Thanksgiving Day

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We spent the day at my sister, Renee and brother in law's house in Clanton. My in laws were able to go with us this year. Renee and Doug live way out in the country off of a dirt road on 25 acres. We all love going there, but the kids especially love it! There are lots of bikes and scooters to ride as well as the golf cart. James is now old enough and tall enough (leaning forward he is!) to drive the golf cart.

Here's James driving with my brother in law Doug.

Renee and Doug's new toy is this go-cart! We all loved it! Doug and Renee have been working on a "safari" for the kids. They made a path to ride with lots of animals along the way to spot. There were chickens, deer, owl, lots of birds and I can't remember what else. When I was driving I was concentrating on my driving. When Johnny was driving, I was hanging on for dear life!! His driving is scary! My sister's driving isn't much better!

Renee and James headed out for a spin.Johnny and James

Johnny and Annamarye

A while back Doug and Renee had given my Dad a pellet gun. After he died they took it to their house and are saving it to pass it along to James when he is older. But, while we were there Doug gave James some lessons and let him practice shooting it. James did great!! He hit the target every time!

Thankful for the Thorns

Are you thankful for the thorns in your life? I am thankful, but not always welcoming. Those of you that know me well, know it has been a rough 6 months. I actually thought yesterday on my way home from getting the stitches out of my head that I feel better - physically and mentally/emotionally - than I have in a long time. While there are some things that have happened that I definitely would not have chosen, I can see good things that have come to pass because of them.

I mentioned the other day a story I was trying to find last year and wasn't able. Here it is: http://reigninggifts.com/GodStories-BlessingsOfThorns.htm It is definitely worth reading!

Happy Thanksgiving!

God Moments

Do you have God moments? I do. Some people call them God coincidences. Some people just call them coincidences. I believe they are God moments. Moments where God lets you know that he is there. You have to look and watch for them and be open to accept them. But they are there.

For example, last year about this time, our regular Sunday School teacher was out and someone else from our class filled in. She shared a wonderful story with us she had read on the Internet. I had read the story before. (I'll share it later this week). Anyway, I loved the story and went home and searched the Internet for it. I tried every possible search I could think of but never found it.
If you read this blog regularly or know me, you know I have been through a lot recently. About 2 weeks ago I thought about that story and decided to try searching again. I thought it would be great to share on this blog for Thanksgiving. My God moment came when I searched the Internet. Last year I tried and tried and couldn't find it. This time I found the story on the very first search! The timing was perfect - I really needed to reread that story at this time in my life.

In Sunday School, Jaima was filling in again and I shared that story with her. She smiled and said that that was what the lesson was on - God moments!

Have a great week and I hope you have lots of God moments! Please email me and share them with me!

For Better or For Worse

WARNING: Really GROSS pictures below!

I dearly love my husband! I am so blessed to have a husband that takes such wonderful care of me! He has really been tested lately with the "For Worse" part of our wedding vows. He is probably thinking I know I said "For better or for worse", but this is more than I bargained for! LOL

Johnny was very supportive during my Father's brief illness and death. The past several months have continued to be topsy-turvy for our family. We are all very routine people in my family. None of us like change or drama. We function best when things just simply go along a normal pattern. In one of my Bible studies last year, someone described life as either dealing with struggles, just getting over or through a struggle or enjoying the time in between. For a long time I was enjoying the time in between. I now feel like I am caught in one struggle after another.

In August and September we really started working on cleaning out my Dad's house. I have always had back pain - probably all of those years of twisting and turning during my baton twirling days. Anyway, this was much worse and I began having spasms down my left leg. Long story short, I have a herniated disc in my back. I had an epidural pain block and have been to physical therapy. It is much better now, pretty much back to normal. The doctor said it could take 6 months or more to completely heal. Johnny and the kids were really great during that time helping out.

Before I was completely over that, I had to deal with another ailment. I felt a small sore on the back near the crown of my head. A few weeks ago I went for my 6 month check up with the dermatologist. Actually I was scheduled to go in July but it was rescheduled for August due to her vacation. I ended up cancelling - just couldn't make it. It's funny how God's timing for everything is just right.

Anyway, I went and pointed out the spot and she took a biopsy and of course it comes back basal cell carcinoma, a slow growing form of skin cancer. I went through something similar almost 2 years ago with a spot on my forehead. My regular dermatologist sent me to a different dermatologist to do what they call Mohs surgery on Tuesday. Last time since it was on my forehead I had to have a plastic surgeon stitch it up(51 stitches). This time the dermatologist was able to stitch it up. Everything went well and I have just been taking it easy for a few days. No lifting, bending etc.. I go back next Tuesday to have the stitches removed.

I have posted a couple of pictures below. I warn you they are not pretty. The first picture is one I took with my camera while I was waiting on the doctor to look at it and decide if he was going to stitch it up or send me somewhere else. The next picture Johnny took at 4:00 in the morning the next day. He had to leave early that morning, but I needed it cleaned before he left.

I am sharing these to stress the importance of sunscreen! My kids haven't seen the pictures (from this time and of my forehead) before it was stitched up. I didn't want to scare them too much. They have seen my head stitched up and I tell them this is why I coat you down with sunscreen!

On a side note, if you ever have a spot and are going to have it removed, get your hair colored and cut beforehand! With my forehead I didn't do that and had to go a couple of months without getting my hair done! This time the day I got the results I called and changed my appointment to get it done before last Tuesday!

Ok, here's your last chance to turn away.

Our Weekend

We had a great weekend all things considering. Friday was my Dad's birthday. He would have been 75. Saturday, was the anniversary of my Mom's death. She passed away in 1993. Renee, my sister took the day off and we spent it together. We ran some errands and went to the Briarwood Christmas shop and then out to lunch. We ended up having a fun day!

James went and spent the night with a friend Friday night, so Annamarye had a friend over here to spend the night. The girls had a blast. They played outside for a while and then inside played Barbies, painted fingernails and toenails, more Barbie playing. They had pizza and popcorn and watched a little TV. After I read them a story they finally settled down and went to sleep around 9:45. But they were up bright and early the next morning!

I didn't get any pictures so I decided to just post this football picture of James because it's no fun without a picture!

Fun Day!

We had a really good day today! The kids were out of school for Veteran's Day. While I am very appreciative to all the Veterans out there, I wasn't about to tackle going downtown for the parade. So we headed to the park instead - the park is called Veteran's Park. That should count for something.

We started our day by sleeping a little later this morning and while the kids took it easy I did a little bit of cleaning. Annamarye's friend Tyler came over around 10:30. Around 11:30 James' friend Daniel came over and we headed to the park. We meet several friends there and saw lots of friends! Annamarye and Tyler played on the playground while the boys played football.


We took our lunches for a picnic. The girls couldn't wait to eat the cookies we made this morning.

Here's the boys playing football. It was great, everyone played well and got along!

Our time at the park ended with a treat from the ice cream man!

We took Tyler home and Daniel came home with us. The boys played wii for a while and then we all played outside until around 4:30. Everyone should sleep well tonight!

Halloween!

We had a wonderful Halloween! On Friday for school the kids were able to dress up. Here's the kids that morning. James was all into being Tom Brady! Annamarye was excited about being Fancy Nancy. Although she is funny about dressing up - she didn't want to wear her crown or color hair strips. She did love her sun glasses with the jewels on them!
Here's Johnny and Annamarye carving her pumpkin. Annamarye liked cleaning it out. James wanted no part of it. He usually pulls out one scoop of the insides. This year he didn't even do that. We toasted the seeds and have been fighting over them ever since!

Here's the kids with some friends before Trick or Treating! The Murrays have a driveway party every Halloween. Everyone brings snacks to share and they grill hotdogs. After trick or treating everyone stops back by and roasts marshmallows and makes smores. It was a crazy night, but so much fun!