Monday, November 29, 2010

Psalm 118:24 - "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

So I have to admit, if we had gone with the original plan to have Thanksgiving at 1-well I feel certain the Culpeppers would have been "no shows"...Murphy was exhausted all morning-he went down for an early nap and voila I had not 1 but 2 well behaved turkeys at the 4pm Thanksgiving celebration!  We were so proud of our little ones-they even said gobble gobble a few times.  What a special day we had celebrating everything we have to be thankful for...Clay and I keep a notebook of "blessings and answered prayers" (even when they aren't the answer we ask for)...it's incredibly powerful to look back and read through this little notebook in the kitchen drawer...you wouldn't believe the things you become aware of when actually start to look for them....
This is the reaction when Skipper stops "to have a coke with us at lunch"

This is actually Paddington's birthday hat, not sure how it ended up on the tink's head

For some reason uncle Sweet Pea makes Murphy really sleepy sometimes

More relaxing....

Emily was home for the weekend-YAY!

There's CC!

And after dinner...out came the pony, where does Lovey keep such things?

Tink might be having a bit too much fun...

Just a little chat with my Joy

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

1 Thessalonians 5:18 " ... give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

So here it is Thanksgiving Eve, where did the year go?  My babies have grown and changed so much in a year.  Yesterday was Murphy's last day of school before the holiday, so being the sappy mother that I am I ordered iced turkey cookies for his class to enjoy (sorry for the sugar overload, Michele)...Clay dropped him off because drama queen completely loses her cool when we have to leave Murphy at school.  So yes, to avoid "the situation" daddy takes Murphy to school when he can.
Let me preface this next part by saying...I sent the camera with Clay so he could get a few quick pics of our guy at his first thanksgiving celebration at school.
Meet Michele.   She is Murphy's teacher and instead of letting Clay snap a few shots for one crazy mom- she kept my camera all day and took pictures of everything they did yesterday (yes, she is God's perfect answer to my plea for an incredible teacher for my joy). We are so thankful for God providing Michele, Ella and Diane.   So in light of tomorrow's holiday I thought I would share some of the pictures of a "day in the life" of Murphy. 
You will quickly see how many things I have to be thankful for...
The smile on my Murphy's face is enough to make my day every time I see it, not to mention the ways he has thrived in Michele's class.
I am thankful for getting to spend the morning with mini-me, tink and getting to tell her over and over how much I love her and I love spending time with her.
I am thankful for our families who support us in raising these little ones, for their influences and encouragement.
I am thankful for special friends who listen to me and REMIND me to be thankful for all of these things.
Yesterday when our microwave all but caught on fire, I kind of laughed and maybe temporarily lost my mind when I told Clay "we dont really have to have a microwave, do we?"
We are truly blessed, God is so good to us.  We are amazed time and time again at his provisions for us and the way He orchestrates things so perfectly.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Pop came to see us last weekend I think he read 100000000000 books!

I think this was his very favorite

hello?  Is this daddy?

So many calls...its hard to get his work done.

Circle time!

turkey cookies-gobble gobble



That face-ughhh makes me melt.


A cookie for tink

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Pièce de résistance

Definition:    the outstanding item (the prize piece or main exhibit) in a collection
  Synonyms: collector's item, showpiece
Part 1:  Let me start by saying God is good, I mean really good to the Culpeppers, we just had a bit of a trying week last week-

Part 2 of this story:  So let me explain...my mom got a dressing table and chair for the tink-she was going to have the chair recovered and "it was going to be so cute when she got a bit older".
Last week was a FIASCO in our house I am talking fires, viruses, Daddy out of town checking on Mimi...you name it-we had it...and somehow in dropping off our old kitchen table (because we have a new one) we ended up with the dressing table chair early.
Well we are proof that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, two babies with stomach bugs thought this new chair was heaven on earth.  Its the perfect place and size for a Murphy or a Madden-the only problem is whoever gets there first refuses to move-we are working on "sharing" this week.
Since the moment it arrived eighties floral fabric and all it has made its new home in our den front and center.  Nice, right?  Now the babies fight over who gets to sit on this throne and enjoy its beauty and elegance while reading or watching whatever happens to be on Sprout. Below are some pictures of our new chair and all of its glory.











Also, there are a few pics of my little elephants (SCRATCH THAT) big ferocious tough elephants, I mean Murphy doesn't even have a bow on this year.  I hope we didnt scare the neighbors, by the way, I do think our costume selection could have possibly affected the election....I'm just saying....