Shutterfly Cards are Great

Lately I've created many cards through Shutterfly. Here is one example. I highly recommend this company!

Birthday Lime Birthday 5x7 folded card

Shutterfly birthday cards and birthday party invitations.

View the entire collection of cards.

Beautiful Girls, Beautiful Dresses

     On Saturday we had a backyard birthday party for Hannah and Lauren!  The Lord gave us a beautiful sunshiny day to celebrate with family and friends.  Hannah had a pink cake, and Lauren had a yellow one (their favorite colors).  Papa (Tim) grilled delicious hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone to eat.  A great time was had by all!  

     Now we have a week of packing ahead of us as we prepare for the big move to Georgia next weekend.  What an adventure!

     The beautiful and precious dresses that Hannah and Lauren are wearing in the pictures were handmade made by our wonderful neighbor, Vicky.  They are called pillow case dresses, and she even embroidered their names on the front.  If you are interested in one of her dresses, let me know because she doesn't have a website yet... but, I'll be happy to put you in touch with her.  Just a little plug there.  :)

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

   Today our precious little girl, Lauren, turns 4 years old!!  Her Papa took her out on a breakfast date to Dunkin Donuts, and they had a great time!  Then, they went to the bank together, and the ladies at the bank sang "Happy Birthday" to Lauren.  Tonight, Lauren has chosen to go out to Red Robin to celebrate her birthday.  It's a month full of birthdays in our home!  Hannah had one last week... Lauren's is April 1st... Allyson's is April 18... Tim's is April 20.  Lots to celebrate!  We are thankful for the lives the Lord has given us to praise him with and obey Him.  May we all be found faithful.  As Lauren always says (very often with a huge smile on her face), "I can't wait to go to heaven!"   :)  

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

Today our precious "baby" girl, Hannah, turned 5 years old!  As part of her special day, her Papa took her to Dunkin' Donuts on a surprise breakfast date.  She was thrilled!!!  Then, her Grandma took her out to dinner tonight at Red Robin (our whole family went), which she really enjoyed.  I praise the Lord for a beautiful daughter... who is even more beautiful inside than she is outside.  She loves Jesus, and always tries to honor her God and her Papa and Mama.  She also loves her sister and brothers to pieces!  Thank you, Lord, for our little Hannah.

Who's Who in the Spanish Flag?

     As is tradition in the Reed home, we took a picture of James laying in the hammock while wrapped in the Spanish flag, just like we did with his siblings when they were all 4 months old.

Can you guess who's who? 

James is 4 months old

James is our little cutie pie who is now 4 months old.  We all love him so much and are so glad he is a part of our family.  Timmy is now a loud little man, but he treats his brother with kindness and gentleness and still loves to kiss him. They are precious together, and I look forward to seeing them interact together in another year when James can run and play.  Yesterday I had the treat of holding James while he was sleeping.  That doesn't happen very often, so I treasure those wonderful moments.  Thank you, Lord, for 4 wonderful children!

Camo boys

Timmy, Tim, and James.  One day we hope the boys' favorite color will be camo.  :)  Our kids are so excited about moving out to the country.  Hannah and Lauren can't wait to be "farm girls."  We are thrilled about spending so much time together as a family and raising our kids with a strong work ethic.  Tim is ready for his boys to be his little helpers... but, we are enjoying them being just plain little right now.  Timmy tries to do everything Tim does already.  He loves being his Papa's little buddy.  I praise the Lord that Timmy has the best role model in the world to follow - his Papa who loves the Lord Jesus Christ with all his heart.  

James just turned 4 months, and Timmy will be 18 months soon.

To Crawfordville we move

Hey there.

Allyson and I just sent out emails to everyone on our list whom we thought might want to know about us. We attached our newsletter to the email and hope you have had the chance to read it. If you haven't received one, please let us know and if you have, please feel free to forward it to anyone you can think might be interested in knowing about our latest news. We are doing fine. In a state of chaos as we transition but always subject to an orderly God.

We are excited about our new venture. There will be much to learn and much to do. Its public news. Tim and Allyson are moving to Georgia.

Have a nice day and let us know if you still haven't seen our newsletter and we will forward one your way.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A few more

Growing Family

We think about posting far more than we actually post on this blog.I just wanted to catch you up a little bit by including some recent selected pictures. I love my growing family. It is so fun to train them up in the way they should go. No greater joy. There is only one place in the bible where it says "no greater joy" and guess what; it has to do with children.  III John 4 "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." It is true. I plead with you parents to not merely be pleased with how cute or brave or smart your kid is, but pour into them that their praise would be a direct glorifying of God in Heaven. Train them up to honor God. It is a full time job of consistence and persistence but remember that they are the ONLY thing in your life that has any eternal value. "How priceless is your Word, O God that you would give it to us to follow you by. Thank you for speaking so clearly and precisely concerning life and godliness. Help us stay true and not compromise in any area of our lives."

Enjoy these pictures of my family with me.

Fun in the Snow

Snow in Columbia is a very rare thing, indeed!  So, when it snows everyone (who is not from up north) gets excited!  Northerners just think we are crazy!  :)  Recently it snowed about 1/2 inch, and the kids were thrilled.  They ate snow, gathered up snowballs to throw, and we made strawberry snow ice cream.  This was the first time that the girls remembered seeing snow.  Timmy had a great time being outside and teetering around.  He was a bit top heavy in his big jacket, so when he fell over he needed help to get back up.  A fun time was had by all!

Cutie Pies

A Family Christmas Picture

We are so thankful for our family!  God is so good!!!

Hannah is 4 1/2, Lauren is 3 1/2, Timmy is 14 months, and James is 1 month.

All blessings from the LORD!

Timmy loves his brother, James

A little update since the last post.... Timmy was warming up to little James when I last posted pictures.  In the past week Timmy has more than warmed up to James.  Almost every time he sees James, Timmy wants to give him a kiss.  He leans into James and makes an "mmmm..." sound and then kisses his head or his face.  Timmy also likes to point at James and "talk" to him.  They are precious together!

Baby James is Born!!!

Please rejoice with us over a precious new life the Lord has given our family!  On Wednesday, November 12 at 12:51 p.m. baby James Stephen Reed was born, weighing 7 lbs. 7.5 oz., and he was 20 inches tall.  James is named after his Grandpa Jim (Tim's dad) who went to be with the Lord 14 years ago.  His middle name is after Stephen in the Bible who gave his life willingly to follow the Lord Jesus (Acts 7).  Hannah and Lauren love the story of Stephen and look forward to seeing him in heaven one day along with their Grandpa Jim.  

James was born by way of c-section due to him being breech in his mama's tummy. This was Allyson's first c-section and in some ways she felt like she was having a first baby all over again.  But, praise the Lord the delivery went great.  Recovery is also going very well.  We went into the hospital at 10:30 on Wednesday morning and were able to leave the hospital at 9:30 on Friday morning - a little under 48 hours.  

Hannah, Lauren, and Timmy are all thrilled about their new little brother.  Hannah and Lauren can't get enough of holding him.  They are great helpers with James and Mama already.  The first time they came to visit us at the hospital, Hannah and Lauren brought a poster they had made that said, "Happy Birthday James!  We love you!  Love, Hannah, Lauren, and Timmy."  Hannah wrote the whole thing by herself in different colors, and Lauren cut out shapes to paste on it and put stickers all over it as well.  Timmy likes to point at James and say some "words".  He's come close to kissing James several times but hasn't quite gotten close enough - probably tomorrow.  :)  Just this afternoon, Timmy got really close to James and was studying him when James all of a sudden spit up a little bit.  Timmy burst out in tears, not sure what had happened.  It was precious!

Tim and I are so blessed to have four precious children who we have the privilege of raising in the fear and admonition of the Lord!  Even more, we are thankful to have a wonderful marriage and to give the gift of loving parents to our children.  God is so good!  Thank you for rejoicing with us!

Happy Family of SIX!!!