Birthday Eyebombing

My birthday was earlier this week.  I won't tell you how old I am, but my Little Guy gave me a birthday spanking and stopped when he got to 21 licks.   Man I love that kid!!  

My sweet husband had offered to take the day off work, but I had leadership training for the Winshape day camps all day and then praise team practice during the evening.   I had a crazy schedule for my birthday.   That did not stop my boys from spoiling me.    My boys got up at 6:00 a.m. and made homemade chocolate chip muffins.   I am not kidding when I tell you those were the most delicious muffins I have ever eaten.   AMAZING!    My sweet husband went and got me my favorite coffee from Seattle Drip.    Of course, they each had bought me precious cards with notes written inside. 

But the most creative thing they did was eyebomb me.    If you haven't heard of eyebombing, it is a new fad and it just cracks me up.    Here are just a few pics of places they eyebombed me.   They even included my birthday cake.     I. LOVED. IT!

Thank you, my sweet boys.   You know me best and this birthday just proved it again!!    I love you!

A Prom Dinner To Remember

Saturday night was prom night for one of our local high schools.   It is a tradition for our friends to host prom dinner in their home for the students who want to attend.   Eating a delicious dinner with all your closest friends in a beautiful setting... what could be better than that on prom night?    I worked with some of my sweet friends as waitress/waiters for this special evening.   My friends are amazing at putting together a meal like this.   They transform their home into a restaurant.   Beautiful tables are set up in the living room, sunroom, foyer and library and of course, they use their dining room.    I wish I had photos of the food, but we were too busy serving and taking care of the students to take those photos.      The big beautiful white house is where we took the kids in the limousine before supper to take prom photos.   I can't wait to get those back from the photographer.  

This Week's God Story

Last night after arriving home from choir practice I plopped my exhausted body on the couch and grabbed my computer so I could check our schedule for today before I went to change and crawl into bed.    After jotting down the address for where Big Guy's communication class had been moved to, I started closing down tabs when something caught my eye on facebook.    The headline said this:

"If you ate at the McDonald's on McFarland Drive between February 28th and March 14th, please be vaccinated for Hepatitis A before March 30."

Wait... What?   Quick check of the calendar confirmed my fears.  We had visited that McDonald's when we were driving to Atlanta for Spring Break.   

At first I could not believe it, but then I realized what an amazing God thing it was for me to even see this news headline.   This was a restaurant we ate at in Alabama.  Two weeks ago!  I do not read Alabama newspapers.  However, God provided the link through Facebook so I could see it and get my boys and I vaccinated.  

Now the boys were not excited when I woke them this morning and told them that we had to start the day with shots (and then another one in six months); however, even they realized what an amazing God story this is for our week!

"In All Things Give Thanks!"  1 Thessalonians 5:18

Things That Would Only Happen To Me

My boys consider it a "code red" emergency when there is no milk in the house so I ran to the grocery store last night.    Sometimes I feel like I need to move next door to my friend, Japanese Redneck, and let her teach me how to have a cow to milk we go through so much of it! 

Anyway, since I was there I was walking up and down the aisles grabbing a few other items that we needed as well.    The boys and I are going to be out of town next week and I wanted to make sure hubs has plenty to eat while we are gone.

I walked around the corner and there was a man leaning over his buggy, coughing and very red in the face.    I asked him if I could get him some water or something.

He took a deep breath and said, "No thanks.  Mouth to mouth will do just fine."

Ummm.  Ummm.    I just kept on walking and I heard him say, "What?  You are just going to let me die here?"

File that under, "Things That Would Only Happen To Me".

In Vicksburg for Christmas -- Yes this is LATE

My sweet Little Guy in front of my parent's tree.   He isn't so little anymore!

The sweetest Christmas angels ever playing with the same vintage nativity set that my sisters and I grew up playing with as little girls.

Play Date with My Sweeties

Any time I get to have my sweet nieces over is my favorite day.     They came over right before Christmas and we had so much fun playing with my nativity set and baking cookies.   I hope they had as much fun as I did.

Run As Fast As You Can Gingerbread Man!

Our No Good Terrible Horrible Day

We always spend a week in December with our friends from Atlanta.   We decided since we were already in the mountains, hubs would just drop us off there and we would meet him the next weekend in Birmingham to go home.     It was the perfect plan until...

Somehow in the unloading of luggage my suitcase got left in the car.   I don't know how it happened because hubs and I are both so OCD about things like this.   I think we were both very tired from the intense rain we had been driving in and sleeping in a bed that wasn't the norm.    Regardless of how it happened, about an hour after hubs left I asked the boys to take all of our things upstairs and Big Guy said, "Mom, your suitcase isn't here."    We searched again, but he was right.  

As I was dialing hubs I was so frustrated with myself.    When he answered I told him what happened and he said he would check when he stopped for gas.   A few minutes later he called and said it was in the back.    My first thought was that I would just go to Wal-Mart and buy a few things and  make do for the week.   However, he insisted that he drive it back because all my medicine was in that suitcase and I couldn't without THAT for a week.    We hung up.   I cried.   Then we waited.   

A few minutes later the phone rang.   It was my sister.   She asked where hubs was.  I told her and she said a gentleman had called and he had hubs phone.  WHAT?!?   Apparently when he stopped for gas he accidentally left it there.   We decided the best thing to do was ask him to hold it until hubs got back.  We asked him to ask for photo id before releasing the phone.   We hung up.  I cried.   Then we waited.

About an hour later the phone rang again.   My sweet husband.   He wanted me to know that he lost his phone and he didn't want me to worry in case I called him.    He didn't want ME to worry?   He is the one on the road driving back and he didn't want ME to worry?   Is it any wonder I love this man?

He arrived back at the house and I grabbed him in my arms and told him how sorry I was and he smiled this big smile and said, "It is no big deal.  I am just so thankful that I convinced you not to come meet me on the interstate halfway (which is what I wanted to do).   Since I left my phone behind we never would have been able to find each other."  

He gave me another great big hug.    Gave the boys a great big hug.   Then he sat down on the couch and gathered me in his arms and took a long nap.   

I don't know what the boys will remember about that day, but I hope they remember that they have a Daddy who goes the extra miles to love his family.    

Some People Pay For Water Features

Some people pay to have this type of water feature in their front yard.   Not us.   It just happened naturally.   The good news is that it is not a water main break which is what we feared when we first saw it.   Apparently the underground drain system cannot handle all the water and exploded the pipe producing this lovely fountain.     We have had a LOT of rain lately and knew that our backyard drain system was having a hard time keeping up.   It looks like we are about to do some digging and installation of a larger french drain system.   Doesn't that sound like fun? 

That is NOT the type DIY project I enjoy at all.

Time in the Mountains with Hubs' Family

Right before I started my fasting, we went on a trip with my husband's family to the mountains in Tennessee.   We stayed in a beautiful cabin and enjoyed time playing games, hiking, going to some museums and just relaxing.   Even though I am not really a morning person, I could not resist waking up early each morning to see the sun rise over the valley.  The perfect part was that I could just crawl to the end of our bed and see it from warmth of our blankets from the large picture window.  It was breathtaking!

Out of Hiding

Wow!  Has it been that long since I have been on my blog?   I gave up blogging when our youth pastor challenged us to give up something for our 40 day fast which started back on December 4th.    They say it takes about 30 days to establish a new habit and apparently the habit took hold because I haven't even looked at my blog except to post a required book post or two.  

I hope you are all doing well.     December and January were wonderful months and I will try to update you as I have a few minutes.

However, my sweet husband gave me a Valentine's gift better than chocolate and flowers... he took two days off work to spend with us.    Priceless!

Merry Christmas

Happy Birthday, Jesus

 ¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.
 ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
 ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
 ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2: 1-14

Advent of Activities

I love Christmas.  It is a time to celebrate Jesus' birthday first and foremost.   I also love spending the month focusing on my boys and spending time as a family.

We have planned an entire countdown calendar of events for this month of Advent (in no special order!)

1 - Making gingerbread houses with our friends in Atlanta.
2 -Skating
3 - Christmas Lights in Canton 
4 - Seeing Peter and the Wolf performed by Czech Puppetry Guild
5 - Our church's Christmas program, "The Gift"
6 - Baking Christmas cookies with my sister's family on Christmas Eve
7 - Christmas caroling
8 - Reading our Advent book, Jotham's Journey, every night before bed
9 - Drinking lots of hot chocolate in front of the fireplace
10 - Having a camp out with s'mores and hot dogs in front of the Christmas tree
11 - Adopting a child from the Angel Tree
12 - Volunteering with Salvation Army Angel Tree
13 - Volunteering with the Christmas Village Cafe du Monde
14 - Watching "Elf"
15 - Buy/make the boys an ornament
16 - Invite college kids over for a Christmas pancake supper
17 - Reading all our old Christmas books from when the boys were little
18 - Buy hot chocolate/coffee for one of the Salvation Army bell ringers
19 - Leave a present in the mailbox for our letter carrier
20 - Give out candy canes with "Christmas notes" taped to them to anyone we see at drive-thru windows.
21 - Deliver special treats to my husband and all his staff at work
23 - Play lots of Christmas music



Christmas Eve - Take special treat to fire fighters down the street because it is no fun to be away from your family on Christmas Eve!
Christmas Day - Go to Christmas services and invite someone over to eat lunch with us who doesn't have family in town.

Ready to Hit Pause

I should so be in bed asleep.   Sundays are such long days for me.   However, I am sitting here trying to finish all of the boys' school work.    I really want to go into next week without any schoolwork looming over my head.    I want one full week completely school free.   

I am so thankful that I get to homeschool my boys.   I love the time we get to spend together.   I love the flexibility it allows us.   I love that the boys can fly through an entire chapter in one day if they aren't having any problems or spend three days on one lesson if they are struggling.   

However, it is so much work to plan lessons for two different grades for twelve different subjects every day.    My brain is tired.    I'll admit it.    Biology and Latin are killing me!    All this kingdom and phylum and classification.....  oh my!     I took Latin a LONG time ago in high school.     Every time we do a lesson I remember just how long ago that was.     Why didn't I pay more attention the first time?  

It will be nice to have a Thanksgiving break.   I am looking forward to having two days to just bake and play games with the boys before we leave.     I would love for it to get really cold so we could build a fire and roast hot dogs and marshmallows and play games of Uno.   

I guess I should get back at it.    Just a few more Latin lessons and I can finish grading and get the boys' backpacks filled with schoolwork for after Thanksgiving break.    

After that I am ready to hit pause on all things school!

Trying to Get A Christmas Card Photo

The boys have reached the age where they are not fans of taking photos.     When I told them I really needed to get photos for our Christmas cards the looks on their faces were priceless.     After about five pictures they said, "Are we done yet?"   

The cards are done and at the printers.   I am hoping they will get back before we have to leave for Thanksgiving so I can get them addressed and all ready to send out.    Just one more thing checked off my "to do" list.

Just A Little To Do

Deliver canned goods to local food pantry.
Get Big Guy a new pair of tennis shoes.
Cook food for husband's Thanksgiving office dinner.
Cook food for Gatlinburg.
Wash clothes.
Pack clothes.
Pack games and entertainment for trip.
Finish school assignments before Thanksgiving break.
Grade school assignments.
Refill and Pick Rx from Pharmacy.
Attend a wedding.
Choir rehearsal.
Set hold for mail with the post office.
Church Thanksgiving dinner.
Get car into the shop for tune up.
Find someone to take care of cat and fish while we are gone.
Attend last co-op classes.
Purchase tickets online for events we are attending in Gatlinburg.
Return library books.
Finish Christmas cards.
Get the house clean!!



And my husband wonders why I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off these days???

We Give Thanks

The social networks have been filled with people listing reasons they are thankful this month.   It is sweet to read the things that everyone is thankful for on their statuses.    However, in reality God desires for us to live a life of thanksgiving and gratitude every day.

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.    Hebrews 13:15

It is one of my greatest desires and challenges as a Mom.    The only way to teach my boys the attitude of gratitude is to live it myself.     When I see them being less than grateful for something I stop and wonder, "Are they getting that attitude from me?"     It keeps me on my knees.

Each night as we gather as a family for our family prayer time we have made it a goal to focus on the things God has blessed us with.     We have been writing those things on strips of paper and putting them in our thankful jar.    This is what our jar kind of looked like.... before I accidentally broke it.    I was cleaning and knocked it on the floor.   Cleaning -- it just leads to no good!   *smile*  

I borrowed this picture so you could see what I mean.   Our thankful jar was much like this one.

Anyway, with the strips we have been collecting we will make a garland for the boys' Christmas trees.    I love the thought of them being able to look at their tree and see a list of answered prayers and blessings that the Lord has given us this year.    

I hope that this will help all of us remember the real reason for the season and continually cultivate an attitude of gratitude.    God has blessed us so abundantly and is faithful to us every day.     I never want to fail to thank  Him for those blessings!

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.    Colossians 3:17

Big Football Weekend

Last weekend was a big weekend for football.    The 4H organization gave us tickets to the MSU football game and, of course, LSU and Alabama was playing.     Hubs and Little Guy decided that they would go up to Starkville for the Bulldog's game.    Big Guy and I stayed home for the Alabama game.

Hubs sent me the above picture.    I just love it.   My beautiful niece and my adorable son hanging out and tailgating.    How much do I love these two?    My niece is in the colorguard with the MSU band.   She has really enjoyed being a part of the band.   

A MadCAAP Trick or Treat

Although I am not a big fan of Halloween, this year when one of my adopted "kids" said, "Why don't we go trick or treating and collect canned goods for needy people?"    What an amazing idea!    

I told a group of high school students to just meet at my house and we would canvas as many houses as we could in the trick-or-treat hours.   The group you see in the picture above started in our neighborhood.    I drove my van around as they divided up into little groups and went from house to house.      As they gathered cans they would put them into the back of the van.     I loved seeing their faces as they came back from collecting cans.

We started at 6:00 and finished about 8:30.     That seems like a lot of time, but it really isn't when you are walking from house to house knocking on doors and waiting on people to find canned goods for you.    It did not seem like we were able to go a lot of houses; however, we were really excited about the number of cans we were able to collect.   One sweet man didn't have any canned goods but gave us a monetary donation.   So sweet!

We are donating our canned goods to MadCAAP.   MadCAAP is the Madison Countians Allied Against Poverty.    Last year they prepared 750 Thanksgiving meal boxes for needy families in Madison County (where we live).    This year they are planning for at least that many again.    The deadline to have these boxes completed is November 14.    Their needs list to finish these boxes consist of:

• cans of corn
• boxes of instant potatoes
• cans of sweet potatoes
• boxes of stuffing mix
• donations to cover the cost of turkey and rolls

Here is the link to MadCAAP    If you live in Madison County, you can make a PayPal donation through their link while you are there.

If you don't live in Madison County, I am sure that there is an organization very much like MadCAAP in your community who is preparing for Thanksgiving and could use your generous donations right now too.