Makin Stuff, Jumpin in Stuff, Pickin Stuff

For Thanksgiving the girls wanted to make turkeys so we brought out all the craft supplies and got into it. They did a great job. I love watching them be creative.

The leaves her at the Bowick household are numerous. We usually clean up the yard every other week during this time of year but we lose the battle every time. Within hours, our yard is full again. This year we decided to chill a bit and just do the yard a couple of times which the kids love. While Camryn was taking a nap one day, Taylor and I got out the rake and started making piles. She had a blast acting like a frog jumping from leafy lilypad to leafy lilypad. I had a blast watching her and remembering doing to the same thing as a kid.

Our lemon tree is a funny thing. Every other year it produces close to 100 lemons. Very cool to see and pick. Every other year it produces less than 10. We haven't figured this sourpuss out but we surely enjoy picking the lemons no matter how many it has. This year it had 3. I don't mean 13 or 30. I mean 3...total. So the girls picked one a piece and then joined together as a team to pick the third. Just enough to make a pitcher of lemonaide....if I had remembered before they rotted:)

Water Park In the Winter

Yep, we went to the water park in the winter. Jason and some of his buddies went fly fishing in Cherokee so us gals decided to take the kiddos the Dunes Village in Myrtle Beach. Packing for both cold weather and a warm indoor water park was almost like having the best of both worlds!! My college friend Joey brought her son Hampton and Taylor's bff Hannah. My other friend Amy brought her two boys Nathan and Camden. We put ourselves in the Penthouse suit. Yes, I said penthouse. 13 floors up in a three bedroom condo. All rooms had a plasma tv and a dvd player. My room just happened to have a jacuzzi tub!! The water park was a lot of fun. There were two separate ones. A younger side and an older side. Both had slides, pools and hot tubs. The younger one had a lazy river, pool tables, ping pong, Foosball, etc... Taylor and her friends couldn't get enough of it. Did you notice I didn't mention Camryn? Yep, she got enough of it after the first slide down. All it took was a face full of water and she was done. The slide was too scary, the pool was too cold and the hot tub...well, it was just too hot. I think it was the last hour of the last day when she finally played a little in the 1 foot deep pool. Just a little though. We wouldn't want to get water splashed on that poor delicate head. It actually made it easier to have her by my side. I had to keep a close eye on Taylor and Hannah. They can both swim but there were no lifeguards there so I didn't want to take any chances. The hotel was just icing on the cake for the girls. They LOVE staying in a hotel. I enjoyed having them sleep with me in my king size bed. It was awesome and I slept great! The only issue I had with all of this was the fact that you had to walk outside to get to the water park. It was like 40 something and super windy!! The walk there wasn't so bad but the run back was! Imagine being soaked from head to toe in your bathing suit and having to run across 2 parking lots to get to the elevator that took you 13 floors up only to let you out into a hall that is outside!!! It was more than freezing at night!! We finished up our vacation in MB at Brookegreen Gardens' Night of a thousand lights. It was pretty cool. The weather was great. Not too cold and no rain. The kids especially liked the children's area where all the lights were different colors. Taylor enjoyed seeing all the statues of horses. Thankfully it was too dark to see most of the naked statues. I have a feeling Camryn would have noticed. Sunday we went by Bass Pro Shop to do a little Christmas shopping and to let the kids meet Santa. Then we made one more stop to enjoy a little dessert before heading home. The ice cream was delish!! Jason made it home about an hour after we did and we all crashed that night. It was a fun, full weekend and I can wait for my next vacation. Amy has become my travel partner. I'm looking forward to a vacation with her without the children. What a treat that would be! Don't get me wrong, I love my kids to death but....

Oh to be like Him

So I've been a slacker and haven't been reading my Bible. I think most of us go through times of getting into God's word and then falling back into our old ways. I haven't been taking the time to spend time with the one who changed my life forever. I've been expecting Him to hold up His end of our relationship but haven't taken any steps in holding up mine. How can I love God more than anyone or anything if I don't spend time with him. How can I expect to walk through fires without smelling like smoke if I'm not close to the only one who can bring me through it. Sure, I go to church and am involved in different things there but that's not a relationship. I love spending time with my family. I can't wait for Taylor to get out of school, I can't wait for Jason to get home from work but how often am I jumping out of my seat to spend time with the one who gave His life for me? God's also shown me how selfish I've become. I used to love giving. There's just something about giving that makes me so happy and makes me feel so fulfilled. Through a serious of situations in my life, I started to loathe giving. I felt like some people expected things from me and took advantage of me for it. That shouldn't have stopped me but it did. Recently I've started to do little things here and there, mainly for family, that I hadn't been doing. All of the sudden, I felt happy! Go figure!! I began to feel like I was doing what I was supposed to do!! I then started thinking about how different life would be if I was living the way I was meant to live. So I brought out my Bible and started reading in Philippians. Don't ask me how I got there. Ask God. I believe he led me straight to it while sitting in the car loop line. Anyway, I read the first two chapters and then wrote the following. Well, Paul actually wrote it. I just rearranged it to summarize what I read and make it easier for me to understand. For those of you who know me, you know I hate reading. I know, shocker!!! So if there is any way I can make it easier on myself...I will. Enjoy.



Like Him



To live is Christ. To die is gain.

I live on to be obedient even through the pain.

Living up to your standards as best I can.

Being firm in the Spirit, here I am.

To be like you Jesus, same mind, same soul

To live like you Jesus is my daily goal.

Setting my selfishness aside, my empty conceit.

Putting others before me, making my pride retreat.

Doing all things without grumbling and without complaint.

I will not grow weary. I will not faint.

I will wait on you Lord. New strength you will give.

For you, like you, I want to live.



In writing this, I hope it will be a reminder to me of how I'm supposed to be living and who I'm supposed to be living for. If you are going through a tough time, if you're not feeling loved or you're feeling like you've given your all and it's just not enough, look to Jesus. Read about the life He lived. He was obedient to the point of death. How many of us can say the same? How simple does it seem to be obedient in the little things yet how often are we not. It may be as simple as saying yes when we would normally say no. Loving when we aren't loved back. Keeping the promises we made when there is no gratitude. Caring for someone who has hurt us. You may even be the one who doesn't love back, who never says thank you or who hurt others. All you have to do is ask for Jesus to forgive you and move forward. Don't just sit around and do nothing. By doing nothing, you're falling back. Paul says, "forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14). If you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, then ask Him to take over your life right now. He will change you forever. You will never regret it. I promise. He will forgive you and you will want to live a life like Him. Just remember that He is always here for you. If you don't feel close to Him, you're not doing your part in the relationship. I'm speaking to myself just as much as you. I love you all and can't wait to see each and every one of you in Heaven!