PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY!!

Little Stellan isn't doing very well today.

He is such a miracle.

Please stop and pray for MckMama, Prince Charming, and Little Stellan.

COMIMG DOWN OFF A HOLIDAY HIGH

We are getting back to normal around here.

Mike went back to work last night and the girls went and spent the night with Aunt Mary and Uncle J.R. They are having fun with their new cousin Noah. When I called last night they were watching Kung Fu Panda.

Mike is now asleep on the couch and I am trying to muster up the energy to tackle the mountain of dishes to be washed.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that it was joyful and meaningful.

LIFE ABUNDANTLY

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they might
have LIFE and have it ABUNDANTLY. John 10:10"

Life. Abundantly.

Abundant-(1)very plentiful, more than sufficient; ample (2)well-supplied; rich in something

We can have life so abundantly if we truly believe the words of Christ.

I am so thankful that Christ spoke these words for me to know that I can have an abundant life.

A life rich in family and friends. A life abundant in grace and mercy. A life that is more sufficient than I could ever imagine.

As this Christmas day comes to a close I know that my life is abundant.

Christ is sufficient. He knows what I need and He well-supplies everything I need. He is plentiful in all things.

He doesn't withhold His love or His mercy. He is abundant in grace.

He PROMISES it!!

And you can believe it.

MESSAGE:

JESUS
IS THE
ONLY
REASON
FOR THE
SEASON!
Merry Christmas!!!!
Love, The Noodles

GRACE, GRACE, GOD'S GRACE

Thank you, Lord for your grace and going the final mile so I would not be lost.


Were It Not For Grace - Larnelle Harris

Time measured out my days
Life carried me along
In my soul I yearned to follow God
But knew I'd never be so strong
I looked hard at this world
To learn how heaven could be gained
Just to end where I began
Where human effort is all in vain
Chorus
Were it not for grace
I can tell you where I'd be
Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere
With my salvation up to me
I know how that would go
The battles I would face
Forever running but losing this race
Were it not for grace
So here is all my praise
Expressed with all my heart
Offered to the Friend who took my place
And ran a course I could not start
And when He saw in full
Just how much His would cost
He still went the final mile between me and heaven
So I would not be lost
Repeat Chorus
Forever running but losing this race
Were it not for grace

WHY WOULD HE CHOOSE TO COME HERE?

Please go and read this post from last year.

Grace In a Manger

It will make you think.

SKIMPY CHRISTMAS???

Why is everyone walking around talking about how skimpy Christmas will be this year??

So what if we can't overbuy and go in debt this year.

This is not a bad thing.

I was talking to my wonderful sil this evening and we were speaking on this very subject.

Isn't it a good thing that kids learn they don't "need" everything they see?

Isn't it a good thing that we as consumers take a step back and evaluate each purchase?

Isn't it good that we teach our children that less is more and that giving is a GREAT thing?

This will be a great Christmas if we don't give in to the media driven "Woe is us" attitude.

A "skimpy" Christmas~~no, a Christ centered Christmas

WHOSE BLOG IS THIS AND WHY HAVEN'T THEY UPDATED IT??????

Oh, goodness!! It has been over a week since I blogged a post!!!

Shame on me!

Let me give some reasons for the bloggy break:

• my sister got married Sunday
• my sister got married Sunday(I thought that needed to be stated twice:~)
• my parents were in town
• it's Christmas time
• I have had two sweet house guests since Saturday~I'm not sure I want to give them up
• I have been trying to stay warm by snuggling with my hubby every chance I get~except yesterday morning when I temporarily lost my ever-loving mind~can we say PMS!!!!
• and last but certainly not least~MY SISTER GOT MARRIED ON SUNDAY!!!

So, as you can see I have had quite a bit going on since the last time I posted.

Please forgive me!

Or, not. Whatever.

In other news, I am so glad that we live in the south where even the hint of ice or snow sends people screaming to the grocery store AND makes them forget how to drive.

The kids were supposed to have their Christmas parties at tutorial yesterday and they canceled it. Excuse me? What? And here's the kicker~there was NOTHING on the roads.

Remember one of my reasons for not posting? I'll help you. It had three little letters in it. P.M.S.

That cancellation sent me to the edge considering I had already taken a shower and made about a bazillion pig in a blankets. And, guess what. I ate them ALL. HaHa just kidding. But I wanted to.

Anyway, that is my life for the last week:~)

I will post pictures of the blessed event when JR and Mary get back from their honeymoon. I figured she might want to be the first to show pictures seeing as how it was HER wedding:~)

TODAY...

was cold and dreary.

Nice soup weather.

So, that's what we had...

and it was good.

That is all.

Goodnight:~)

FABULOUS FRIDAY

The other day we made these Advent calendars. All of us made one and we put name tags on them out of scrapbooking paper.

Instead of rings like JOYS OF HOME used, I had some craft clips that have holes in them.

I have been trying to use up what I have and they turned out so cute.

It was fun! and easy!

We went and got our tree tonight. The house smells so wonderful!!! I love this time of year.

Busy weekend ahead~Christmas play practice, Christmas play, Christmas Sunday School party, church~all enjoyable things~fun stuff.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

YES! MORE DADGUM PICTURES!!! IT'S MY BLOG!!!!

Lexy trying to trim herself instead of the tree.
*Trev took all of these on his iphone*

Lexy and Pawpaw at House of Beef.

Samuel and Steven~they are brudders.

Abby and the squishy bundle of baby goodness.

Trevor taking pics of sweet Kaiya

Look at that smile~I think she just filled her diaper:~)

THANKSGIVING '08 BABY!!!!

**warning~~lots of pics in no particular order

Shelby helping decorate Granny and Papaw's tree.

Abby loving all the ornaments.

Shelby getting her ears pierced!

Abby doing the same.

Abby, Kenzie, and Shelby at the movies to see Bolt.

Sweet Samuel

Tater bug.

Oh sweet mercy~look at that cuddly bundle of sweetness.

Shelby enjoying that sweetness.

Shelby, Lexy, Kenzie, and Abby hanging out at Granny's.

WHY IS IT.....

that you do tons of laundry before going out of town and have to do it all over again when you get home??

Thankfully, I am just about done!!

I have to get to the grocery store because we have no milk.

We didn't have tutorial this morning because there was black ice on the roads near the church we meet at. Abby cried for 20 minutes when she found out. Good morning here in the Noodle house.

Just some randomness for ya on this cold Tuesday afternoon.

HOME SWEET HOME

We are home from Virginia!

It was a nice trip and on the way home we saw lots and lots of SNOW!!!

That certainly got us in the Christmas spirit.

I have lots of pictures to share but at the moment I cannot locate my camera so they will have to wait.

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.

GIVING THANKS PART 15

Today I am thankful for:

• eating breakfast with my sister this morning.
• being able to travel for Thanksgiving.
• going to see family especially my new niece.
• delicious pumpkin rolls.
• my friends Debbie and Shawn who will be taking care of Miss Kitty while we are gone.

We are leaving early in the morning. We are pretty much ready~just a few things left to do.

I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving. Don't forget to be really thankful!!
See ya'll in December:~)

MISS KAIYA EDEN

My new niece is here!!!!! She was born last night and she weighed 6lbs and 8ozs. She has a head full of red hair~~red, curly hair just like Taylor!!!! Jessie sounds great on the phone. She said this was her easiest delivery yet.

We are excited about going to Virginia!!!!!

GIVING THANKS PART 14

Today I am thank for:

• being able to spend a relaxing Saturday at home.
• surprising Trevor at work and getting lunch half price at Chickfila.
• the couch that my snoozing hubby is laying on.
• Christmas movies.
• funny pictures of my children.
  

T.G.I.RUBYNOODLE

Last night we had a hankering for some sliders and potato skins. I must admit it was better than going to a restaurant because we were in our pj's and we were watching Elf and we were wrapped in quilts and we were laughing our heads off. Yeah, it was better.

Okay~I let Trevor have a washable marker and this is what he did:~)

Shelby at the Thanksgiving Feast.

Abby and Mrs. Caldwell

GIVING THANKS PART 13

Oh, I am such a slacker!!! I should have done this post days ago. But did I??? Noooooo!

I participated in the Harvest Swap with Carrie and Monica. My Swap partner was Kris. Go over and see what I sent her. Wait!! Not yet!! Look at what she sent me first, please.
Okay~there were two candles in my box but I already burned one:~) And I had to hold off on using the mini muffin cups until I took the picture. AND~~the girls, Mike, and I watched the entire Martha Stewart DVD last night.

People, I am talking TWO HUNDRED AND ONE MINUTES. We kept ohhhing and ahhing over everything she made. I am telling you I wanted to run down to the turkey farm and get a fresh bird, bring that thing home and do all sorts of stuff to it.

I could almost taste the pumpkin souffle. We were drooling over the garlic mashed potatoes and the sweet potato pie. Even my "I never want a vegetable to touch my lips" daughter was entranced by the Cauliflower with Brown Butter and Roasted Hazelnuts. (that said daughter would be Shelby, by the way:~).

We learned how to make cornhusk dolls and pinecone turkeys. We learned how cranberries are harvested and how to make edible centerpieces.

Ohh I could go on and on. But I think you get the picture. We were entranced by the whole thing. We sat snuggled up on the couch wallowing in domestic bliss. It was wonderful.

Because, ya'll, even though my hubby and I sat there wondering which segments were before or after jail~~Martha rocked it at our house last night.

Thank you, Kris and have a great day!

GIVING THANKS PART 12

Oh. my. word. The last night of the One Vision conference was so awesome!!

The text that the speaker used in the sermon was from Psalm 67:1-7 and it was powerful.

I keep sitting here staring at the screen wanting to say more but I just don't think I could do it justice.

Today I am thankful for:

• the One Vision conference.
• meals at church.
• new doors that God opens.
• old pictures.
• lovely weather.
  

GIVING THANKS PART 11

Today was a strange day. I had a lot to do, of course, it was Monday after all. Some how it became a weird day. I can't put my finger on it.

I had some baking to do because tomorrow is the kid's Thanksgiving feasts at Tutorial. For Trevor, I made Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies at his request. I made some Muddy Chex Mix for the girls. I made Butterscotch haystacks for supper tomorrow night at church.

Plus~school, laundry, making breakfast, lunch, and dinner, cleaning, taking phone calls, etc. etc. etc. So, you see I was productive, I was in a good mood, but was having a weird off day.

Could it be I didn't sleep good last night? Could it be I didn't have my quiet time? (I am leaning toward this explanation) Although, I did have some knee time when reading this situation. I have been following Adrienne, Jim, and little Owen for a while now and I was on the edge of my seat to hear that they were picking up their new little daughter. I am praying for God's Will in the whole emotionally charged decision that has to be made. Please join me in praying for all the people involved in this precious baby's life and that the right thing for her will be done. I want so much to see Adrienne take her home but God knows all and so I am praying the prayer that never fails~God's Will be done.

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and going to Virginia. Hopefully I will have a new niece to cuddle by then. Wooo-hooo.

Today I am thankful for:

• measuring spoons.
• kisses and hugs from my man.
• direct access to God.
• the prayer that never fails.
• sweet preschool voices in class tonight.

GIVING THANKS PART 10

I have not been keeping up with these posts like I wanted to.

Between our normal busyness we have had a bout with a stomach virus. Nice.

We started the One Vision missions conference today and it has been great so far. We had a banquet tonight and we served around 150 people. It was a three course meal and it went off without a hitch.

There were missionaries that spoke at the banquet and we had a wonderful turn out. The only thing we ran out of was tea and Trev made a Kroger run and bought 15 gallons:~)

Mike and I helped in the nursery this morning so we didn't get to hear the speaker. I am sure it was good.

Yesterday the girls helped serve food at a luncheon for the Merry Hearts, our senior adult group. After that they practiced the Christmas play. While they were there Mike and spent some time together. We went and looked at artificial Christmas trees and then we went to REI. It is one of Mike's favorite stores. Then we grabbed lunch at Five Guys. Their burgers are awesome.

Friday the girls had a birthday party to go to so we went to Opry Mills. The party was at Build-a-Bear Workshop and they had a blast. I got to chat with the other mothers for 2 hours. Mike went with us and did some window shopping. After the party we did some actual shopping. Shelby needed shoes and so did I.

Well, I guess I gave you the weekend synopsis backward.

Today I am thankful for:

• missionaries
• babies in the nursery.
• the ability to serve.
• iron that sharpens iron.
• cold weather.
  

GIVING THANKS PART 9

Today I am thankful for:

• returned phone calls.
• recycling.
• my daughter.
• my daughter.
• my son.

GIVING THANKS PART 8

Today I am thankful for:

• good books.
• internet access.
• a nice pot of Corn Chowder with Beef on a cold night.
• freshly laundered clothes.
• laughter at supper time.

GIVING THANKS PART 7

Today I am thankful for:

• paper and pens.
• a stocked pantry.
• Sundays.
• comfy chairs.
• undeserving hugs.

GIVING THANKS PART 6

Today I am thankful for:

• saltines and Ginger Ale.
• movies on DVD.
• warm blankets.
• understanding friends.
• a 17 yr old that was able to go and open a bank account on his own.

As you can tell by that list we have had sickness here today:~) We were supposed to go to our Sunday School class get-together but Mike and Abby have had tummy troubles and I have been feeling like I was going to have them soon.

Thankfully we are on the mend.

Have a super duper weekend!!

GIVING THANKS PART 5

Today I am thankful for:

• the house I live in.
• the cars we drive.
• the grocery store.
• my Sunday School class that we are getting together with tomorrow night.
• being able to share my faith.

In my quiet time with the Lord today these verses stood out to me and I felt compelled to share them.

II Cor. 4:7-10 (ESV) "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; stuck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, may also be manifested in our bodies."

GIVING THANKS PART 4

Today I am thankful for:

• the library.
• my book study tonight. It has been such a blessing.
• the privilege to homeschool my kids.
• Dr. O, the person who fixed Mike's legs.
  
• the health of my family.

GIVING THANKS PART 3

Day after election posts that reflect my heart: go here and here.

Today I am thankful for:

• my hope being built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
• the wonderful assurance of salvation.
• the redemption I have been given.
• the grace (definition~the unmerited love and favor of God toward me and all of mankind)
• the mercy (Romans 5:8~But God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us)

GIVING THANKS PART 2

Today I am thankful to God for:

• my husband who works hard to provide for his family.
• this country where we have the right to vote.
• the ability to hug my children.
• the mail.
• my refrigerator.

GIVING THANKS PART 1

I meant to start this on Saturday but we had a pretty busy weekend.

I am going to try to post things that I am thankful every day til Thanksgiving. If you want to join me leave a comment to let me know.

Today I am thankful to God for:

• warm socks on chilly mornings.
• good friends to sit around a bonfire with.
• a Pastor that speaks the truth from God's Word every Sunday.
• wonderful smells coming from the kitchen.
  
• the ability to smell those things cooking in the kitchen.

TRICKIN' & TREATIN'

Abby posin' at Project Pumpkin

Abby, Shelby, and Mike (the soda jerk)

Shelby and Abby at Trunk-n-Treat at church Sunday night.

We had a blast tonight at Project Pumpkin. The college kids do a real good job every year setting up games and lots of fun stuff for kids to do.

Trevor missed it this year because he had to work and oh, by the way, he DROVE himself to work today. He just called to let me know that he is on his way home. It is exciting to seeing his metamorphosis into manhood.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween. It is late and I am tired from this pleasant day.

Have a humdinger of a weekend. We're going to try our best to achieve one:~)

WEEKEND UPDATE

We have had a really good weekend.

Mike and Trev were on Fall Break from the college and they took time off from work. We were going to go camping but it rained all day on Friday and although we LOVE to camp there are a couple of guidelines we live by:

• we can handle cold weather camping (one year we camped in the Smoky Mtns., in Nov., in thirty degree temps., the kind of cold where when you touch something you can't tell if it is cold or wet~in a tent.)
• we can handle wet (one year we camped in the Smoky Mtns. in April, it rained the entire time we were there, our tent collapsed on all our stuff and drenched everything, we rolled with it and had a great time.
• we have a hard time tenting camping in the rain AND cold with kids it's unpleasant for us and them so we decided to have a staycation. You know where you take time off but stay at home. It was relaxing and refreshing. I recommend it.

We were a wee bit disappointed that we didn't get to camp one more time this year but we still had a good time.

I worked on the girl's costumes and got them done. I can't believe I did it. Woo-hoo! I'll post pictures later.

Our Trunk-N-Treat was tonight and the kids had a ball. There were lots of games and a bouncy thing. We had a pie and chili contest. The kids were great and we had visitors come and participate.

BICYCLE, BICYCLE, BICYCLE

Guess who's learn to ride her bicycle?????????

She's doing better than me~~I didn't learn to ride til I was in the 5th grade. Seriously.

Stop laughing. I was into self preservation back then so I certainly didn't want to fall off a thing with two wheels and hurt myself!!

Laugh if you want but my Dad tried and tried to teach me but I didn't want to do it. Finally, I just got outside and decided to teach myself. I tried and tried and tried and I taught myself on a yellow sunshine bike with a rainbow banana seat.

It was groovy. Really. Groovy.

Peace and love ya'll, peace and love.

RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS ALWAYS GET ME DOWN

Not really. Not usually.

How can I be down when I look out the window and see this precious sight???

They wanted to go outside in the rain and I obliged.

When the rain started getting harder and it started getting cold they decided they were done.

Tonight is my book study and as much as I love it, I would rather stay home, eat the chili I put on earlier, and snuggle up with my hubby on this cool, rainy evening.

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."~~~Emerson

TODAY

Today is the National Day of Remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss.

Angie has a post about it and I was going to write something here about our loss.

But I can't. Without crying.

So~

Lost 4th child Nov. 12, 2007 to miscarriage

Lost 5th child April 14, 2008 to miscarriage

"In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me." Psalm 120:1 (ESV)

SENSATIONAL SATURDAY

Our weather was beautiful today! It was a perfect day for doing things outside.

We cleaned some in the garage.

Mike stained a desk we've had forever. It looks like he brought it back to life. I love it!

He painted an old plastic urn that I found at the church Wednesday night. See, our Sunday School class had a table in it with junk on it AND a hideous plastic tablecloth.

When I went to Goodwill a few weeks ago I found a "tablecloth" that would look perfect on that table. The reason tablecloth is in quotes is it's original life was a shower curtain.

So what!! It was the perfect color to accent our chocolate walls. Well, actually they are beige on top and half way down they are chocolate with a border around it.

Anyhoo, then I found some other things at Goodwill to spruce up the table to make it look better.

Can everyone say Goodwill is our friend?

The urn was just UGLY so Mike painted it black for me and I bought some eucalyptus and wooden thingys at Michaels to go in it. It turned out perfect!!

I used my 40% off coupon.(Love those things!) So, basically between Goodwill and coupons we spiffed up our SS room for around $10.

Now I don't have to stare at that tablecloth on Sunday mornings,willing it to disappear. Especially when we have visitors.

I always think~they probably think we LIKE that hideous thing!!

I'll try to take pictures tomorrow so you can see how pretty it is. Unless we have visitors~~I don't want them to think I'm weird or something~not on their first Sunday anyway:~)

Too bad I don't have before pictures so you can see for yourself the ugliness I've had to endure.

Oh the humanity!

Goodnight all!
Have a great Sunday.

FABULOUS FRIDAY

These pictures are from last summer. Abby looks so cute in the bathtub and I love the picture of them at Chuck E Cheeses. They look so tan and summery:~)

We passed a fender bender today on the way home from Target. Abby said,"Look that car got it's face smashed in!" There you have it, folks!! Hope your weekend rocks!!!

CONFESSION TIME

I may or may not have:

• stayed in my pjs till 5 o'clock yesterday.
• had every intention of cooking supper until I got out of the shower at 5 o'clock and went straight to Bojangles for an 8 piece meal deal.
• let the kids pick what they wanted to do for school yesterday and they picked well~games, reading with Abby on the computer, drawing, "playing school" in their room, Shelby reading a whole chapter book in one day.
• cleaned out from under my kitchen sink.
• straightened our food shelves and rearranged them.
• ordered a couple of books on Amazon for Mike and threw one in for me for good measure;~)
• lost my cool with a certain teenage and took his iphone for a WHOLE day. (oh the tragedy~his attitude did improve though)
• finished decorating the house for fall. (Have I mentioned I LOVE fall!!

Wednesday was good~pjs and all!!

INTERSTING, VERY INTERESTING

I love Voddie Baucham. Not that way, silly!! Although, he is rather cute~not as cute as my hubby (love you, babe) but he is cute~~okay I'm stopping now!!! From the wonderful Bible Study I did over two years ago , The Ever-Loving Truth, he captured my attention.

I read this article and thought I would share it with you all. It is long but very poignant and it is unfolding before our eyes. Please take a moment and read it.

I know, I know~~you are sick and tired of all the dooms day news that has been reported non stop for the last few weeks. I am too!! But, this is relevant to the times we are living in and the public school system.

I'm done now~~get back to work, people!!!

AND THE RAIN KEEPS COMIN' DOWN

###update~I took the music off because it was driving my husband crazy when he gets on at work:~) I will put it back after a hiatus:~))) Also~~we purchased another vehicle so we are back on track with schedules. My brother will be happy to know that we bought a Chevy:~)He loves that bowtie ;~)


We have had blissful rain yesterday and today. It it glorious. We needed it so bad. It has been a long time since we have had any.

That last bullet point from yesterday~I was actually able to pull that off!! After supper the kids cleaned up and I crashed on the couch. When they finished, Shelby and I played checkers and Mike and Abby played Dominoes.

I love to play games but I don't make it enough of a priority to do it. I need too!! We have educational games that we could play as part of school but I am sad to say that I don't work them in as much as I should.

I was telling my SIL about an article I read a couple of months ago and decided to put the link here so you could read it to. Go here and read about being a status symbol if you stay at home. This article talks about women with no kids but I say it applies to us women that are moms too!!

How is it that if you stay at home with no kids it's a status symbol but if you stay at home with kids it's degrading??? I will admit that staying home AND loving it took a while because of the ideas society pushes on girls at a young age. Let's face it Homemakers are not on the list at a Job Fair. They are not in textbooks and they are NOT promoted at school as an option for your future.

I have a friend who said that when she was in school she was asked by a teacher what she wanted to be when she grew up. My friend replied that she wanted to be a wife and mother. The teacher proceeded to tell her that on top of being a wife and mother she needed a career. My friend could have taken away from that conversation that being a wife and mother was not enough~but thankfully her mother taught her differently at home.

Today I am dwelling on the goodness of staying at home and serving my husband and my children.

TODAY'S SCHEDULE

Today's schedule was fairly simple:

• leave home at 8 am for tutorial
• get home at 1pm and grab some lunch
• leave home at 2 pm for Trevor's class
• get home at 4:30 pm and start throwing stuff around for supper
• crash from exhaustion after giving orders for the kids to clean up

The last bullet point hasn't happened yet but I am going to try my best to make it happen:~)

A PSA

Please go read this post over at Baby Bangs. This is Amanda, Beth Moore's daughter.

She really nailed it and I have been really thinking about what she said all week long.

WOW. That about sums it up for me.

QUICK THOUGHTS

Before I run out the door to take Trev to bass class I wanted to blog some quick thoughts:

• I am so glad it is fall and the weather is mild. I love fall mornings.
• I am really loving the Bible Study~Stepping Up by Beth Moore. It makes me think more and dig deeper.
  
• I have also enjoyed a Book Study I am doing at the Bible College~ it is geared toward minister's wives and the book is a real, where I am at book. Love it! (I'm not going to share the title yet cause I have something up my sleeve.
• LOVE Goodwill!!! Best deals!!
• I love the women at my church. They are always looking for ways to reach out to the community and they stretch me in the most blessed ways. Love ya'll!!
• Mike's car has bit the dust~REALLY bit the dust~as in we went to pick it up from the shop because they couldn't fix it without, ohh a bazillion dollars~and the thing wouldn't start! It'll have to be towed home from the shop~now isn't that a hoot:~) Thankfully we have another vehicle that runs and we can share it with only a few adjustments in schedules.

Blessings, pure and simple!!

SUPPERTIME

Tonight we had this recipe and it was DELICIOUS!! We had homemade cheesy biscuits and blueberry delight.

This is for my benefit so I can remember what I fixed and when so that I can remake it if we like it. See my sidebar. I have made a new label specifically for this:~)

Not that you care.

That is the beauty of having a blog.

Nobody has to really care but you:~)

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS MONDAY

I am thankful for:

• the opportunity to stay at home and serve my family.
• the changing of the seasons.
  
• the smells of good things baking in the oven.
• books to read especially my Bible.

Go to Down on the Farm for more Count your Blessings Monday:~)

OH MY~IT'S ALREADY SEPT. 19th

I have been meaning to update this dang blog but every time I have sat down to do it something else has come up.

I have some cute pictures and some really good stories I just need to sit down and post them.

It won't be today:~) Today was grocery day at our house and my parents came in from NC last night so we have been busy.

We went by Target today as part of the aforementioned grocery day. We do not go to Wal-mart any longer even though it is right across the street. Why? Because we don't want to have a stroke in the check out lane from having to wait 45 min to an hour just to PAY. Every time I try to give them one more chance I come away feeling worse than the last time I gave them one more chance. No, I will stick with Kroger, Sam's Club, and Target. Thank you very much:~P

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah~~Target had all their school supplies for 75% off. You may be able to walk away from 5 spiral bound notebooks for 12 CENT but I can't!! That turns out to be 2.4 cents a piece. I don't know about you but I can find 2.4 cent in the parking lot so I basically got those suckers for free!!!!

You can never have too many spiral bound notebooks, can you??? T~am I right??? You know I am right!!!! (T~did you go to Staples like I told you to????:~) I am a homeschooling mama after all:~)

Oh and don't get me started on the rulers for pennies! It was a toss up between those and the scissors. I was actually standing in the aisle debating on whether I could put those scissors in the shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child but I think they might frown upon that. Seeing as how they could be used as a weapon and all. But I was considering it hard.

Ya'll have a good weekend and if I have a minute I will post those sweet pictures:~)

OPA!!!!!!!

We went to the Greek festival today after church. We ate lunch there and it was soooo good!!!

We decided to bring our dessert home because Mike needed to go to bed. He had been up for over 24 hours. I honestly do not know how he does it!!!

We had Baklava (of course!!), flogeres, kataiffi, and saragli. They were all delicious! The bread is Tsoureki~Easter sweet bread.

They had olive oil soap for sale that was $1 a bar. I will use them in gift baskets (and keep at least one for myself). The ingredients are simple: olive oil, citric acid, aqua. It says on the the package "Pure Traditional Soap". I am intrigued and can't wait to try it.

Abby drew me this picture on the white board and she titled it, "God's Love".
Sweet!!!!

BIG GIANT CRAYONS!!!!

Let your teenager loose with your camera and two willing participants and here's what you get:





Those blocks are the Math U See blocks. They were supposed to be doing their school work but as you see they were goofing off!!

FOR MY MOM

Abby with her newly purchased fan on her first day of enrichment class.

Shelby on her first day.

The new building for Shelby and Trevor's music school. This is the library.

This is the beautiful performance hall. The lights were off but you can see how pretty and big it is. I love it!!

The waiting area. It is so much more luxurious than the hand me down couches we have sat on in a tiny room for 4 years at the old school:~)

The reception desk~~no more signing in at a table in a tiny corner of above mentioned room.

This building made me cry the first time I saw it at the open house. It is so wonderful to see an organization that works so hard to provide music lessons for students that would otherwise not be able to afford them get to enjoy such a beautiful facility after years of being crammed into two very old houses. (sorry for the run on sentence~~I can't help it:~) They deserve this and more.

MY COLLEGE MEN

Not really~~but kind of. Trevor has dual enrolled at college and as a senior in high school. He will take English at the college for credit.

So this will be how I send them off three days a week. Mike has classes on Tuesday and Thursday, also. I think this will be good for them. They aren't big talkers so this gives them time together without us big mouth girls around.
They were cracking me up with the looks on their faces. They knew I wanted a good picture so they did this on purpose. Such goof balls!!!!

PAIL AND PRAISE

Remember our plumbing problem?

It is solved and here is how it went down.

At around 7 o'clock after hitting the snooze bar and trying to get a few more zzz's, Trevor and I were jarred out of bed by a lot of banging. I thought Mike was having a fight with his electric razor in the bathroom.

Nope it was the "plumber". I use this term loosely because he is not a licensed plumber from a company that specializes in plumbing. He is an older gentlemen that seems to have nothing better to do than wake up a family at 7 on a Sunday morning.

When I went to open the door he stuck the plug of an extension cord in my face and said, "Find a place to plug this in, will ya?" What?? No good morning??? I was still trying to figure out what he was doing here when he clearly said on Thursday he would be back Monday or Tuesday. Maybe he was feeling guilty about leaving a family of 5 in the lurch on a holiday weekend with them having to resort to drastic measures (revert back to link at top of post:~)

He proceeded to climb under the house with all his tools and start sawing and hacking away. We proceeded to try and get ready for church the best way we could without the aid of a shower. We were ready in record time but the plumber was clearly not in any hurry to be done. We sat in the living room~all 5 of us~ watching CBS Sunday morning and keeping an eye on the clock that was inching closer and closer to Sunday School time.

Finally we knew we weren't going to make Sunday School we set our sights on the 10 o'clock start for worship. I convinced Mike that we could either miss church all together or one of us could go and take the kids. He was a trooper and headed to church.

I sucked up my disappointment and ate some ice cream as a consolation prize while waiting on the plumber to finish. He came in about 15 minutes later and said, "I'm done. Sorry I left you a mess." I, unaware of exactly how big a mess he was talking about, said, "Oh that's okay!!"

Yeah~all was good until I went in the bathroom and OH! MY! WORD! Changed out of my church clothes, got out the cleaners, went and got the mop and bucket, and the IPOD!! Me and Jesus met right there in the bathroom while on my hand and knees on the floor scrubbing that NASTY tub.

It was sweet. It was uplifting. It was just what I needed.

It doesn't matter where you meet with Him, just do it. You won't be disappointed. He'll show up every time!!!

"I will sing of mercy and justice; To You, O Lord, I will sing praises"~~Psalm 101:1

L H on the P

After yesterday's post it would seem we are trying to recreate Little House on the Prairie because today we had to wash the dishes outside~~No Kidding!! Seriously. Due to an unforeseen plumbing problem we are stuck without proper drainage from the sinks and tub until Monday or Tuesday. Since Monday is a holiday I am betting it will be Tuesday. So we are roughing it. (I just heard Shelby say to Abby as they are getting ready for bed, "Let's do it like the people in the olden days. They just washed their faces but on their pjs and went to bed.") Thankfully there is nothing wrong with the drainage of the toilet or a hotel room would be the order of the day!!

Here is Abby carrying the water for rinsing.

Mike drying the dishes sitting on the patio:~)

I was doing the washing and Shelby helped with the rinsing. Yes, that is my dish drain. Ya know the old saying~When life hands you lemons~wash your dishes on the patio:~)

Where is Trevor? Glad you asked~he is the one taking the pictures. He didn't think this little adventure was all that adventurous.


Showers are another story~~no pictures for that!! Just know we are getting clean the old fashioned way~~whatever that means:~)