Eli "Firetruck" Potts

Eli is growing up.  He still loves anything with wheels and loves to ride his tractor, as a matter of fact one of his favorite things to do is "cut the grass" on his tractor while following his dad who is on the actual lawn mower.  He gets so nasty and covered with dirt that all you can see is his little eyes shining through the blanket of dust covering him (Mom gets to bathe him).  Being the baby he always seems to fall in line behind Ellie and Ethan and just go along with whatever they are doing but this summer he has gotten to be on his very own t-ball team with no help from big bro or big sis.  He has done better than I thought, at first I didn't think he would participate because I couldn't go out there with him, but he has done it with no problem except for one incident where he wanted a hot dog and refused to take his turn at bat until he got one (I stuck to my guns, he never got the hot dog, of course he never went to bat either).    Here in the past few days he has surprised me by learning to swim.  Last summer I could not get him off the ladder of the pool but this year I put his arm floaties on, put him in the center of the pool, and told him if he wanted me he had to swim to me.  After 15 minutes of screaming he finally did it and then two days later he is jumping off the side of the pool and going under water, go figure!!  A few weeks ago he told me that he has changed his name to "firetruck", I wonder why? His daddy kind of likes those big red trucks with the sirens too.  Oh and his favorite catch phrases these days are "is that cool?" and "how bout that!".  Just wanted to catch ya'll up on the baby, who will be 4 in just a few weeks.  I can't believe how time goes by so fast.

This little light of mine...

When I woke up this morning the song "This Little Light of Mine" was playing through my mind.  This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine...how many times did I sing this as a child?  Well in just a few days I will take my light to India.  I hate to be dramatic and I know that the trip will only be two weeks but I still find myself pondering over my life as I prepare and pack.  This isn't just a trip to me but it's being obedient to God and letting him chip a little bit more of "myself" away. You see I am not the adventurous type and my home is a comfort zone.  I like what I know and I tend to stay away from things that I don't know but that's not the definition of faith is it?  Faith is not knowing, not seeing, not touching, not being cautious but running as fast as you can, jumping without looking and falling into God's arms. 

I ask my family and friends that you will pray for lives to be touched.  Pray this 1Thessalonians 2:13 "that when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is , the word of God , which also performs its work in you who believe."  My light that is shining is Jesus Christ.

Thankful!!!!

Yeah, I know it's April 3rd and my last blog was on January 1st. I'm on top of things!! Well it hasn't been boring around here at all. Brandon has changed jobs (answered prayer), we are going to INDIA in 20 days (another answered prayer), Ellie and Ethan are about to finish up a school year, Eli claims he is no longer a baby but a big boy:( and so on and so forth. I have entered that phase in my life where I am chaufering kiddos around to their different activities and my calendar is filled with guitar lessons, ball practice, birthday parties, school trips... fun times! I spend my days folding clothes, sweeping, and sneaking some time to dip my paint brush in a little paint (that is only after all children are delivered to the proper places). I can say that I am very content and thank God for this opportunity to be a full time mom. I'm thankful for a husband that bears the full load of providing for our family. The other day tears welled up in my eyes and I was overwhelmed by the fact that I was simply able to take Ethan's lunch box to school because he had left it in the back seat. That might seem silly but there was a day and time when I could not have done that, and I am just so thankful that I don't have to juggle too many hats like a lot of moms do. Can I say the word THANKFUL enough?! You know what else I'm thankful for... a smoke free husband. I have been praying for him to quit for, well, the whole time I have been with him (started dating him in 1996). He hasn't smoked in 2 months now. How did he do it, you ask? Well open your Bibles to James 5:16. All he did was confess his sin to our church small group then he was showered with prayer and scripture, God did the rest. AMAZING! ...His praise will be continually on my lips Ps. 34:1

Princess Mommy

I have to tell you that whenever Eli sees a picture of me in my wedding gown he calls me a princess. Tonight he grabs my face with his little hands and says I want to kiss you and then says "you're a princess". AWWW!! If he does that to a young lady in about 11 or 12 years its gonna be trouble... my little casanova.
I like to share these things because I don't want to forget plus I don't want Eli to forget that at one point in his life he thought his mommy was a princess.

2010 Recap

Let's see what has changed over the past year...
Eli definitely wins the award for the most changed in our family!! He began the year in diapers and now wears underwear. Potty training was a bumpy road for him but we are doing well now. He is also a lot more verbal now than at the beginning of 2010. He got a big boy haircut and he had his 3rd birthday in 2010.

Ethan has had a good year too. He was five in May so his big event in 2010 was starting kindergarten. He has begun to read a little. He has made new friends at school. This was also his first year to try his hand at athletics. He played T-ball (the Braves) and football (the Steelers) this year.

Ellie began 4th grade this year. She turned 9 years old and suddenly became too old for pink pretty princess things. Her main hobby this year was reading and she got her first library card. She got her first experience with babysitting the boys while I went for a walk on a road back behind the house. It was only about 20 or 30 minutes but it's good training. She has begun to cook a little (muffins, mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, canned soups, etc.) and she also has began to do some chores around the house. I'm most excited about her unloading the dishwasher.

Events that might sound trivial in the grand scheme of things are actually huge to us as a family or at least to mommy. I had the revelation in 2010 that I don't have any babies anymore just big kids. No more bottles, no more diapers, no more rocking just watching my kids grow up and experiencing life for themselves. Letting go of them one finger at a time so they can learn and be independent. I'm so glad we have a God whose name is Immanuel (God is with us). I know I have to let go one day but I take comfort in knowing that God never lets go!!! Happy New Year to everyone and I pray that 2011 is blessed.

But 'Mary Beth' treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

A birthday party for Jesus!

A host of terracotta "potts" angels

Decorating our tree.

Zoo Lights

Every Christmas it was a tradition to read Luke 2:1-20 as a family on Christmas morning before we opened our gifts. I have continued this tradition with my children but this year I wanted to do much more so starting at the beginning of this month we began the journey with Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph. I wanted my children to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and to really understand why we are celebrating. The title of this blog post is actually from Luke 2:19 replacing Mary's name with my name or actually just adding Beth in the verse. This verse is a special verse to me now that I'm a mom. Before when I read it I never got the significance of it but now that I have children of my own I understand Mary's point of view. Motherhood alone is a HUGE responsibility but being the mother of Jesus Christ... WOW! So as I take this journey of Advent with my children I'm constantly aware of these moments and I cherish them. Thank you Jesus for coming to earth and saving us, thank you for my children, help me never to take for granted the time I have with them and I pray that Ellie, Ethan, and Eli will learn early in their lives the kind of relationship you desire to have with them and Your will for their lives. AMEN

Halloween 2010

Ellie and I have started a Halloween tradition. Ellie tries to come up with the most original costume she can think of and we make it! Ellie and I love arts and crafts so this is a great challenge for us. The first few years of her life she chose to be some sort of princess... a ballerina princess, a fairy princess, a disney princess, and so on but one year I managed to talk her out of that and the crafting began. It all started with an ice cream cone in 2007 then we had to do a golden fairy creation in 2008, in 2009 she was a cupcake and this year was a red lego. The past two years she has won first prize at the school fall festival in her category.

The boys are not as big into the arts and crafts part but they do enjoy coming up with a costume. This was the first year Eli participated wholeheartedly, in the past he was not to keen on putting anything on his head or over his face but now he wants to do whatever Ethan does. That worked out great this year because Ethan wanted to be the Super Mario Brothers so Eli was Mario and Ethan was Luigi. Last year Ethan was Indiana Jones (very cute) and he also won first prize at the school fall festival in the preschool category.

This year we went trick or treating in Hernando with some friends. We all rode on a big trailor and hopped on and off (not as much fun for mom and dad). The pictures above show costumes from this year, the trick or treating trailor ride, and carving pumpkins with Dad.