Hey everybody! It has been so long since I've updated the blog...now I have tons of stuff to put on here. Mostly a bunch of pictures of the past month or so...I thought about just putting them all under one post, but I think there are way too many. So just keep checking back as I add new stuff!
I thought I would start out with these pictures of Madison. She fell off of a swing and scraped up her face really bad one day at the end of school. When asking her how it happened I just assumed she was swinging really high like she usually tries to do. She told me that she was on one of the shortest swings and wasn't swinging at all, just sitting there! Somehow her hand slipped off of the chain and she landed face first in the dirt! Ouch! I couldn't believe how fat her lip was! I guess she's just trying to keep up with Elijah and all his boo boos! :) This happened about two weeks ago and is still not completely healed up, almost though. ~ Kristy
Well, as some of you might know, I have started a new job. I am working with Stephens Heating and Cooling at the Alabama Power Miller Steam Plant in West Jefferson. I would like to thank my uncle, Rick Alexander, for the good word. (and Bo) I go in a little after 6:00am and work on various HVAC units. We mostly change filters in very large units. Some of them take 50 filters per change. This job is Monday through Friday day shift mostly, but on occasion I will have to work at night or evening to do special projects. Most of the readers of this blog know my Uncle Rick. He can be a bit stoic, but has a big heart. 3 years ago, he was on his way to work one day and was hit by a kid, head on, while traveling on highway 160 in Hayden. On this day his life changed. He went from having a super job with Alabama Power to fighting to heal from a major accident. He has had a few surgeries to repair his leg since then and has walked with a cane. This, after months in a hospital bed and wheelchair. When I think of this, it reminds me how quickly your life can change. In the blink of an eye, through no fault of your own, you can have your life as you know it taken away. Everyone out at the plant says "Oh, you're Big Rick's nephew?". Everybody at the plant likes him and has only good words to say about him. They all ask how he is and if he will get to return to work one day. It is nice that I immediately have a connection with a ton of people through him. I have seen him be used in the gifts of the Spirit a few times and I know God has given him favor in his life. I'm not sure why accidents like his happen to the people of God sometimes, but I know that it is all for good. I am praying for his physical restoration, but above that I pray that he will be able to use his tremendous influence for the kingdom of God. With so many people thinking so highly of him, I know he could make a huge difference in a lot of lives. Please, if you would, take a moment upon reading this to say a small prayer for his healing. And pray that God will use this man in the future even more than his past....Anthony
It seems like Elijah can go from playing and being fine to having some gash on his head/face in no time. If this is how it is with boys, I don't think I'll ever get used to it!
He's busted his lip two times really close together (like a week apart), busted his chin wide open on the dining room table (thought I was gonna have to have stitches there for a minute, but thanks to Michelle, we just bandaged him up-sometimes it pays to have a nurse as a friend!), bumps his head all the time (or gets it bumped with some help from his friends), and now this week.....scratches himself right under the eye with the buckle on daddy's belt!
Well, through it all, he's a pretty tough guy! AND you can hardly notice the boo boo with his blue eyes shining so bright!
~Kristy
Jason and Heather at their post-wedding reception this past Sunday.
It is always nice to set aside a day to just hang out and have fun with friends! Anthony and I got to do that this past Friday when we went to Atlanta with several other couples! Check out the pics...
WOW! We had such an awesome service last night! I didn't get in bed till 11:00 p.m. The Holy Ghost was so powerful! I am so excited about what God is doing! Especially knowing that He is using ME, NOW, not sometime in the future. I say it like that because, you know, a lot of times we talk about having a move of God and we know it will happen, but in our minds it is sometime in the future. Maybe next month, next year, or even in a few years. But this time it's NOW!! It's time to "Go Forward" and have a "Breakthrough at Harvest Time!" I believe it is happening and we are going to see opportunities open up to us that will astound us! I get so fired up every time Bro. Ken and Sis. Holly get up and testify about the doors that are being opened up to our church. I believe that God is showing us that if we just walk with Him, He will take care of the rest. I am also really excited about the new areas of outreach that we are starting to do. I have been feeling God calling me in this area, so I know this will be a great opportunity to get out and touch people's lives. As we were driving home last night, Anthony and I were talking and he asked me if I saw Elijah praying for people. I didn't, so he told me a little about it. He said my dad was holding him in the altar area and he would point to someone he wanted to pray for and my dad would take him over to them. He would lay hands on them and pray for them and when he was done he would point to someone else.....Somehow he ended up in Josh Bittler's arms and Josh was the one helping him pray. I thought that was neat! In response to something Madison said, Elijah said " Josh already healed me!" Isn't it funny how kids think! Madison went on to argue that it was God that healed him, not Josh! Well, we tried to explain to her that although the power comes from God, He has given it to us to go heal the sick...So really, we can heal the sick...In Jesus' Name! There have been other times Elijah has prayed for people like that and it always touches my heart because I believe in the faith of a little child! It really fires me up to think about what these children can do for God! I absolutely believe that God is going to use Madison and Elijah in a powerful way. I just pray that He will give me the wisdom to give them the direction they need. I know God will! One last thing, and it's totally off subject......I've lost 20 lbs.!! WooHoo! I haven't done as good on my diet lately, so I was getting frustrated and discouraged and didn't even weigh last week. I decided to face the truth and deal with it! I was glad to see I had lost a couple more pounds since the last time! I am so excited and getting back into the swing of things! I guess I better get off of this computer and go "Walk Away the Pounds" with Leslie Sansone! Hahaha! ~Kristy
I am so glad that Madison loves reading! She's always been good at it and now that she's getting older, she is reading more and more. About a week and a half ago Nonna sent some books to Madison. There were two of them and they were chapter books. They weren't very long, maybe about 4-6 chapters, but she read them in no time. So, the next Sunday (which was this past Sunday) she told PawPaw to tell Nonna that she needed some more! The next day Anthony brought home a whole set of books! They are A-Z mystery books, so there's one for every letter of the alphabet. They are written by Ron Roy and they are really cute! Just right for her! She's already read several of them, I don't know how many for sure since she's not even going in order, but she really likes them. I can hardly get her to set them down! She even took four to school with her yesterday so the other four kids in her class had something to read too! We also have a few other sets like "Little House on the Prairie," and then a couple different sets of classic stories, as well. I used to read the "Little House on the Prairie" books to her a long time ago. They were a gift to me from my grandparents, on my Dad's side, when I was probably about nine years old. They are actually really interesting! As far as the classic stories go, she read a couple of those all by herself several months ago! I know one was "The Wizard of Oz." I thought that was really neat. I am so proud of her. I always hoped she would be a good reader, you know...a long time ago when she was a baby! I started reading to her before she was ever born! Maybe it really does make a difference! :) Well, whether or not it makes a difference, I really don't know. I just know she is incredibly smart and probably can be whatever she wants to be when she "grows up!" ~Kristy
....just decided to go to sleep exactly wherever you happened to be at that moment??? Well, on this particular day, Elijah did! This doesn't happen very often, so he must have been pretty sleepy! I usually have to coax him into taking a nap, but not this time. I thought it was very cute! This has happened one other time and I just happen to have a picture of it, as well. He was quite a bit younger - and fatter! In the more recent picture he just laid down in the middle of the living room floor and in the older picture he fell asleep in the big black chair eating a cookie! If you look closely you can see it in his left hand! You know a kid is sleepy when he can't even finish his cookie! ~Kristy
This would have been perfect for Christmas morning! But it's a little late for that now- it's March! I was up early this morning so I took a few pictures of the snow here! I bet my family in Michigan would get a big kick out of us making a big deal about this snow! Well, down here in Alabama 1-2 inches is really something special! I bet the stores are all out of bread and milk! I hope not - I have to go to the store later. I don't know if it's because I am from Michigan or just because snow is so stinkin' pretty, but I do dream of a white Christmas. It just looks so pretty in all my Martha Stewart magazines! Hahaha! What's even funnier is a couple weeks ago I saw somebody in Wal Mart wearing shorts and a tank top and now it's snowing! Winter w
eather in Alabama is very crazy, isn't it? Well, hope you all enjoy the weather wherever yo
u are! ~Kristy
Hey to all the ladies out there! Check out my new blog devoted totally to stamping....www.itsastampthing.blogspot.com! This is going to take the place of my Stampin' Up! demo site. I'm just getting it started, so check back soon for more! ~Kristy
My youngest brother, Jordan, is officially engaged! He proposed to Camille in San Francisco this weekend. They were out in California for Jason's wedding....how romantic! I wouldn't have even known if it weren't for the Wiseners! They are so excited! Sis. Kimi was walking around telling everyone at church last night! I can tell she's really gonna have fun planning this wedding. I think my parents and Jordan are coming home from CA tonight, so I'm sure I'll hear more about it soon! Good Luck Jordan and Camille! P.S. I don't know what to think about a blonde in the family! :)
Hey ya'll... everyone stop a minute and take the new poll. See what superhero your personality is most like. I was Iron Man...(yesssss) And by-the-way, no one can see your answers!...Anthony
Congratulations to Jason and Heather! They are getting married this weekend out in California! Tons of people from our church are going to be there and I bet it will be lots of fun! Wish I could've gone, I bet it will be really pretty! Jason has been prophesied to several times in the past year or two, so I know God is about to do something great in their lives.
I have gotten some response on Elijah's condition in our comments. When we began this journey with Elijah having seizures we prayerfully and with our pastor's advice started him on an anti-seizure drug. We took this VERY seriously. We knew that starting him on this medicine meant that our child would have to daily take this drug. None of us are on any kind of regular medicine and we didn't like the idea. But, our pastor is a diabetic and we understood that sometimes God allows things like this for reasons we don't always understand. We got a comment here on our blog seeming to ask if we allowed treatment from doctors or if we were only using prayer. We believe that God sometimes uses doctors and drugs for healing, and sometimes it's miraculous and instantaneous. But either way without God the healing doesn't occur. I have personally had God intervene in my body to heal me. About 3 years ago I started having migraine headaches. For those of you that haven't had one, they are not just more intense regular headaches. It started during a time of great stress for me. One day, I lost my peripheral vision. I couldn't read. I recognized letters but no words made sense. I took a pile of different pills to get the pain to lessen, but got no relief. I could only bury my head under a pillow in a dark room and wait for it to pass. I thought I must have a brain tumor or something! I went and got scanned but they found nothing and told me it was a migraine. I continued to work and would feel one coming on. It would incapacitate me. After a couple weeks of these events, I was at church doing the sound on the platform and my pastor was coming up to the platform to preach. I had my back to him and had my hands lifted praising God. Bro. Wilbanks came up behind me and placed both hands on the sides of my head. I literally felt like I was struck by a lightning bolt! My wife said I spun around like a tornado and then went down. A few minutes later Bro. Wilbanks asked me if something happened to me. I said "OH YEAH". That was the last time I ever had a migraine. Also, I had been taking Prilosec for a stomach ulcer that went away the same moment. The ulcer had gotten so bad that I had even starting having blood in my stool. (sorry) He didn't even know about the ulcer. So with all that said, yes we do believe in both kinds of healing. Elijah has been on about 8 different kinds of medicine, and up to 5 of them at once. None of them stopped the seizures. He has had a pile of all kinds of tests to check for tumors or anything else, all coming back negative. The only relief he has gotten is when we started limiting his white sugar, white flour and dairy. Since then we have only looked forward to the time when God ends this. In one service, three different people came up to us and said that God told them the work was done. So we know God has healed him. And maybe this blog is a way that God can get the glory when this healing is manifested. So, I would like to tell all of you that I thank God for Elijah's healing. I haven't seen it in our time yet but I know in eternity "It is finished".....Anthony
I know that in the Old Testament memorials were made at significant times in peoples lives. As of right now, I haven't really studied it or anything, I just remember it from preaching, etc... That is going to be a goal of mine, though. The reason I am bringing this up is because a year and almost five months ago Elijah had his first seizure. It was probably the scariest thing in the world for me. I have been blessed to be a part of a pretty healthy family. I was always thankful that Madison had never even had an ear infection. For some reason that always meant a lot to me. Maybe it was because Bro. Wilbanks prayed for her health at her baby dedication. I know he prayed about other things, as well, but, that has always stood out in my mind. She did have a cold or two and strep a few times, but that was as bad as it got. Isn't God great! So, when Elijah came, I expected the same thing. On a few occasions, I even thought when I saw someone who's child had health problems, that I was so glad I didn't have to deal with that. I couldn't even imagine what it would be like as a mother to go through some of the things people are faced with. But now, I have a small taste of that feeling. In mid-September 2006, during that first seizure, I had no idea what to do. My mom and I were crying out to God, laying hands on him, and panicking all at the same time. There was even a space of time that I really thought I may be loosing a child. I was preparing myself, in my mind, all in about the space of a few seconds probably, and I knew in that moment that God was in control and He would help me through even the toughest of situations. Thankfully, it didn't come to that conclusion. Have you ever had a terrible fear that you would be put in a certain situation (you fill in the blank) and not react the way that God would want you to because of that fear or lack of knowledge? I am reminded of a sermon preached at our church by Bro. Mark Morgan. I think the message was titled "His Grace Is Sufficient For Thee." If that's not the title, it was one of his main points. In it he told the story of a missionary overseas that caught a bullet with his teeth when fired upon by a gunman. That is one of the main things I remember from his message because I felt like God was speaking to me and telling me that He will take care of me in the most difficult of times, not to worry about what lies ahead. God proved himself to me that day and many times over since then. Even in that instance when I thought Elijah might die, I knew God was there with me. I am very thankful that Elijah did not die, and in fact, I believe that we have a promise from God that everything is going to be all right. God is going to use Elijah in a very special way and for that I give Him all the praise! This is just the beginning of my story. I want to share other memorials with you soon. I believe God is allowing us to go through this trial for a reason. I also believe that He is bringing us to a certain place in Him that is beyond our wildest imagination. I can see a change in myself, my husband, and in my children. Our faith is increased, our trust in God is greater than it was before, and I am more hungry for Him than I have ever been. I am nowhere near where I need to be, but I am not satisfied with where I am, either. God is totally getting me out of my comfort zone! Sometimes it is scary, but I am really excited about where God is leading me!
Several years ago, I think it was not long after I got married, Sis. Kim Biscotto introduced Stampin' Up! to all of us! She signed up and started parties and I immediately loved it. (For those of you who don't know, Stampin' Up! is a direct sales company similar to Home Interior, Pampered Chef, and Avon. They sell rubber stamps and all paper and accessories to go with it for making scrapbook pages, cards, and all kinds of other projects! It's so much fun! Check it out at stampinup.com!) Now here we are in 2008 and I am have been a demo for two and a half years, and I really enjoy it! It's like coloring and crafts for grown-ups! HaHa! I know Anthony thinks I'm crazy, but he has his video games! Well, for the last couple of years we have had a little club going and everyone takes their turn at getting some free stuff and it's been lots of fun. I also started doing Stamp Classes lately (for a small fee) and they come and do a 2-pg layout and a card. I've done it twice now and both times have went well. One of the ladies that attended my first class called and asked if I would come do the same thing at a hotel tomorrow where her and seven or eight friends are getting together to scrapbook all day! Doesn't that sound fun?! So, I am really excited to do this. I think they will really like the page we are going to do too! I will probably post a picture of it later. The one I am doing tomorrow is the same as the one I did with my class last weekend, I am just going to change the colors, because I ran out of the color of paper we used last week. I'll talk more about it when I post the pics, though :). The scrapbook page featured here is one that Morgan (my sis-in-law) and I did together a while back. It is just the one page, for now, but I do have an idea for a second page to go along with it....Just keep checking back...and I hope you enjoy it!! ~Kristy
Hey Everyone! I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. I have several things I want to talk about still so keep coming back! Were any of you out there ever Brownies, Girl Scouts, or Boy Scouts? I know I was for a short time. I don't remember everything, but I do have a few fond memories of it. I remember going to meetings and getting pins and badges for my accomplishments and there was some ceremony where we had to walk over a bridge and graduate from Brownies to Girl Scouts. I also remember that we always had some fun activity to do and one in particular was also a contest. We had to get these little plastic dolls and make an outfit for them. Whoever had the best/most creative outfit won the prize. My mom, who sewed a lot back then, made this cute little frilly dress with different colors of pastel lace and I knew for sure I was going to win. I was so disappointed when they announced that the doll with the dress made of leaves was the winner. How could they think that was better than frilly ruffles?! Well, I guess I got over it pretty quickly! I don't even remember who owned the doll with the leaf dress. I think programs like that are fun for kids and teach them skills and they also get a sense of accomplishment when they earn their badges. Sis. Kimi Wisener has started up a similar group with the kids at our church. She actually did this with her oldest daughter, Camille, several years ago and is now continuing it with her other children, as well. She has been kind enough to let all of us join in and be apart of it too! I have had lots of fun and I know Madison has too! She loves getting a new badge or pin. We call it Keepers and Contenders. The girls are Keepers of the Home and the Boys are Contenders of the Faith. Bro. Grant has begun teaching the boys and you can tell they really enjoy that. Like I said before, this is really similar to Girl/Boy Scouts, only it is more focused on biblical principles as well as learning life skills. I don't pay as close attention to the boys as I have the girls because I am usually over helping with the girls and it's so much fun! I do know the boys have collected different types of leaves, an experiment with electricity and tying knots with rope! The girls have learned some sewing skills, rubber stamping, candle making, stenciling, letter writing, and last night we did watercolor painting! Those are just what come to mind right now. I'm sure there's more... Anyway, I enjoy it just as much as Madison does and we get to be together a little bit without the boys :) It's good mommy/daughter time. Well, if any of you out there have any Girl/Boy Scout memories give us a holler! It would be fun to hear them! ~Kristy
Ladies and gentlemen, I have stumbled upon a true treasure. If you are anywhere near my age, you remember the days of the original Nintendo, Gameboy, Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. Well, I have a gift for you this day, www.everyvideogame.com. This site has about 1100 old school games, from Mike Tysons punch out to Tecmo Bowl and everything in between. You can play all 1100 games with no registration. They are the same games you remember, not cheap rip offs. So please do yourself a favor and enjoy. Put on your slap bracelets, tie those bandannas around your pants leg and yell SIKE!!!...Anthony
Elijah gets a lot of attention these days it seems, so I am going to take a minute to brag on his big sister, Madison. She brought her second report card of the year home yesterday and she had all A's on it! I am so proud of her! I looked at it first, then told her to take it to her daddy. When she came back up she was so excited... she remembers Anthony telling her he would take her to Chuck E. Cheese if she got all A's for the year or something like that! (She remembers more than us sometimes, if you know what I mean!) ~Kristy
Lexy turned 7 last week and here are some pics from her party.
Hooray for Anthony! He finally solved our comments problem! Now you can see the post link under each post! I am soooo glad. It was really driving me crazy. ~Kristy
There has been a tremendous outcry to learn more about Ted. It seems he has become a minor celebrity. I hope to post a pic of Ted soon. He is really happy that his articles has been received so well. Maybe, I can even get him to come to church sometime. More later...Anthony
