The Fowler Family

Summer Photos

2008-09-22T18:30:00.010-05:00

I haven't posted in a while (in case you haven't noticed :). I just found these snap shots from this summer and thought I would post them. We have such a wonderful family!

These fishing shots are from when we were at Mark's aunt's in South GA. We get to stay with her and fish and swim. It is very relaxing!

Maddie would jump off the diving board to Mark.This is Sophie, she is Mark's 1st cousin's daughter...she is the girl's 3rd cousin??? Whatever, she is cousin Sophie and she is a doll!You know they were not really sleeping but we tried laying them down together for a nap...that did not last long.This is Pops riding Maddie and Callie (Callie is Mark's sister Becky's daughter)This is Jenna (Callie's sister). Maddie and Jenna are 6 months apart. They are quite a pair!This is Emilee (Mark's brother Matt's daughter). She is 2 months older than Cassy and they are also quite a pair!This is Will. He is the only boy on Mark's side (there are 7 girls). He is Mark's brother Brad's son.This is Hannah. She is my brother Derrick's daughter. She stayed with us for a week this summer. Wow, we had so much fun!

Thanks for checking in with us. Maybe someday I will post about the consignment sale and the wedding...2 of the things that we have been consumed by lately. Until then!

Dollywood Fun

2008-08-12T07:13:00.009-05:00

I am obviously not good about hopping on here to post all the time. I have to wait until I need to write a book to catch up! I do not know why this is?

I am going to try to give up the feeling of guilt that I have that I am so behind on this blog that I just cannot attack it right now. I am going to try to just post on the events that I can and not feel like if everything is not included, I am not including anything. So here goes...

We have enjoyed Dollywood several times this summer. Last week we were able to go with a few of Mark's family. We had such a wonderful time. Here are some of our shots.

They love riding the cars. It is always the first thing we do when we arrive.This is Jenna. She is 6 months older than Maddie. This was actually on her birthday. She is so cute and so much fun. Maddie just loves her to death.

Dakota was able to go with us. Cassy was so thrilled to have her with us. She is wearing Cindy's hat (Mark's sister).They are just as mischievous as they look!This is Mark's sister, Becky. She is Jenna's mom :)This is Abby and Jeremiah climbing the Lumber Jack. Jeremiah is Cindy's husband, Steve's youngest son. He has been great fun in the family!Getting wet is always one of the highlights!This was in the backyard. My dad built this for the girls and they have loved it.Maddie is just as big as the other girls, or so she thinks!

Thanks for checking in with us.

Continuing the journey...

2008-07-02T21:38:00.006-05:00

The Statue of Liberty
Well since I last posted (as usual), a lot has happened! We spent a week at my brother's in Nashville. Mark helped him in his house with an addition he is doing. The girls and I enjoyed spending time with Cindy and Hannah. I hate it...but I did not get any pictures of Hannah. She is such a cutie though.

We traveled with a quartet to PA, WV, MD, NJ, and NY. It was a great experience. We were able to see many things on our travels including: Philadelphia, NYC, Antietam Battle Field, Gettysburg, and Washington D.C. Some of these stops were brief but still exciting. We are thankful for the opportunity the Lord gave us to travel with those boys. We enjoyed them very much!

I am posting a few pictures from our trip but once again, I did not do such a great job at capturing all of our memories.

In Nashville, we went to a Science Museum. It was educational and fun :)

We were able to spend a day in Philadelphia. We saw the Liberty Bell and many other interesting things including the room where the Bill of Rights were signed.

We spent Saturday, Cassy's Birthday in NYC. What fun! This was a view of the city from the NJ side.

This was the Farris Wheel in Toys R' Us at Times Square. We were in the M & M Car.

Abby had saved her money from her birthday and from helping me at home. She had Molly's hair fixed at the Salon in the American Girl Store.

Cassy bought Elizabeth, from the Felicity Collection, with her birthday money. Abby bought Molly a new dress and some accessories.

The ferry ride out to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty.

On our way home, we took about an hour and a half driving tour of DC. It was worth the extra drive!

We are thankful for our travels but are glad to have spent a couple of weeks at home :) There's no place like home!

Home Sweet Home

2008-05-31T20:32:00.004-05:00

We finished our two weeks of traveling with the Crown College trio. It does feel good to be home but we enjoyed very much our time on the tour. The Lord blessed us in so many ways.

Our last post we were in Hopkinsville, KY:
We enjoyed being with Pastor Shaver and his wife at Greater Cumberland Baptist Church. They were so kind to our family and the trio. It was thrilling to see what God has done in their church family. Their facility is amazing. This was the ribbon-cutting:
We were also able to be with Pastor John Dalton in Clarksville, KY. It was great to be with them. Pastor Dalton was our teacher in the Singles Department at Temple before Mark and I were married. Their children have grown so much and we enjoyed getting reaquainted.

We were able to be with Pastor Dan Cox and his family for a Tuesday Evening Service at Berean Baptist Church in White House, TN. We had a nice picnic at a park and fed the ducks. Their children, Phoebe and Ethan, are such cuties. We had a great time with them. Their facilities are so nice. The Lord is working in their church. Dan and Marie are faithfully serving the Lord there, just outside of Nashville.
We were able to be with Pastor Mike Norris at Franklin Road Baptist Church for their Wednesday Evening Service. They had so much going on for that Wednesday night. We were able to hear Evangelist John Bishop preach and meet Jonathon Gibbs, missionary to Peru. We had a nice meal together after the service at Cracker Barrel. The trio sang in their Christian school also.

Our only experience of a stay in someone's home was a very good one. Excluding Maddie waking up and coming into the hall and yelling for me and Maddie letting the dog out and having it scare her to death the next morning, it was the perfect night's stay. We stayed with a wonderful couple that are planning to come to Crown in the fall. They were such a sweet family. The Lord was so good to us in allowing us the opportunity to be with them.

We dropped off the trio in Knoxville and headed up to Ohio to be with our dear friends, Jimmy and Alicia Reagan. We had the wonderful opportunity to be with their church, First Baptist Church, for a ladies banquet (Mark did not have this opportunity :) and to be in their services on Sunday. We had a great time of fellowship with them. The Lord always uses them to encourage us. The Lord is really blessing that ministry. We also enjoyed a great day with them and the children at the Children's Museum in Cincinnati. What fun! Thank you Reagans for a wonderful weekend of fun and fellowship.

This week we have been home and able to catch up on a few things. The college had an All-Star Tournament this weekend that Mark was able to coordinate. We had several boys from different Christian schools to play basketball and see the college. I pray that the Lord uses this to call some of them to come to Crown.

I didn't mean for this to be a journal, but I wanted to share the different churches we have had the opportunity to be in. It is encouraging to meet other people serving the Lord.

Thanks for checking in with us. We will have more journeying in a few weeks. So...check back.

Just a few pictures of "Princess Maddie" as she was all dressed up for a birthday party today. They all were so cute.

Greetings from Hopkinsville, KY

2008-05-17T14:36:00.011-05:00

These pictures belong with the last blog:

The girls in the gift shop at Churchill Downs, site of the Kentucky Derby.
Outside of the Louisville Sluggar Museum...quite the bat wouldn't you say?
This glove and ball was inside, they played like it was a slide off the back of it.All of the "girls," Krystal Clayton, Heather Lancaster, Tawnya Suertefelipe, Sarah Gish:This was Abby batting. The picture of Cassy didn't turn out but we have seen Cassy batting before :)Maddie just loved it, she begged the whole time while everyone else batted to get to also. I thought she was too little but they allowed her to hit off the tee. She was so funny! She did well! This was outside the building. You could see them taking the piece of wood and making it into a bat...so neat!For this post:

We are going to be in Hopkinsville, KY for TWO nights! I am so grateful!

We are having a wonderful time and the Lord is blessing! We have really been blessed to be with different pastors and church people. We are at the seventh place since last Sunday evening. We have met and been reaquainted with many wonderful people that love the Lord. We have covered a lot of miles and thank the Lord He has kept us safe!

Since Tuesday morning, my last post, we have been to Nicholasville, KY to be with Pastor Lonnie Moore and his gracious wife. It was a wonderful encouragement to be in their church Tuesday night. There were many enthused Christians and a lot of young people. They were very kind to us and we just enjoyed being there very much.

Wednesday, we drove to Ratcliff, KY to be with Pastor Tom Green and his church. The girls sang in the chapel service and Mark preached. Maddie, Cassy and I played in the nursery during the service. It was nice to be able to play a little! We went on Wednesday afternoon to Fort Knox and toured the Patton Museum. We enjoyed seeing a little bit of history there. I have a few pictures from there. A funny story: we pulled up to the visitors center and we thougt it would be great to have a picture in front of the sign that read, "Welcome to Fort Knox." Sounds like a good idea, right? Well, we did not realize we were at the wrong gate and it was very high security where we were and no photography was allowed. It was right across the street from the underground gold.

These are some pictures we took at the museum:This was a Natzi flag that was captured and the soldiers signed it.
A battlefield, it looked so real
Not sure if this was a replica or the actual head from Saddam's statue that was destroyed.

The service Wednesday night was a good one. Pastor Green and his church was very gracious to us! He acknowledged Abby's birthday in the service :) Embarrased her a little :) We set out for an ice cream cake after the service which turned into quite an ordeal! The Baskin Robbins sounded good and we parked the 15 passenger van along with "Leonard" (the name we have given for our pull-behind trailer) and unloaded for our cake. We picked out just the one she wanted and started to pay for it. We THOUGHT we would just sit there and eat it rather than taking it back to our motel. Well, they did not have ANYTHING to cut it with. SO, we loaded back up to head to Dairy Queen for our ice cream cake. We parked again and unloaded a second time (the time is about 9:45) at the Dairy Queen just down the road. The doors were LOCKED! It closed at 10 but the doors were locked. SO, we loaded back in the van and decided to drive thru (with Leonard) to buy an ice cream cake. They also did not have anything to cut our cake with! SO, we went to Walmart and Mark went in to buy a knife to cut our cake with. We were just going to go to the motel and eat our cake there! We did go back to the motel and guess what...We could NOT find the knife Mark had just purchased! So, I cut the cake with the end of the plastic spoon and served it and we ate it outside our motel room! We had rooms right outside of the motel swimming pool...of course, no one was swimming, it was 10:30 at night and very chilly. We say she had a pool party for her 9th Birthday...and a very unusual one at that! It was very memorable and with a lot of laughs!

Thursday, the group sang and Mark preached at a Christian school, Landmark Christian School, where John Stone is the pastor. Mark was excited about this opportunity because this is not someone we knew. It was nice to meet another pastor trying to serve the Lord.

We went on to Lancaster, KY to be with Jason Wheeler at Lancaster Baptist Tabernacle for an evening service. Jason and his wife, Hannah (Moore) are graduates of Crown. They had a good crowd of people that came out for a Thursday evening service and it was also an encouraging service. We were able to see some current students and also some graduates there.

Friday, we drove on to Hopkinsville, KY, about 3 hours away on Friday. We spent the afternoon with Pastor and Mrs. Ken Shaver and their daughter, Kendra (a graduate of Crown). They took us to a wonderful place for the evening, Patti's Settlement. It was where they call "The Land Between the Lakes." It was beautiful. We walked around the paths, played at the playground, saw some chickens, peacocks, emu, a horse, and some rabbits. We walked through a few of the shops and ate at Patti's Restaurant. It was so nice! The food was absolutely delicious also! They brought out yeast rolls in terra cotta pots...umm...so good! They are famous for their 2" pork chops...Mark and Pastor Shaver ordered those. I ordered Kentucky Brown or something like that...it was turkey with bacon on it smothered in cheese with homemade potato chips. So good!

Us, with the Shaver's:The girls in the van last night in the dark. We had just dropped off the trio and the girls opened up their songbook and sang with their flashlights as microphones. It looked more like the next picture.

Today, Saturday, the group went soul winning with the church and are now helping to clean or work at the church. I am here at the hotel while Maddie takes a nap. Abby and Cassy are at the church as well, "helping." Tomorrow is their dedication of their new building. It is absolutely beautiful! So nice. They have a nice nursery facility...love it!

I don't know when I have been so longwinded, but I guess I just am enjoying sitting here in the quiet room just "chatting" with you.

I will update again on our travels. Please continue to pray for us!

Update from Evansville, IN

2008-05-13T10:17:00.002-05:00

Thanks for your prayers. We are enjoying ourselves so far. We had a wonderful service on Sunday night at Calvary Baptist Church, LaGrange, KY. Pastor Brent Coley is of one of the early graduates of Crown. It was very encouraging to be there. They testified of several people being saved during the week. Mark preached (and did a great job!) and the Trio sang. It was fun! We spent yesterday morning driving around Louisville, KY. We stopped at Churchill Downs were the horse races are. We just went to the gift shop but it was fun to be there. We also went to the Louisville Slugger Factory were they make the wooden bats. All the girls hit at the batting cages (including Maddie...she loved it!) I did take pictures and I will upload them at another time (I do not have my cord with me).

We drove up to Evansville, IN yesterday afternoon to be at a christian school chapel this morning. We were able to go to the studio were Faith Music records. The girls sang around the piano in the studio and sounded really well! We went out to eat with the Russ family last night. We have been taken good care of! We are in the hotel this morning while they are at chapel. We are driving back to Lexington after the service to be with Lonnie Moore tonight.

Please continue to pray for us! Thanks for checking in with us!

2008-05-10T23:50:00.004-05:00

I can't believe it has been so long since I have updated this. I just can't imagine that almost 3 months have past. I knew it had been a good while but it just seems like a few weeks...nearly 3 months! Wow!

We are all doing well, thank the Lord. Of course, many things have taken place since I last wrote but most recently was the girls recital. It is such an exciting time. We were all nervous and thrilled to be there. They both did a wonderful job...as well as everyone that played in it. They have a wonderful teacher for which we are very thankful.

I must get to bed, it is 1 a.m. I am adding an e-mail I sent out to my friends letting them know about our summer plans. We would appreciate your prayers for us as we have a very busy summer. We are excited about what the Lord is allowing us to do!

"Hello friends! I just wanted to let you know of our family plans for the next few weeks. We will be leaving Sunday, May 11 after the morning service and returning Monday, May 26. We will be touring with the ladies trio to Kentucky and the Nashville area and then on to Ohio for me to speak at the Reagan's church at their ladies meeting on Friday, May 23 (PLEASE pray for me!) and Mark will preach for them on Sunday. We will back home for our Promotion Sunday, June 1 and then we will leave on Monday, June 2 for a week of vacation to Nashville to be with my brother and sister-in-law. We will be back for Sunday, June 8 and then head back out on June 9th. We will travel with one of the quartets to Pennsylvania and New York (yeah, maybe we will spend a day in NYC!). We will return on June 21. We will be gone again from July 7 - 12 for our final week of vacation. We are planning to go to Mark's family in GA for a relaxing week! I think we will need it.

"Mark is also involved in many other things not already listed including: an All-Star Basketball Tournament; 2 weeks of Junior Camp (1 of which Abby is able to attend...not sure about that???? and the other one he will be the camp speaker); Basketball Camp; Pastor's College; and the Sword of the Lord Conference. I feel a little like our summer is packed, what do you think? I am thankful for the opportunities the Lord has given us. We are looking forward to these things and just praying for the strength to do them all. We would appreciate your prayers."

You can see the blogs of the traveling groups by logging onto the college website: http://thecrowncollege.com/TravelingGroups/. I hope to be able to blog along the way during our trips. Thank you for being patient with us :)

A little slow but she's back...

2008-02-19T08:43:00.001-05:00

I have been living with an extremely slow computer for quite some time now. I have been so afraid it would crash and everything would be gone. So I sent her off to the "repair man." (Thank you Mr. Repair Man!)

I have since received her back but she is still moving very s-l-o-w-e-l-y! I am preparing to put some more memory in her so she can pick up the pace a bit. Until then...my time on here will be still be scarce.

I have missed catching up on everyone. It is so fun to be able to read a letter from all of my friends whenever I get the notion. It thrills me to see all of your children growing up and seeing the Lord work in your lives.

We have been BUSY with basketball. Mark is coaching the college team. We have loved the boys but not so much the schedule. It is coming to an end so that is good! The girls have loved watching them play and enjoyed getting to know them a little. We have had the opportunity to have them over to our house a couple of times. They are great guys. I am glad the Lord gave Mark this opportunity. (I will be even happier after the season is over :) )

I found this message on a friends blog from when Dr. Campbell (a spine surgeon) spoke at our men's banquet. It is a FABULOUS message on "Why I am a Christian." It is worth listening to! You can find a link to it on the Giallourakis' blog.

I will post pictures from Maddie's birthday soon...hopefully:) A sneak preview:

Thanks for stopping by!

The funny things kids say...

2008-01-11T13:58:00.000-05:00

Today, as Maddie and I were getting her ready for her nap, she said another funny thing. (background info: We have been talking to her about how Jesus was born in Bethlehem and about how Mary went on a long journey to get there and there was no room for them to sleep when they arrived. She has been telling us the story and it so cute.) So, I am telling her that I am SO thankful that the Lord gave her to me! She then said to me, "Were you scared?" I didn't know why she asked that so I said, "Scared of what?" She said, "When you went to Bethlehem?" My mind immediately followed her thoughts. She was thinking that I had traveled to Bethlehem to have her just as Mary had went and had Jesus. I just had to smile and explain that I did not go to Bethlehem to get her. It was a funny moment.

Last night after supper, we played Apples to Apples. We have enjoyed playing this together since the girls received it for Christmas. If you have never played you will have to understand how to play so you can follow this funny story. Each player has cards in their hand that have a thing, person, or place written on them (ex: the moon, Washington DC, river, last day of school, Abraham Lincoln, etc). The cards in your hand are red. One person is the judge and he turns over a green card which also has something written on it (ex: round, scary, sad, exciting, amazing, unhappy, etc). Everyone must vote with one of their red cards whatever they think is the best match. You may or maynot have a good match but you must put in a card. So last night, Mark was taking his turn to be the judge (it changes after each vote) and the green card was "long". We all put in our votes. He is reading the cards (he does not know who put in which card). I do not remember the votes but for the sake of the story, we will say fork, last day of school, and Pinnochio. Well, Mark choses the winner to be "Pinnochio." Noone speaks up that it is their card. Finally, Cassy realizes that it was hers but she thought the word was "Pinichilita" (which is not really even a word, which made it even funnier) It was so funny that she had won the vote with an appropriate card but didn't even know what it was. We had already been teasing her that she won the game before without even knowing how to spell or read a lot of the words. It was a fun time for the family. (Sorry, the story was so long and may not have even been funny if you weren't there. I almost decided in the middle of writing it that it was not going to be funny but I had already typed so much of it that I just couldn't erase it!)

Enjoying A's on the report cards:

I took the girls after school the other day to Krispy Kreme to get their free donuts for their all A's on their report cards. It was so fun. We enjoyed watching them make the donuts. It was fun for them to be rewarded for their hard work!

I remind myself that these are the greatest days of my life, enjoying the little things with my children!

Reflections of...

2008-01-04T14:08:00.000-05:00

Wow, I guess I can do a lot of reflecting from the time of my last post. I will spare you the excuses for the long delay and just say I am a poor blogger.

I love Christmas time. It is packed full of excitment. I love the decoration, the lights, wearing red, the food, the music, the parties, and on and on I could go. This year was another wonderful time.

We always begin the year with the Ladies Christmas Brunch. It was wonderful this year with Mrs. Sexton doing the speaking. Normally we have a special speaker come but this year we were able to hear our own Mrs. Sexton. She is so sweet and kind. It is a great start to the celebration of Christmas. We are always reminded that Jesus is the reason we celebrate. His birth, life and death are the real joy of our Christmas.

One of my favorite things we did this year was a gingerbread house making party with a couple of Abby's friends. It was very fun and something I would like to do again. One of Cassy 's friends has one that she does for their entire class. I am not that brave (nor do I have the facility). Abby, Ginnie and Tiffany showed much creativity and had a wonderful time together.

Other favorite activities for this year included: Academy Christmas program (highlighted below), Sunday School class party, party for the basketball team (Mark is now coaching the college team...this was my first ever all men party. Much food is required!) staff christmas party, children's staff party (I must explain it more in a minute), school class parties, special music at church, making christmas cards with a friend, christmas caroling to some of the shut-ins of our church, Dollywood, the nativity pageant, shopping, and I am sure I have forgotten something. All of these activities and hardly any pictures. I am just not good for capturing the memories with the camera. I MUST improve in this area!

the Academy Christmas Program: It is so fun and exciting. The program this year was very good. Abby and Cassy enjoyed so much learning their songs and poems. Cassy's class sang a song about the candy cane and wore candy canes around their necks. Abby's class wore gifts around them and sang about the True Gift of Christmas. Sorry our pictures turned out very blurry. You can view pictures on the templebaptistacademy.com website under event photos.

the children's staff christmas party: Every year Pastor and Mrs. Sexton shop and purchase a gift for all of the children of the staff members (this is a very large number of children). It is a wonderful thing that they do. My kids look forward to it and I am sure it will be something they always remember about our Pastor and Mrs. Sexton. They go all out on the gift that they get. Abby received a scrapbooking kit (really cute which she LOVES!) and Cassy received a Color Wonder Explosion. Maddie received a singing dog with a play phone and radio with it. I think they could fit the description the world gives for Santa. They know just what the kids will love. It is such a meaningful thing that they do. I know the Lord will bless them for it.

Christmas Day for us: Our morning begins with breakfast at Mark's parents' house. It is a southern style breakfast that lasts you through until the afternoon :) We then open gifts with Mark's family. Grandma and Pops have five children and 9 great grandchildren. Everyone was able to be together this year. It was quite a party! We only buy for the children but there is, as you can imagine, a mound of presents. (I took pictures but with my sister-in-laws camera because...if you can believe it, I FORGOT mine. The unpardonable at Christmas!)

We leave there in the afternoon (we should have left earlier but I became engaged in a game called "Othello"). We came back to our house for Christmas dinner with my family. I have two brothers and my parents have 6 grandchildren. We were all together as well, thank the Lord!

Mrs. Sexton encouraged us a few years ago (she probably does every year, but one particular year we took it to heart) to read the Christmas story from Luke 2 every day during the month of December with your family. We began to do that and our girls have memorized the passage. For the last three years, at least, they have quoted it for my family before we open our gifts on Christmas night. I have enjoyed this tradition.

We opened presents and enjoyed one another's company. The men in my family play rook until the wee hours of the morning. Us girls played one of Abby and Cassy's Christmas presents, "Apples to Apples." It was all good!

I have a few pictures of the girls with Hannah that I will include. I need to get some pictures of all of the cousins on the Fowler side. Maybe soon!Andrew, my nephew, with Hannah

Cindy, my sister-in-law, and I always have some project when we are together. She wanted stockings made for her, Derrick, and Hannah. So, we made these. I think they turned out really cute. I hated to let her take them home. They would have worked perfectly for Abby, Cassy, and Maddie. Oh well!

As for continuing on and on: Sorry. I will stop reflecting now. I am looking forward to a wonderful year in 2008.

Updated Pictures of the Girls

2007-11-14T13:01:00.000-05:00

We are doing well and having a good week. I just can't believe how time is flying by. I know I am guilty of taking things for granted. I think about my girls and how quickly they are growing up. I know these are golden years in our lives. I want to as Pastor Sexton preached, "Seize the golden moments in life."

We had the wonderful opportunity about a week and a half ago to have a friend take pictures of the girls. (Thank you Angela!) I was so pleased with the way they turned out. These pictures will be treasures that freezes them at this stage of life. It is just wonderful to capture their personalities in the shots. I think she was able to do that very well.

My, how the Lord has blessed us with three wonderful girls! It has it challenges, which I am sure are just beginning, but I am so grateful to God for the gift of my children. I hope you enjoy the pics of "the girls."

This shot is my favorite, I think???

This picture is of my girls with the Reagans. They spent that week with us and we were all one big happy family :)
To those who have taken an interest in our lives, Thank you!

A Month At A Glance

2007-11-05T11:04:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it has been almost a month again with no post. I am a lot better at checking everyone else's blogs than keeping up with my own... I will work to try to get better.

Just after my last post, my niece was born, October 10, 2007. She is just BEAUTIFUL! Call me partial, but I think you can agree. Meet Hannah Marie Proffitt...

She is such a cutie! So much hair! I did not get very many clear pictures so more pictures will have to come later. I have not been able to see her since she came home from the hospital. I miss her!

Last month we also had our annual Mission's Conference. I was not able to attend much of the Conference because Maddie was sick. I did go to the Banquet which is always fun. The children dress-up like they are from another country. They visit different rooms and learn about places around the world where people need to hear about Jesus. They see very authentic sights. It makes wonderful memories for the children. This is a picture I took after the banquet with their friend Jacob.

Each night of the Conference this year Mark took the girls before the service to "tour the world." They were able to "visit" each continent (People in the church built different sights to commemorate each continent.) They were able to choose different meals and eat authentic food from different places around the world. I know I cannot accurately describe the sights but they were quite impressive. It was a fun week and the Lord touched many hearts.

Last week my dear friend Alicia and her children stayed with us. Her husband was on a missions trip to Cuba. It was wonderful to have her and her five well-behaved children! We had a great time all week with the highlight being Friday when we went to the Bounce House and had the kids pictures made. I am including a few pictures of the week although I was not the best at remembering to take pictures.

This picture was just playing in the back yard. A big box can bring such great entertainment.

Climbing up for the big slide at the Bounce House...

Isaiah was so brave and Caleb was a monkey...Although I did not get any good pictures of the others, they all enjoyed the slide as well. Audrey did not want to slide down after she climbed to the top. You can see on her face that she did not enjoy the ride very much.Audrey finally recovered from the trauma of the slide down and decided that she did like to be able to bounce.

From left to right and top to bottom: Isaiah, Abby, Maddie, Caleb, Briley, Audrey, & Cassy. Such good buddies :)

This picture describes us all after several hours at the Bounce House:This was us playing with the parachute on Saturday just before they left. We just had a great time together :)

Thank the Lord for His blessings of friends and family.

Our friend Angela took our pictures also. They turned out so cute. I will have to wait to get those pics from her to add to the blog.

Until next time...thanks for stopping by.

T-Ball

2007-10-08T15:05:00.000-05:00

I have mentioned in a couple of posts about Cassy playing t-ball. She played on a team that Mark's brother coached. My niece Emilee also played on the team. Abby was too old but they let her be the "bat girl." They even purchased a team shirt for her.

Abby, Cassy, & Emilee

Cassy enjoyed playing very much. We hesitated at the committment because it meant that we had something every evening of the week: Monday - Prayer Meeting/Visitation, Tuesday - t-ball, Wednesday - church, Thursday - piano lessons, Friday - t-ball. We decided to let her play and she did love it (we enjoyed it too!).

It was quite comical to watch them chase after the balls that rolled in the outfield, hit the ball, and even just run the bases. It provided some good entertainment. We were able to meet some new people also. It was just all good!They gave out trophies after the last game this past Friday night. I thought it was so cute to see them lined up anxiously awaiting their name to be called. Cassy is #11 and Abby is #00. Those of you that know Lauren Pauley, she is #3. She is beside Cassy in the team picture. Dakota Gearin also played, she is #2 (all the way to the right in the front of the team picture.)It was rare to see Maddie sitting on the bleachers but I was able to capture this picture. She loved playing around in the dirt. Our bathtub has never seen such dirty girls!

We ended the night and the season with some cupcakes. Chocolate and icing is always a good combination with dirty faces and dirty hands. (I just try not to think about all of that!)

T-ball ended up being something we all enjoyed!

Pigeon Forge

2007-10-01T15:18:00.000-05:00

The girls were out of school on Thursday and Friday so we spent a few days just enjoying each others company. We had such a good time together. We ate at the Applewood Farmhouse...yummy! We sat in the swings and ate. The girls thought that was great!

Abby took this picture. Not too bad for an eight year old!

We played putt-putt. That was interesting...for about 3 holes :) We did enjoy it although Maddie only carried her putter the first few holes. She mostly wanted to walk all over the rocks and pick up our balls for us...even if we had not hit it in the cup yet :)

The girls rode some rides and go-carts. They were so funny racing. The first ride Cassy was nervous and had decided, while sitting buckled in the car, that she did not want to ride. Mark assured her she would be fine and she was! Grandma, I mean Abby, was puttering around the track. Cassy passed her. Abby said she was going slow because she didn't want to hit the sides. She did speed up the second time though. It was so funny to watch them! Maddie wanted so badly to ride too. She did not think she was too short!
Can you tell she is nervous?They could hardly see to drive!
Maddie loved this ride! She laughed the whole time!

We ate IHOP for supper. This was a highlight for the girls. They ate chocolate pancakes. They serve them cool whip on them in the shape of a smiley face with cherries for eyes. (I should have taken a picture)We made a big deal out of the fact that we were letting them eat chocolate for supper! I told them not to tell their papaw because he would be upset that they had eaten "junk food" for supper. I think they enjoyed it all the more!

We spent the night which was an adventure as well. We are so thankful for the good time we were able to spend together.

(I guess I got carried away with pictures this time. I learned how to add 5 at a time.)

Bring on more days off!!!

Big Girl Bed!

2007-09-22T12:56:00.000-05:00

Wow, another week and a half have past again with no post! I knew I was not going to do very well at this. I still enjoy reading everyone else's posts though :) I'm glad you all do better at posting than I do!

We took the baby bed out of Maddie's room this week. Talk about sad! My baby is in a big girl bed. I just can't believe it. It doesn't seem possible. We put it off as long as we could, she is 2 1/2. She stilled loved her bed so we kept her in it this long. I think it was time though. We have not really had a chance to see how well she is going to do because she has had croup since the first night in the big bed. I think she will do fine in it...a harder transition for me, I think.

I am attaching a few pictures of her room with the baby bed. I loved her room. Oh well, I guess it is time to move forward.

This daybed is what she is sleeping on now. Not sure what we are going to do about decorating. I can't really leave this cream chenille quilt on the bed for her. It would not be cream long, I am sure. I will have to let you know where we go from here :)

I will post more later...how much later? You never know!

Happy Birthday Mark!

2007-09-10T19:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Mark's birthday! Happy Birthday, honey! He is young...2 weeks younger than I am! We celebrated Saturday night with a meal together and cake! We made his favorite chocolate cake with homemade icing poured over the top. It was thin this time so I poked holes all in the cake so it would saturate down in it. It was absolutely delicious! We put 3 candles of one color and 2 candles of another on it for the 32 years it represented. We had such a good time just enjoying being together. The girls enjoyed celebrating "daddy" and making it special for him.

We love you daddy. Thank you for giving us such a wonderful home.

School, Maddie, Hair Cuts, Missing Tooth, Hannah, Etc.

2007-08-30T07:43:00.000-05:00

Wow! I guess it has been a while since I posted. We are settling in to our new routine and enjoying it very much. The girls are loving school. They both have wonderful teachers and we are very thankful! Maddie and I are having a good time just being home. We stayed so busy this summer (which we loved too!) that it feels great to just be home!

Miss Qualls and Cassy - First Grade

Mrs. Ruwersma and Abby - Third Grade

Maddie:

I am hearing a lot of "Why?," "I do it by myself," and "What is that?". She is at such a fun stage, although challenging at times. Answering her questions all day can become tiring but I am thankful for her developing mind. We are still working on the WILL.

I guess the banker must wear her high heels!

Mom:

Just more of the same :)

Hair Cuts:

We decided to get their hair cut. It had gotten so long and stringy. We are enjoying this new look :) It is fun to fix.

Missing Tooth:

Cassy's first tooth that she has lost. It was very exciting for her!

Showering Hannah with gifts:

My sister-in-law is due in October. We went to Nashville for her shower last week. We had a great time! I made this bag for her. I can't wait for her arrival!

I will have to post pictures later of piano and t-ball.

Thanks for checking in with us!

We just have too much fun!

2007-08-06T08:15:00.000-05:00

We were able to spend the day at Dollywood as a family last week. It was so much fun. The girls and I had a couple of yard sales early on in the summer and we had been saving our money to spend on a fun day together. We decided to go to Dollywood after much thought of how to spend the day and money.

Maddie absolutely loved riding these rides.

The man that worked this ride would squeal like a pig and wave at the children throughout the ride. Maddie thought he was so funny. She would look at me and laugh and say, "He's wavin' at me." She was so funny.I just thought this picture was hilarious. Abby walked around in this part with Maddie in a harness. There is a splash pad and water guns and such and I did not want to get wet. It was so cute to see Maddie dragging Abby around from thing to thing. Abby is really such a big help to us! You can see the "leash" in this picture.

Abby and Cassy were planning to ride the farris wheel. When they got up next in line, they told Cassy she was not old enough to ride without an adult. Abby still wanted to ride. She is so brave. Cassy was not too disappointed. Mark took her to ride the bumper cars while Abby took her turn on the farris wheel.This ride is called the "Shooting Star". It takes you up and keeps you there in anticipation and then drops you quickly. It goes up and down to different heights all during the ride. It looked like fun.

Abby has a smile, it must have been!

Abby, Cassy and I rode the Blazing Fury. It is a small indoor roller coaster. It was Cassy's first time to ride a "big" coaster. She loved it!

We enjoyed ourselves very much and are glad that we had the opportunity.

Visiting with Family

2007-07-28T17:24:00.000-05:00

Mark went to the Sword of the Lord Conference this week in Walkertown, NC. He had a good time. Since he was gone, we went to Nashville to help my brother and sister-in-law get ready for the baby (she is due in October). We had such a fun week and we got a lot accomplished! We painted the baby room, painted letters for her name, painted a dresser, and painted and hung shelves. Here are a few pictures of the room....

The chair rail is not hung for these pictures but the room looks great!

While we were there, Derrick took the girls and my mom and I out on the lake in his boat. We had so much fun. We went tubing, swimming, and Abby even skiied with Derrick.

They each had a turn to be the driver...

They drifted away from the boat on the raft...the smile came when Derrick threw them the rope and pulled them back to the boat.

Abby did a good job with Derrick. She loved it!

We have more to post about but until later...thanks for stoping by!

My Mamaw..."Big Mamaw"

2007-07-16T07:12:00.000-05:00

We all called her "Big Mamaw." I don't think it was because of her size. One great granddaughter started it and that is what we ALL called her...22 grandchildren, 40 great grandchildren, and 9 great, great grandchildren. Others probably called her that also.

Her great granddaughter needed a distinction between her grandmother and her great grandmother. They lived right beside of each other. Her grandmother was "mamaw." So for whatever reason in her little mind she started calling her great grandmother "Big Mamaw."

She went to heaven on Saturday. She was 97 years old. She has been in a nursing home for the past several years. She has not known us for those last years...she had Alzheimers.

When the family decided she could no longer live alone (she was already over 90), she moved in with my parents. Abby, Cassy, and I visited with her a lot during that time. She did not know us from day to day. She did not know we were family at all. She thought she was in a elderly care facility already. She was usually happy though. The girls were good company for her.

She has a large family. She had 8 children, three girls and five boys (one of the boys died shortly after birth). My daddy was the sixth child. You can read the obituary for a list of all the survivors http://www.legacy.com/knoxnews/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=90808214.

She was a wonderful Christian. She was a faithful member of the church that my uncle pastors, Emmanuel Baptist Church in Speedwell, TN.

She kept me a lot when I was little. My mom worked and I stayed with Big Mamaw. She lived just across the road from us. She taught me songs such as "Oh, How I Love Jesus." I remember gardening with her. Another memory I have is playing a little game we played where we watched the road and one of us counted the trucks and one of us counted the cars. She lived in a very rural community so I can't imagine that there were ever very many passing by. I enjoyed playing it though. I think that probably the trucks won every time in a little farming community. I probably didn't figure that out.

She lived a wonderful life and I am thankful for her godly example for me.

Big weekend for the whole family!

2007-07-13T06:36:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow Mark's sister is getting married. Cindy is 41 and she has never been married. She is marring Steve who has 3 grown children and an 11 year old. He also has 3 grandchildren...kinda funny but they are all 3 girls. His wife died several years ago. This was a match made in Heaven. Thank the Lord He brought them together.

I wish I had some pictures of her but after this weekend I should have plenty to post. Please pray that all goes well!

Catching Up...

2007-07-06T14:20:00.000-05:00

Well, I have been falling behind on the blogging (in many other things, as well.) We have had such excitment and been busy all the time it seems.

Today, we are finishing up the Youth Congress. Tonight is the last service and then we will have fireworks. I think it has gone well. I have been staying in the nursery but the reports I have received is that all has gone well. There are lots of groups here and that is great! I plan to go to the service tonight and am excited about it!

Probably everyone has seen pictures from the churchwide picnic on Saturday, but I am including mine too. It was a lot of fun. Mark was sick and was not able to go. He did go early and set up everything for the preschoolers to enjoy, but he came home before the fun began.

After we ate, we had a water-war with Pastor. He had the preschoolers divided by boys and girls and gave them each a chance to throw balloons at him. He told them all they were going to get WET!

This was Pastor with the Preschool girls. He let all of them get balloons in their hands. He was going over and over the instructions. I think he was afraid of what was going to happen when it all got started.

The girls loved it! Pastor did too :)
This was down on the field with the big kids. He let each grade have a chance at him and he at them. They all had fun. Pastor said that he won!

I think he was the wettest!

Maddie had fun in the sprinkler and slip-n-slide.

...and the pool!
Playing with the parachute
This is the waterslide!

The girls are in line...on the top they both have a grey t-shirt on.

This is Abby at the top of the slide

We can't decide if this is Abby or Cassy but they both went down the slide and loved it. They both look so much alike, it wouldn't matter if we call this Abby or Cassy on the slide. This was the first summer that Cassy has went down.

What FUN!

The Fowlers Go On Vacation...

2007-06-24T13:58:00.000-05:00

The girls were excited to be at the ocean. The girl on the left is another one we can claim...she is Mark's sister's daughter, Jenna.

Well, we made it safely back to our home. We are glad to be back...but it was great to be gone. The Lord was very good to us and we received some much needed rest and relaxation. We also had some wonderful family time.

We started out in Nashville. Mark attended the funeral of Lee Waller. He was a student at Crown College. He was traveling this summer with the New Testament Church Pioneers http://www.newtestamentchurchpioneers.com/. He, along with two other students were ministering to pastors and churches in the west. They were on their way to another church and had an accident. Lee was killed. The other two boys were not seriously injured. Please pray for his family during this time.

While we were in Nashville, the girls and I were able to spend a few minutes with my sister-in-law and also see my brother. We were thrilled to see them even though it was for a very short time.

We spent the day on Saturday in Atlanta. We went to Stone Mountain for a few hours. The girls had a great time. I am including some pictures of them on the obstacle course.

It surprised us but they wanted to climb the rock wall. Abby made it to the top and Cassy was most of the way there.

We were able to be in church at People's Baptist Church on Sunday morning. We enjoyed our time there and were able to spend some time with Pastor McCoy and his family on Sunday afternoon. It was so nice and they treated us like royalty.

Sunday afternoon, we drove to Tifton, GA to be with the Berrys at their church. Jim asked Mark to preach and we had a wonderful time! We went to eat with them after church and enjoyed the fellowship so much! I wish I had taken a picture of us all together...oh well, I guess we will have to go back :)

The rest of the week we were staying with Mark's aunt and uncle in south GA. Not the typical place to vacation but it was so nice to be there. We were able to swim in their pool, fish at a friend's pond, attend a fish fry with Mark's family, and even drive and see the ocean (for a very short time because it began to storm just after we arrived). Mark was even able to golf a few times while we were away.

We truly enjoyed our time together as a family. I did not do very well capturing the events but we did get a picture of Cassy and Abby with their fish. This was father/daughter time...much to their delight :)

Thank the Lord for a wonderful week and a wonderful family!

Birthday Party for Cassy

2007-06-14T22:02:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to make a quick post of some of the pictures from Cassy's Birthday Party. She and two other girls in her class have birthdays within a week of each other. We decided to go together and have one BIG party ("One BIG party for three SPECIAL girls"). It was so much fun. We had over 60 people there...over 40 children. We had it at the Little Ponderosa. They have a petting zoo and pony rides. I really think everyone enjoyed it...including the parents. Here are a few pictures from the party.

The Birthday girls: Lauren, Dakota, & Cassy

Abby and Cassy both enjoyed the little goats.

The ponies sure did get their excercise today.

I think everyone had a turn to ride.

So many pictures I would like to post but I really must get to packing. I will be without internet access for the next week. Small price to pay to go on a vacation :) I will miss checking out the blogs.

I will be in touch after our trip. I am sure I will have many exciting things to share with you then.

Another Fun Week!

2007-06-09T22:00:00.000-05:00

We have had such fun this summer! This week has been another great week. Tuesday we went to the library for a magic show and we rode bikes on a neighborhood trail.

Abby & Cassy enjoyed getting some books from the library

Cassy has been a bike lover for the past few weeks since she started riding without training wheels (she learned when we were in Ohio)

Thursday, we were able to see my niece play softball. The girls enjoyed the game. Afterwards we went to Sonic for the free rootbeer floats. Yum!

Friday, we had hair appointments (I had Maddie's hair cut short again...I like it short). I also went to a friend's house to make cullottes. (That is a story in itself...full of excitement!) Friday evening I babysat for some friends to go out for their anniversary. We had a great time. I am posting some pictures from our game time. What FUN!

I think she did a great job drawing that "caterpiller"

Maddie and Grant had a game of their own :)

Saturday we went to Mark's sister's house to swim and have a cookout. This picture was of Maddie after she and Jenna, her cousin, were playing in the dirt. Jenna thought it would be fun to put some on Maddie. I just had to get a shot of her "dirty." She was still loving it.

We had a great time with our family and a great week! Thanks for visiting with us :)

Garden Tea Party

2007-06-03T20:46:00.000-05:00

We had a SUPRISE Birthday Party for Abby and her friend Ginnie. The girls all dressed up and we had a Tea Party outside. It was so fun!

Abby and Ginnie were very surprised!

Our friend, Ginnie

One of the highlights of the party was passing around Ginnie's dog, Emma. This was a good step for Abby and Cassy because of their fear of dogs. They love Emma!
My pictures are not great from the party but I am counting on my friend to post some as well (hint, hint, April :) ) Her site is http://thefivefaulks.blogspot.com/.

Bounce House

2007-05-24T06:56:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we went to the Bounce House, a place with inflatable slides. We had a good time sliding and playing with friends. Maddie found a way to come down the huge slide and she did it MANY times.

Of course, Cassy is loving it!

Trip to Ohio

2007-05-24T06:42:00.000-05:00

We ended the school year last Friday! yeah! YEAH! We are excited about the summer. We have plans for many wonderful things.

On last Thursday the girls were able to go skating with the school. They had a great time and they are getting pretty good.

On Friday we made a trip to Ohio to be with our good friends the Reagans. I had the privilege of speaking to their ladies at their annual Ladies Banquet. We had a wonderful time. Mark preached for Friend Day. They had several visitors and one visitor accepted Christ as his Savior. Abby and Cassy were able to sing with Briley, the Pastor's daughter, and enjoyed it very much. Abby played the offeratory. She is excited about using her tallent to serve the Lord! We had a wonderful time of fellowship with Jimmy and Alicia! To the Reagans: Thanks for having us! We love you!

The Graduate

2007-05-16T13:19:00.000-05:00

Cassy with Mrs. Deeringer

Last night was one of those memoriable times that will last forever. Cassy graduated from Kindergarten. It is such a big deal. The program they put on is absolutely amazing. They begin with the academic things they have learned. They say many Bible verses and sing lots of songs. There are some humorous things included as well (i.e. "I don't know why she swallowed a fly").

They performed the "Three Piggy Opera." This included Little Red Riding Hood, Grandmother, the Big Bad Wolf as well as the Three Pigs, Huff, Puff, and some other winds, and an orchestra of pigs. It was very well done and very funny! Cassy was one of the pigs.

They also wore their cap and gowns and received a certificate from Pastor. It was quite an event. Cassy loved every minute of it and we did as well.

Abby's Birthday

2007-05-16T11:02:00.000-05:00

Abby with her dollhouse that Mamaw and Papaw got her for her birthday
I can't believe that Abby is 8 years old! Monday was her birthday. We celebrated ... Saturday, with my brothers and their families; Sunday, with Mark's family; and Monday, we had cookies at school. Monday she also had a party at her piano teacher's house to end the year for the piano students. We are about partied out...or are we? More about this later :)

Derrick, my brother, and Cindy with their dog, Cash.

Baby Day Picture

2007-05-09T07:15:00.000-05:00

I wanted to post the picture of our family with Pastor and Mrs. Sexton. I love this picture, especially of Pastor and Maddie. I want to enlarge it and just take their faces in a circle. I am thankful that we have this picture. It will always be a treasure!

Piano Recital

2007-05-07T07:35:00.000-05:00

We hurried back from the funeral to attend our first piano recital. It was very exciting. Abby and Cassy were thrilled to be playing. We had to meet mom with the girls at the recital so we did not make it there with the camera :( I wish you could have seen them though (maybe I will be able to get someone's pictures) they were beaming! Cassy played "Seek Ye First" and then Abby played "How Great Thou Art." They passed each other going to and from their seat and gave one another a "low five" down by the waist. It was so cute!

They are working hard and enjoying learning to play. Abby wants to be able to play for an offeratory at chapel. Maybe next year :)

What a Privilege

2007-05-07T07:27:00.000-05:00

Mark and I had the wonderful privilege of going to the funeral of Dr. Lee Roberson this past Thursday, May 3. His influence is seen greatly in our church because his life so empacted Pastor's life. Pastor Sexton was one of the speakers and spoke so clearly of what Dr. Roberson stood for and was such a good representation of him. Thank the Lord for good Godly men who spent their life to make other's lives better. Dr. Roberson and our pastor are both such men.

Field Trip to the Fire House

2007-05-02T21:13:00.000-05:00

Today was another exciting day. Abby's class, 2nd grade, went on a field trip to the Fire House in downtown. It was a lot of fun to see the different trucks and equipment. We learned lots of interesting things about firefighters. I was snapping shots all over the place. I have started thinking about getting good pictures again. Now it is more than just to scrapbook, I have been thinking about sharing them with you.

We also went to the playground to run off some energy and have lunch. It was very warm but still fun. All in all, it was a good day!

I don't know if you can tell in the picture because it is so far away but I thought it was so sweet that many of the girls are holding hands.

Abby with Miss Henschen

Thanks for checking in. More to come later.

Field Trip to the Aquarium

2007-04-30T07:42:00.000-05:00

Cassy and I were able to go with her class on Thursday to the Aquarium. We had a fun time. I will pray more diligently for Mrs. Deeringer - 28 Kindergartners...every day! Wow! She is absolutely marvelous with them. We are so thankful for a good school for our children to attend.

I did not get any great shots but there are a few cute ones.

Thanks for enjoying our special day with us!

Baby Day

2007-04-30T07:08:00.000-05:00

Baby Day is an exciting time at our church. We parade the children 3 and under across the platform with their parents and take a picture with Pastor and Mrs. Sexton. It is so exciting! This year we had right at 100 families with their children. It was a beautiful thing! I am sure the pictures will be able to be viewed on the website, faithforthefamily.com.

I also had a yard sale this weekend. That was also exciting, in a very different way. The exciting part is getting rid of some JUNK! We had a lemonade and cookie stand for the girls. It was a cool, rainy day so we didn't really sale very many cookies but they did seem to disappear??? I took a few shots of the kids at the stand. They loved it!

Cassy and Morgan pretending to eat and drink :)

Abby, the President of the business (of course, she is the oldest and must be the boss)

Every good business must have advertisement!

The Beginning

2007-04-20T21:49:00.000-05:00

Well, we are going to give this a try. We have enjoyed catching up on our friends by reading their posts and seeing their pictures. We may not be very good at updating it but we are going to see how it goes. To all our friends who inspired us...Thanks!

This pictures of the girls was taken last fall by our friend Angela. We went for a "photo shoot" at the park. I think she did a wonderful job. Since I do not do so well taking pictures, I am thankful to have friends that help me out with capturing those memoriable times. Thanks Angela!!