I'm starting off with an e-mail that my mom sent me. It's one of those that's been forwarded and forwarded and it doesn't say where it came from or who wrote it, but I recognized it from the first sentence. It's an exerpt from a book called, "The Invisible Woman, when only God sees" by Nicole Johnson. I have the book and read it a few years ago, but it's just what I needed to hear today!

I'm invisible.
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please." I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going - she's going - she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean.My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she' d given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: * No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record oftheir names. * These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never seefinished. * They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied, "Because God sees."I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It wasalmost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become." At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not adisease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of myown self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. as one of the people who show up a t a job that they w ill never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes aturkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there."As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Lauren's Wedding!

WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

We had SO much fun this past weekend in Houston. We started off by seeing our Godson, Anderson! He and Riley had the best time playing and it was so great to see Jill & Cody. The boys had a blast playing and we got to see Reese Kathryn for the 1st time! She is so sweet!

Friday morning we had breakfast with the family at Aunt Ruth's in celebration of Lauren and Wade's wedding.

the grandkids (minus 12)

the great-grandkids

Kyle....stylin... freestyle...

The rehersal dinner was so yummy with food from Pappasitos!

Jake couldn't wait to try on his tux!!

The ONLY time Riley put down his Cars movie all weekend....

a little wedding dentistry

Jake, the dancing machine

The wedding was beautiful and just perfect. We loved every second and it went by way too fast. To the Bates, you all did a wonderful job planning and coordinating. Thank you so much for all of the hard work you put into making our visit so special.

Picture of the Day

Jake's teacher just sent me this picture of Hunter from his Christmas Program. As you can see, he had a blast!

WOW!! Look at these beauties! My nieces saw Taylor Swift in concert & got pics with her!! We love Taylor Swift here, the boys know every word to every song!

Kristen & Taylor
Katelyn & Taylor

I added this picture of Hunter to the Jones Soda label contest. I guess Riley wasn't chosen:( Whatever!! They don't know what they're missing...

I also added some pics from my trip to the San Diego Zoo. They are very random, but it seems to be what they like. http://www.jonessoda.com/

go to Gallery and search "Christy Graham" and all of mine will pop up

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We had a good one. The boys were excited that Santa brought them a new trampoline. We hadn't had one since Hurricane Rita bent our last one up when we were in Houston.

Riley got lots of Cars and Hot Wheels stuff. Hunter loaded up on Power Rangers. Jake got a new book that he loves, The Dangerous Book For Boys and some Jugs equipment for the batting cage Kelly is getting ready to start on. He carries that book with him everywhere, if you've never heard of the book, here's a link to the website --click on "View the trailer" http://www.dangerousbookforboys.com/. Jake really wants to build a treehouse, but we don't have any trees!! They got a Playstation2 from the Taylors and the Newmans and I don't know who's enjoying it more, them or me!! I sneak it into my room after they go to bed :)

ok, I'm a loser....

I am uploading pics to the website right now....after I get my coffee....