Tornado's

Early Monday morning tornado's ripped through our town again! They actually hit in Centerpoint (where we used to live) and Clay, Trussville, Argo area. Once again we knew people by name affected by the storms.

Wednesday Jason was asked to speak at a prayer service. Rush of Fools lead worship, James Spann spoke and gave a great sermon! Y'all like his weather - You'll really like his preaching! He just won me over with his heart for the Lord and the love of his job. He just shared very openly and with raw emotions concerning the storms and previous storms. He taught about when Jesus came to Peter during a storm and Peter eventually walking on water. He stressed the point that Jesus wants us to "NOT BE AFRAID" and we also much come out of our comfort zone and trust him. It was just really really good.

And what made it even better was Jason (my very own Jason) followed him up and spoke about not understanding God's will in storms but trusting the Lord. He spoke from Job. It was a very encouraging night. We were able to come together with many people and pray for those affected. It was just a sweet time before the Lord.

Thank you Kevin for inviting us out! Though not directly affected by the storms on Monday I was very encouraged by the messages! It was so nice to take time out of our schedule and go before the Lord on behalf of our friends. May the Lord do great and mighty things through this storm.

Slumber Party

Riley and Anna's birthdays are 13 days apart and since Anna seems to get overlooked because of Christmas Shea invited us to Party with Riley. We had so much fun. We took over the youth room downstairs and transformed it into a SLUMBER PARTY! We had food, snacks, drinks, movies, MAKEUP, dancing, talking, laughing, story telling - ALL THINGS GIRLY!!

I'm still recovering. I love the little girls at our church - they are the sweetest, cutest, funniest things. What a blessing to have such sweet friends as a child. I'm loving the moms too. We had fun chatting and I entertained everyone with my dancing skills. I'm pretty sure I burned off all the cake I ate.

Happy Birthday Girls!!

Market Day Two

Well, another Market Day is in the books. After we did magnets a few months back I was all out of ideas. So I PROCASTINATED!!! That just so happened to be one of Anna's spelling words.

This time we made Candy Necklaces from here. I was not sure how they would turn out! I also got an email from the teacher saying there would be 80 kids coming through the market so at least have 40 of whatever we made to sell.

I failed to mention we started this project at 6 p.m. the night before. After I got off work I had to pick up Anna and we had to go to the store and get the supplies. Then we came home ate dinner and then as a family we started this project. I thought it would get done faster if we all worked together but really when Anna and I did the project alone (because at one point we ran out of ribbon and Jason had to go get some) we knocked it out fast. It was super easy after we got the hang of it.

They ended up being super cute and she sold out of them!! YAY!! Anna had said that her teacher was worried she was not going to get done with this project. Her teacher even offered to call or email me to let me know it was important for her to have. But Anna said, "NO, my mom knows. We will do it." So, she was able to tell Mrs. Pearson Friday that her mom "was the best procrastinator in the world." - She agreed I had skills.

Another one is in the books. Now for the next one...who knows what we'll do!!

Bring home Gia!

Go here and help bring this baby home to her forever family!! We've got a fundraiser going and there are limited slots - Let's fill it up!

First time for everything!

I have not taken pictures for anyone since Dec. 28th. I had a couple of people lined up for this weekend. As I got my hair done friday night I told Marybeth that I was finally doing pictures this weekend for two of my friends one on Saturday and one on Monday.

ONE OF MY BIGGEST FEARS IS FORGETTING AN APPOINTMENT!! I mean it has been lingering in the back of my mind that sooner or later it was inevitable that I would forget - if you know me. But I've kept a mean calendar lately. I'm learning to stay on top of things but as a mother of 4 - it was bound to happen.

Friday night after I got my haircut we had the Lawrence/Ramos group over because Hazel had been in the hospital all week, I knew they would eat cereal so I made them dinner and hopefully we gave them some comic relief. We had such a great time visiting with them, especially Jasmine since she was leaving Tuesday to go back to school. GREAT TIME. So much fun that I TOTALLY FORGOT about my appointment on Saturday.

They stayed late so Saturday I found myself being SUPER LAZY. Sleeping late, waking up and not even getting out of bed...just turning the TV on and enjoying a movie I have not seen in YEARS (used to be my favorite movie) CLUELESS!! Yes, the movie Clueless. Anna brought me my phone and said... "here it's for you!" It was Brittney - who I was supposed to meet at 11 (and the time was 11:22). I felt HORRIBLE!! She had family in from Montgomery to do a big family picture for her husband's mom. Oops!! I told her - I WILL BE THERE IN 30 mins! Record time getting myself and 4 kids ready!! RECORD TIME! No I was not clean but I tried to cover that part up. Walk outside to find Jason had taken the van to our church work day. NOOOO!!! It was just getting worse and worse. She is one of my favorite (clients/Friends) and I was standing her up! So she told her husband to come get me. So him and his brother in law come get me. I failed to mention I had the 4 kids so we all pile in the back seat of a little Honda (that's 5 of us in the back seat of an accord or something - CAR not VAN!). And you may think, well things like that happen. Ok you had to ride 30 miles cramed in the back of a compact car. Yea, well, the 2 guys that picked us up - BOTH POLICE OFFICERS!! Only me!! ONLY ME!! It was like a clown car when we arrived. Jason met us over there because the church is right next to this place.

LUCKILY Brittney has forgiven me and her patience and love overwhelmed me when I felt like a piece of crap!! I felt horrible about forgetting. HOW COULD I FORGET!! But if it had to happen I'm so thankful it happened to someone who loves me so far - unconditionally. I'm testing that unconditional part...but so far - we are good. We got some really cute shots and everyone got to visit and catch up until I arrived.

I HOPE THAT NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN!!

A Look Back : The Best of 2011

January 2011
was COLD!

But that didn't stop us from bundling up and going outside!

Jasmine taught me how to crochet

Which is how I spent my time

while the boys played table tennis

on our SNOW DAYS!!
Most people got snow to play in - but not us. I think I wished for it too bad!
We were out of school several days with this here snow.

Jason and Noah got to meet Jason Heyward at Academy. After 2 hours and 45 minutes they got him to autograph a baseball and a baseball card! That was really exciting!

I got a new bedroom suit & new closets! That was a great day for me!

February 2011

First on the calendar was the WALK FOR LIFE! It was so fun. I made a ton of hats (I think 14 if I remember correctly) for our church group to wear as we walked in the cold. Sarah wore her BLUE hat to tell us she was having a BOY!! It was so much fun putting my crochet needle to work for a fun cause!

A few days later we got SNOW again, this time we could actually see it at our house! It wasn't as much as they said it would be but it was beautiful!

And Anna BROKE HER ARM!

Noah turned 9!

McKenna invited us to her slumber party. It was so much fun. I think it was our first REAL slumber party. There was good food, lots of dancing, pampering - we did nails, playing, and they all fell asleep to a movie.

They party-ed HARD!

And Kendra, Shea, & I survived!

Anna got chosen to go to the ASCI Spelling Bee. We thought that was going to be fun but ended up being very devestating her to. She got out on the first round. Needless to say, she doesn't want to be in another Spelling Bee.

March 2011

I purchased my Canon 40D!

Noah had a major school project due: Animal Day. It was dreadful until it was done...then it was appreciated and cute! I was so thankful that most of the work was done in the classroom. My favorite part of this project was working hard on a Friday night to finish before the weekend - getting done at 2 a.m. and then going to get Krispy Kreme doughnuts for a reward!

Shea put me under the knife. I had my first ever root canal. It was super scary! So thankful Shea was there to hold my hand and hook me up with the proper medicine! HA!

March also brought SPRING BREAK!! YAY! We went to the zoo with our friends from church!

Jason and I considered what it would be like with 5 kids! HA HA HA!

We decided now is not the time!

We celebrated 11 years! Probably because of the previous decision! HA!

And finally for the sanity of the family...Baseball Season arrived and Noah started playing with the Joy League again - on the YANKS team again!

April 2011

Sandra put together a Spring Follies as a Fundraiser to help pay off the gym. Delilah and I led the youth girls in the Hoe Down Throw Down Hannah Montana Dance - Humilating - little bit! But for a good cause and it wasn't near as dramatic as some of the other acts.

Mary turned 3 & we celebrated with a Minnie Party...

On our church's brand new playground!

Jason and I filed for bankruspy in April too. And I know you are thinking, really? Best of? But it really was the best thing for us. We got out from under the bad deal on the house we had and we are finally debt free and things really started looking up for us after that. We have made the best of that bad situation. It was definitely a learning experience. Thank you LORD!

We also celebrated Passover with the Hootens which was a lot of fun for the whole family!

Then came Easter and fun with the fam!

Then on April 24 the worst storms hit our town! It was very devasting but good also came from this as well. We were able to help those with no home. Jasonand some people from the church would give people rides out of the devasted area, they helped a family move who lost pretty much everything. I got to help make sack lunches to victims and volunteers. It was a very sad but hopefully the hands and feet of Christ reached and blessed many people!

May 2011

Brianna Park Officially Opened. Yea, we partied in it for Mary's Birthday but it wasn't really done yet. They put the last few touches on it and opened it to the public. Such a fun day!

One of my favorite things of the whole entire year was a beach trip I went on with Cassie. We went to Gulf Shores just for fun and had the best time talking, laying out, being lazy, shopping, and playing with nails and makeup! So fun!

Came home to a fun Mother's Day!! Got lots of love from the family...

Silena and I also took mom out and that was a lot of fun too! We laughed a lot on that trip!

Church Picnic! It was so cold that day but we all managed to stay warm and enjoy each other's company! It was a very fun day!

The much awaited LAST DAY OF SCHOOL - FINALLY!! We went swimming at Chad and Karyn's house!

Jason and I both got to go on Briarwood Graduates and Career Beach Retreat. Jason was the speaker and we roomed with my friend Julie and her husband. We also ran into Jae there! That was a fun treat!

June 2011

Began with VBS! It was one of the best years in a long long time! Delilah and I (really Delilah) taught all the lessons to every age group. It was so much fun working with her and sharing the gospel to so many kids! HIGHLIGHT!

Mary started DANCE Summer School! She loved it!

We celebrated Father's Day with a cookout at my sister's house! Blessed - MUCH!

And then...I turned 31!

Noah made the All Star team and played the All Star game with a 102 temp because he loves the game that much (they lost - sad!) But we were super proud of him making it that far, and playing so hard not feeling well!! He proved to be a man that day!

We also enjoyed a Batman Party with Ella Kate. We all got to meet Batman! Pretty special!

July 2011

Isaac turned 2 and Jason... well he got a year older. Chad let us party at his house and cooked for us! He's an amazing cook!

We also took a trip to the country! Always a treat!

Anna got to go with Riley to Six Flags. It was an exclusive trip. I heard she was their RADIO all the way there...and all the way home! That girl LOVES to sing. Good thing she had a good time because she probably wont' be invited back. HA!

Jason went to PERU!! We missed him terribly but we survived without him! Not gonna say it was easy or "the best of" but we are so thankful he took that trip with some men from our church and PINK! We were well taken care of and prayed for! The below moment was a WELCOMED one!


Water play day at church! So extremely fun...

And so hot that Liz and I had to take a dip! This was an EXTREMELY FUN DAY!


August 2011

Rickwood Caverns Picnic (one of my all time favorite pictures)
Love this day too!

Kids start back to school at East and Noah to CENTRAL!

Back to school party at the apartments! Lots of fun and games. Good food too!

Also where we picked up our newest family members! And they are still going strong!



September 2011

Yardsale!! I really look forward to this event every year! I racked up on Mindy's old clothes. Not sure why I had to get them at a YARDSALE but that's was my TREASURE this year!

A very happy day for the Dollar's - MOM RETIRED!! YAY!

October 2011

We started October off with a Rush of Fools concert. It was their CD debut concert at Hunterstreet! FUN FUN!

We took the kids to the zoo - it was all decorated for fall so that put us in the Spirit.

While Noah enjoyed a weekend at Rock City with Granny and Grandaddy!

Mary's first dance party! HALLOWEEN! Mrs. Shalita is always the cutest thing!

We had our first annual Halloween trip to Tannehill!

Another favorite: FALL FESTIVAL! The fall festival rocked this year. No one was worked to death and we really had a great time enjoying the festival with our kids!

November 2011
November consisted of my mom's Retreat!

And I'm so glad I went on that trip because after that I took pictures for 12 different families pretty much every weekend and any spare moment. If I wasn't taking pictures we were practicing for Uncle Phil's Diner!

We did celebrate Thanksgiving with my grandmother and my sister was there which is always a treat. Our church also got to host Act of Congress at which point our family fell in love with them. So though I worked and worked and worked in Nov. I still had a great time and felt extremely blessed.

December 2011

FIRST UP...my first ever directed play - Uncle Phil's Diner. How I got this many people to participate I'll never know but I love them all SO MUCH!! They made me look SO GOOD!! It was so fun and funny! Each person fit their part to the "T"

Then we went to Noah school to watch him dance the Jingle Bell Rock!

and then to Anna's school to watch her sing a solo! GO ANNA!!

Christmas with Granny is always a BEST OF MOMENT!!

And we finish the year with an 8 year old. If this doesn't prove time flies - I don't know what will!!

It was a Happy 2011 and NOW... we look forward to a HAPPY 2012!!