Words for Wednesday

Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the snot out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Donuts and Spaghetti

Yea, its Friday!! This has been a busy week! Here's just a few blurbs about our week.

I went for the second week to a yoga class (laughing now I know). My friend Angie teaches it and I have really enjoyed it. 90% of what we do are the same exercises I did with the physical therapist last fall when I had my herniated disc.

Monday night Annamarye and I went to a Heritage Girl meeting. Heritage girls are the "girls" of Boy Scouts. I always thought Girls Scouts were part of Boy Scouts, but they are not affiliated at all. Annamarye was a little timid at first, but then saw a couple of girls she knew from school. I think we will give it a try. I like the Christian beliefs and the community service projects that they do.

The snails are driving me crazy!!! We had more eggs on Thursday and Friday! This time they weren't on the inside of the lid. We suspected it and so I looked and this time they were under the edges. Today I had to remove the entire lid to get to them. We are going to have to get rid of one of them. Anyone want a snail?

This morning we started our day with a little breakfast trip to Daylight Donuts! It was the happening place ~ we saw three teachers there. Here's the gang:

Everyone enjoyed their donuts, but on the way to school James said his stomach hurt. He said he was fine when I dropped him off. But, three hours later I got the phone call from the school nurse. James had gotten sick. Neither one of my kids are sick very often. I picked him up and we stopped by Publix and got some Sprite and soup, then headed to Blockbuster and got a few movies and a wii game. So far he is fine! He never had a fever and hasn't been sick or felt sick since. Thank goodness! We are enjoying our Mom-son time together!

On a completely different note, I wanted to share this spaghetti sauce recipe. It is sooo good. I got it from a friend of mine and it is actually her Grandmother's recipe.

1 pound browned ground beef

1/2 chopped medium onion (brown with the meat)

1 can diced tomatoes (can use Rotel if you like it spicy)

1-2 garlic buttons or 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 small can tomato paste

2T Worcestershire Sauce

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 cup water

2 bay leaves

Mix all ingredients and put in a crock pot. Cook on low all day or a minimum of 4 hours.

It is yummy!

Words for Wednesday

Truth is not determined by the volume of the voice.

Chinese Proverb

Snails!

Happy Birthday to my dear Father in Law! His birthday was Thursday so we celebrated with an Edgar's cake of course!

James had his 2nd flag football game this morning. Last week he played OK. His team, the Cowboys lost. Today they won and James played great! Get this - they won 1-0! I sent a text to a friend and she thought I meant 1 touchdown. No, I mean 1 point! James plays on defense and he pulled a ton of flags! The other team didn't get one first down! It was 0-0 at the end so it went into overtime. Each team has a chance to score and go for 1 or 2 points. The other team tried first and failed. The cowboys went for 1 point and made it!

I meant to introduce you a few weeks ago to Sunshine

and Darth. Can you guess who named who? or whom? not sure. Anyway, these are two snails that are suppose to help clean the tank. Now, I admit they do help keep it clean and are fun to watch. However about 2 weeks ago I noticed Darth literally chasing after Sunshine. Then I saw a little suspicious activity going on.

Wednesday this is what I found when I went to feed the fish:

The lady at the pet shop said it was possible and they would lay their eggs near the top. She said just scoop it out and flush it, which is what I did. I don't know why, but I thought it would be hard, but it was soft and squishy - yuck!

Then....

when we got home today from James' game this is what we found:

More eggs!! I can't believe it! Can you have a snail fixed?


Going to watch football - lots of great games on today!

Roll Tide!!

Words for Wednesday

Truth is not determined by the volume of the voice - Chinese Proverb

Never make someone a priority in life that treats you like an option.

In God's Time

Oh my Gosh!! Talk about proving a point! Long story short - last year James "lost" his iPod touch. We actually weren't sure if he lost it or if I put somewhere (taking it away from him) and just couldn't find it. After looking everywhere, and I mean everywhere, we decided it was gone. He got a new one and life went on.

A year later....

this morning I decided to straighten the kitchen junk drawer and what do you think I found shoved in the back? You got it - his iPod touch!! I can't tell you how many times last year I searched that drawer and it wasn't there. Don't get me wrong, I am the guilty party here! I was the one that lost it. But there is no doubt in my mind God did not allow me to find it last year.

I was supposed to find it this morning. It reaffirms to me that God is in control and things happen according to his timing!

Happy Tuesday!

New Attitude

I begin this post with a much better attitude than my last post!! Actually, I feel better physically, emotionally and most importantly spiritually than I have in a very long time! Wow, I know that is a huge change over a 4 day time period! Grab a cup of coffee and I'll tell you all about it!

I want to begin by telling you I absolutely love going to church!!! I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it feels to be able to say that. This time last year I had to force myself to go out of setting an example for my children. It had nothing to do with a change about God. To be honest with you I couldn't stand the preaching. I was really torn because I loved the preacher! I thought and still do think he is a great human being, a wonderfully devout Christian and man of God! I think he truly believed in what he preached. That is why it was so difficult. He thought the changes he was making were for the best. But it divided our church and many, many long time members left. My husband sings in the choir and our children loved it and we loved our Sunday School class, so we were determined to stick it out. I am so glad we did!!

In June we were assigned a new Pastor, we our Methodists, and if you aren't familiar with Methodist churches, the Pastors are assigned by the conference, not hired by the individual churches. Pastor Kip Laxson is absolutely fabulous! He is without a doubt the best Preacher I have ever heard! He is funny, entertaining, and enjoyable to listen too. But more importantly, he preaches the word of God. His sermons are scripture based and encouraging. If you are in the North Shelby County area, please come and hear him preach! If not, you can listen to his sermons online. Go to www.asburyonline.org . I download them all the time and listen.

So, why did I just tell you all of that and what does it have to do with my previous post. I truly believe in God stories, times where God intervenes in our lives. We just have to be open to these moments and watch for them. I think my first experience was before my Mother passed away in 1993. I was teaching school and one of my co-workers became my friend. I made and still are friends with many people I worked with, but you know the person. It isn't someone I would ordinarily become close with. She shared some books with me about Angels. I read them and was very moved. We had many discussions about Angels and heaven. Not long afterwards, my Mother became ill and passed away. Looking back I saw where God was preparing me for the death of my Mom.

I am not going to go into details about recent events in my life, but I will say that a family member has said some very mean things to me and made some very mean and untrue accusations. I have provided proof that I have done nothing wrong. I have shed many many tears recently and have basically been at a lost for words. Emotions have run high with everyone involved and I have been guilty myself of reaching my breaking point and lashing out. I have apologized for this behavior.

Last week during my turmoil I received an email prayer request from our former Sunday School teacher regarding her nephew. Brucie was mentioned quite often in our lessons so as soon as I saw his name I prayed for him, but didn't take the time to read the entire email. Now I know why. I pulled it out Friday afternoon when I was at a very low point and read it. It was amazing how it spoke to me and I truly believe I was meant to read it at that moment. When I read this verse I felt a wave of relief!

1 Peter 5:10 (New International Version)
10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

I knew God was speaking to me through his word and I had a feeling that things were going to be OK.

Another great verse a dear friend sent me that has brought me great comfort is:

Proverbs 3:5-6 (New International Version)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

To be Continued.....

Now on the lighter side. Just a few pictures of what has been going on around here:

The kids helped Johnny put out mulch. Helped until the neighbor girls came over to play that is! I absolutely love the smell of fresh mulch!

James' school had a Back to School Splash! I worked his classroom's inflatable for a while and then the kids had a blast hanging out with their friends getting wet!

Johnny and his Dad and a few others played at the church's ice cream social. That is Pastor Kip in the center. He joined in for a song!

Here's Annamarye and her good friend Audrey playing hair salon! Audrey spent the day hanging out with us. They played and played and then we took a little yogurt break and checked out Yogurt Twists down the street. It was yummy! I can see us going often!

Random Thoughts

I always wondered why people went on talk shows and gave magazine interviews after being mis-treated or done wrong. Now I know ~ they want to clear their name and share their side of the story. When you feel attacked you want to tell your side of the story. Even though you know the truth will come out. It is very tough going day by day waiting for that time to come.

You may have guessed by some of my "Words for Wednesday" I have been going through a tough time. I never thought I would use the words " at the advice of my lawyer" but that is now a reality. I have done nothing wrong. Until recently I haven't even shared what has been going on with my close friends, because I didn't want to say anything to make anyone else look bad. But I can only hold it in so long. I am not going share any details here yet, but I am asking for prayers for everyone involved. God knows everyone involved in the situation!

I keep asking myself what lesson am I supposed to be learning from all of this. Unfortunately the lessons aren't positive ~ they are don't trust people, get everything in writing, document everything, never believe people will do what is right etc. However with that said, I can say I am so appreciative of my sweet husband and dear friends that I have confided in and the support they are giving me!!

Hopefully the end is soon!

Words for Wednesday

Sticks and Stones may break my bones

But words hurt too!

Busch Gardens

I promise this is the last set of pictures from our Virginia Beach trip! One day we went to Busch Gardens. It was a blast! I tend to compare everything to Disney, (we absolutely LOVE Disney!). This was our 2nd time to go to Busch Gardens and it was a lot of fun! The last time was 4 years ago, so this time we could ride more things since the kids were older.

When we first got there we saw these characters:

I made the kids get their picture taken! Actually I had to pay them each to let me take their picture. They used to love Sesame Street, but of course are at that age where they can't be seen with the characters! We never saw Elmo, or I would have had forked out some more money for a another picture!

Below is a picture of us after we rode the water ride. I can't remember the name, but it was so much fun! We got soaked! And I mean soaked! You sit in a round boat and it spins around as it goes down. There are times where you basically have water just poured on you! They have these booth type areas where you can pay to "dry" off. We did it, but it really didn't do much good.

This was one of those fair type rides that spins around. We rode these several times! It was one of Annamarye's favorites!

Another all time favorite ~ the bumper cars!

Roll Tide Roll

A friend posted this on facebook. It was just too good not to pass along! Roll Tide!

NEWS ALERT NEWS ALERT!!! Auburn practice was delayed for 2 hrs yesterday after a player reported finding a white substance on the field. Practice was suspended while federal agents were called in. After a complete analysis, experts determined that the white substances unknown to the player was the goal line!!! Practice... was resumed after the agents decided the Tigers were unlikely to encounter the substance again.