Seminary Started...

Well, I am finishing up my second week here at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and I am just now getting a few moments to bust out a new blog post. I'm going to keep this short, because I have tons of reading to do, and I really need to get back to it.

Anyway, for those that don't know, I am trying to get my Masters of Divinity degree in Worship Leadership, focusing on Music. It will probably take me 3 years (or more) to get done with the degree, so we will be here for at least that long.

We really enjoy it here. The campus is beautiful, and very family-centric. Outside these walls is a different story, but, as one of my professors said, this just shows what light looks like in the midst of darkness.

For those wondering, I am taking 4 classes this semester: Intro to the Cooperative Program, Baptist Heritage, Exploring the New Testament, and Technology in Worship Music. So far, I like my classes, but it is hard getting back into the swing of doing school work. Time management is key!

Jessica is babysitting a couple of our neighbor's kids. It can be frustrating at times, going from one child to three, but it is good for Zachary. He gets interaction with older kids, and it is helping expand his communication (not to mention, stretch his ability to share).

Over all, we really love it here, and are glad we listened to the Lord's call in our lives.

Anyway, that is about it for now. Love you all, and see y'all soon!

Gone to the dogs...

So, I was going through some old pictures, and I found a few of Zachary with Grandma's last set of puppies. I thought they were cute enough to share. Enjoy!





He's a mess, but he loves those puppies!

Weekend Adventures

This weekend, we had a few family adventures. Saturday, we decided to go to Stone Mountain, and take the walk-up trail.



We actually made it all the way up to the top! Zachary did a good job climbing up there, and seemed to have fun. The climb down was a bit rougher for him, because he was really tired, and it was really HOT Saturday. But we had a lot of fun.


On Sunday afternoon, we went out to Patrick and Holly's and grilled out some ribs! Before we left, Zachary had to go see the horses. He actually petted a couple this time!


It was a good weekend, and we had a lot of fun!

~E~

Making Brownies...

So, we decided to make some brownies last night. Zachary wanted to help. Here he is helping mix them up (although we had already poured them up at this point, he still wanted to mix).


Here, he figured out he could lick the spatula.

"Mmmmmm...these are yummy, mommy!"
"I like making brownies!"

It was a lot of fun, although he had more on his shirt and face than he had in his tummy.

~E~

Gwinnett Braves Game

Saturday evening, we went to the Gwinnett Braves game. It was opening weekend for the new Gwinnett Stadium, and it was pretty packed. We got seats on the outfield berm, and it was pretty fun.


Out in the berm, they have several of those blow-up bouncy things for the kids to play on. Zachary had fun playing on one of those.


He also enjoyed watching the game (for about 2 minutes), and cheering whenever we did something good.


It was a lot of fun, and something we will probably do a lot more!

~E~

Stone Mountain Choo-Choo Ride...

On Saturday we went to Stone Mountain for a picnic lunch, and walked around a bit. It was a lot of fun. While we were there, we walked over to the "Walk-up Trail" and took the train back to the village. We took the train because Zachary loves trains. We figured, since he slept through his ride at Dollywood last fall, we would see how he liked this one.

He did pretty good. We were far enough back that it wasn't too loud, so he seemed to enjoy it. He actually wanted to get back on and ride again!



~E~

Get on your trike and ride!

So, we went up to see Nana and Papa this weekend, and took some time to ride Papa's newest toy, his Harley-Davidson Tri Glide. It is a factory direct trike from Harley and it is sweet.

It was the first time I had ever ridden a motorcycle, but I didn't do too terrible -- I only killed it a couple of times. It was a blast to ride, and everyone enjoyed themselves.


Zachary isn't really sure about it yet, though. Loves to see motorcycles and even Papa's trike, but he doesn't want to get on it yet.

I'm sure that will change sometime soon.

~E~

Random Zachary Pics

Well, no real theme today. But since I haven't had time to update recently, I'm just gonna post some random pics we've taken in the last few weeks. Above is Zachary in my cowboy hat. He is such a little farmer.

Here's a couple that Jess took that are precious.



Jess caught him sneaking some Cool Whip out of the fridge!


I love this picture! I took it on Christmas day, when Zachary was playing with his new tractor at Nana and Papa's.

Like Father, like son. He loves biscuits and jelly.

Yummy.

Well, that's it for now. Just figured I'd throw some stuff out there while I had a moment.

~E~

Under the Weather....

The joys of winter. Those wonderful, bitterly cold days, when you have so much sinus pressure that it feels like you need to take a drill directly to your forehead, just to get some relief.

Ahhh...such a great feeling!

So, it has been a yucky few days (or, more realistically, weeks). Zachary has had croup and impetigo again, and as he got over that, he had a cold to back it up.

Meanwhile, I had a cold that turned into a sinus infection, that turned into a sinus infection plus an ear infection. Yay me!

And while all of that was going on, Jessica came down with a sinus infection too!

So it has been a wonderful few weeks at our house. And there is nothing like force-feeding a toddler medicine, let me tell you that! Jessica is a lifesaver, because I can't do it. I don't know how she did it during the day -- holding him down (that is both arms and legs), holding his head, and shooting the antibiotic/steroid/fever reducer down his throat, and avoiding the inevitable spray as he tries not to swallow it. All that on her own. Crazy. Moms are superheroes, straight up.

Anyway, that is the main reason for the lack of bloggage here. Well that, and the fact that we have been so busy lately as a family, and I've been so busy at work. Just a crazy time.

Who says things slow down after the holidays?

Later,
~E~

They did it!

Holly and Patrick got married this past weekend. The wedding went well, and it was beautiful.

Both Jessica and I were in the wedding, and Zachary was a ring bearer.

He was the life of the party, too. I think the photographers got more shots of him than they did of Patrick and Holly!

I, along with Holly's friend Amy sung one of her favorite songs, "100 Years," by Five for Fighting. Ashley, Holly's sister, played the keyboard on the song.

It was a fun day, but very exhausting.

Special thanks to Sandra Oglesby for the pictures.

~E~

Fire up that Ol' John Deere...

We're still at Papa and Nana's, and today, Zachary played on the tractor. He loved looking at it, and even playing on it, but he doesn't like it when Papa tries to crank it up.

Here Papa is showing him some of the switches.
"Hmmm...I wonder what happens if I do this?"
When Papa tried to fire it up, Zachary almost jumped off the seat into Mommy's arms.
Zachary loves tractors, and loves John Deere. He's our little country boy.

~E~

Christmas at Grandma's

We had Christmas at Grandma's house today. Jessica, Zachary, and I spent the day with her parents, Pat and Jackie, and her brother Patrick and his fiance Holly. It was a good time.

After lunch, we opened presents. It took Zachary a few minutes to get into it, but he finally got the hang of it.

Here's Zachary and Grandpa with his new School Bus toy.

Zachary gets help from Grandpa and Patrick opening his train set from Great Grandpa Downs and Great Grandma Mary.
Jessica got a sewing machine (note the totally fake surprised look).
She also got a new UGA purse.
I got a cool display. It is a set of Star Wars watches; one for each Star Wars movie. They are from some Burger King give away, and Pat and Jackie found them at an antique store. It was really neat.
We had a lot of fun!

~E~

Like Father, Like Son...

One of the stories my parents love to tell about me growing up was when a friend and I climbed into our huge toybox and played, unnoticed. My mom finally found us in there, after looking everywhere for us (the lid was closed). Zachary is, apparently, a bit too much like his father.

The other evening, he emptied his toybox, and climbed in, and started playing in there. Of course, he got bored after a while, so he climbed out and started playing with the toys he had thrown out of his toybox.

"Hmmm...what should I do with all these toys?"
"Oh, I know!"

"I'll stuff them down my shirt! It'll be a blast!"

"Hmmm...it's kinda lumpy. Maybe I should unload them. I bet if I stand up, they'll all fall out!"

What can you do? We definitely get free entertainment. :)

~E~