You NEED to see this movie!

Kris and I went to see Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed Friday night, and it was WELL worth the time and money! It is a documentary about the way anyone in the world of science, especially Academia, is ostracized and often, well...expelled, from their positions if they give ANY regard to Intelligent Design. This does not even mean creation, just any form of intelligent design. The film really opened my eyes to greater implications of believing in evolution...such as loss of human purpose, free will, and the like. It also discussed how Hitler used the Holocaust to try to further human evolution and "natural selection." And if we are to try to do this on our own...that leads the way for abortion and many other catastrophes!

Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis says this:
"Although Stein is not a biblical creationist and comes from a Jewish background, we have found some common ground with him, as he does a masterful job of exposing the scientific problems with Darwinian evolution as well as the ruthlessness of its defenders in suppressing academic freedom. It’s not a Christian film, but it is very much worth your time because you will get a better understanding of the creation/evolution battle and how it is on the front lines of the culture war. Plus, you will see compelling evidence for design in the universe."

The movie was a documentary, but it is Ben Stein, and he is just funny. He uses black and white movie clips and music tracts for the transitions that make this film actually pretty funny in parts! It is about an hour and a half, but feels like 30 minutes...very informative, very entertaining!

If you would like to find more information, follow these links:

http://www.expelledthemovie.com/enterflash.php

http://www.getexpelled.com/

http://www.wingclips.com/cart.php?page=expelled

I Have a New Niece!!!

One of my very best friends, Pennie, who is more like a sister than a friend, had her first baby last week!!! I have been dying to share this with all of you, but wanted to wait until she could send me a picture! :) Well, the newborn days are still exhausting and hectic, but she has found a little time to send me some pictures! I won't share her name b/c I haven't cleared that with Pennie, but I assure you it is beautiful! Baby Girl entered the world at 5:17p.m. on April 17th, 2008, weighing 6lbs, 15 oz, and measuring 19 inches long. Pennie had a GREAT natural birth, that even she called a "perfect" experience. Pennie and Will are exceedingly proud, as they should be, and very excited!!! They will be great parents! So, without any further ado...here she is!
Pennie looks great!!!!!!!!!! :
Is this a proud papa, or what?! :)

LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS!!! HOW ADORABLE IS SHE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to see this little bundle of joy in person! Oh, how I wish I wasn't 5 hours away!!!

A Little Feeling of Accomplishment, Part Two

So, this is the other part of the house I have managed to organize. I feel like finishing smaller projects might help me get motivated to move on to the office! Here is the (very scary) before of the closet, with Emmalyn acting as Vanna! :)

I did manage to get rid of some things, adding them to the garage sale pile out in the garage. Here is Emmalyn deciding she needed to help me carry things out. (Mikasa candle holders I never liked...wedding gift.)
And, TADA, here is the after! :) :) Much easier on the eyes, and MUCH easier to find what I need WHEN I need it! :)
The next is a close up, showing my husband's worse nightmare coming true. I am going crazy with my label maker! :) [When he gave it to me, he claimed it was ONLY from Emmalyn...that he would not be a part of something where everything in his house becomes labeled!:) ]

..if you click the picture, you can actually read the labels. Because I'm sure that will be the highlight of your day, right?!

Okay...so now...I MUST move on to the office!!!!! AAAAAHHHHHGGGGG!!!!!

A Little Feeling of Accomplishment

So, I have a house with WAY too much stuff...and that creates chaos, right?!?! Tell me I am not alone! So, I have set out recently to at least TRY to organize and get rid of some stuff. I started with Emmalyn's closet, which has WAY too many items for a 14 month old!!! (Can we tell she is the first grandbaby on the daddy's side?!) We are clearly not getting rid of anything...since we would like another kid or two eventually, so I sorted and organized by size and put it all into nice little clear rubbermaid containers. And my handy-dandy label maker proved to be VERY useful!!! :)

Here are the BEFORE photos:


Scary, huh? Notice the plethora of stuff just piled on the top shelf. That is the stuff she has already outgrown! Oh, how the time flies by! ***sigh***

Anyways... Here are the AFTER photos:

The top shelf is outgrown clothes, the top hanging bar is stuff that currently fits, and the bottom bar is stuff that she will not fit for a while. [Again...grandparents of first grandbabies can be very generous! :) :) :)] Oh, and she has a dresser of pajamas and more casual clothes that I did organize, but it would not have been near as exciting to photograph! :)

btw...Have I mentioned I LOVE MY LABEL MAKER!!!!!!!!!!!

So, this is the first project of 2 that I have actually finished. I know you will be DYING to see the rest of my amazingly exciting daily activities, so I will share more later! :) And more as I complete them. :)

Her First Word is DOG!

I think it is apparent that she is her mother's daughter!! :)

Well, it sounds more like "Da,"...dog, without the g at the end. But it is the first real word, obviously identifying something. She constantly points to dogs and exclaims "DA!" She absolutely loves these animals! She does not smile at me when I enter her room to pick her up in the mornings, but she squeals with excitement if the dogs are clicking around on the hardwood behind me! She loves to chase the dogs, hugging their necks and petting their backs...it is really precious! We have been very lucky to have great dogs that allow her to do all of this, usually licking her arm or leaning into her in response.

Here she is at only 10 months giving Bella a belly rub. [Bella now has a new family in Louisianna. :)] Lounging on Mocha, apparently aware of how cute she is!
Petting Spencer at only 6 months old:
He was very sweet when she would pet him...but didn't like being chased and hugged like the other dogs. He would just get up and walk away. :)
Giving hugs to Shiloh, my dad's dog while he was here with us. So sweet!
hhmmmm...maybe she thinks she is a dog?
Before you call CPS...let me assure you I DID NOT put her in this cage, nor would I or have I ...ever! :) :) :)

And here is a video of her giggles at Mocha:

A Natural Beach Bum

Is this not the most adorable photo?!?!

I took Emmalyn to the beach for the first time yesterday, with my friend Jessica and her two children, Luke and Raylen. We had such a great time! Jana, we missed you...you'll have to come with next time!

I didn't quite know how Baby Girl would like this. Well, from the moment I put Emmalyn on the sand in her little bare feet, she was smiling! She absolutely LOVED it! When I took her to the water, I assumed it might frighten her a little. Nope. She giggled when the waves swished across her feet. Then she sat in the water. The water came up a little high, and again, I thought she would be a little scared. Nope again. She laughed hystercially! She thought this was the best time ever! I let her play and splash for a while, but when it got a little too cold, and she was shivering a bit, I took her back to the sand to play. She was SOOO MAD at me! But, she got over it as she sat down with her bff, Raylen to play in the sand. :-)

The day was a success, and all of the kids (and mommies) had a wonderful afternoon! We stayed for about 2 hours (covered in sunscreen and a hat of course), and boy, was she tired after all that great playing. She was asleep in the car within 5 minutes!

Daddy HATES the beach, so any more beach trips for us will probably be with our beach-loving friends again! :) The sand is annoying, but oh the fun we had!

Here are a few photos of the day, but for more, go here! :-)

Ready to go, isn't the cover-up, cute?

A smile from the minute I put her down:
Aren't they adorable together?!:
Playing with the sand...

Spencer

Well, yesterday, I had to let go of Spencer.
He truly was the best dog anyone could EVER ask for! He was my cuddly, loyal, loving, sweet baby boy. I miss him terribly already. Here is a video montage I made of him. Notice lots of pictures are of him on a bed...he was spoiled rotten! He had a very good life, just way too short. Through tears, I would like to share this with you...
(You have to click on the picture to see the montage.)


Spencer

Cletus, Take the Reel

This is so funny, I nearly cried! The guy singing is Christian Comedian Tim Hawkins, and his website is here if you would like to check out some more of his stuff.