Random Things That I Love.....

In celebration of Thanks-living Week....

1. I love fall colors. Those are the colors that I look best in. My clothes, my house, my hair even, all fall.

2. I love Sonic Strawberry Cream Slushes. I will get one anytime I have a long drive ahead of me. I will turn on my favorite music from my #2 man and sip away at the cold yumminess. It's a little piece of heaven reserved just for me...and Tim McGraw.

3. I love David's big gray sweatshirt. It is HUGE on me....perfect for snuggling in. (He likes that I wear it too! ;) )

4. I love Google. I GOOGLE everything. From some new "ailment" that I have to anyone that I have ever known....it's been Googled.

5. I love fun panties. Life is too short to wear granny panties....to clarify: just brightly colored...no "weird stuff."


6. I love Tatum's giggle. When Tatum gets tickled, she has this little baby giggle. We don't hear it very often, but when we do....it takes me back.

7. I love putting my cold feet on a warm David at night. This may sound terrible, but I think in some small way, he likes it. It's just one of those "little things'' that we just do. I hope I always have a warm David to warm my ice-feet at night.

8. I love to sing praise songs with LOTS of people. Is there anything better than worshiping our God with others...in song? My heart overflows and it comes out my eyes...every time. It makes me miss the squeak of my chapel seat.

9. I love that Eden sucks her thumb....still. Okay, I know most of you are thinking...'She will have buck teeth!!" Well, no, she doesn't. It's the weirdest thing...she doesn't actually suck her thumb. She licks it...in her mouth. I love to watch her when she sleeps. Her little chin moves just like it did when she would nurse as a baby. It brings back those bonding memories for me. I know one day she will have to quit, but for now, I think it's cute.

10. I love to talk to myself in the mirror. Okay, I am telling on myself..but I do. Everyday when I am blow drying my hair and putting on my make-up, I am thinking of possible conversations that I might have that day...and I talk. Lots of awkward situations have probably been avoided because I have "rehearsed" in the mirror. I am thankful for the trial run.

What are your random loves?

All together now......(((SIGH)))

This is my new favorite book, movie, and dream! I wonder where Edward was when I was 17?

Three years ago a friend of mine handed me the Twilight book to read. She told me that I would fall in love with the main character and that I HAD to read it. I asked her what it was about and she told me vampires. "Whatever." I thought. I am NOT reading this book. So, I did the polite thing and took it, let it ride in my car for two weeks and then tried to give it back. She asked me afew questions and realized that I didn't read it. She told me she wasn't going to take it back until I read at least a little bit of it. I agreed. I read the first two chapters and was hooked....bad.

I spent the next three years waiting for the next books to come out. Only to read them in one day. (Did I mention that they are each over 500 pages?) Then I heard that a movie was being made....holy moly.

Well the day finally arrived...opening night of Twilight. And yes, I was one of the weirdo people that stood in line for HOURS to get tickets. 6 hours to be exact. I got to the theatre at 12:30pm and at 6:15pm they finally opened the doors and announced that there were only 70 tickets left for the late show. Lindsay, my mom and I rushed the ticket counter and got 3 of the final tickets!!!! VICTORY! We had to create the "human wall" from all the smitten 13 year olds. It was fun.

The movie was 2 hours long and I promise it only felt 10 minutes. I am excited for it to be out on DVD. ( I WILL own it.) I recommend it to everyone....

Warning: It is full of vampires and geared towards adolescents....but keep an open mind..it's great! And boyfriends and husbands WILL get jealous...how can they live up to a guy who is fast, good looking, rich, strong and spending eternity trying to read your mind and give you everything you ever wanted? :)

Go see it!

What I've Been Up To!

So, Christmas time is especially busy for me. I get lots of requests for tote bags, purses and diaper bags. This year is no different. In the last 3 weeks I have made 38 bags, 4 tuffets, 9 baby blankets, 10 pillows, 3 table runners and panels of curtains for 14 rooms. I have been a very busy lady. I love to do it though, I am a crafty girl for sure and would quite possibly die if something ever happened to my hands. It's such an awesome outlet that I thank God for all the time. I am blessed to be able to make money doing what I love and still be able to be a stay at home mom! Yeah GOD! :) I'm blessed for sure!

Scratch it off the List of Places to Go Ever Again

I have debated for a week whether or not to post about an experience I had at the Hearing Center last week. It is HORRIBLY embarrassing, but I decided that it's too funny not to share.

We had been noticing for some time that Tatum was having a hard time hearing out of her right ear. So, I took her to the doctor, and he recommended that we have her hearing tested at Triplet Hearing Center in Clinton. So, I made the appointment.

About and hour before her appointment I had eaten a few donuts. (Those of you on Face Book may recall the status update regarding donuts! :)) They didn't sit will in my stomach, but nothing that I couldn't handle.

I went and picked Tatum up from school and we made our trek across town to the Hearing Center. We got there early so I could fill out all the paperwork. While I was filling it out, I got really nauseated, so I grabbed a cup of water from the water cooler. I sipped water, cup after cup after cup, hoping that I would feel better, but no luck.

When they called us back to the exam room, I felt better when stood up. I decided then, that I wasn't going to sit down. While in the exam room , I felt a little queasy so I excused myself to go to the bathroom. No excitement there so I went back to the exam room.

When I get back into the room, the doctor asks Tatum what she is supposed to put into her ear. It's a trick question, you aren't supposed to put anything in your ear. Did I know that? NO, I look stupid and say, "Only your finger!" The doctor says, "No, mom, only your elbow!" He proceeds to talk about how you can put your finger in your nose, your mouth and eyes..."You can dig in those only...not your ears!" He, without taking a breath, then looks at Tatum and asks, "What does your daddy do?"
Tatum, still on the "digging" conversation, looks puzzled and answers, "Digs in his bottom?"

I could die.

The doctor got a really big laugh at that.

When it's time to go to the hearing test room, we all trek to the back of the office. Meanwhile, my sick stomach is getting worse. We are almost done with the test, and it hits me like a load of bricks....I am going to throw up. I bolt out of the room mumbling something along the lines of..."gonna puke...." I made it about half way down the hall to the bathroom, and realize that I am NOT going to make it to the front of the building. I decide to go back to the room that we were in first because there was a trash can in there. So I dart into the exam room, only to trip over the doctors stool and land on my stomach....and roll across the room....while throwing up on EVERYTHING!!!! I tried to get to the trash can, but it had one of those pop-up lids....that wouldn't work. (Can you picture it? Are you laughing yet?) So, I manage to hit just about everything in the office. I turn to look at the door and there stands Eden.....with the most disgusted look on her face. I tell her to close the door. She takes off and I hear her tell the doctor, "My mom threw up on the WHOLE office!!!"

At this point I am frantically looking for paper towels and spray!! Luckily, I found some under the sink. I DID in fact get the exam room cleaned up. But it took awhile. I didn't want to come out, but I figured that the doctor had been babysitting my kids long enough. When I did finally come out of the exam room, the doctor and receptionist were talking about me being sick....they thought I was pregnant. I assured them it was donuts,not a child, that made me sick.

So, a review:
*Tatum tells said Doctor that David "digs in his butt" for a living.
*Bethany pukes ALL over the exam room.
*We will never again be able to go to Triplet Hearing Center.....ever.

The End

I Heart Your Blog!!!

I was tagged by Stacy Stacy! I tag anyone who would like to participate!

1. Where is your cell phone? counter
2. Where is your significant other? ditch :)
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? clone
5. Your father? fabulous
6. Your favorite thing? Shopping
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your dream/goal? happy
9. The room you're in? living
10. Your hobby? Making
11. Your fear? Kidnapping
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
13. Where were you last night? bed
14. What you're not? motivated
15. One of your wish-list items? HOUSE!!!
16. Where you grew up? Florida
17. The last thing you did? Sew
18. What are you wearing? Jeans
19. Your TV? HGTV
20. Your pet? Kids :)
21. Your computer? Drug
22. Your mood? Spacy
23. Missing someone? Lots!
24. Your car? Trailblazer
25. Something you're not wearing? Gown
26. Favorite store? HobLob (Me too!)
27. Your summer? Hot
28. Love someone? Always
29. Your favorite color? Red
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Monday

Spelling Test!!!

Tonight at dinner David was quizzing Tatum on her spelling words. After she successfully spelled all her words, he was picking objects out for her to spell....chair, plate, fork,etc....

Eden decided that she wanted to join in the fun too! She said, "Tatum, spell CUP."
Tatum thought for a moment and then said, "C-U......"
Eden decided that she too could spell CUP, so she repeated, "C-U....IN the morning!!!"

We all had a nice laugh.

I could only think of Billy Madison when he is in school and trying to spell "couch."
"R-....you going to the mall later?"

Eden: Nursery Rhyme Queen

Eden has come home the last few weeks of school reciting nursery rhymes. We always thought it was really cute, but yesterday was the funniest of all.

We had just finished dinner and she was "supposed" to be brushing her teeth while I cleaned up the dishes. David was helping Tatum work on her spelling words so I was listening to that.....
Then , out of nowhere, Eden pops out of the bathroom with toothpaste foam still on her face, and with the most serious of faces says,

"There was an old lady who lived in a shoe, she had so many children she didn't know what to do.
She gave them all broth without any bread, whipped them all soundly and put them to bed."

She then proceeded to dart out of the room just as quickly as she entered. David, Tatum and I rolled. I couldn't quit laughing. And that was just about the end of Tatum's spelling word practice!

If I can figure out how to download a video, I will! (I'm not computer savvy! :))

The One that Got Away!

I don't typically consider myself as the hunting type. Never been a huge fan of camo, unless it was pink. I don't fancy sitting in the woods with a gun NOT talking for hours at a time, just in case a deer walks by. Not my cup of tea.

However, today my blood started pumping as I saw that buck in front of me. It was literally only 3 feet in front of me. He had a head FULL of antlers....I didn't count the points but there were more than several. He was a huge buck and I was anxious. How fun to have my first deer a massive one. I would have definitely mounted the head and hung it over my fireplace...even though I'm not into that type of thing. It would be a real topic of conversation.

Much to my amazement....he got away. And I remained in control of the car and kept on driving.

Van Buren County Fair

Tatum's class did a unit on farm animals. It just so happened that the county fair was going on at the same time. (Coincidence? I think not.) So, the first graders went to the fair to see the animals.

Eden and I chaperoned. :)

While we were there we saw the pigs, cows and sheep. The sheep were Eden's favorite. The different owners dressed them in spandex "suits.." Eden got so tickled she could hardly contain herself. They looked like they were ready to go participate in a bike race! :)

The kids also got to be a part of a "Day at the Farm" exhibit. It's actually really cute. When they walk in the fence, there is a lady that directs them to the "chicken coop." (Actually: fabric chickens with plastic eggs under them.) Then they get to go pull carrots. (Actually: carrots buried in a bucket of dirt) Then off to the orchard. (Actually: plywood trees with cups on them with plastic apples and oranges in them.) They go through several more little booths and then they get to "milk a cow" and "ride a horse."

All in all, it was a great day.

House Update!

This is the landing at the top of the stairs. We are going to make a little sitting area with bookshelves. This was an afterthought. Because I have never designed a whole house before, I underestimated the size of a "landing." This one could double as a small room! :)

This is the living/dining room view from the kitchen. If you'll notice, the fireplace is framed up in the center of the room as a divider. It goes all the way to the roof (about 15 feet?).

This is MY closet! :) Enough said! I love it! There is a 6ftx6ft window in it...only because we were trying to balance out the windows in the front...but BONUS for me!

This is the front of the house. They are still working on the porch. (There are 2 dormers.)

This is another view from the front. We still have lots of clearing to do with the trees, but we need to get the wood from the ones we have already cut under control first! :) Who knew?



Well, stay tuned! I will post more pictures when I get them! These were taken this afternoon, so these are THE most up-to-date that I have! I am getting more excited as the days go by. We are hoping to be in the house by December. It's going to be a hustle to do it, but I am motivated! :) It's officially been one year "homeless." I am ready to be in my OWN house. :)

My Normal?

A fellow blogger had a post about her normal...thought it was cute so I am stealing it! :)

My normal :

wake up at 6:30am (school day or not!)
Get mad because David can sleep through running and screaming kids and I can't.
Get over it because I love him.
Feed Eden waffles with "sYrUP"
Try to get Tatum to eat something that's not Sprite and chips
( she has only gotten away with it once!)
Kiss everyone off to school.
Do the "I have four hours to myself whatever will I do" dance.
Pick up laundry
pick up breakfast dishes
Facebook
Myspace
Check blogs
Back to Facebook
Get showered and dressed
Go to Walmart
Drive by the land and look at house...get excited!
Go get Eden from school
Call David
Eat lunch-something Suzanne Somers wouldn't croak about!
Eden's nap time
Facebook
Email
Facebook again
Sit in Tatum's car line and wonder how much people actually got done today.(Some look like they just rolled out of bed....at 3!!)
Wonder if I got enough done to call it a productive day.
Fix dinner (sometimes)or go out to eat!
Homework- ugh.
Bedtime!!!
Do it all again tomorrow!

Weekend:
Church
Curriculum
sewing
scrapping
football game when they are at home
working at the land
Walmart


Anyway, I am Normal I guess.....what's your normal?

"I'm Walking!!"

This morning, Eden woke up a little left of center. She didn't want to wear anything SHE had, she didn't want anything for her snack that we had in the pantry, she didn't want what I fixed for breakfast, she didn't want to brush her hair with the only brush that we could find, she didn't want to wear shoes that matched...but the funniest thing of all was she DID want to WALK to school.

Now, to some that might not be a big deal. However, we live far away. It takes us 30 minutes (ONE WAY!) to get there. Without even a hesitation, David and I called her bluff and told her to start walking. So she did.

About 3 minutes passed and Tatum was going NUTS! She was so worried that someone was going to "pick her up" that she went running out the door screaming for Eden to get back in the house.

(At least I know that my "Stranger Danger" brainwashing is working...well at least on Tatum!)

Eden came back to the house waiting for us to lecture her. But, we didn't. She found reasons to stay. Bathroom, brush her teeth...again, make her room up and to try and convince Tatum to walk with her.

When David announced that it was time to leave, she took off running in a dead sprint down the drive way. I watched from the window until I couldn't see her anymore. David followed behind in the car. I have to admit that my stomach was a little floppy. My "Stranger Danger" brainwashing has convinced me too that there are NO good strangers! :) I had to call David and make sure he was still following her....he told me he wasn't stupid, and that she finally did get in the car.

I think that we threw her for a loop by calling her bluff. Next time...I say she walks the whole way. (6-10 miles....David and I can't agree how far it actually is!)

What a morning!

Put a cork in it!

When David and I went on our cruise we had a bottle of wine with dinner during the Captain's Dinner. Well, I save all sorts of stuff for scrapbooking, and it just seemed natural to save the cork. Days later, Tatum found it and asked what the cork did. I told her that worked like a stopper so that your drink wouldn't come out of its bottle.

I guess she had to try it out and see.

What a funny kid.

House updates!

Just one of the views on our property....lots of trees...some are now gone, this was last winter!

This is actually from the end of our driveway looking down the street! You can't see it here but there is a creek that runs under the road across our land. EEEK! :)

I promised pictures...here they are. But, lucky for us, they are already outdated! :) The framing crew is already working on the second floor today. We are still waiting to get our garage poured so they can frame up the garage too. But that should be poured tomorrow if the weather permits! (Knock on wood!)

We were kinda worried about Ike and his aftermath. Yesterday morning, we woke up at 2am to the howling wind and NO electricity. When it was light, we went to check on OUR house project. We had a hard time getting there because of down power lines and trees, but alas, we made it. We got to our property, and saw that we had two trees laying on the power lines by our house, and a HUGE tree that was laying across the driveway. But, the house was fine, except for the two inches of water standing on the INSIDE of the house! :) (We got rid of that later in the afternoon...thanks to some help from our church family!) When we tried to leave I got my car stuck in the mud. Luckily, our dirt guy, was driving up to check on our house (what a nice guy) too. So, he and his son in law helped to get me unstuck. No sooner did I get situated and we looked back down the drive, and the trees that were laying on the power lines were smoking. Yes folks, we are going to burn down the neighborhood! So, David called a friend that works for the power company and he came to kill the line. But, by that time, one of the trees had officially caught fire. I was a little panicked. Fortunately, the fire burned itself out and all was safe.

This is a picture of the tree as it was smoking....it's sideways sorry!

In the afternoon, we had a few of our church friends come help us cut up the trees that had fallen and drain the water out of the house.

We are blessed.

My funny kids!

Periodically, I hear my kids say or do something that just makes me laugh. I have already posted about their funny "words" for things, but today Tatum went as far as to make a song her own.

Inspired by the country song (have no idea the name, but I think it's called "Cleaning this Gun!")

Real words:
Come on in boy sit on down, and tell me 'bout yourself.
So you like my daughter do you now, yeah, we think she's something else.
She's her daddy's girl, her mama's world.
She deserves respect, that's what she'll get.....now ain't it son?
Run along and have some fun.
I'll see you when you get back, prob'ly be up all night....Just cleaning this gun.

Tatum's Version:
Come on in and have a seat boy, tell me all about you.
You thinkin' you like your mama boy....say she's pretty cute. (hahahahaha!)
I'm a daddy's girl, my mama's world.
Don't wanna pack, that's what I get....ain't it son?
Go have some fun.
I will see you when you get home. He'll be up all night, cleaning my gun.

Okay, so hilarious. She was singing this song while brushing her hair this morning. I was trying to be quiet so I could hear her, but I was having a hard time NOT giggling. I love when they make up songs.....

Old Friends really are GOLD!

Yesterday was the worst day......

From start to finish, nothing good happened. I was REALLY sinking in my comfortable little preacher's wife "pit." ( To quote Beth Moore!)

Anyway, I vented a little on my Facebook status update. Not even an hour later, I had a response from my "old" preacher's wife from my Teenager hood, Deb. (She's not really that old! )

She threw down a rope into my pit and convinced me to get out.

I am constantly amazed at how God puts people in our paths at just the right time. He knew that I needed some fellow "preacher's wife" support. And there it was. Pearls of wisdom, some tears, and even a laugh or two!

Thanks,Deb, for letting God use you! I love you! And yes, this is some kinda life!

Daddy Home School

Tonight while we were sitting at the dinner table catching up from the day's events, we were asking Eden how her day went. She got all excited and told us that she got 2 sticks in her envelope today. (She was sitting nice and "quiet-ed-ly"!) David asked her how many that made total...she went back and forth from 6 to 11...we still don't really know. David trying to play "home-school" asked if she has 11 sticks, how many does she need to get to have 20. ( The magic number for the treasure box!)

He was holding up his hands to count the numbers for her.....

(Now this is tricky to type!)

On the first finger he said 12, second 13, third 14....and so on.
Well, that threw Eden off. She was saying 1,2,3,4,5...yadda yadda.

When she heard "13" she busted out laughing in a full blown belly laugh.

"Daddy doesn't know his LETTERS!!!"

She couldn't quit laughing.

And neither could we.........

Hello again...

I have been SOOOO crazy. That is my excuse. We are in the middle of starting up a new curriculum that has, for some reason, fallen into MY lap. (I am still wondering where all the people that were "on board" are.) We start on Wednesday night so I have been spending day and night (Literally) on the computer looking for "stuff" for classes. I am excited to get started though.

Here's the latest:

Tatum started 1st grade. I can not believe it. She is doing pretty well. She went to a private school last year and they taught reading a little different than in the public school, so she is having to re-learn some things a different way. For this reason we are debating sending Eden to public school instead.....we will see how this year goes.

Eden starts school on Tuesday. She is starting her second year of preschool ( on purpose! :)) She actually starts school on her 5th birthday, so we will be partying! :) Nothing like kicking the year off right!

Again, I can't believe that Eden is going to be 5 years old. It just doesn't seem that long ago. I do still have a (very) little part of her that is still my baby. :) She is growing up sooooo fast.

We have begun our house!!! (Do I hear a cheer? ) We finally got moving. For MONTHS we have been arguing with our architect about house plans, only to fire him without ever getting them. I ended up drawing up our plans, and that seemed okay with the bank...Yeah for us. We had our footers dug and poured in the same day and a week or two later, our friend Adrian began laying the block for the foundation. He is almost done ( I guess..I don't really know what to look for! :)) and then our framer will be on his way to do his thing. I am PUMPED....more than you will ever know. We have been living in someone elses house since November....ugh. I am ready to have my own things and my own bed. I am so grateful for our friends that have let us "house sit" while out of town.....I have no idea where we would be otherwise! :)

I feel like I am rambling, so I will go.
Bye!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!!!!!

You HAVE to have this picture when you go to Disney World. It's a law I think. hehe!

Tigger and Darby stop for an autograph and a picture with Tatum and Eden.

This is my favorite float in the Night Parade...of course a picture doesn't do it justice. But close.

This was great. Belle won as the favorite princess at Magic Kingdom. I think it was the REAL one. :)

We had a great time ... all 10 of us! We were at the park from 9:3o am to 1:30 am the next day! Whew. We were all tired but it was worth it! I hope we can make it back in the next few years because we didn't even get close to seeing everything. The girls have a whole lot of wonderful memories now.....mission completed.

Bahamas

David is showing off where we took our daily naps! I love the Sundeck!!!

I have mentioned for the last few months that we were planning a trip to Nassau, Bahamas via a cruise. Well....we finally made it!!!

We left from Ft. Lauderdale on August 2nd. We headed out on the Regal Empress across the big blue. (And yes, it is Big and Blue...to quote Nemo!) I wasn't sure how I would do with the whole sea-sick part of the boat, but luckily Dr. Murphy saved the day and called in some patches for me to wear! They were lifesavers!! I recommend them to anyone!

We had a great trip. It was fun to relax and hang out on the sundeck. David and I took a nap two days in a row on the very top of the boat. Talk about relaxing....the waves crashing and a few seagulls...(they follow the boat!) squawking. Ahhh........

We arrived at Nassau Sunday morning. I have to be honest and say that I wasn't blown away with it. However, I LOVE LOVE LOVED Atlantis. If we were to ever go back to the Bahamas, I would go there. It is a self-contained city within a building. (We actually went back to the beach there!!) We saw Micheal Jordan's "suite"....that is more like a 5000 sqft house. I would love to stay there. And I can for the tune of $30,000 per night. So, I guess I will be wishing a while.

Sunday Slip and Slide....Redneck Style

Our good friends, Dale and Amanda, have introduced us to the Redneck Slip and Slide. Last week they had us over after Church to eat pizza and let the girls play in the water. (Their little girls are my little girls best friends...it works out nicely!) Anyway, we got to talking about how the slip and slides these days aren't that great. They are only about 2 feet wide and 8 feet long. No grow person can go down the plastic strip. So, Dale added 3 large pieces of plastic to make a HUGE slip and slide. ( 7 feet wide and 30 feet long!!!) Just grab an air mattress and you are on your way....quickly.

Well this week we decided to host Sunday lunch. We had Dale and Amanda and their girls, and some other friends, Brandon and Elizabeth, over for lunch and an afternoon of slipping and sliding. We set up the slide in the front yard ( that has a great slope for a slide I might add!) and turned a sprinkler on it. Away they went. The girls had a blast! Because it was so hot, the adults were VERY tempted to go down too! Well, I caved and went down. I jumped on a raft and went FLYING down the hill. Once at the bottom, I took out Amanda. It was hilarious! Luckily, Elizabeth (our photographer) had already left and didn't get the "ugly" on camera. Although, we would have the Grand Prize to America's Funniest Home Videos in the bag!

Enjoy the pictures!! (Thanks Elizabeth!!!)

Tatum is such a free spirit!!
Amanda was at the bottom to catch the girls before they landed in the gravel!! We only had two actually make it to the rocks....but no blood! :)

Tatum: Bionic Kid

Tatum has amazed us, in her short lifetime, with her resiliance to injury. When she was two she scaled the chain fence in our backyard and escaped down the gravel drive (all while I swapped the laundry over!) to the neighbors house to go visit the "daggies." We found her (too) close to the lake. She wasn't the slightest bit upset or worried that she didn't know where mommy was. (David and I couldn't walk once the adrinaline left us.) Then later that year she fell headfirst off a 10 foot staircase in our neighbors garage onto concrete.....ONLY sporting a black-eye and fat lip. The following year she fell off the toilet (while going potty...still don't understand this one) and hit her forehead on a step stool and had a gaping hole that needed 10 stitches. (Can we say trama....for mom?) That wound no sooner healed when she did it AGAIN! this time, she didn't need stitches, just a butterfly and that liquid band-aid stuff. Then....later that same year she tripped while running to her bed to "flop" and missed the mattress and hit her cheekbone on her bedframe. Now she has an extra dimple on that side when she smiles. Really. (We think she damaged some of the muscle in her cheek!)

This past Monday, we were getting ready to leave the house for the day when the girls went out on the back porch. Well, the back door was REALLY hard to open and generally took a full body heave to get it to open. Eden decided that she wanted to go inside and accidently shut the door behind her. Tatum turned to follow her but couldn't open the door...so she knocked. Well, that would have been fine except the window pane was already cracked and a little weak. Tatum knocked too hard and sent her arm THROUGH the glass window pane. She panicked and yanked it out so fast that she sliced her wrist in two spots.

All we heard in the back of the house were blood-curtling screams....from both of the girls. David and I made a mad dash to the source of the screams....then we saw blood everywhere....and Tatum holding her wrist. (Enter panic mode!) She was hysterical. It was all we could do to get her arm away from her body so we could check and see how serious this "slice" was. We ended up having to practically sit on her to get her to hold still. In the end we found out that her cuts didn't need stitches. There were angels around her little arm because a little further to the left and we might be singing a different song today. Thanks be to God!!!

Tatum is our injury prone kid. But, thankfully she dodges major injury and settles for band-aid worthy ones instead!

My Cardboard Testimony

A friend of mine sent me a video this morning that made me blubber like a baby. But most importantly, it made me wonder what I would say if I were to write a cardboard testimony. Please watch this video and share with us, if you want to, what your testimony would be.

Mine would say:

Control Freak!............................. God is in Control of this Freak! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ

But, you have been warned....grab a box of tissue before you start. It's quite something.

Rain, Rain, Go Away......

Just an update on our house saga:

*We have fired our architect. He was dragging his feet on our project and after avoiding our calls for 5 days, and still not having our promised plans after 3 and a half months, we decided to move on. So yes, we were back to square one on the plan thing....good news is WE have drawn out some plans that our framer (wonderful guy) can work off of. And the bank said they didn't even need a copy of the plans....Yeah for that!

*We have our pad for the house leveled/ carved out of the hillside. (Who knew we lived on such a slope?) We would have the foundation done but it keeps raining and getting the ground all wet so the concrete won't set. (Who knew it rained so much in July?) Please pray that we can get this show on the road this week....the weather man says it should be dry all week. ((Fingers crossed))

*Our water line is dug out. But now we are faced with digging rocks and root out of the bottom so we can get our pipes to pass inspection. And we live in "ROCK COUNTRY" here in Clinton. We have some doozy rocks coming up. Great for landscaping...if anyone out there wants a rock or two for your yardscape....come and get 'em!! (Seriously) This job is not an easy one. Our water line is over 450 feet long, and if you have spent any length of time outside, you realize that the heat index isn't our friend. David was out there for 4 hours yesterday in 110 heat index. I am having to be his protector...calling him every 20 or so minutes to make sure he is still standing upright, and reminding him to pour ice water on himself to cool off. I wish I could be more help, but I have the girls all day and they are in danger out at the land with all the dozers and equipment sitting around. Soon enough we will be calling that place home....ahhhh can't wait!

* I have been ordering fixtures via Ebay. I have been addicted to ebay lately. I have had my eye on the oil rubbed bronze fixtures for the kitchen and bath since we decided to build. Naturally they are one of the most expensive fixtures out there. ( I have high-end taste with low-end budget! :)) Well, I have to share my bargain news!! I went on ebay and bid on a few ORBronze fixtures, with a limit in mind. Here is what I got:

2 master bathroom sink faucets: List Price: $ 161.48 each
I paid on Ebay: $112.50....for TWO

Master Shower faucet: List price: $207.00
I paid on Ebay: $49.99

Roman tub fixture: List price: $268.00
I paid on Ebay: $ 76.00

Kitchen sink faucet: List price: $298.00
I paid on Ebay: $95.00

Needless to say I am SUPER excited about my "wins" on ebay. Now I can have my high-end taste and not pay the high-end prices! (And David likes that part too! :) ) I have also been to a lighting store auction that we got a good chunk of our lighting for around $100. Yeah!

Bargains get me all pumped up! I could go on for hours about all my "steals." But I will spare you.

Misery Loves Company!!!

I am so proud of my sister. She has been working her booty off the last month trying lose those stubborn pounds before our cruise to the Bahamas in three weeks. She sent me a message the other day that she lost 11 lbs. I on the other hand have gained an ungodly amount of weight in the last 6 months. Just a gander at my posts you can see that we have been in a long distance sprint for months. (Just the sound of that is painful to my legs!) We haven't had a kitchen to cook in for over a month....which means, yes, lots of fast food and lots of fat grams. (Not to mention the money gone into "dinner.")

I have decided to spend the next few weeks (even without a kitchen) trying to eat healthy and make wise food choices. I told Lindsay I didn't want to be the "fat one" of the two of us. So hopefully I can lose enough to at least not stand out! hahaha!

Please keep me accountable via email, phone, in person.....I need help with this because I LOVE food. (And not the healthy kind!) Thanks!

Whirwind Week!

I don't believe that I have stopped to sit down for more than 5 minutes in the last week. It is all beginning to be a really big blur so I will post.

Last Thursday we loaded up in the car and headed to Clarksville, Tennessee for a "family reunion" on David's side. Turns out it wasn't really a family reuinon but an attempt at one. There was only about 9 people there. I wasn't a very happy camper...But, anyway, because we were starting VBS on Sunday evening, and I was the one in charge of decorating the autitorium, we had to be back to decorate on Saturday....this meant that we had to leave TN on Friday afternoon. (If you are keeping up with the math....this left us in TN for a little under 18 hours. With 14 of driving. Double Ugh.) Friday afternoon as we got into the car it donned on us that we weren't going to be able to see any fireworks. Well, we can't have that. So I "flew" back as fast as I could on Hwy 64 (yes..the boring part b/t Searcy and Memphis) and I didn't even get stopped. We pulled into Harding at exactly 9:00 pm on the nose. We sat down just in time to see the fireworks. Yeah! We hopped back into the the car just to drive the remainder of the trip home. The next morning we were all up at the crack of dawn to decorate. (The church looks great! :)) And now we are on the throws of VBS. Whew.

We had a great time at Harding with my family and watching the fireworks.....even if it was only an hour. :)
Hope you all had a great holiday.

God Bless America and our Troops!!!

Update

Thanks to all of you that said a prayer on behalf of my friends, the Davidson's. Lake made it through surgery just fine. As of last night he is improving leaps and bounds. Please continue to pray for his recovery. Thanks! God is great!!!

Prayer Request

I have a prayer request for all my prayer warrior friends out there! My friends Doug and Bev Davidson and their son, Lake, have all gone to Houston so Lake can have surgery tommorrow.
Lake is a teenager who was born with a serious heart condition. They have always known that he was going to have to have surgery but didn't think it would be so soon. A few months ago the doctors told them that it was time to take care of it. For the last few months they have been searching and praying for a doctor that had the experience needed to perform the operation. They finally found him and have gone to Texas. They will be there for a few weeks.

Please remember this family in your prayers for the next few weeks as half of the family is in Texas and the other half still here in Arkansas. Several have committed to praying on the hour for Lake and his family. Please join us in this! Thanks in advance for all the prayers. God is our great Provider and through Him blessings are given.

The Davidson Family
Doug, Bev, Leif, Lake, Skye and Summer

"Dance With Me Daddy!"

Saturday afternoon we were all piled up in our bed watching Enchanted. That has become one of our favorite movies as of lately. At the part of the movie where Robert and Giselle are dancing at the ball, Eden stood up and told David that she wanted to dance. So he got down on his knees and began dancing and twirlling Eden around all around the bedroom floor. Tatum was just giggling and walked over and said, "May I cut in?" Eden responded, "But of course!" and backed out of the way, so Tatum could have a turn dancing with "Prince Daddy." I lay there on the bed with a just a little tear in my eye, but a huge grin on my face. :) I love those girls. I hope they never outgrow the urge to dance with their daddy. And I hope their daddy continues to want to dance with his two princesses! I am so blessed!

Tatum lost a tooth!

Yes, folks. It has finally happened. After 3 long months of wiggling a "not-so-loose" tooth....it became loose....and fell out. Tatum is one of two kids in her kindergarten class that had yet to lose a tooth. She was so sad when the year came and went and she was still stuck with all her baby teeth. I must admit, I was getting a little sad too...but for different reasons. My reasons were that I was scared she was going to have to have all her baby teeth pulled....as did I. (No fun I am here to tell you....my baby teeth were here to stay....some are still in actually!) I was dreading the dentist visits. But, alas, they are coming out nicely!!! yeah!!!

Tooth fairy Report:

The tooth fairy left her $2.00 for her first tooth. But she told me that the rest of them will get a dollar. (This is a far cry from the 25 cents that I got for mine....and I had to go to through the drama of the dentist office!!! Whew!) Tatum was so happy to find the money under pillow the next morning. She told us that she was saving all her money so she can get a dog. (Huh?) OH well....

M-I-C-K-E-Y......M-O-U-S-E!!!!!

Last night we had our Father's Day dinner with the family. We went to Colton's in Searcy. I was so excited about this because this year we had a great gift for my Dad. I have mentioned before that we planned a cruise and Florida trip last year for this August. Well it turned into us meeting my parents in Orlando with the kids and us all going to Disney World. We were all going to drive. This wasn't going to be so bad for the me, David, Lindsay and Steve. We were going on a cruise and didn't have 4 small kids riding with us. However, for my parents, they were driving down for 3 days and driving back with 4 small kids. Yuck. So we (being the 4 "cruising" adults) decided we would surprise my parents with plane tickets for them and all the kids for Father's Day. Now we are all flying round trip....and all 10 of us are on the same return flight together!!! Yeah! We are so excited now!! We will have more time for fun and less time traveling!

It was so worth the surprise! My parents both got misty eyed! My mom actually said, "Gone are the days of tacky ties!" We figured out that this is our first REAL family vacation. Where we aren't going to a reunion or funeral or wedding....or anything. Just going for fun!!! Whaaa HOOO!
50 more days till we leave!!! Mickey Mouse here we come! Brace Yourself!

Cook Adventure Continues.....

The Latest Happenings:

* The people we were house sitting for (This time) came home earlier than we thought. They lived in their driveway (in an RV) for a couple days while we looked for a new place to perch. They told to stay all the time we needed, but they have been gone for 2 months and we knew they were ready to get back into their home. Sooooo....... the girls and I have moved to Searcy for a small time. We are staying with my sister and her family while David is back in Clinton trying to find somewhere for us to live. :) (He is sleeping on the couch of a REALLY good friend! This is not a problem for the two of them because they will probably stay up late every night watching movies and pretending they aren't both married!) hehe!

*Our house. I am beginning to think that we really aren't trying to build a house and that we are just talking about it. We STILL don't have our plans from our architect. We are going on 2 months of a two week project for him. We are about to be really behind schedule because of him and that isn't making anyone happy. Oh well. We wouldn't be building if it were going smoothly right? :)

* Last weekend we went to an auction for a lighting company that went out of business. We managed to get the majority of our lighting for $103!!! Yeah for bargains! I love finding a good buy!

*Our parenting book is on the back burner. We had a great week last week with the miracle book. However, with us being "dwelling challenged" at the moment, it's been a little difficult for all of us to stick to all the "rules" of life outlined in the book. When we get settled in somewhere, we will make Dr. Leman proud!!! Stay tuned.

*Watch out for ticks!! My sister, Lindsay, found out yesterday that she has Lyme's Disease. She was begging for death a few days ago while running a 102-ish fever. She was still running it three days later and decided to go to the doctor. We are glad she did. A few days on anti-biotics has done her some good and now she is feeling better. Still tired, but better. Crazy thing is she doesn't ever remember having a tick. Weird.

*God is good. Even though I am currently as flustered and stressed as I have I ever been, I can still sit back and see God working. Whew.....what if I didn't? I can't even imagine!!! :)

* I hope that you are finding all the little things in everyday that God sends your way. Talk to him about it!

* I just said a little prayer for everyone that reads this post.

I'm a Proud Mama!!! Not to mention relieved.

In the last year or so, I have noticed my kids getting more and more unruly and disrespectful. And after talking to several other moms, also complaining of the same things, David and I decided it was time to grab ahold of the reigns and be the parents again. I have been praying for the right methods, books, techniques, people.....you name it....to come along that would help me be a better mom for my kids. Tatum is the poster-child for strong willed. ( Not too far off from her mama! This brings it's own set of challenges.) And Eden is so "sweet" that it's hard for me to punish when she needs it because she is just too "cute." (And yes, I do mean she puts on the "innocent" face when in trouble.)

This past weekend while in Branson, I went into the Christian Book Outlet to browse around. I saw this book by Dr. Kevin Leman. "Have a New Kid by Friday: How to Change your Child's Attitude, Behavior and Character in 5 days." A miracle cure....right. But, my mom had told me about Dr. Leman and his funny, no nonsense tips to parenting and I was intrigued. I bought the book and read it in the first 12 hours. NO KIDDING...instant results! My kids have had an almost 180 degree turn around in manners, sibling love and obedience. David and I are amazed. The best part is that we aren't stressed at all. Our family is becoming so much closer because we are aren't yelling or threatening each other! Go figure!

The icing on the cake was tonight at church....and I wasn't even there to witness it! I was feeling bad this afternoon so David and the girls went on to church a little early. Before we parted ways I called the girls over to me (they came on the FIRST call) and I told them that because I wasn't there they needed to be extra good for daddy while he had to give the devotional. "Okay mom! We will. Hope you feel better." Off they went to church. After church, one of our friends pulled David aside and told him that Eden was SO good in class AND Tatum had used such nice manners. (All of this was unprompted! And about "preacher's kids" at that! :) hehe!) David called just to tell me all of this.....he's proud too! I might sound like a babbling mom...but a week ago I was ready to pull my hair out. This week, I have new RESPECTFUL kids. I have always loved them.....but now I LIKE them! :) hehe!

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a way back to being the parent. (It would actually be a good book for teachers too!!!) I am sure that we will continue to have our ups and downs, but for a family that has tried LOTS of "methods" and failed......I found one that has great results! Yeah!!!

Dr. Kevin Leman has several other books that are pretty good. ( I have all of these...but never realized who wrote them until I read this most recent one! :))
Sex Starts in the Kitchen ( obviously a book on marriage!)
The Birth Order Book
How to Make Your Children Mind Without Losing Yours

I hope that you will find time to read some of his books. They really are funny!

Huh?

This past weekend we went to Branson, just the four of us. About the time we were pulling onto 76, the girls were getting pretty antsy in the back seat. Apparently, Tatum was bugging Eden and then all of a sudden we hear Eden yell at the top of her lungs...." I hate you Tatum! I wish I had a brother!" Other than the obvious, "You don't hate anyone, especially your sister" speech, David and I didn't really know what to say. It was really funny. A brother? Do brothers not annoy you as much as a sister?

I've Been Tagged

Stacy Stacy tagged me...so here you go.

*Maybe I should...exercise more.

*I love the smell of.. ha ha. I don't have a smeller so anything would be cool!

*People would say that I...am very crafty.

*I don't understand why...Clinton seems to get the shaft in the weather department.

*When I wake up in the morning...do the same thing as yesterday..and the day before
that....and...

*I lost my will power to...refer to question one.

*Life is wonderful with...my family, friends and faith in God. Nothing else matters.

*My past made me...never underestimate the power of a good friends' shoulder.

*I get annoyed when...I don't get alot accomplished in a day.

*Parties are....really fun with a big group of church people....crazy I say!

*Dogs are...slobbery, hairy, smelly, a waste. ( I am not a fan.)

*Cats are...making my eyes itch these days.

*Tomorrow I am going to...start our family vacation to Branson....can't wait!

*I have a low tolerance for...lazy people who expect "us" to take care of all their $$$ problems.

*I'm totally terrified of...someone stealing my kids. It's a phobia I have.

*I wonder why I thought my life would be...glamerous.....it's not really. :)

*Never in my life...would I guess I would be living in a SMALL town.

*High school was something that...I was glad to finish.

*When I'm nervous...I get sick at my stomach

*Take my advice...finish college before having any children...but if you don't wait...FINISH...you
will be glad you did. I was!

*Making my bed is...a must in my house. I can't stand to look at unkempt beds. (It only take a
second anyway.)

*I'm almost always...thinking of how to change the decor in the room that I am in.

*I'm addicted to...my computer, decorating and orange juice.

*I want someone...to build my house....like on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition! :) 7 days. please.

I tag Shelley, Jamey and Nat!!! Have fun!!

10 Things I Began Loving Recently

In No particular order......

10. The Movie "PS: I Love You." -This was such a suprise. I had never even heard of this movie, but David's q'ed it for our NetFlix account. WONDERFUL!!! WATCH IT!!!

9. Finn Comfort shoes- I have really high arches, and after years of wearing very cute ,but cheap, shoes, my arches were finally giving me fits. I have paid dearly for them..to the tune of $205 ....but my feet are thanking me. NO nails being driven in the soles of my feet! Life is good.

8. Sewing purses- Okay, this isn't that new, but I love being able to sew a bag to match any outfit in a matter of an hour. Fun and economical.

7. NetFlix- Hello? Who would have thought? This is such a fun thing. You get movies almost daily. And who doesn't love getting fun stuff in the mail instead of bills? And besides, we were spending tons on rentals from the Movie Gallery and Direct TV thing.

6. Blogging- Obviously, I have gotten pretty addicted to the blog world. :) I love to read and catch up on my friends lives. ( Have to admit that I get pretty sad when there isn't much update for a few days! :))

5. Direct Buy- Yes, we were suckered into going to sit through a Direct Buy presentation. But, much to our suprise, it really wasn't a rip off! So we bought into it and are saving literally tens of thousands on our house building adventure! Yeah for us! (Note: Wouldn''t be worth it unless you were doing some serious furninture buying/renovations/ home building.)

4. OTHER People's Babies- I love that tons of my friends are having babies. I personally have no interest in having anymore of my own. ( I am complete!) But I do miss buying baby stuff. Now, with the recent baby boom, I get my "baby-stuff-buying" fix. Thanks to all you mommies!!

3. Watching dirt movers- Okay, kinda nerdy about this one. I LOVE watching the big equipment out at our land digging and grading the dirt. I haven't decided if it's because I know it "progress" or if it is really just fun to watch! :) Maybe a little of both.

2. Funny Quotes from my kids- This one I have loved the whole time, but they have been doing and saying some really funny things lately. I love it.

1. The anticipation of my week- This week I have a spa day, a sale at my mom's school, and then three day mini-vacation in Branson. I am so EXCITED! This is going to be a great week. Hope you all have a great week too!

I'll Fly Away.....In the morning.

Sometimes I wish that I could just set up a hidden camera on my row at church. Because David is preaching, I am on my own during church. Many times I have to remind my girls to sit down and don't wisper...wispering is generally louder than talking with them. But sometimes, in those sweet moments I catch them worshiping our God just as if they were just small adults. Well, today was NOT one of those days, however, I got a good little chuckle at Eden.

We began to sing "I'll Fly Away" and her little face lit up because she knows that song very well. Because we were standing while we sang (it was "the song before the lesson" you know! It's scriptural!) she tugged on my shirt, and in the most grown up voice a four year old with a lisp can use, she said, "Oh mama, I know this song, I have been singing it for years." Then she turned back towards the front and began singing again. I laughed to myself. She is such a funny kid.

It's a Hard Knock Life....for them.

After much frustration David and I are trying a new form of punishment....Manual Labor. We have tried the spanking thing, time-outs (hahaha!) and taking away "bridge-ledges." None of those seemed to be making a difference in the negative behaviors (AKA: Bedtime battles) we are trying to correct. So last night as I lay those precious girls down to sleep, I threatened them with lots of big, ugly chores if they got out of bed. Well, 10 minutes later we heard pitter patter of 4 little feet into the living room. So they each got one chore added to the list. Over and over again they kept getting up and the list grew and grew.

After breakfast this morning it was time to begin our chores. Tatum got the joy of scrubbing toilets....and she did a pretty good job btw. Eden had to fold clothes and hang them up on the closet....she is our dawdler. :) Anyway, as I am walking down the hall "supervising" the slavehands, I hear the faint sound of singing coming from Eden's room. As I walked closer I was able to make out what she was singing......."It's a hard knock life for us.....It's a hard knock life for us....." It was all I could do to hold my laughter in until I was out of earshot.

We just recently watched to newest version of Annie...not quite as good as the original but still cute nonetheless. My kids were mesmerized by all the singing....and we are a singing family so it just comes naturally. But the orphans really plucked a heart string apparently because they have talked about those "girls that had no home," on several occations.

I guess my kids have it rough....or so they say.....but maybe they will stay in bed at night now.

Just call me Ms. Hannigan!!!

The English Language According to Tatum and Eden

I have been trying to compile a list of "cuteness" words that my kids have made up. I think I might have enough to make a post worth while.

"Pepper Coke" : This is probably not too hard to figure out. The funny thing is now David and I

Refer to Dr. Pepper as "pepper coke." (Courtesy of Tatum)

"Chicken Land": This refers to one of our favorite places to eat.....Kentucky Fried Chicken.

(Courtesy of Tatum)

"Glittering" : What you are doing when you throw trash (or cigarettes) out your window.

(Courtesy of Eden)

"Bridge-ledges": This is what is taken away when you don't finish your chores or throw a fit.

(Courtesy of Tatum....while "lecturing" Eden on the importance of cleaning.)

"Chunk-a-cheese": Again, not to hard to figure out. My favorite is when they refer to "Chunk"

himself. :) (They both use this one!)

""Puter": This is the computer. Favorite website is "nockin".com (Noggin).

(Tatum again.)

"Boobie-Bathingsuit": This is any bathing suit that has either a triangle-shaped top or a bikini.

We are pretty strict on bathing suits.....easy to say no now, than when

they are 16 and wanting to prance around in a string! :) This is great until

we are around other children who are allowed to wear such "boobie suits"

to swim....it can get embarrassing when my kids point it out. (Tatum!!)

"Favrick": This is what I use to make purses, drapes and sometimes their clothes! (Fabric)

(Courtesy of Eden.)

"Storm-ado": This is what has had us in hiding on a weekly basis the last 4 months.

(Courtesy of Eden) Actually a pretty accurate name for it! :)

:Hal-ley Dishelle": Our good friends baby girl. Her real name is Hadley Michelle.

(Courtesy of Eden)

"O-gur-rat": This actually has two definitions

1. Yogurt

2. Refers to the cartoon "Rugrats"

"to-ma-to": (Imagine in a very British accent) You guessed it...the red veggie/fruit that we eat.

(Tatum again.)

"Bammed": This is what happens when you play around at bedtime and fall out of bed...you bam

your head on the dresser.

(They both use it.)

"Mister-sippy": This would be the last state we lived in. (Mississippi...Just in case you didn't

know.) (Tatum again.)

"Lift-gloss": What you put on your lips to make them shiny. (Eden's!)

"Ober-awl": Another two definition word. ( I don't see the similarities at all! :))

1. bra

2. Overalls

"Boppie": The name of Eden's (very sad looking) stuffed rabbit.

"Wessilin Sizzlin": Western Sizzlin (Tatum!)

That's all for now...I will periodically update as new words are added to the repertoire.

What funny names do you have around your house??? Please share!

I almost forgot!!!

Because of the crazy weather we had last Saturday, I almost forgot to write about my Mother's Day. (Again, sorry for no pictures...USB cord is still missing.) But I did add some color with a really neat painting from art.com. :)

Sunday morning, I was greeted by two short, but very cute, girls complete with flowers, cards and mini-cupcakes. (These are my favorite...nevermind there were 24 and I have been trying desperatly to get back to my size 4!!) :) There was a card from the girls that told me how fabulous I was and then David gave me a card that talked to me. The girls found this one rather entertaining because it said the word "poop." Now, why would he give me a card that talks and says "poop" you ask? Well, it was a man giving me permission to take a day to myself and go to the spa...where I can talk to other woman about things other than...you guessed it....POOP! :) So yes, my Mother's Day gift was a trip to Lindsay's spa to get the works! I can't wait. I go on Tuesday! This is the 4th time David has tried to "give" me the spa treatment. However, he never actually paid for the services...just gave me permission. When it came down to it I wouldn't go because we could use the money for something else. (He always got mad at me for it too!) This time he has taken care of all of that, so all I have to do is GO and BE PAMPERED. Ahhhhh........

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful hubby that knows I need a day away to recharge! (Thanks, Lord for sending him my way.)

Death Defying House.....What????

As you have heard, we are in the midst of building a house. (No easy feat for those of you pondering this idea!) Anyhoo, I was googling Craftsman style houses because that is my favorite style of home. I ran across thousands....maybe millions....of wonderful hits. And then I ran across this......

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/garden/20080403_DESTINY_FEATURE/index.html

This architect couple claims to have designed a home that won't let you die. It is the craziest "thing"....home......I have ever seen. They say that a home is supposed to make you UNcomfortable and therefore make you press on to live longer. To me it looks like something I pay good money to take my kids to for an afternoon of energy burning so they will sleep good that night. But, what do I know! :) I DO know that I prefer flat floors and a normal chairs. And I am a huge fan of color, but maybe not these.

David's New Job.

Now before everyone panics, David is STILL preaching in Choctaw! :) However, he is getting to fulfull one of his dreams. Coaching football. Because of the cut backs in our school system, many of the coaches had to be let go. This left one high school football coach with a lot of work ahead of him. Enter David. He has agreed to help our football coach for the upcoming season. I am excited for him and I know he will LOVE it. Now we have someone we know on the field at the football games. Go Yellowjackets!!!

More "Severe Weather."

I feel like all the posts lately have been about some natural disaster. Well, here is another one. :)

Saturday afternoon, we decided to do our Mother's Day dinner with my mom, because Sunday's are rather difficult in the life of a minister. We went to Searcy to meet up with the rest of the family. We were at Lindsay ( my sister) and Steve's house trying to decide where to eat. After lots of back and forth and no decisions.....it was late so we decided to stay and eat in Searcy. (Partly because the weather was looking a little rough, and we didn't want to drive in it.) We decided to eat at Roma's. As we were finishing up our dinner, David's phone rang. It was our friend, Dale. (If you recall the flood post.....he is the same one who told us about the water! We would be in a world of hurt if not for Dale and his meteorologist skills! :)) Anyway, Dale told David that we should watch the weather because a "tornado like" storm was headed towards Searcy. My dad went out to the car to get his weather scanner so we could keep tabs on the storm. A few minutes later, Dale called back and mentioned that we should be seeking shelter in 4 minutes. Luckily, we had already decided that we needed to go.

When we got out to the cars, my dad told us to follow him. We were headed to Harding's Admin building. It didn't take but 3 minutes to get to Harding, but it seemed like an eternity. When we turned down the road to Harding, there sat 2 funnel clouds in the sky. I promise they weren't 100 yards away. It was then that they bottom fell out of the sky and we could hardly see the road. We DID make it to Harding, but we could already tell the pressure in the air had changed a little.....and the sky was BLACK. ( A little too familiar from the February 5th tornado.)

Needless to say, we hauled it into the basement of the admin building and ended up soaking wet and nauseous. But, okay. Fortunately, no tornadoes touched down in Searcy.

I think that I could handle all the weather issues if it weren't for my kids. They have really taken this weather the hardest. The slightest drizzle or wind, and they are at the door with shoes on ready to head for shelter. I hate that I can't control this for them. Goodness knows I would. I know mine aren't the only ones that are traumatized by the recent storms. My prayer is that God would grant peace to all those children out there who have seen, and lived through, the destruction that is caused by tornadoes.

We are here!!!!

Just a quick post..... we are alive. The tornados that came through hit 10 miles south of us. We haven't been able to get online because lightening hit the computer modem. please pray for those families that lost loved ones. Once again, it has hit (literally) close to home. Clean up still wasn't done from the first tornado, now there are two more to add to it. Thanks for all the concern and prayers! I promise to post a real post later!

The Best Kind?

Today is Friday...the favorite day in the Cook house. Friday's are great because the girls don't have school, David is off work and we get to play pretty much all day. Well, since the tornado most Friday's have been full of relief effort stuff (even though it has slowed down considerably! :)). Today is no different. David had to go to the church to take care of the car that was bought for a lady who lost hers in the storm. Both the girls wanted to go with him of course, and because Iwas doing the dirty job of paying bills and doing laundry, David agreed that they could go with him. Tatum got all excited and said, "Mom, you get to be a stay at home mom with no kids today.....that's the best kind!!!" I just laughed at her. She has such a way with words! But now, I sit ....and it's awfully quiet. Is it the best kind? Sometimes. ((hehe!))