Worship Central London

I had the opportunity to go to an incredible Worship Pastor's Retreat in London this past week. It was led by a group called worship central which is a group that trains worship pastors around the world and is headed by Tim Hughes. You would probably know some of his songs which include Here I am to Worship and Beautiful One. I found out about the retreat almost on accident as I was looking at their website. I applied, not thinking that I would be chosen to go since they only allow 20 worship pastors to come and people were applying from all over the world. Long story short, I was chosen and I headed off to London.
I left at 1:00pm last Friday and arrived in London at 9:35am on Saturday. Needless to say, I was about to pass out, but I had been warned by friends not to sleep when I got there or I would never get on the proper schedule. So, I went to my hotel--a trip that took about 3 hours by the time I claimed my luggage, found my train, caught a connecting train and walked to my hotel carrying my suitcase, carry on and my guitar. When I finally got to the hotel, I shut the door to my room and it was so quiet. In that moment I knew that it was going to be hard to be away from Jennifer and Avery for a whole week. So, to avoid thinking about it, I left and hopped on a double-decker tour bus to see the sights. Here are some of the things I saw that first day.









I had one more day to see the sights, so I took off on foot and wandered aimlessly all day. One thing that I knew I wanted to do was eat Fish and Chips, one of my favorite meals. I finally found an authentic pub and when the food came, it looked so good I had to take a picture to send to Jennifer. Here is a picture of the place and the food.




Ok, so one place that you should never go when you are in London is a place called Halfway to Heaven. I was about to go to the national art gallery and I had been walking for a while, so I stopped in at this pub to get a drink. Well, as I was standing there, I noticed that they had just played three George Micheal songs in a row and I know he's British and all, but I knew something was up. I started looking around and all of the pictures on the wall were of women, but they didn't look like women. That is when I realized my mistake and after I felt like I waited long enough, I bolted across the street and took this picture of the outside of my new favorite gay pub. Nice.


The retreat itself started the next day and lasted for five days. It was a great experience as there were worship leaders from all over the world who came together to learn how to better lead our congregations and just relax and be refreshed in an amazing environment. The house where we stayed was built by Archbishop Barham as his personal residence during the time when Henry VIII was married to Catherine of Aragon. It was exactly what I would picture the English countryside looking like complete with rolling hills covered with sheep.







We had some great times of worship at the retreat and it was fun to be around worship leaders who came from countries all over the world including Rwanda, Norway, Holland, and England. Tim Hughes and the team from Worship Central were so humble and unassuming. They were the experts, but you got the sense that they came to learn as well. Here is a picture of Tim Hughes and his baby, Phoebe.



Just in case you are in England any time soon, here are some words that I picked up whilst I was there.

Proper- real, good
Brilliant- awesome
Flip!- Crap!
Tube- Subway
Pants- Underwear
Trousers- Pants

posted by Dave

what in the world????

What do you do about this?


This is a picture of Avery's severely abused thumb. She is an avid thumb-sucker these days and has managed to beat her little thumb to a pulp. The picture doesn't do it justice. Her poor thumb is as red as a tomato, blistered, and cracked. It looks really painful, but she doesn't act like it bothers her a bit. It makes Mommy VERY sad to look at. I'm thinking that we need to go to the doctor, but I have this fear that he will tell me that I need to try to break her from thumb-sucking. That is one of her biggest pleasures in life. I just don't know if I have the heart to do that just yet.

Such a Happy Girl...

Avery is much like her Mommy and Daddy in the fact that she is a VERY grumpy girl when she wakes up from more than a few minutes of sleeping. The pictures may look like we were torturing her, but we really just wanted to get a few shots of her CRAZY hair when she woke up. I think that you can tell how she felt about having her picture taken...

David is home!

I promised David that while he was away last week that I wouldn't post anything about his absence. He is always thinking about safety. I love that about him. I guess the obsession with safety comes from his days as a cop and growing up with a dad who was in law enforcement. He made me promise while I was gone to make sure every door was locked and all of the exterior lights were on during the night. I dutifully complied with all his wishes while he was away. I even gave the dog a bath and took the trash to the street all by myself.

Sow now that he is home, let me just say that I have a new-found respect for single moms and all the work they do. Happily, the nausea from my first trimester is now waning, but the beginning of my week without Dave was really rough. Nausea and a toddler DO NOT mix. Thankfully, I had lots of friends and family to help me out while he was gone. I am glad that David was able to go on such an amazing trip, but I am really, really glad that he is back.

David spent last week in London, England at a worship pastor's retreat led by Tim Hughes and the team at Worship Central. He was one of just 20 people chosen out of many applicants from all over the world. He met a lot of really great people, ate some crazy food, and played a "proper game of football" while he was there.

I am trying to get him to post some info about his trip for all who care to read about it. He's loaded the pictures into the computer --- so that's half the battle. He just promised me that he will do it tomorrow. We have that on record... so... there you have it, folks.

oh no!!!

Avery and I went with the Malahy family last night to the zoo for Member's Night. We had such a fun time. The Butterfly Exhibit opened this weekend and Avery loved seeing the butterflies. There was a live band and all of the kiddie rides were free. Usually, kids aren't allowed to swim in the replica of the Nile River, but on Member's Night they allow it. Kids were everywhere. It was pretty crazy, but really fun.

We got home way past Avery's bedtime, but since it was so hot and sticky last night, she just had to have a bath. I think that I've mentioned a few times how much Avery loves her baths. At one point during her bath, she stood up in the tub and started doing a little dance. After laughing at my silly naked goof-ball, I had her sit right back down in the tub. A few minutes later, she became really relaxed... so relaxed that she relieved herself in the tub. Unfortunately - and I'll try to say this as tactfully as possible - it wasn't pee...

I think I yelled, "oh no!" and quickly pulled her out of the contaminated tub. Sadly, this experience with my sweet little girl was NOT my first. She only seems to do it when David isn't around to help me with clean-up duties. Let me just tell you how hard it was not to puke while cleaning that yucky tub last night. Thanks, Aves!

The irony of the situation is that I wouldn't let Avery wade around in the "Nile" at the zoo that night because I thought that it was nasty...all those kiddos swimming around in each other's... well... you know. Oh, well!

Little Sassy Thing

Today Avery started randomly adding an "ah" at the end of words that end in "y". My name is now Mommy-ah, Daddy is Daddy-ah, and her baby doll is Baby-ah. We aren't quite sure why she's started doing this... David thinks it is adorable and encourages her bysaying, "Where's the baby-ah?" and "How's my little Avery-ah?". Maybe we have some Italian roots somewhere in the family tree, or maybe she is learning a little Pig Latin at school. Who knows?
----------------------------------------
Here are some pictures of Avery showing the sassy little personality that has just started to reveal itself to us. Sometimes sassy can be a really fun thing. Sometimes, not-so-much. The following pictures provide an example of each type of sassy:

Exhibit A: This picture is from our recent shopping outing to a local boutique. Avery found the perfect sized chair and was VERY sad when Daddy and I said that it was time to go. She proceeded to show her displeasure by throwing a monumental fit (didn't get pics of that precious moment. By the way - did you happen to notice all of the parenting books we have been reading lately?)

Exhibit B: These pictures are from tonight. We had VBS music practice at church and Avery was hanging out being a goof-ball. So cute. I like cute sassy a lot better than stinky sassy.


My mom used to lovingly/jokingly recite this nursery rhyme to my sister Katharine when she was around Avery's age. I think it's pretty funny. I remembered it today when our little angel was being a little less than angelic!

There once was a girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
And when she was good
She was very, very good.
But when she was bad
she was HORRID.

Of course, our Avery is never horrid, just a little bit of a stinker sometimes...but the nursery rhyme made me smile when I thought of it. Mother Goose must have had a toddler or two.

Deep Thoughts...

Going to sleep has become quite an ordeal for me. Pregnancy has this strange way of totally exhausting me, yet making it nearly impossible for me to fall asleep easily. As a result, I have put David through a myriad of random tasks in an effort to help me fall sleep... my happiest discovery is the miracle of Breathe Right Nasal strips. My precious husband... although incredibly handsome and wonderfully brilliant (how do you like that not-so-subtle attempt at keeping him from being mad at me for posting this???) has a bit of a snoring problem. Unfortunately, HE has no problem going right to sleep the moment his head hits the pillow -- which leaves me sitting in the darkness (sighing loudly and poking him every 5 minutes) getting more and more frustrated by the second. Since our Breathe Right discovery, David's snoring has subsided. Now I sit in the darkness and sigh and fume over my 80 pound boxer and HIS snoring problem. Which led me to the deep thought that I have been having every night since the onset of this pregnancy: Why don't they make Breathe Right Strips for dogs????

A Visit With The Doyles

Our sweet friends Sean, Kim, and Ethan Doyle visited our church last night to speak with a few of our small groups about their upcoming assignment with Team Missions to Zimbabwe, Africa.

David and I met Sean and Kim about 7 years ago (?) while we were both in seminary at Mid-America. After they left Memphis to continue Sean's seminary schooling at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, we weren't able to see them often but we kept in contact through letters and email. They are such sweet friends; The kind of friends you find yourself falling into conversation with after years apart as easily as if you talked every single day. We just love them and are so excited about the work that God has for them in Africa.

As I was listening to Sean speak about the horrible conditions in Zimbabwe and the desperation that the people live in there, I realized how little I know about Global conditions and what a blessed life I have. The Doyles will leave to serve as career missionaries in July. Currently, they are praying that their Visa will arrive safely so that they can actually get into the country.

God has done some amazing things as the Doyles have prepared for this move - things that only He can do. You can read more about who they are, what they will be doing in Zimbabwe, and how you can help them by checking out their website: www.seankimethan.com. I have a link for it listed on our blog.

Baby Update

I just got back from my 11 1/2 week appointment with my OB. He was able to hear a heartbeat right away... 145-150 bpm. There is nothing like hearing that sweet little thump thump and knowing that things are good and that your baby is really there! He gave me a few more options for my nausea --- advice that I am eager to take very soon! Just thought I would share the good news.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! David treated Avery and I to the Jazz Brunch at The Memphis Botanic Gardens today. Thankfully, the Fenegren I have been taking worked long enough for me to enjoy our time there. I was even able to eat a little bit! Hooray! Avery enjoyed watching the horse-drawn carriages and feeding the fish.

yackity yack

Oh, the joys of pregnancy! Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled that we are expecting again but this nausea thing is just killer. It seems like this pregnancy has been so different than my pregnancy with Avery. Memory of pain and sickness is a funny thing... You never seem to remember it being quite as intense as it really was.

I know that I was sick with Avery --- I remember feeling really crummy until week 14, but I was still able to function without using drugs. The only thing that seems to help keep the nausea at bay is a good dose of Fenegren. After I take the Fenegren, I enter a coma for a good 4 hours at a time. I never threw up when I was pregnant with Avery, but with this little guy I have already logged quite a few hours hanging out with the porcelain throne. By the way, you are never reminded more clearly that you need to quit neglecting your bathroom cleaning duties until you spend a few hours staring into your toilet bowl.

As I was writing my mom's mother's day card this year, I started thinking about all of the sacrifices that mothers make for their children. I've learned in my 19+ months of motherhood that evidently, Motherhood means never going to the bathroom alone again. It means every drink is "our" drink. It means knowing all of the words to the songs on Yo! Gabba! Gabba! It's eating cold meals so that your child can eat a hot one, and that the backseat of your car will never been clean again. It means having a monster-pile of laundry that never seems to go away. And currently, as in my case, it means feeling like you want to puke your guts out for a good 3 months at a time.

But the beauty of motherhood far outweighs the bad. Because motherhood also means getting lots of sweet, slobbery kisses. It means not caring that you have jelly in your hair because your sweet girl likes to twirl it between her fingers when she's sleepy. It's those tender moments of magic as you rock your angel before bedtime. It's hearing the "moo-moo" song sung in a sweet baby voice from the backseat of your car. It's bubble baths, visits to the park, and afternoon walks. It's seeing the excitement in your baby's face when you pick her up from nursery. It's a million and one beautiful moments that make a few months of sickness totally worth it.

I think you underestimate the sneakiness...

Here is some video of Avery trying to sneak up on Daddy and wake him up from a "nap".

bad dog!

I met my neighbors last week. Gunner, our 80 lb. Boxer, decided to introduce us to each other.

Our neighbors have 2 dogs: a long-haired Dachsund and a Feist. Gunner hates them. Actually, "Hates" is an understatement. Every time he is in the yard at the same time as our neighbor's dogs, he scratches, barks, and carries on while trying to slam his body through our 6-foot fence to the other side. If he had his way, he would eat our neighbor's dogs. Seriously.
On Wednesday morning, David came into the bedroom and told me that Gunner had slammed himself onto the fence so many times that he had broken two of the boards off of the fence and that he had just watched him put his head and entire torso through the hole. David and I agreed that the fence would have to be fixed as soon as he got home from work that day.

Evidently, that wasn't soon enough.

Later that day, while Avery was taking a nap and I was trying to get rid of my nausea, Gunner started whining at the back door to be let out into the yard. Not thinking about the fence, I let him out. !0 minutes later, I hear my neighbor screaming in her backyard. Immediately, I knew what had happened. I jumped up and ran into the backyard (in a coffee stained t-shirt, pj pants, and no shoes) to discover...no Gunner. Shaking, I ran into my neighbor's backyard to find my neighbor in her robe screaming at her back door and Gunner with our neighbor's dog in his MOUTH. I screamed for him to stop, but he was in total Aggression Mode. There was no stopping him. In my frantic panic, I grabbed a brick to hurl at him... in a moment of clarity I realized that hitting him with a brick was probably not my best option. Instead, I grabbed a stick and started hitting the mess out of him. He finally stopped chewing on the Fiest and looked up at me like, "what?!" . To say I was furious is an understatement.

Try dragging an 80 lb all-muscle Boxer somewhere he doesn't want to go... while your are nauseated. It's really fun.

After putting Gunner back in his crate, I went back outside to talk to my neighbor. She was really nice and said that the dogs seemed fine, but I told her that if we needed to pay for vet bills or anything to let us know.

David spent his lunch break that day mending our fence.

Later that night we met up with our neighbors again and discovered that the Feist had a cut and puncture wound on his hindquarters and that they had to go to the vet to get antibiotics. Thankfully, our neighbor opted NOT to get the $500 stitches that the vet said might help heal the cut. However, the bill was still a good $150. Thanks, Gunner.

Our friend Garrett (a vet) came over that night and checked out the wound as well. He prescribed an additional topical antibiotic for good measure. We are VERY thankful for his generous trip out to our house after work.

Our neighbors could not have been nicer about the incident. David and I, on the other hand, were totally embarrassed and horrified by the whole experience. Not that this makes things any better, but we did find out later that Fiests are notorious for acting "bigger than they are" and being aggressive toward other dogs. Obviously, that is not an excuse for Gunner's crazy behavior, but it does shed some light on why he was so aggressive with him.


He was a sweet little angel the rest of the week. He's going to have to be good for a really long time to make up for this one.

hanging out with faith

Here are the best pictures that I could get of two active toddlers at the zoo last week. Aren't they cute?

avery loves school

I thought that I would post a few pictures of Avery at her Preschool. I can't tell you how nice it has been to be able to work a few days a week and send Avery to the same school. Last year, I had a more difficult time that I anticipated with transitioning from teaching full time to being a stay-at-home mom. I missed having the outlet for my creativity that I got from teaching, yet knew that I needed to stay at home with my little one. I am so thankful to have found nice compromise through working part time at Avery's preschool. I love that I am able to get out of the house for a few hours AND get paid (!)...a little. Avery benefits from the socialization and from learning from other people. I just love that I can peek in on her at any time during the day and watch her playing with her little friends or being loved on by her teachers. It has been such a great experience for both of us!

One of Avery's favorite things to do at school is to walk down the hall like a "big girl". This means that getting to and from our classrooms takes about twice as long as it should, but she just loves to feel independent!




Here are Avery's teachers: Dandy (a.k.a. Sandy) and Nany (a.k.a. Nancy)
They love them some Avery!



They have really taught Avery so much this year. They taught her baby sign language for "more", "please", and "thank you", and reinforced all the animal sounds that I had been teaching her. She graduated from eating in a high chair to eating at the table and baby chair this year too! What a big girl! Recently, she's been saying "choo-choo" for trains and cars. It's been a fun treat for me to hear her say or watch her do something that she learned at school. Sometimes I say, "where did you learn that?". Such a little smarty.

Here is a picture of Avery and her recent discovery: the water fountain. She is obsessed with it. She says, "duice (juice)" and "ah dat (I want that)" every time she sees one. She hasn't quite mastered how to drink the water from the fountain. Usually, she just sticks out her tongue and lets the water hit it. Her friend Carter is showing her how to push the button in this picture.

Some Happy News!

That's right! On Easter Sunday, we discovered that Avery will be a big sister in November! I am currently 9 weeks pregnant. We had our first appointment last week. We were able to have an ultrasound where we saw a nice strong heartbeat. I am still not out of the "danger zone" yet, but am definitely feeling sick, sick, sick (which I am told is a good thing --- really?!?!) Being sick with a 19 month old is not-so-fun, but I have a super terrific husband to help me out. Please pray that our little peanut continues to grow strong and healthy as we approach the end of my first trimester.

Easter Weekend Pictures

Create a Free Slideshow

Spring is here!

Spring is here and our little Avery is getting so big. So much has happened since my last post! I guess it's time for a little update...

We will begin construction on our house in a couple of weeks. The plan is to enclose our carport to create an additional playroom for Avery. It will be nice to have a little extra room.

Last month, we celebrated our first official Easter with Avery --- since last year she was too little to do much. We had such a fun time watching Avery discover how to hunt for Easter eggs. We had a full weekend. On Good Friday, we took a trip to the zoo with our friends the Johnsons. On Saturday morning, we went to our church's egg hunt. It was so chilly that morning! Avery's favorite part of the morning was eating chips and checking out the "boons" (a.k.a balloons). After that, we met the Malahy's for an egg hunt at the Botanic Gardens. We spent Sunday morning at church and had lunch at my parent's house. After that, Avery spent time with her little cousin Lily at David's grandparent's house. By the end of the weekend, Avery was starting to understand that the little eggs were supposed to be put inside the basket. Holidays are so much fun when you have a little one to enjoy them with. It is really cool to watch a little person discover something new for the very first time.

Avery's vocabulary has really started to increase over the past month. She tells me when she wants more of something, says "pease" (please) and "dah" (a touch of German!) for "yes". She can repeat a variety of words and seems to understand much more than she can say. She loves taking baths (I basically have to make her get out of the tub every night) and trying to put on her own shoes and socks. But her new favorite word is definitely "no". She says it all the time. Recently, I overheard her yelling "no" in the next room. When I walked in to check on her, I caught her looking into the mirror and pointing to the baby in the mirror saying,"no" with a very serious look on her face! It was so funny!!!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of our family and friends who are reading this right now. The holidays and moving into our new home have kept us super-busy, but things are beginning to slow down a little now... just as our little Avery begins to speed up! She is getting so quick on her feet these days!

Our new home is coming along. Before moving in, we added a fresh coat of paint to the rooms and kitchen cabinets. After moving in, I was determined to have a Christmas tree in our new home - even if it was buried behind boxes! SO - week before Christmas, we bought one of the last 3 trees at Lowes. Needless to say, we got a super deal! It was kind of sad to have to take it down only a couple of weeks later, but at least we had a Christmas tree for our first Christmas in our new home.
After Christmas, we made our way through the normal unpacking progression: boxes to piles and piles to actual places. Thankfully, things are a little more sane now. David and I have moved so many times during our 7 1/2 year marriage that I can pretty much gage how long until the madness gives way to sanity. However, this time around we had our sweet little Avery to help find new homes for all the things that I put away!

Since Avery is my favorite subject these days, so let me share a little about what the cutest baby in the whole wide world is doing!

All four of her little molars are coming in at the same time. That has caused some grumpy days and sleepless night but her one comfort through it all as been her beloved ba-ba. Dr. Snider is NOT going to be happy with Mommy for not weaning her from the bottle yet. I just don't have the heart to take her "ba-ba" away just yet. She loves it so much.
She was deathly afraid of Santa this year. Her Santa picture is pretty sad. In the picture, she is screaming and reaching frantically for mommy while Santa is looking slightly jaded and more than a little helpless. It cracks me up! What's funny is that after her traumatic first meeting with Santa, she became obsessed with him. Now anytime that she sees a person or object in red she repeatedly (and I do mean REPEATEDLY) says, "danta".
These days, everything round is a ball. While I was changing her diaper today, she looked at my polka-dotted pj's and said ball --- like 5000 times. It was really cute.
She loves to play peek-a-boo and chase. Her favorite t.v. show is Yo! Gabba Gabba! She calls it "Gid-a-gah". She will take the remote and put it to the t.v. and say, "Gid-a-gah". She also loves to say, "bye-bye" with her cell phone up to her ear. She will walk around the house with it on her ear and just chat up a storm. I guess I need to start watching my P's and Q's now that I have a little mimic around!
She got a baby doll stroller for Christmas and just loves it. I bought the prettiest little doll to go with it. As I was purchasing it, I imagined how precious it would be for her to play "mommy" with her new doll. I pictured her lovingly holding her doll and making the cutest little attempts at putting her it and out of the doll stroller. Avery really does love her new stroller. The doll, however, is a different story. At the end of each evening, after she has gone to bed, I put away all of her toys. Each night I put her doll in her stroller and place them in her little playroom. The thing is, it really ticks her off that the doll keeps ending up in the stroller every morning. Every time she gets ready to push the stroller, she yanks the doll out and throws it on the ground. Then happily pushes her stroller around the house. She's so maternal! Avery makes me smile. It is fun to watch her little personality develop.
David and I are totally in love with her and becoming more so every day. We are really super thankful for our life. It's pretty cool.

I will try to post pics of our new house as the work progresses... I really need to find the USB cord --- it's probably in a box somewhere...

a weekend to remember...

David and I just got back from an awesome weekend in Williamsburg, VA where we went to a Family Life marriage conference. Avery stayed with her Boo while we were away. Leaving her at the airport was so hard. I cried the entire way to the gate and then some! While we were checking our bags, I felt it necessary to confide in a complete stranger (aka the airline employee) every detail of my traumatic morning. While she was busily checking our bags, I managed to blubber out the minute details of how I was leaving my baby for the first time and how we were going to a conference and "I know it's a really good thing and I know I will have a good time but it is just hard..." You get the point. Suprisingly, she was super-sweet and genuinely sympathetic. I was just plain...pathetic.

After our initial "bump in the road" had passed, David and I were able to relax a little (did I mention that we called Boo every hour of every day just to check in?) and ultimately had a blast hanging out together. David rented a red mustang for us to drive (By the way, every time we got in that crazy thing I had to beg him not to rev the motor or peel out of the parking lot ~ he was definitely channeling his inner redneck in that car). We ate at really great restaurants where we were able to actually eat our meal while it was still warm and finish a sentence without having to say, "hold on just a minute". Here's the best part: at the end of the meal I didn't have clean up crushed cheerios or smooshed food. It was awesome! We stayed at a beautiful resort on a golf course and stayed up late watching movies and ordering room service. We saw William & Mary College, toured colonial Williamsburg, and drove through the Jamestown area settlement. The leaves were just changing color and the weather was just beautiful.Oh yeah, and we went to a marriage conference in the middle of all that too. Here are the pics!

Make a slide show, scrapbook or ecard