks.

(blushing)

After almost 22 years together, we've learned to make the little things the big things.

I spent the early morning visiting with my kids and hearing about the girls' church service the night before.

To hear your kids' excitement about hearing God's word is a gift in itself.

My little guy Mason had made me a homemade card and handed it to me as I sat with my warm cup of coffee.

It read:

What I love about the Best Mom ever.

Happy Birthday

She has a heart the size of earth.

Her laugh, I love seeing her laugh when the dude on the fiber said: fiber makes me sad.

I don't care what happens she'll allways Be The Best mom ever.

Happy Birthday

(he is talking about the Fiber One commercial. LOL)

He's the best little boy ever!!

I then loaded up the kids and we headed out the door to my job.

My girls helped me clean which I thought was very selfless of them.

Afterwards,

we went to my friend Jodie's house to enjoy some togetherness and chocolate cake.

Homemade chocolate cake!!

Even the icing was homemade!!

She is my hero!!

Girl...I loves you as much as I loved that chocolate icing!!

If you want to see some of her greatness go visit her here:

Velour

It was a wonderful visit.

Our youngens played together and we enjoyed some fun coffee talk.

Then, another friend arrived to join the celebration.

My sweet friend Kari!

I call her my Lil' Lagniappe (A little extra!) cuz she is a tiny little thang.

You may visit her here:

Ellie and Me

Here are a couple of pics to commemorate the celebration:

I'm so grateful that I did not burn down her house with all of those candles. I don't think I would have been invited back to her lovely home. We enjoyed the afternoon laughing and cutting up like some little school girls.

My girls joined our gathering around her beautiful wooden table, to make some great conversation.

Some sweet memories were made.

My friend Jodie had a basket of little papers on top of her table.

My girls asked what they were for and she said they were for their "window of thanks".

Behind me was a window leading out to her carport.

Taped to the window, were many pieces of paper that her and her little family had written on, and said what they were thankful for on certain days.

What a beautiful idea!!

We read a few and giggled.

Then my daughter slowly slid one of those pieces of paper towards me.

It sweetly read:

I'm thankful that my mom lived to be 39. (smiley face)

I fought back the tears.

Then held it up to my heart and sighed.

I quietly thanked God for the same thing.

The little things...

it's all about the little things.

My sweet friend Kari gave me a little bag of goodies and a beautiful card, but I will keep what she wrote in the card between the two of us.

Then, she gave me a gift that I did not expect, and it brought me to tears.

The gift was in her prayers.

She said that she prayed for me before writing in my card.

What a gift!

Thank you Kari, you are a blessing in so many ways.

Throughout the day I recieved many facebook messages, phone calls, and text messages from some of my family and friends.

Man, did I feel blessed beyond words!!

I'm one lucky woman.

(And I actually didn't know I knew that many people. LOL)

A person can't have too many friends!!

Friends are a gift from the Lord!

Cherish them well!!

The day ended with a nice dinner with my family, at a local chinese restaurant, compliments of my Mimi!

Love you Mi!!

She gave me a bag filled with the best lotions and smell goods from Bath & Body Works!

(one of my favorite places on the planet!)

My mother-n-law gave me a beatiful bouquet of white daisies, with one red rose in the middle.

Simply divine!

My kids went in together and bought me this book:

They know their momma so well!!

I can't wait to start reading it!

We did take some great pictures on my new phone, but I am a slight bit electronically challenged, sort of like a Do-Do Bird, so I can't figure out how to download them just yet.

If and when I figure it out, I will post them.

(Wish me luck!)

I can honestly say it was one of the best birthdays ever!!

I enjoyed the day immensely and slowly breathed in all of the goodness around me.

Thank You Jesus for such a sweet day of living!!

A day filled with little glimpses of You!

The little things...breathe them in one moment at a time!

I Thessalonians 5:18

In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 103:1

Bless the Lord O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

The pre-birthday post!!

Tomorrow is the big day!

The day that I turn the big 3-9.

You know what that means don't you?

It means the very next day, I will be less than one year away from being the bigger 4-0!

I'm not sure how I feel about that...

Am I supposed to be freaking out?

Should I run out and buy all sorts of non-aging creams and ointments for my face and eyes?

Do I begin a mid-life crisis?

Do I begin to take a daily attendance record of the wrinkles on my face?

Should I begin to buy clothes in a different section of Stage?

(The one with elastic waistbands.)

Do I begin to look into power chairs?

Whew!!

That sounds like an awful lot of work.

In all honesty, speaking the troof, from the bottom of my heart...

I really could care less.

I've never been one to be bothered with age.

What's the big deal-ee-oh?

I mean...you are as young as you feel right?

I feel good.

I actually, feel great.

When I think of the age that I am turning, I can't believe that I'm that old.

It just doesn't feel right.

I have begun noticing a few changes, but I still don't think it's enough to be gettin' all in a tissy about.

I have to color my hair to cover up those stubborn greys every four weeks, instead of every six.

I wake up before seven o'clock every morning...even when I do not work, and on Saturdays.

I get hungry before noon.

I like beans...alot!

I punished my daughter from her cell phone, took it from her, hid it somewhere that she couldn't find it...and now I can't remember where I put it.

(minor setback)

In a week and a half, I will be the mom of an official college student.

(I still have a 9 yr old and a 14 yr old at home-that should help me stay young-and alert!)

I would rather watch the news than reality t.v.

I've been really wanting to go play a fun game of Bingo.

(that's no lie)

No big deal...right?

Nah...no biggie.

I am writing my birthday blog today, because, #1: I have to work. (Boo!) and #2: Two of my very special friends invited me over for coffee and cake tomorrow.

What a special time of love, laughter and sweetness that will be!!

I was told to show up with an empty stomach to eat lots of cake.

Maybe I shouldn't eat today...

Who am I kidding? It will be eleven o'clock within a couple of hours!

To commemorate by birthday, I wanted to give a shout out to all of you wonderful people who share a birthday with me!!

Happy Birthday Vance Campbell!!

(he is my friend's husband, who I have never actually met in person)

Happy Birthday Dr. Phil!!

(I knew I loved him for a reason)

Happy Birthday Gloria Estefan!!

(I remember watching my sisters hold their hairbrushes and sing to her music)

Happy Birthday Barry Gibb from the Bee Gees!!

(yes...I remember their music)

Happy Birthday Conway Twitty!!

(my mother was a huge fan!)

Happy Birthday Richard Farnsworth!!

(not sure who he is, but I felt guilty leaving him out)

Here are some fun facts about September 1st and the month in general:

The day that the poem Mary Had A Little Lamb was published in 1830.

It is National Chicken Month.

(my favorite poultry!)

Sept 9th is National Teddy Bear Day.

(awwwe.)

Sept 16th is National Play-doh Day.

(that could get a little messy)

Sept 19th is Talk Like A Pirate Day.

(I love you Captain Jack Sparrow!)

Sept 21st is National Peacemaker Day.

(I AM a lover, not a fighter.)

In Latin, September means "seven" or "seventh".

(That's my favorite number and the day I married my honey-buns! Co-inky-dink? I think not.)

It is the month that FOOTBALL begins!!

(Geaux Saints!)

September's birthstone is sapphire, which means "clear thinking".

(I'm a little confused.)

The birth flowers for September are Forget Me Nots and Morning Glory.

(That makes since.)

and last but surely not least...

Drum roll please...

ppdddddddddddddd...

September 1st is Independance Day in Uzbekistan!!

(I'm not sure why this is relevant at all. If you were wondering, it is a country in Asia.)

These are things about me that you may or may not know:

Hold on to your britches, cuz I'm a pretty exciting gal!

I love to clean!

I love watching The Office.

(Michael Scott is da-bomb-diggity!)

Scrabble is to me, a sport of champions.

I love veggies!

(all of them, even brussel sprouts)

My birthname is Tamara Anne Higginbotham.

(pronounced Tah-mur-ruh...not, Tuh-my-ruhh like all the telemarketers think.)

I love to sing!!

I loathe liver!

I think chocolate and peanut butter should be a food group.

I'm the baby of a litter of children.

When I was little, I accidentally stuck a roley-poley up my nose and had to go to the ER to get it sucked out.

(yes! accidentally!)

I am a tad bit clumsy.

I believe, that getting my eyebrows waxed is a form of torture!

(I'm a plucker.)

My favorite singer is Michael Buble!

(His music brings me to a happy place, the place where my grandparents' memory lives)

I would love to learn how to Salsa dance!!

(my husband says I might be too clumsy for that)

I once helped my mother-n-law ring the necks of chickens, and then we cleaned them. Yep! I even plucked their feathers off.

(You haven't lived til you stick your hand up a dead chickens' warm hiney and it clucks.)

(Did I mention that I wore camouflage for our big hunt in the chicken coop for the perfect chickens?)

I have a fear of rollercoasters and snakes.

(not necessarily at the same time, but if that were to happen, I would probably pray for death)

I do not watch horror films!!

(I still have nightmares of watching Poltergeist as a child.)

I love comedies!!

Hince: My favorite past time is laughing!!

I would love to talk like Mr. Gru on Despicable Me.

I am allergic to cats and dogs.

I have two cats and two dogs.

(what can I say? I live on the edge.)

I love to read!

I died once.

God, not only graciously offered me salvation through Jesus, but gave me a second chance to share His love and gift with others.

I do not like makeup.

(It's just so much work.)

I do not like shopping.

(unless it's for a new book.)

I love to cook!!

Hince: My favorite show this season was Master Chef.

I love blogging.

I want to write one book in my lifetime, that will change one person's life.

I want to publish a children's book.

I'm in love with my Savior.

I would like to one day, speak to hundreds of women about how much God truly loves them, and where He is willing to go for their sake.

The thought of speaking in public gives me the bubbly-gutt.

My three children are my life!

My husband and I are about to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary.

(I love that man!)

I love my life and wouldn't change it for anything.

I believe that Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of The Living God.

He was born of a virgin, crucified and died on a cross to redeem the sins of the world, buried in a borrowed tomb, three days later rose from that grave and descended into Heaven.

And, on one glorious, glorious day, with blazing trumpets sounding, He will return to judge the living and the dead!

I believe that the grace that He offers is endless.

His love consumes my soul.

I believe that every breath, and every day, is a gift from Him who gives me life!!

Thank You sweet Jesus, for saving me, over and over again!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

(one day early)