11-28-05

These are some shots from Bekah's Strawberry Shortcake birthday! She had a wonderful day with family and friends, balloons, cake, ice cream and presents. The day ended with her last present which was her new toddler bed that she got to sleep in! She is getting to be such a big girl. We have packed away the crib, changing table and high chair. They grow up fast!

11-27-05

We had a great holiday weekend. We got to see lots of family and friends and eat lots of good food! Brandon lost his second tooth on Thanksgiving day and Bekah celebrated her second birthday on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We are happy to be home and are unwinding from all of our traveling. We are very thankful that God has blessed us in so many ways.

11-23-05

Yesterday, Mommy and Brandon got to go spelunking. We took a field trip to Squire Boone Caverns. This was Brandon's first time in a cave. He was very scared at first and afraid of seeing a bat. When he realized he wouldn't see any bats, he started to enjoy it. Our tour lasted an hour and by the end he decided he never wanted to get out of the cave (as long as there were no bats). He learned about stalagtites and stalagmites. He kept asking me about the termites and I finally figured out that he meant stalagmites!

11-22-05

Last night my baby boy lost his first tooth! I guess he is officially a big boy now. He has had his bottom 2 teeth just hanging on by a thread for a while now. Of course he has had many offers from people who would love to just pull them out for him. But, he wants to be just like his Mommy and wait until they literally fall out. So, last night he was brushing his teeth before bed and one of them fell out. He said he felt something hard and thought it was part of his toothbrush and then realized that his tooth "broke!" We expect that the 2nd tooth will fall out any day now also.

11-21-05

Brandon said something funny last week and I didn't put it on here. Todd suggested that it was blog worthy, so I'll put it on here now. Last Sunday we had a business meeting after church regarding selling some of our property. There is a contractor who has been trying to buy some of our church's land for a new road leading up to a new subdivision. After the business meeting, Brandon asked if he could see the new road, and I was telling him that it wasn't built yet. We were just discussing whether or not to sell our land so someone could build a new road. Then he asked where the hoops were. I asked him what hoops he was talking about. And he said "you know, the hoops they have to jump through!" Our pastor had been explaining in the meeting that there were a lot of hoops that they would have to jump through to get the new road and subdivision to actually happen. Brandon was ready to start jumping through the hoops! I guess we need to do an English lesson on idioms.

11-14-05

I just think my kids are cute and wanted to put some more pictures on here! We are all getting excited because Todd will be finished with this semester of school on Friday. YIPPPPEEEEEE!!!! Brandon started basketball last Saturday. He is on the Heat and our 2 neighbors are on his team as well. He is very excited about that. I don't have any news to share, so that's all for now.

11-11-05

I just wanted to put a funny quote on here today. Yesterday we all had Lean Pockets for lunch. Brandon was excited to get a pizza pocket and asked why I haven't made chicken pockets in a while. (I sometimes make them out of crescent rolls.) Later on, before his nap, I was reading some books to him. We were reading some new books that we had gotten from the library. We opened up one book and it had a picture of a dog with red bumps all over him. Brandon said excitedly, "Mommy, that dog has the chicken pockets!!" I just laughed and laughed. The book was about a dog with chicken pox!

11-09-05

Here are just a few pictures of the destruction that we saw in Biloxi and Pascagoula. Among the rubble, there were still signs of hope. Notice the sign next to the "house" stating "Do not allow Katrina to steal your joy." The last picture was my team of 5 women and the pastor of Pleasant Heights Baptist Church. If you want to see all my 74 pictures, just send me and email at heather_b_young@hotmail.com and I can send you an invitation to view my pictures at Kodak Gallery's website.

11-7-05

I have returned from my trip to Mississippi. The devastation is terrible and massive. I cannot imagine what all it will take to get the area "normal" again. I feel like my short trip didn't make much of a difference; however, I do know that it did make a difference in the lives of Carlos, JJ, Chuck, Barbara, Neil, and the other people that we met along the way. The attitudes of the people that we met were so positive and encouraging to us. They were not bitter or angry, just anxious to rebuild and get on with their lives. JJ told us that the only thing that really upset her was losing the tree in her front yard. She plants trees when her grandchildren are born and takes pictures of the children each year by the tree and then as they get bigger she takes their picture up in the tree. She had actually planted this particular tree for a baby that had died, and she had taken pictures of her other grandchildren by this tree through the years. She didn't mind the loss of all her material possessions, but was upset by the loss of this tree because of the memories it held.
We were able to help "gut out" 2 homes on this trip. Both of these homeowners had great material losses, yet both wanted to take us all out to eat or buy us things to thank us for our work. But, we were able to feed them instead with our gourmet peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! We were also able to provide some jewelry to another family that they could either wear or sell for money to fix up their home. Many of these people were not in a flood prone area and thus had no flood insurance, so they were very thankful for the help.
I am now at my parent's house (they kept the kids for me). When I get back home I will upload the pictures from my camera and post some on the blog for you to see!

11-01-05

Brandon made his fist trip to the dentist today. He was so excited to go and then as soon as he sat in the dental chair his excitement turned to terror! They showed him the suction tube first and he did not like the fact that it made noise. After several attempts to get him to open his mouth, the hygienist told me that she might need to refer him to a pediatric specialist dentist. She said she would leave and give me a few minutes to talk with him and I could tell her what I wanted to do. So, after I talked with Brandon, he agreed to open his mouth "just one time" for her to clean his teeth. So, after he tried it he realized it wasn't that bad and he braved it out! She cleaned and flossed them and gave him a flouride treatment. Brandon didn't like the mouth insert that held the flouride and he kept spitting it out, so she "painted" it on with a Q-tip. When he was finished he got rewarded with stickers, 2 toothbrushes, toothpaste and a trip to the toy chest to pick out a toy! Next, it was mommy's turn to have her teeth cleaned while Brandon waited patiently in a chair. The dentist said that I REALLY need to have my wisdom teeth out. They've been telling me that for about 10 years now, and I've never chosen to have it done. Maybe this time....
I am planning to go to Mississippi this Thursday, the 3rd. I am going to go with a group from my parent's church in Tennessee. It will be a shorter trip, but seems to work out better with our schedule. I'll return on Sunday the 6th. I am excited to finally be getting to go and help out! I hope to be able to go again later since this recovery effort will be going on for quite a long time.