Food Fun

wordless wednesday

OOOOOHHH FUN!!

I am really liking this website!! So, she also has put storyboard templates on her page! Here is my first...

Like?

This was going to be a "wordless wednesday" post, but I just couldn't go without putting something here. I found a website that provides free actions for Photoshop Elements and I am really excited about it. This picture includes 2 of those actions. It almost looks like the pictures of me when I was Jackson's age. The "vintage" look with the rounded edges. I am really on the fence on if I like the coloring or not, but I thought I would post it anyway for your opinions.

Parade Goers

A local small town does a spring festival every year called the Blooming Festival. The town plans it for Mother's Day weekend every year. They also have a small parade on Saturday morning. Last year we attended the parade and it was Jackson's first parade. So, for this year, Mom instisted that we take another picture for a comparison shot. So... here it is. Jackson definitely seemed more involved this year, but next year... when he is walking... what a time it will be! :) Looking forward to it!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Easter

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Easter. Jackson and I have spent the day together. Wayne had to work today. My mom came over before church this morning and brought Jackson his Easter gift. He got a few books, a couple of outfits, a bathing suit, a Mega Blocks school bus, and a juice cup. After church, we had lunch at my grandmother's house. Jackson ate really well -- mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, and beef stew. Oh, and I can't forget the homemade biscuits too. We had a very nice time seeing family and enjoying the nice Easter lunch.

We headed to see Wayne at work and spent just a few minutes. Then it was back home so that Nana and Papa (my dad and step-mom) could give Jackson his Easter gifts. He got a few more outfits, bubbles, snacks, more juice cups, a bath toy, and a book.

It has been a great day spending time with family. However, we were able to remember and reflect on the true meaning of Easter. That our Lord and Saviour died for us and pardoned us from hell if we chose to believe in him.

I leave you today with two things. One, the lyrics of the song In Christ Alone. This song really reminds me of what Christ did for me. Two, a picture of Jackson in his Easter outfit.

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

la de da de da

Spring has sprung

And as you can tell, the blog spirit has left me...

In some ways, I don't want to just post pictures for you guys as that is not the purpose of a blog... even though it does capture our lives at that moment of the picture taking, that is where I felt like this blog was going. I want to be able to leave you with something to read, sometimes.

Maybe i am just slight bit frustrated that a photography class I signed up for fell through. I really want to learn how to use my camera the right way... the way it was meant to be used. I totally dislike the "full auto" feature. Yes, it usually takes the best pictures, however, it won't let me not use my flash when I don't want to use my flash. Yes, it may be kind of dark in the room, but I don't want my subject to be bright white because of a camera flash.

But on to brighter thoughts...

Last time you heard from me, Jackson got a hair cut. We have had more compliments on this little fella and his new do! Oh, and he got it just in time for this great new weather we have been having. Supposed to stay in the 80s this week. I am so glad we got an Easter outfit that was with shorts (a shout out thanks to Ben and Jessica). Mom bought him some sandals yesterday and I am really in love with those.

I was able to have a three day weekend with Jackson this weekend. His day care closed Friday, so I took off. Too bad Wayne has to work all weekend. Friday I spent most of the morning with Mom and we went Easter dress shopping for me. :) Love my new dress. Friday afternoon, Jackson took a 3 hour nap and I think mine was about 2 hours. :) We sat outside afterwards and ate some fruit and enjoyed the sunshine.

Today was a morning filled with an Easter egg hunt, then lunch with Wayne and napping. Jackson is still asleep now at 4:15. He will be well rested for the evening. Now, its time to start thinking about our dinner plans. Would love to cook out again (cheeseburgers on the grill were the best last night).

I will leave you with another picture... I took this Friday while Jackson and Bo were playing.

Random Photo Ops in New Bern, NC

Wheeooo... Wheeooo... Wheeooo

Jackson and his buddies to the rescue! Beware... this posting is full of pictures! :)

Love... Wedding... Marriage...

This weekend, Wayne and I will be attending a marriage retreat with the church that I grew up in. We will be going out of town, so you know what that means? Jackson will stay here. Grandma will be the lucky one to keep him this weekend. She is very excited. Now, I am also very excited for her and excited about going, but not so excited to leave my little man here. I know he will be fine, and I will worry about him more than he will wonder where we are at... but... it is just going to be hard.

Now, for the weekend, it will be nice to get away and have some "me and Wayne" time. He has been begging for a while and we are finally going to be able to go. Just another tidbit of info... it will not just be this weekend -- but we are heading out again next weekend -- just the two of us. So, Mr. Boykin... if you are reading this... you must know that you are really special to me because I am going to go off with you without my little man for 2 weekends in a row!

I am also ready to have a few days of digging deep into our marriage. We have been married for just about 5 and a half years and I still consider us amateurs about the whole marriage idea. It will definately be good to obtain more insight and understanding about what God tells us about marriage and being a husband/wife. Also, learning more about what our roles are in the church as husband and wife.

So, hopefully, I will have lots of info to post about next week. Until then...

What a Monday

So, I was supposed to post this last night, but the idea of sleep just captured my attention much quicker than getting on my laptop to type this blog posting. So, here I am early Tuesday morning to update.

As I mentioned Sunday evening, I was updating the blog apperance again. Well, again, I got wrapped up into the design and didn't finish until about 1:15 am. Then, since I am trying to be a better wife and keep things picked up around my house, I did that very thing. So, my head didn't rest on my pillow until 2am Monday morning! Ahh! Why do I continue to do that to myself? I don't know. I do know that the diet pepsi that I had for dinner was probably not a good idea. Caffeine is really beginning to affect me like never before. I cannot have it after lunch any more or I will not be able to go to sleep at a reasonable hour that evening. The very disheartening thing about the whole sleep thing is that I was told in a sermon Sunday morning that stewardship is not only the giving of our money and our time, but it is also upholding our bodies which are for Christ. Getting enough rest was one of the bullet points in the message. Wow, was I really preached to!

Before I did fall asleep though, I did have to make sure my alarm was set with the volume all the way up. I couldn't over sleep again (as I did 2 days in a row last week). I will have to say that 5:30am came WAY too fast. But, I arose and jumped in the shower as quickly as I could. That seems to really wake me up. I was able to get Jacksons cups washed up and get his breakfast ready. I even had time to straighten my hair! When I let Bo out to do his morning routine, I noticed the display of clouds across the sky and knew that I needed to capture that. So, I got my handy dandy new camera out and took a few shots. I think this is the best of them...

And just a few minutes after I took this, the sun started peeping through the clouds. But, at that point, I didn't really have the time to get the camera back out. So, I just noticed the nice sunshine and went back to getting everything ready.

I managed to get Jackson to day care a bit early yesterday and so I got to work a few minutes early. However, that really didn't matter as I later realized through out the day. I felt so unaccomplished by 4:30pm. I really hate it when I feel like I just drive in circles all day spinning mud out from behind me. (Maybe today will be much more productive).

We had dinner with my brother and future sister-in-law. She fixed chicken breasts with french onion thingys wrapped around them. The chicken was baked and we had string beans and mashed potatoes. It was very delicious and it was nice to eat at home for a change. So, tonight... I will be taking out some chicken for chicken parmesean. I am having a hankering for it. Anyway, Jackson ate really good last night too. He also drank his milk really well too! My cousin gave him a straw sippy cup for his birthday and he seems to enjoy drinking his milk from that better than his normal cups.

Okay, I have to hurry.. he is waking up! After dinner we headed back home (Jackson fell asleep in my arms at my brother's). I laid Jackson in his bed and I laid on the couch to watch some TV. I don't think I watched anything for mor than 5 minutes until I was asleep. I do remember Wayne trying to get me up at midnight to get me to go to the bed and I starting talking about putting ice cream in the oven. It was hillarious. I remember him laughing so hard at me. I didn't get up though. I just laid there and slept until he finally went to bed around 2.

So that was my Monday. To end this post, I am going to show you a picture that just popped out at me when I was looking for my cloud pictures. I took this Sunday afternoon... but isn't he just so handsome?!?!

Bobo's Turn

Since I got my camera, I have been capturing pictures left and right! I love that thing! :) However, since Bocephus has not had his parade on this blog yet, I thought I would show some shots I captured of him. They turned out really well. :)