Party Decorations on Party Blog

This past summer I searched on various websites looking for decorations for Gavin's birthday party, I ran across a printable monkey party at a store on etsy called Parties by Hardie. I decided that by purchasing the printable party, I could make numerous types of decorations in what ever way I wanted.

After I purchased the party pack, the girl who sold it to me asked if I would be willing to share photos of any decorations I made from her printable party. I said sure. Yesterday, I emailed her the pictures and explained how I created the decorations using what she had made. To my surprise, she posted them on her Creative Party Blog. Click here to check it out! How fun is that?!?! The decorations I made are on a creative blog website. Yippee!

Loving Life

Hello!! The Perry's are here! We had a great last week just relaxing and living our everyday life. There were a FEW eventful moments through out the week that I'm happy to share with you.

First off, I won tickets to The David Crowder Band Concert on the radio. The concert is in 2 weeks at a local church. Apparently, staying at home has its advantages. Gavin and I were pulling up into Walmart when I heard the announcement on the radio to call in for your chance to win. I figured, hey, why not? What's there to lose? I was astonished when someone actually picked up after the second ring. My heart was pounding. The funny thing was I didn't hear the first part of the radio announcement where you had to answer a question in order to win the tickets. Lucky for me, it was a simple one. They asked me how has my church blessed me. I gave my answer and then was told I won 4 tickets to go see David Crowder in concert. I got really excited, and then at that moment, realized they were going to play my response over the air in a few moments. So, I calmed down a little (don't worry, I wasn't going bonkers or anything) showed my gratitude and was on my way! I waited in the car for them to play 2 songs before hearing my voice. It was very entertaining. Anyways, Brooks and I LOVE David Crowder's music and listen to him often! He has awesome upbeat music as well as some amazing praise and worship songs!! We can't wait to see him in concert (for the 3rd time).

Another exciting part of our week besides Anna (my sister in law) and David (my nephew) coming to Houston to do some Christmas shopping (we went to a wholesale warehouse looking for Christmas tree decorations) was when I met Paula Deen. Yep, that's right!!! I said Paula Deen. She was in our Dillards advertising for some new furniture collection she's creating. Totally random by the way.. Paula Deen selling furniture. We walked up during the last 10 minutes of her book signing, so I purchased a cook book, walked through the line, got her signature and then she talked to Gavin for a moment. She kept calling him "PRECIOUS". He just smiled and then waved to her. She giggled really loud. I must say it was worth going to the mall that day!

This weekend we stayed around the house doing random stuff. Saturday night was designated for FOOTBALL. I think we watched 4 different games all at the same time. Gavin liked it though. We taught him how to raise his arms by his ears and say Touchdown! He has also learned how to answer when we ask him, "What does an LSU Tiger say?" His response is, "ROOOAAARRR!" It's hilarious how he throws his head forward when he roars. He's already a Tiger fan!!

Really Good Book

In November, Brooks and I started attending a new church. Our church has a very strong passion for its members being a part of small groups to experience life together. In April, we got connected with a small group and have been attending every week. It has been a huge blessing for us to meet other couples who serve the Lord and live their life to GLORIFY HIM. Over the past few months our small group devoted time to reading John Ortberg's book The Life You've Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People. This was a really, really good book. Every week we were taught a new spiritual discipline to practice and it was amazing to see how God works in your life when you are focusing on living it for HIM. We were convicted, we were taught, we were humbled, we were stretched, we were held accountable, we were aware... we were MANY things through out reading this book. I highly encourage ANYONE to pick it up and read one or two chapters a week and then search for areas in your life where you can apply those spiritual disciplines and see what GOD can teach you. Brooks and I were surprised at how BASIC some of the disciplines were and yet how easy it is to not practice those disciplines. Two of the disciplines I took from the book and have devoted this season in my life to practicing and living out are the practice of celebration and the practice of "slowing".

"Having a Dee Dah Day" The Practice of Celebration
The ultimate idea I got from this chapter is that "we spend most of our life in transit: trying to get somewhere, standing in line, waiting for a meeting to end, trying to get a task completed, worrying about something bad that might happen, or being angry about something that did happen. These are all moments when we are not likely to be fully present, not to be aware of the voice and purpose of God."

This chapter talked about how joy is "God's basic character and his eternal destiny". John Ortberg says that "Joy is a necessity for Spiritual Life" so we must celebrate! "Celebration generally involves activities that bring pleasure-- eating, hanging out with friends, signing, dancing, etc. Spiritual Celebration means doing them while reflecting on the wonderful God who has given us such wonderful gifts." He suggested ways to bring joy into our lives once we realize that "True joy, as it turns out, comes only to those who have devoted their lives to something greater than personal happiness."

1. Find a Joy Mentor- spend regular and significant amounts of time around life-enhancing, joy-producing people
2. Set Aside a Day a Week- have a "Dee Dah Day" filled with pleasant things. Devote a specific day to acts of celebration so that eventually joy will infuse your entire life. (eat foods you love, listen to music that moves your soul, read books to refresh your spirit, surround yourself with beauty-- all while giving thanks to God for his wonderful goodness.
3. Unplug for a week- or for a day (take it slow) don't watch TV, don't get on the Internet, put your cell phone on silent, turn off the video games The idea is to think about when you are "plugged in" what is it preventing us from doing?
4. View Life from a Biblical Perspective- "Joy flows from a certain kind of thinking". Spend time in the word to live out the joy the scripture brings.

The other chapter that really spoke to me was:

An Unhurried Life: The Practice of "Slowing"
We suffer from what has come to be known as "hurry sickness." We think that hurrying will buy us more time. We speed up daily activities hoping that there will be enough hours in the day to do what needs to be done, therefore we end up spending less time on our daily activities, thus giving them less attention in hopes of checking them off the do list.

We multi-task, keep clutter, practice superficiality, have an inability to love (Love always takes time, and time is one thing hurried people don't have), and experience sunset fatigue (where we end up giving those we love the most our leftovers).

What should we do if we have the "hurry sickness?"

• Practice Slowing- cultivating patience by deliberately choosing to place ourselves in positions where we simply have to wait.
• Practice Solitude- At its heart, solitude is primarily about not doing something. Solitude requires relentless perseverance. The book lists multiple ways to practice solitude, even how to have an extended period of solitude. Go check it out!!

Over all, this book was eye opening for both Brooks and I. We are constantly looking for ways to practice these spiritual disciplines in our lives. So, go pick up the book, you may be surprised to see how some of these disciplines aren't your typical ideas of spiritual disciplines to have.

If you do get the book, we hope that you are blessed beyond words!

Growing Up

Gavin is one years old! The past few weeks Brooks and I have really settled into the idea that our little boy is growing up. We have seen a huge transformation in him with lots of changes going on. The night before his first birthday, we looked at photo albums of his birth and searched through his baby book and were amazed at how little and small he was. This past year has gone by so fast and Brooks and I both agreed that birthdays take on a whole new meaning. You truly are celebrating the life of your child! We realize that Gavin will never be a "baby" again and we are excited to see him grow up and who he will become. We are just making sure that we savor EVERY minute of his life. Brooks and I are so grateful that the LORD entrusted us with this little boy. We are responsible for training him and teaching him EVERYTHING we know-- but it's really neat to see how much he has been teaching us (about ourselves and about who we are).

One of the biggest changes (which we aren't too upset about) is Gavin has stopped taking formula and quit his bottles all together. We tried for a week mixing his formula with whole milk, which he would drink, but only if it was in his bottle. Then, when it came time for no more formula and just whole milk, he kept trying to pull it out of his mouth and would wipe his tongue. He does not like the taste of whole milk. I thought it was just because he was sick and not feeling well last week. However, he wants NOTHING to do with whole milk, even when he isn't sick. So, I tried giving him soy milk and he LOVES it. He sucks his sippy cups dry within minutes. The first few days of no bottles were a little sad and made us think we didn't have a baby anymore, but then we realized we didn't have to wash another bottle or buy another container of formula!! So we got over that thought real quick!

Gavin has also decided that he is not into crawling anymore! He started walking a few days before his birthday and now he is walking EVERYWHERE! My favorite moment is when he falls down and says, "whoa!" It's the cutest thing ever!

We started going to Little Gym once a week, which Gavin LOVES beyond words!! Two of our warm up activities are to walk in a circle (which he will not hold my hand for anymore) as well as to run around in a circle. When it's time to run, I grab his hand and pretend run, which he responds in complete laughter and tries to run along side me. It's hilarious and precious. He tries very hard to pick his feet up but wants to keep up with me and then his feet get tangled up together.

Gavin has also become more verbal. He likes to repeat words or the sounds of words that we say. He says mama, daddy, doggie, ball, whoa, and even "aggie" (for Maggie, our dog), He likes opening and closing doors, drawers, and cabinets. He even knows what things are in specific drawers, cabinets, and behind certain doors. His favorite drawer has become one in our bathroom that has Brooks' toothbrush. He LOVES the pantry for some reason, but didn't like it when the can of mushroom soup fell on his foot (he was okay within 5 seconds of finding the bag of marshmallows).

Here's a peak of Gavin walking around the house.

Gavin's second, 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated Gavin's first Birthday, again, this past weekend in Lake Charles. It was a blast! Gavin enjoyed playing with lots of games and toys set up during the party and got to hang out with some friends he doesn't get to see often.

1st Birthday Party Pics

Here are some pictures from Gavin's 1st Birthday Party. It was a blast! We feel very blessed to have so many family and friends who love our little boy!