I Passed!

Back in April I had to take the CHES exam which stands for Certified Health Education Specialist. I thought I had done terribly on the exam and that there was no way that I had passed. But much to my surprise, I found out today that I PASSED!! YAY! I was so worried about it because this is an exam I should have taken 8 years ago when I graduated from Clemson. I went to school for 4 years to be a health educator, but I was young, burnt out on school and had gotten a job, so I didn't think that I needed to take the exam...and for 7 1/2 years, I really didn't. But my new job has really gotten me back to what I went to school to do and now I needed to be "certified"! So what does that mean??...nothing really, but it's supposed to give me more credibility and now it means I can put a bunch of letters behind my name on my business card!! HAHA!

Nevertheless, I'm excited and so happy to have that behind me now!

Happy Memorial Day!

We have spent most of our Memorial Day Weekend doing absolutely NOTHING which has been great! We have done a lot of R&R, but yesterday we did meet our friends Chris and Kimberly and their little boy, Nathan, for a day at the lake! We got lucky and actually saw some sun and got to play in the water and ride the jet ski. We also cooked out some great burgers at their campsite. And of course...the adults played some games before we headed home for the evening!!

Snake!

I was packing the car yesterday for our day out when I found this...aagghhh!!!!

"Date Night with Kenny Chesney"!

Jarrod had been trying to plan this big surprise for me for my upcoming 30th birthday! The problem is...I don't like surprises! I'm a planner and I like to have control over the situation...so surprises are just not for me. I even have a hard time surprising other people, because I just like for everyone to know exactly what is going on. So anyway, last week Jarrod had written on the calender "date night". I was like "what's date night"? He wouldn't tell me anything but just kept saying everything was taken care of. Well, unfortunately, everything wasn't quite taken care of. You see...our "date night" conflicted with a school performance that MacKenzie was having at the same time. So, I told him that "date night" would have to be rescheduled because I wasn't missing MacKenzie's peformance. That's when he tells me that this is a "once in a lifetime opportunity" HA! So, I'm supposed to miss my child perform for this "once in a lifetime opportunity"...I wasn't buying it!!

After much grief, Jarrod gave in and had to tell me the plans. This really was a once in a lifetime opportunity. He had gotten tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert. But, here's the deal...we didn't have just any 'ole tickets...we had upgrade passes to the sandbar area which means it's closer than the front row seats!! We were right at the stage, and I even touched Kenny once! It was great! Miranda Lambert opened up for him and she's great, too! We had seen Kenny once before and Miranda two other times, but none of the others could have topped this one! It was just unbelievable being that close! Now, I'm spoiled and won't ever be able to do another concert any other way! HA!

So, Jarrod gets an A++++ for effort! Thanks, honey, for a great birthday present...surprise or no surprise!

Here are a few pictures that I took from my phone last night. I haven't had a chance to download the ones from the camera...these are kinda blurry, but Kenny is still HOT!

This is What Happens When...

Dad takes Mason to get his hair cut...

It was pouring down rain when we ventured out today, so MacKenzie and I stayed in the car while Daddy and Mason went to get their hair cut. I knew they needed to be chaperoned! They are both very proud of the new look! Luckily, it's only a little gel and washes out easily!! :)

MacKenzie's Recital

MacKenzie had her first dance recital on Saturday. She did a great job and had so much fun! I'll try to figure out how to post the video from the video camera later. But for now, here's some pictures...

Batman and Robin?!

So, last night I walked upstairs to get ready for bed when I hear this high pitched squealing, squeaking, weird sound coming from our ceiling. I looked at Jarrod and said "do you hear that?" He was like "what?" I totally thought he was messing with me, but then he started to hear it, too. At first we thought it was the fan, but once we turned that off, it still continued. Then I started thinking we had rats or squirrels somewhere in our attic. Jarrod got in the attic and started looking around. Then I hear "Lacey put on some shoes and come up here"! Yeah...that sounds like a good idea! But what do I do?...I put on my shoes and go up in the attic. As soon as I get up there, I see Jarrod holding his flashlight up to the vent thing that is at the top of your house that comes into your attic. As I get closer I see what he sees...a BAT!!! There it was hanging upside down with his little claw/fang things holding on to the screen for dear life. (Now, luckily we have a screen on the inside of that vent thing, so that varmints like that can't get all the way in our attic.) I, of course, start freaking out and start thinking how those things carry rabies and how gross they are. I wanted Jarrod to get that thing out of there and quick! I didn't want to kill it because I didn't want it to die and start stinking! I just wanted it gone!

So, we started thinking about what we could do...first, Jarrod tried poking it but that didn't work. Then, we got some of that "dust off" air stuff that you use to clean your computer and started spraying air at it, but it still didn't move. Finally, Jarrod had the genius (yeah, right) idea to get the leaf blower and blow the sucker out! WHAT??!! Who comes up with stuff like that!! Well, needless to say, after turning the leaf blower on high at 11:00 at night and waking up our children and probably our neighbors, too, the stupid thing still didn't budge. The only thing that did happen is that we discovered there were TWO of them!! YUCK! We think they were mating and that was the noise they were making!! It was totally freaking me out that we had bats in our house (well, they weren't really in our house, but close enough). After doing everything but shooting them, we decided just to go to bed and hope they would find their way out...

Here are some pictures of Batman trying to get the bat free. (Robin, on the other hand is standing back, taking pictures, and laughing nervously)!!




Luckily, they were gone this morning! Thank goodness!

God is Awesome!

God doesn't have to show me things or do things for me to realize He's awesome. The fact that He sent his only son to die for all of our sins is awesome enough. But, when He does do things, it is completely humbling.

You see, a few weeks ago I lost a $100 bill. I have no idea what happened to it. One day it was sitting on our kitchen counter and 2 days later it was gone. I don't know if I accidently threw it away or if one of the kids got it and put it somewhere or if I put it in my purse and it fell out. No matter what happened to it, I've searched my house up and down, inside out and backwards...and I can't find it anywhere. I seriously worried myself sick over it! I mean to me $100 is still a lot of money! :) Well, life went on and I forgot about the $100...

This past Friday I checked the mail and much to my surprise I find a refund check from my doctor's office for $95!! I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and they told me that I didn't owe them any money because I had a balance. I didn't really question it, I was just glad that I didn't have to pay my co-pay. I had no idea that I had a balance of over $100! I still don't know why, but now, I realize that this was simply God's way of telling me to stop worrying about the money I had lost and trust in Him.

I think that is something that I'm constantly struggling with as a Christian...I think, no I know, that I worry way to much about stuff that in the end will not matter. What's awesome is that God knows my worries and He is always there to lift me and remind me of what truly matters!

God is AWESOME!!

Bowmaker!

A few weeks ago a friend asked a bunch of us to go in and buy hairbows in bulk. Because we bought over 500 all together we were able to get them pretty cheap. I was very excited about them because MacKenzie had outgrown her baby bows and we were in desperate need of some new ones. I only ordered about 14 of them, but once they came I realized I needed some other colors to go with some of her outfits that I didn't order. I had ordered two dark pink but no light pink...and MacKenzie's closet has every shade of pink! So I went to a little boutique in town and bought just one light pink bow for $6.00. That's when I started thinking to myself...I could so make these and for a lot cheaper than $6!

So tonight, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought all my supplies and some really cute ribbon. Once I started I couldn't stop! I made about 7 bows tonight! And I think I did a pretty good job...for an ameteur!

Here's the "professional" bows...

Here's my bows...

Science Fair - FINALLY!

MacKenzie's class finally had their science fair on Friday. We learned how to make a light bulb with just batteries and aluminum foil; we learned how to make a homemade fire extinguisher; we learned how sound travels through things; and about static electricity. And of course, MacKenzie was finally able to show everyone how to float an egg and sink an orange. She was very proud of her project!

Lauren's graduation

My sister graduated from USC-Upstate on Tuesday. We are all very proud of her and now hope she can get a job. If anyone knows of any teaching positions let us know. She'll be a great teacher! Congratulations Lauren!

Birthday Parties!

We had MacKenzie's birthday parties this weekend (plural...yes parties...she spoiled rotten!) We decided to do two parties, one with all her friends and one with just family. MacKenzie and her best friend, Abby, have birthdays that are just 3 days apart, so we decided to combine and have one party for both of the girls and all their friends. We went to Callaham Orchards in Belton and had a great time! The kids were able to feed the goats, have duck races, milk the "cow", ride on the tractor, and pick strawberries. What was supposed to be an hour and half turned into 3 hours! We had a great time with all of their friends. Thanks to everyone who came to the party!

We later came home and had the grandparents and aunt and uncle come to the house for some pizza and more CAKE!! MacKenzie had a great time and loves all her presents. She had a great day...and is worn out!

Thanks everyone!