MY PERSONAL TRAGEDY WILL NOT AFFECT MY ABILITY TO DO GOOD HAIR!!!!

I finally did it!!!! I donated my hair to locks of love!!! 8 inches!!!!!
I absolutely love my new cut!! It is so light and summery!!
Mike loves it and that makes me love it all the more!! As you can tell I am hyped up because I got my hair cut AND we are going on vacation!!! That is why I am using EXPLANATION MARKS!!!! WOOO-HOOOO!!!

AND SO YOU HAVE IT FOLKS.....

Abby, Pawpaw, Granny, and Shelby at Calhouns.

The King and The Boss!!!

IT WAS GOOD WHILE IT LASTED

Well, the visit is over. They left this afternoon about 4:15. We had a good time and they said that they will be coming back in September or October~and stay longer. The girls loved the RV and Shelby stayed both nights in it with Granny and Pawpaw. Abby wanted to sleep with her Mama.

They brought two plastic storage boxes full of cassette tapes that were Big Mama's. They thought Mike would like to have them. Oh boy, he wanted them. We went through them and there were some that I am sure you can't get anymore, not even on CD.

There were lots of country and gospel, some Christmas and Big Band. Then there were some that were old sermons from our church in Virginia. They took us back!! There was one of Trevor doing a solo and a few of Mike singing solos. I am glad they brought them!

6 more days til we leave for our vacation. We can't believe it!!!

On a totally different note, I am reading Jane Eyre again. I have not read it since High School. I have enjoyed it. I like the fact that I don't remember everything about it. It is like reading it for the first time in a way.

Changing directions again, I have a hair appointment on Tuesday that I am looking forward too!! I really, really need a hair cut!!!

I will post some pictures in a day or so of the visit.

IN-LAW ALERT!!!!!

My in-laws will be here in the next hour. They were supposed to be here on Monday but they had problems with their RV. We thought they may not get to come at all, but they were able to leave yesterday and they will be here in an hour.

We are excited about seeing them. This will be their first trip out here since we moved here. We are going to take them sightseeing and show them around our world. They are going to love all the places around here to eat.

PICTURES OF OUR LOVELY, HOT DAY!!!!

Trevor and Sarah working on their bikes.

Abby playing in the sprinkler!

Shelby riding her scooter.

Abby and Shelby playing in the water.

TO ALL MY FELLOW BLOGGY MOMS!!!

I just wanted to wish all my bloggy friends out there a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

I am getting ready for my in-laws and trying not to stress!! (see previous post:~)

I just had to blog about my lovely MOPS group! Today was my last day as a MOP unless the Lord sees fit to give me another preschooler (newborn first, please:~) So, my friends gave me a going away gift~~here's where it gets good!!! It is this swell tote with my initials embroidered on the front!

Now, let me tell you that I almost bought a bag just like this the other day minus the initials!! I wanted to take it on vacation to take towels and stuff to the pool and though I really, really wanted it I refrained because I knew we needed to save money for the trip!!!! AWESOME!!!!! Thank you, Lord, for caring about the desires of my heart!!!

AM I OUTTA MY MIND??????

People, have you seen my ticker at the top? Really it is 15 more days because Mike HAD to add another day! Just because he can. And my in-laws are coming next week and I am just sitting here cool as a cucumber posting on my blog.

Did someone slip a mild sedative in my grape juice this morning? Did I really go out of my mind? No, to both questions, I think! I am just taking things one day at a time. I am not going to wait til the last minute and go crazy for 24 hours. I have been decluttering for a few days getting everything back in it's place.

I am not going to stress about packing. If you know me at all, ahemm, you know that I can get spun up pretty quick. I start talking a little too loud, waving my hands around wildly, growling occasionally, and getting pretty red faced. Ahemmm-I am trying to avoid that stage of desperation and just taking things one day at a time.

I am a procrastinator, by nature, and I have to be careful or I will be STARTING to pack at 9pm the night before. (People, that has happened more times than I care to admit!!!) I am really striving to do differently on this vacation. Especially since we will camping for 9 nights!!! I need to be organized so we will survive this wonderful experience. Pray for me!!

IMPROMPTU LUNCH DATE

Trev wanted to go to church with a friend of his yesterday so we left an hour early for church and took him to church. No big deal it was just a little out of the way and we got breakfast before we headed to our church.

After church we went to pick him up and his friend's mom met us at the car and said, "I hope you don't have any plans for lunch because I just picked up lunch for everybody and heading to my house." We said okay and we were on our way.

Have you ever come away from a situation and said "That was a total God-thing!!" Going to their house and spending the afternoon was a Total God-thing! I talked with friend's mom about how God has worked in their lives. I picked her brain about a mentoring/discipleship ministry that she does. She challenged me spiritually, she encouraged me spiritually. She was a breath of fresh God air!

She loves the Lord. She loves spending time with Him. She lives what she knows and she shares what God has taught her. She was not harsh or judgmental, she just shared her life. She even brought out old journals and shared from them what she had been through in the past couple of years.

Mike and her husband had a good time of fellowship, also. The kids had fun, too! It was just a relaxing, growing experience for me. I was challenged in a few areas that I need to focus on and she just gave me oodles to think about.

Loved every minute of our visit yesterday. There is nothing like a God-thing!!

A Place for Quiet TIme

Over on Beth Moore's blog she asks about a favorite place to spend time with the Lord. She tells about her patio and how she loves to sit and have her quiet time there. My favorite spot to have my quiet time is my dining room table.

I love to spread my books out and write in my notebook! I love fresh, clean pages and how I love to write on them. I love to use great pens that write smoothly and writing as much as I want. When I get up in the morning I open all the shades in the kitchen and living room. I love the morning light streaming in.

Where do you like to spend your quiet time with the Lord? What motivates you to seek a closer relationship with Him? Leave a comment and share.

Playdate Today

Today we went to our friend's house for a little bit of playtime/mommytalk. Ruthie is one of my oldest friends in Nashville. Not oldest like 80 years old, oldest like I have known her for over 3 years. She is a good friend. She is easy to talk to and I love sharing with her.

We have a good time together and so do our kids. We walked to the playground, ate lunch, and played some more at the house. The girls loved it and so did I. They are getting ready to move to a new house and they will have a community pool. We have already made plans to spend many, many hours this summer at the pool. We are going to have a blast!!!

She is homeschooling next year so we will probably do some field trips together. FUN, FUN, FUN!!!! Don't you just love having friends like that? Friends that you love to spend time with. Ruthie is a friend like that!

Mike mowed the lawn today. Well, some of it and Trev did some. Just thought ya'll would want to know that. Yeah~~lovely day.