SUYL - Mt View Baptist Church

Most of you know I LOVE reading Kelly's blog. This week is Show Us Your Life - Tell Us About Your Church. This is my Church. I am so glad I can call this my home Church where I belong and I am a member. I started attending this Church when Bart and I started dating in 2003. Let me first start off saying how thankful I am to be married to a good Christian man. Bart grew up in this Church and I am so excited to raise my boys in this Church. At first I was nervous going here. I was worried that the people would judge me or think less of me. Being a single mom in a small community where everyone knows everyone I thought they would not want to accept me. Boy was I wrong. After praying long and hard and watching God work in my life I stood in front of my Church in October 2008 and asked to join the Church!! I have been showed so much love from my Church Family and I am so thankful to be part of it! This is our pastor. He has been our pastor at Mt View for over a year and I really enjoy hearing him preach. He has a great love for God. He lives just right down the road from us with his wife Robin. They have a grandson that is just a few months older than Stephen. During the summer he would drop by and give us fresh corn from his garden. His wife Robin actually brought their grandson over to play with us one day.

One of the things I love most about Mt View is the youth. There is always something going on. This is a picture of the Valentines Party. We always have a devotion, eat and give out valentines.

This was the Easter egg hunt.

Bible school is also a favorite of mine!!

Halloween or Harvest Celebration

This was a Christmas Play. This play was AWESOME!! At the end this group came out and painted these pictures. It was silent except for the a song that was played. It was truly amazing to watch!!

There is so much to say about this church. The community involvement is another big thing. We recently started a Come and Dine community dinner. They do that the 2ND Thursday of every month from 5:30 till 7:00.

We have a Youth Revival at the end of February, a spring revival that is starting the 2ND week of April and a Fall revival that is in August.

The ladies meet once a month.

I feel like I am forgetting to mention something. This is a great Church. If you are in the Cleveland, GA area please stop and visit one Sunday morning. Sunday School starts at 10am and they usually start singing about 10:50 and service follows singing. Sunday night service is at 7. Wednesday is bible study and we also eat at 6pm and classes at 7. Please join us!!

Spring Break 2011

Friday I picked up Jackson a little early from school to start our Spring Break. We ended up playing outside for a while. After playing we got ready and headed to the race track. Before picking up Jackson we drove to my Grandma and Grandpas. They always have the prettiest yard! Jackson and Matt really liked the tulip. We counted the tulip buds and stopped to smell the flowers!!

Stephen decided he got hot. So he stripped down to his undies!!

Monday we went to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It was a really good movie. Jackson had a friend go with him. Samuel is such a good friend to Jackson!

After the movie the boys wanted to ride 4wheelers. Samuel rode Jacksons 4wheeler.

This was Jackson wearing "MY" girlie rain boots. Samuel wore Jackson's mucking boots and Jackson knows better than to ride in his good shoes so he decided to wear my rain boots!! This was before he hit the track. Afterwards I cleaned up the dirt bike. It was so muddy!

This is my boys right now. Stephen is lights out and Jackson is watching Disney Channel!! They have matching pjs. This is suppose to be spring break and they are wearing there warm fuzzy winter pjs. Jackson has his turned inside out. He says the outside is softer and its a waste to wear them the right way!!

Well thats our Monday for Spring Break 2011. Tuesday is going to be an even greater day. I am so enjoying having my Jackson home from school.

Its a Glad Reunion Day

Today we went to Church, Ingles, home to eat lunch. After lunch we headed to Buford to look for a new race car trailer. After looking at the trailer we headed to Sams and then we rode to the Deer lodge with my InLaws. It has been a fabulous day. During Church Jackson asked me to go to the choir. I am so glad I went. I received such a blessing. I can't remember who choose the song Its a Glad Reunion Day, but I am so glad I did. I was standing somewhat close to Dale Sutton and his voice is amazing!! (Brooke you can tell him I said that - I would be to shy to do so myself!!) I could barely sing myself because I wanted to hear him sing!! The song has been on my mind all day and have been singing that one line all day!!! What to my surprise I got to see my best friend!!! This is my friend Tammy. We met at the bank some 10 years ago. I think we had an instant friendship. She was so easy to talk to. I know God has a reason for everything, but I am so thankful he brought her in my life. See this girl has been there for me for EVERYTHING. When I say everything she has been there when I laughed, cried, and even cleaned up when my water broke with Jackson. She was the 1st one I told I was pregnant. I think she might even been in the bathroom when I took the test. I could be wrong. We were friends before I thought I might be pregnant, but after I found out I was definitely pregnant she was more than a friend. She went to doctors office visits, ultra sounds, baby showers, unloaded all my baby stuff, organized my house, cleaned my house and everything you could imagine. It was so nice having her and I will be forever grateful to her. She was there when Jackson was born and was there when Stephen was born. She made the trip back the next day to see me and bring pictures that she took. She is the most loving, caring, sweetest friends I know. The best part of knowing her is knowing she loves Christ! I have very few friends. I don't like getting close to people and have a hard time opening up with people if I don't trust them. Ruthie and Tammy are my 2 very best friends. Its a GLAD day!! And I got to see my bestest friend in the whole world. Know matter how long we go without seeing or talking......we just picked up like it was yesterday!!! I love you Tammy and I am so proud I can call you my friend!!

Jackson's 1st race

I know I posted the same pictures on Facebook, but at least here I can explain everything that goes on during the day. When we first get there we have to (Bart) unloads everything. We then fill out papers telling what kind of car it is with all of Jackson's license information. Jackson then signs it and we take him to the check in station. We get pit passes which is a bracelet sign some more papers and they check Jackson's car, arm restraints, helmet, and make sure he is wearing fire proof gloves, shoes and race suit. If he checks in good then its race time!! You get about 1 hr to race. After you are waiting in line you get about 2 runs. Hopefully when we get more organized with this we can get about 3 practice runs.

After the hour for practice you go back to your trailers and wait for them to call for qualifying. If you qualify you get to race again. If you don't qualify you are done for the day.

Jackson qualified and he raced against Skull Crusher II. He is Atlanta Dragways 2010 track champion. Although Jackson raced against him he did super good. He did lose, but we are really proud of how he did!

There is alot to this racing stuff that I don't understand. I want to document his time.

After each race they give you a ticket. This ticket is very important to read and see what he did. When you go to race you have to have a dial in time. This number is part of the bracket that is used to get points and win at the end of the year. This number is also important because you have to tell the officials what he is dialing in at. Jackson is allowed to race a 12.90 car. Saturday he dialed in at a 13.22. We will need to take some weight out of his car and that should help the number go down. If Bart dials Jackson's car in at a 12.90 but he goes a 13.22 then his number is way over what Bart says it should be. In return he loses that bracket. Another bracket that is very important is the Reaction Time. .000 is perfect.

-.001 is almost perfect, but the - stands for red light. If you get a red light during a race you loose. I was very proud of Jackson that he did not red light at all.

Here is a list of Jackson's R/T (reaction time), MPH, and how long it took him to drive in an 1/8 of a mile.

Run 1 - Practice

R/T .076

1/8 13.358

MPH 48.39

Run 2 -Practice

R/T .218

1/8 13.370

MPH 46.39

Run 3 - Qualifying

R/T .220

1/8 13.254

MPH 49.11

Run 4 - Race (lost against Skull Crusher II - 2010 track champion)

Dialed 13.22

1/8 13.278

R/T .301

MPH 48.50

My life through my camera phone!

One day we had to help Bart. Bart was chaining the track hoe down and Stephen decided to crawl in the bucket! He was a dirty mess!! I had a flat tire and we had to take my car to Walmart to get it fixed. Stephens hair looked super cute and I just had to take a picture!!

Molly and Stephen walked to church with me one night after eating. Since we were walking in the parking lot I asked them to hold hands. They looked super sweet so I of course took a picture!!

Stephen and I came down with the flu. Stephen threw up all over our bed and was running a super high fever. That night while he fever was high Bart and I tried everything to cool him down. He LOVES popcicles so I bribed him to eat one if he wanted to sit in my bed! We are very strict about no eating or drinking in our house (except the kitchen!) So this was way over our comfort level!! The things we do for our kiddos!!

Clean up time at the Skelton house goes by way faster when you try to ride your cars together!!

Stephen went to the dentist for a cleaning. They found a cavity. :( I cried. I am sure they made fun of me when I left, but I was so sad. I feel like a bad mom. He can't brush his teeth and I failed him. Jackson is 8 and has never had a cavity. Stephen is ALWAYS brushing his teeth. BUT I never floss with him. His teeth are super close together so we are going to have to do better.

Finaly got the cars in the play room!!!

Stephen picked out a tinkerbell toothbrush. I talked him into switching to a Diego!

The next Jr. Dragster!!

I took Mary Grace and her friend to the Justin Beiber movie. Jo Anna kept Stephen. She let him play with Mary's babies!! Bart might not let him ever stay with Grandma again!! Just kidding!!

I am so glad my phone takes pictures. I don't know what I would do without it!! My real camera is a great one, but I always forget it or forget to charge the battery. Jackson likes having his picture made less and less everyday. I have to beg him to let me take a picture. Maybe I can get some of Jackson uploaded soon!!

Jackson's Test and Tune Day

Jackson and Bart are to the left in the Black car. This particular day was not a race. Jackson was able to run his car down the track 4 time. He did really good for the first time really driving his car. He is suppose to run his car 1/8 of a mile in 12.9 seconds. If everything goes the way its suppose to go that would top his speed at about 40-50 mph! The first 2 times down the track he went 1/4 of a mile and they said he was going about 80 miles an hour!! The guys at the end of his 1/8mile said they were going to call him quarter mile Jackson! Me and Stephen just tried to stay out of the way! We sat mostly in the Golf Cart while Bart did all the hard work!

Putting his arm restraints on and buckling him up!!

Staging and getting ready for his lights at the tree for the first time ever!!!

This is Stephen, Maddie Kate, Jackson and Hot Rod. They had alot of fun playing and riding scooters. After the track closed and the men were getting the trailers ready and loaded they drove the golf cart around!!

Jackson's first points race is this Saturday. Can't wait!! Join us at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce this Saturday 3-19-11!!

Monster Jam 2011

For Stephens Birthday instead of having a HUGE party we decided to buy tickets to Monster Jam. I forgot all about going until I saw the pics a few days ago. The boys LOVED it.

The 4wheelers were Jacksons favorites and said he was going to do this when he got older!!

This car was raced by a 12 year old little boy!

This was taken during the pit party. It was so crowed. I was able to get lots of good pics though!

Show Us Your Life - Birthday Parties!!!

One of my favorite blogs is Kellys Korner. I have participated in her Show Us Your Life a few times and when I saw she was doing one for Birthdays I was so excited. I love doing my kids birthday parties! I usually plan months ahead and I try to always make everything. Since we bought Jackson a Jr Dragster (more about that later) for his 8th birthday we decided to take the extra money for a party and spend it towards getting him ready to race. His bday is in October and that is right in the middle of football. We had games every Saturday so it just made since this year to do with just family. I always take cake or cupcakes to school so his classmates can sing Happy Birthday. Thats what it is all about. Its not about the presents!!

This is Jackson's 6th birthday party! He had a Halloween Dress up party. He had a few friends from school and they all looked so cute dressed up! Jackson was an Indian(I made the costume)

I love to make the cakes and decorate them myself. I have also been known to buy cakes from local bakeries and decorate them myself! I found these cute cakes at Walmart for $10 a piece!! They were a hit!! For some reason I can't think of the goodies we gave out, but I usually do some kind of neat thing. This is his 8th birthday cake!! Made by yours truly!! Oh and my husband kinda helped!!

This is Jackson's 7th birthday! October can be really hot or really cold. This particular day turned very cold during the evening!

We have rented bouncy houses a few times. They are always a big hit! I get nervous the kids are going to get hurt!

I had to make 2 cakes at this party. He just wanted something plain this year!

He use to like GA Bulldogs. Now he is a Tech fan. We usually have lots of food. I let Jackson choose what he wanted served. We had PNut Butter Sandwiches, Ham sandwiches, chips and drinks.

When your sons birthday is in Jan. you kinda have to play the whole party thing by ear. Stephens 1st bday was awesome! His second on the other hand not so great. There was a huge ice storm the night before his big party. We had invited everyone. So since the ice storm hit we canceled the party and rescheduled for the Sunday afterwards. The roads were still bad, but we had the grandparents and one of my best friends. Stephen LOVES Mickey Mouse! So I worked on a cake for about a week! Not great, but it was cute!!

This is Stephen's 3rd bday. I was worried we would have snow or something, but thankfully the snow came and left about 2 weeks before!!

Bart, Jackson and my self decorated this cake. For Stephen's 3rd we decided to go small on the party and buy tickets to the Monster Truck show. The house was full after it was said and done.

Stephen loved being sung "Haffy to you"!!

Stephen's 1st bday was my favorite and of course those pictures are know where to be found. :( It was trains and it was the cutest party ever. I have already scrap booked them so at least they are completely lost.