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Merry Christmas Ya'll!

This was Christmas Day last year. We spent Christmas in Gatlinburg, TN the last few years. Last year we had a terrible snowstorm and we ended up being stranded for several days until we could dig our way out of the condo complex we were staying in.  Because of this we decided to stay home this year.

That decision seemed like a good idea back in September. Now that Christmas is a week away we are both regretting staying home.  At the time we were trying to decide what to do, I forgot the main reason I like to get away every year..the fact that we can just spend quality time together as a family and we are away from the hustle and bustle and frantic behaviors of people who get so stressed out!

Gee whiz folks why do you put so much emphasis on going into debt to get your little ones so many gifts they are only going to play with for as long as their holiday break lasts?  I have never understood that mentality! 
 Matthew 2:11 "And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

Please remember the reason for the season...Jesus Christ.  Take this time of year to spend REAL quality time with your families/children. Put the kids in their PJ's and grab some cookies and hot chocolate and drive around town looking at the Christmas lights.  Snuggle up together with some popcorn and watch a classic Christmas movie.  Your children will remember these things more than they will remember that gift you searched high and low for.

Two years? Really??

Wow, has it been two years since I posted on here! I can't believe it has been that long! A lot has changed in the last 2 years.  For starters, I am working full-time now AND the main bread winner of our household at the moment.  My hun bun has worked so hard the last 10 yrs at his job only to be forced into resignation back in June of this year.  He received a nice little severance package though - praise God for that! 

Well I saw this on a friend's facebook and I thought it would be a great way to jump start my blog. I do miss blogging! So here goes -

What I'm into

On my nightstand:

I don't have any books on my nightstand - they are all in my phone. I have Kindle on my smartphone. I LOVE the ease of purchasing any book just from my phone. There are tons of free books too.  But what I'm reading on my Kindle is
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich  - this is the long awaited 18th book in the Stephanie Plum series.  Stephanie is a bounty hunter in New Jersey...more like a bumbling bounty hunter. I picked up the 1st book in this series last December when we were on vacation in Gatlinburg, TN at a cabin.  I instantly fell in love with this book and have since read the other 17 through the course of this year.  I literally laugh out loud, to the point of bringing tears to my eyes I am laughing so hard while reading this book!


A Love That Multiplies by Michelle & Jim Bob Duggar - I love watching this show on TV and this book is equally enjoyable.  This is the neatest family!!


The Simple Dollar: How One Man Wiped Out His Debts and Achieved the Life of His Dreams by Trent Hamm - Yes I still love reading reducing debt books!


Women of Justice Series by Lynette Eason - I love murder mystery books, especially ones written by Christian authors and demonstrating love, forgiveness and the Plan of Salvation within the book.
 

Movies I've Seen

I love movies and would prefer a movie anytime over regular TV. Greg and I just watched "Larry Crowne" on Movies on Demand - cute movie with Tom Hanks & Julia Roberts.  I went to the movies with my mom and daughter over the Thanksgiving holiday - we are into the Twilight movies so we saw Breaking Dawn and LOVED it!

TV:

I don't watch TV during the time slots so I really don't know what day/time my shows come on. I DVR everything preferring to fast fast fast forward through those dreaded commercials. Makes an hour show about 45 minutes long!  If I hear of a show or read about one in a magazine that I might like, I look for it by name and just record it then when I have time I sit down and watch the show.  These are what I am recording right now...totally addicted to all of them!

*Person of Interest*

*XFactor*

*CSI (Miami, Vegas & New York)*- yes I watch all 3!

*Law & Order: SVU*  

*Revenge* - I watch this online every week because it comes on Wednesday night and my DVR is already recording too many shows on that night.

*The Next Iron Chef*

*Chopped*

*Rachael Ray's Week In A Day* - this is for motivation although I haven't done this yet...I keep thinking one day I will.

*Cupcake Wars*

*Prime Suspect*

*Crossing Jordan* - this is old, but what can I say? I love murder mysteries!

*Burn Notice*

 

In my ears:

*Radio stations daily while I work/travel in my car*- my favorite time of year - Christmas music! I listen to Christian radio stations or talk radio.

In my kitchen:

I just made Homemade Chicken Soup last night - I made way too much because of all the veggies I like to put in it so I gladly gave some to my mom for their dinner tonight and she said "it was delicious!" :-)

Greg made Brownies tonight and they are beckoning to me as I sit here and type! Ugh!

Looking forward to:

Dec 16th!! My kids/grandkids are coming into town for 1-2 weeks and we will all be together for Christmas, or at least most of the holiday anyway. I am so excited I can barely contain myself!

I am also very excited to start something new in January. I have been praying for awhile about where to serve. I used to be so involved, but stepped down the last couple of years due to personal reasons.  I am ready to jump back in and have been praying about what direction I should go.  For the last few years I have couponed and learned lots about stockpiling/saving money on everyday household items/groceries.  I feel the Lord is leading me to help out in some manner in this area whether it is teaching people how to do this themselves or spending my own money and donating what I purchase or volunteering at the food bank. I am still not quite sure how I can best be used - so if you are a praying person - keep me in your prayers as I begin this endeavor in January.

 

OK, if you managed to read all of this -

it's your turn!!

Blog it and link back here so I can read yours!

No change yet...

Well I've been asked by a few people if I have changed my blog to private yet (and left them off the approval list....lol) - the answer is NO I haven't done anything. Mainly because I've been working so much I just haven't had the time to even bother with posting anything.

I have plenty of time today as I sit in airports all day so I thought I would just take some time and update this ole blog here.

I have been working a lot doing my merchandising I started last year. I really do love it and I've enjoyed the extra money coming in. We are not living paycheck to paycheck anymore and we've been able to afford trips and some extras lately. My job is very flexible in that I can choose the jobs I want to do and work 1-2 twelve-fourteen hour days a week instead of 5 days a week (if I so choose.) I generally try to limit my work days to 3 lonnnngggg days a week.

Because of the flexibility of my schedule AND the extra money I am currently in the Houston airport waiting for my flight to Seattle and then on to Honolulu again! My daughter Felicia who lives in Hawaii called me yesterday morning and said she thought she had broken her foot and she was waiting for a friend to come get her and take her to the hospital. It's her right foot (driving foot.) She called me back later to confirm that her foot was indeed broken and she gets to wear this lovely boot for 6 weeks.
As soon as I told Greg what happened, he said "you need to go help her...let me find you a flight." I tried being "reasonable" and said "we can't afford it, I have to work, what about Dakota..." to which my darling husband said "Elisa! How is Felicia going to drive the boys to school, carry Shawn around and do what she needs to do while on crutches!?" He was right, but as a mom/working mom I'm dealing with guilt over just dropping everything and heading to Hawaii...even though my ADULT daughter does need me. Her hubby is on a ship far, far away and she has 3 rowdy boys (including this little angel below) to deal with.
Oh boy oh boy...I'll be pinching this little angel's sweet cheeks this evening!! So, after much encouragement from my dear husband and after working out a few kinks in my working schedule...I boarded a plane this morning at 6:00 heading to Hawaii! When I left Pensacola, it was overcast/cloudy. We ascended above the clouds and this was my view...so beautiful!

The sun was shining and there was a layer of clouds below me as far as I could see...and NO clouds above me!
This is my darling Felicia and her new attachments for the next few weeks....

Privacy

I have made a decision, after MUCH consideration and thought and it deals with this blog. I have not written much on this blog in the latter part of 2009 because I got tired of things I wrote being thrown back in my face by certain family members. I feel like this is MY blog, MY thoughts and MY life and what my husband and I choose to do with our life is our business...nobody else's.

I've missed blogging and connecting with friends through blogging so my decision is I am setting my blog to private. I will be doing this sometime in the next week and I'll send you an invite if I want you to read my blog - you can either accept it or not - you won't hurt my feelings one way or another. This blog is for me and unfortunately I am unable to share my experiences with others due to restrictions from certain people...and frankly I'm downright sick of it.

I hope and pray you all are having a great start to your New Year! God bless you!

Merry Christmas

Make a Smilebox collage

Want a dog??

See the dog on the right...the small one? That's Raven, our 1-yr-old Lab. You may remember me talking about her here and here and here. That was when I loved her.
Now I'm not so sure...I often refer to her as "YOUR dog" or "stupid dog" (when no little ones are around to hear an ugly word.) Dakota adores his baby. She sleeps in his bed every night.

Last night he spent the night with his grandmother. I could hear Raven's restless pacing all night long! She missed Dakota and I guess she was lonely or something because she walked around and around the house until finally at 2:30 a.m. she started whining next to my side of the bed. "Why me?? I don't even like you!"

I get up to see what's wrong and she starts doing her little jumping twirly dance she does when she thinks we are going to take her outside to play...which also means her tail is banging everything around her LOUDLY. I quietly whisper for her to "GET OUT!" so as not to wake Greg, while I fumble for something warm to throw on over my tank top (you would know last night was one of our rare 30 degree nights...could this get ANY better??)

When I told her to get out, she goes and dutifully sits at my doorway waiting for me. The moment she sees me at the bedroom doorway, the jumping, twirling, banging tail starts again and I'm tripping over her trying to get to the back door. I open the door and let her out and sit down at my computer. About 10 mins later she wanders back in and after spying me at my desk, she runs over wanting affection. I'm really not in the mood for this and I figure if I just give her a little pat or two, she'll leave me alone. Oh no, doesn't happen. For the next 3 hours she paces and jumps around wanting out...I take her outside 4 more times.

Now it is 7:15 a.m. - Greg left for work 30 mins ago - I've been up with "stupid dog" since 2:30 a.m. and guess where she is?
Yep you guessed it...curled up in my bed in the recently vacated spot left by Greg and she is snoozing quite nicely now. Anybody want a dog??

Toonful Tuesday

iTunes on Facebook

It seems like everywhere you look now, companies, individuals, and products will have this displayed somewhere:

Follow me on:
Twitter
Facebook

Have you noticed that? The great thing about this is most companies who are displaying this will also offer you deals, freebies and coupons just for following them! I've joined lots of company Fan pages on Facebook and have received some really nice freebies/coupons.

Another way companies are branching out is demonstrated by the iTunes Facebook Fan page. They have it set up so you can easily purchase and send iTunes Online gifts to your friends or family. The gift is posted to the recipient's Facebook Wall and they can instantly redeem it at the iTunes store. Now that's thinking ahead! How much easier can it get than that? If you are like me, then you have someone on your gift list this year who would LOVE a gift card to iTunes (all three of us in my family use iTunes on a daily basis!) Now, with just a couple of clicks of the mouse we can deliver that gift without having to run to the store for a gift card.

Catching Up

Hello friends,
It's been awhile since I've signed into this old blog of mine. I've been working a lot outside the home and inside the home and even though I continually think about things to blog about I just don't have the energy when it comes time to actually write. So what have you been up to?
I will share in pictures what we've been doing...

I changed my hair color and got a "new" haircut. I went with dk brown almost black underneath and red/auburn highlights on top layers. I think next time I'm going to go with red/blonde highlights.
Thanksgiving we all loaded up and drove to GA to eat dinner at Tina & Bryant's house. This was the first time she has cooked for everyone and it was fabulous!My mom (Mimi to Tina) helped by bringing some of our favorite casseroles and Greg (since he's an early riser) cooked the turkey for Tina.

Greg, Dakota and I had gotten in about 9:00 pm the evening before and since that was Tina (and Felicia's 22nd birthday) Tina and I went and saw New Moon...the 2nd Twilight movie and didn't get home until after midnight. We were a little tired the next day. Thank goodness Greg's an early riser!Tina & I took our picture together and texted it to Felicia...we missed our sissy so much!
Tina cooked Thanksgiving for us, her grandparents, her in-laws and a friend & her husband. The only ones we were really really missing was Felicia's crew in Hawaii...praying this time next year they will also be living in GA and we will all celebrate together!
Dakota and Bops (my stepdad) watching TV while waiting for food.
As usual little Miss Bailee was there to entertain us all...
We had to leave on Thanksgiving to come back home because Greg had to work the next day. As we were packing, Bailee decided she wanted to come home with us. I brought her back to Pensacola and played with her until Sunday when we drove back and met Tina & Bryant in Marianna to give her back to mommy.

She's playing with all my clips in my bathroom...
We spent a lot of time outside while she was here. It had turned very cold for most of her visit, but on Saturday afternoon it was actually a beautiful sunshiney day. I let her play with her favorite toys (her Little Ponies) outside but the pieces are so small I made her play with them in the dog's pool. She loved it!
This is only 1/3 of her collection...this girl LOVES Little Ponies!
Last week was my birthday week - yep, you read correctly - birthday week.
I feel abundantly blessed at all the family and friends who wanted to share time with me for my birthday. I actually turned 42 on Monday. My dear Greggie purchased a cake from Publix (per my request) - it was to die for!! OMG, so delicious!

My dad and stepmom took me to lunch on Monday afternoon. We had a very nice lunch playing catch-up since we haven't been able to see each other as often lately.
Monday night I asked Greg if we could go to Logan's Restaurant and eat. He & Dakota took me there and we had just a nice family meal together.
Once we got home we gathered in front of our Christmas tree and took our family picture...the best thing about this was there was NO griping from the guys! I guess every year I'll have to ask for this picture on my birthday...since it's MY birthday they don't complain! haha
My mom took me to see Precious on Tuesday. The movie was okay, but not what I expected. Not really sure what I expected to be honest...but it was just okay. Thursday evening my dearest friend, CJ took me out to eat again. We have not had much time together for the last year because of her illness, and both of our work schedules. We spent 3 hours sitting in the restaurant catching up. Please continue to pray for her...after two bouts with cancer/chemo, her body's having a hard time of recovering.

We made the decision a couple weeks ago not to go to Hawaii for Christmas. Tough decision but finances helped dictate this. Because we are not going to Hawaii we ARE going to Gatlinburg for the week of Christmas. We are so excited since this is our favorite place to go! I hope it snows...would be nice to have a white Christmas.

Toon-ful Tuesday

In chess, the you win by protecting your king, keeping it on the board. In our lives, the love of God will give us victory over any of Satan's devices or schemes.

Toon-ful Tuesday

Like a Swiss army knife, scripture is useful for many different things. We should always make sure we keep the scriptures in our heart, so that we can be ready to do good works for the Lord.

Light at the end of the tunnel...

It's been a long three years of ups and downs as far as my marriage goes. Without going into details there have been many more downs than ups. I've been ready to throw in the towel several times.

Praise God we both have continued to work through issues and problems and for the first time in a very, very long time I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...complete happiness with my sweet husband. We are continuing to work together and communication is improving and we are both laughing with each other a lot more these days. Thank you Jesus!

I've worked some long days and out of town several times lately. Last week I worked an overnight job in Tallahassee, which is 3 hours away. When I arrived home the next day, Greg was at work and this message was left for me on our bathroom mirror...made my day!

The Words I Would Say

This song has awesome lyrics! I listen to it on the radio and it sounds quite a bit different than this video (where they are singing it live) but listen to the amazing words...

Toon-ful Tuesday

Apart from Jesus, all of our plans and efforts end up like dead, dry leaves that blow away in the wind. We need to get in God's plan for our lives, and there we will find good success.

Teens & Cell Phones - are you informed?

PIR
GNOC
LMIR

Do you know what any of these acronyms stand for? Chances are your texting teen does. My teenager has a cell phone. He's had one since he was 8-yrs-old. We didn't have a home phone so everyone had a cell phone instead.

Now that he is 13 he texts constantly with friends. His phone is not off-limits and I've been known to pick it up at anytime and scroll through his messages. Thank God I have never found anything questionable on there. Prayerfully I WON'T ever find anything!

As parents to teenagers we have the obligation to stay on top of these things. We should stay informed and up-to-date on these issues such as sexting. By the way...those acronyms stand for:
Parents In Room
Get Naked on Camera
Let's Meet In Real life

Bailee is THREE

I am headed to GA to celebrate my precious Bailee's 3rd birthday. She is an angel. I love this sweet baby so much!
She and Tina came and stayed with us for a week in October. Bailee's daddy (a Marine) has been traveling a lot the last two months and he was going to be gone for the whole week so Tina decided to come to town and spend that week with friends and family.
Unfortunately I had to work a lot during that time. I worked a couple of really late nights trying to clear my schedule for Friday so I could be off and spend the whole day with my Bailee-boo before they left the next day. Friday was our day...YaYa & Bailee. I laughed so much that day. The things she says are hilarious!

She is trying to smell my flowers in my butterfly garden.

Bailee and my puppy Raven are "best friends." She calls him Ray-Ray. Here she is tickled because of one of Ray-Ray's habits...drinking out of my birdbath!
After she watched the dog drinking from the birdbath she decided she would play in it too and she proceeded to make leaf soup for my birdies.
We had the chance to visit the fair while they were in town...Bailee loved the petting zoo! (Poor bunny!)
She enjoyed the big ferris wheel until we reached the top everytime and then she snuggled close to her mommy...it was extremely windy that day and the wind was much worse the higher we went.
Her daddy is going to be out of town this weekend working so he won't be there for her birthday party. He took his little princess out for a date one night this week. She was so excited to go out with her daddy!

Trade Shows, Festivals, Conventions

During the course of my life I have worked at probably hundreds of conventions, festivals and trade shows. When I was a child/teenager my dad and step-mom set up every weekend at the flea market and at festivals around the area. It was exhausting work but lots of fun. We got to know fellow vendors who traveled around to these same events year after year. As I got older my parents purchased paints and things for me to earn money by painting children's faces.

In my 20's, I traveled one summer with my mom who worked for several years installing computer systems into funeral homes. We spent our time setting up trade show booths at Funeral Director's conventions. That was an experience! Some of the items displayed were a little too much for my young eyes to take in and it put a whole other spin on those who work with "the dead."

As I entered my 30's I was a Creative Memories Consultant for about 6 years. My mom was a CMC too - for approximately 9 years. We worked together at a number of events during that time. It was always frustrating for me trying to set up a booth. Mom likes to get dramatic and go all out...I'm into simpler, cost-effective displays. I despise using disposable items (that cost a small fortune) and then just tossing them after one event! I can't tell you how many table skirts we purchased during that time.

I wish I knew back then that you could actually purchase items - banner stands, pipe and drape setups, and table skirts - and keep these items to use from one show to the next! It would have made life so much simpler.

My dad and stepmom eventually opened several stores and got out of the flea market/festival scene. After 20-something years of running stores they closed them all a couple years ago and decided to start setting up at the flea market again every weekend. It's hard work because they have to set up and take down their products every day but the overhead is cheap compared to a brick-and-mortar store and there's no labor costs (since they do it all themselves.)

Dad just told me a couple weeks ago he is thinking about opening another store...this one will be their biggest one yet. Hmmm, I think my stepmom will probably divorce him if he continues with this plan! :-) Guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens and if he opens it I'll be sure to let you all know where you can go shop.

Among the Thirsty - "I'd Need a Savior"

Here's a GREAT song to get you going this morning...LOVE LOVE LOVE this song!

Toon-ful Tuesday

Satan would try to convince us that we're not able to partake of God's blessings. But we should listen instead to Jesus, who tells us that God is happy to bless us.

Arthritis

Can you guess what these snazzy little doo-dads are?
Pretty strange looking aren't they? LOL

I see a rheumatologist regularly for my fibromyalgia. When I went to see her about 6 months ago I told her my hands/thumbs were really bothering me a lot. She took xrays of my hands and gave me some medicine to help with the pain and inflammation. She told me I have moderate to severe arthritis in my thumbs - called Basal Joint Arthritis.

When I went back to see her last week we discussed my xrays and my options - surgery (CMC Joint Arthroplasty), cortisone shots or physical therapy and wearing splints.
I chose physical therapy & splints -
I went to the physical therapist last Thursday. My insurance doesn't cover physical therapy. The PT I saw is the only hand therapist in town and he feels sorry for patients like me for two reasons 1)the pain is debilitating and our thumbs have to do 80% of the work of our hands and 2)we pay a lot for our monthly insurance and for them not to cover PT is crazy!

So this wonderful PT didn't charge me for the splints he made me AND he spent 2 hours with me going over all the things I can do at home to help this problem - paraffin wax treatments, hand exercises, and using assistive devices for buttoning, zipping, opening jars, etc. He also explained the surgery thoroughly and encouraged me to really consider having the surgery - he said everyone he has worked with that has had the surgery has come back and said "why didn't I do this sooner!?"

I left there so thankful for his time, directions and explanations! I also left there with strict orders to wear these handy dandy splints when I sleep, drive, type and write. LOL They keep my thumb from moving around and force me to use my other fingers more. I have to say though they really do the job - I've been virtually pain free since I started wearing them!

ToonfulTuesday

Artist's comments:
This week's cartoon depicts a lifeguard running into the sea to save a drowning swimmer. People in the world are being swept away in a tide of sin. We, as Christians, have the message that can save them.

Toon-ful Tuesday

People don't need to be beat on the head with the bad news that they are condemned for being a sinner. We should be telling them the good news, that Jesus loves them and died to redeem them from condemnation.

Trick or Treat the Nutritious Way

Halloween - Trick or Treat - Nutrition

If you are like most parents, nutrition is not the first thing that comes to mind when talking about Halloween and trick -or-treating. Halloween has to be the WORST holiday for our children as far as nutrition goes. What kind of "treats" do you give out? Candy, stickers, raisins?

I am so thankful Dakota doesn't like candy; anything we get normally just ends up in the trash after Greg & I pick out a few of our favorites. Dakota isn't the best about brushing his teeth without me constantly reminding him but because he doesn't eat a lot of candy or sugar-laden foods he is blessed with not having to deal with a cavity (so far.)

One other way I try to keep the sugar down to a minimum is by limiting the types of drinks Dakota has. He is allowed juice, unsweet tea, as much bottled water as he wants and milk. Chocolate milk is his favorite! Don't all kids just love chocolate milk?

Did you know you could give out chocolate milk this year as an alternative to all the candy?
Trick or Treat Me has information (and a coupon!) about this boxed chocolate milk that keeps on the shelf until you are ready to refrigerate it. This chocolate milk is by Hershey's and Organic Valley - both trusted names in the dairy industry. Head on over to Twick or Tweet Me to get all the details about this nutritious substitute for Halloween this year.

New Movie: Precious

I went to the movies last weekend to see Tyler Perry's movie I Can Do Bad All By Myself. This is one of the Madea movies Tyler Perry is famous for. Personally I did not enjoy this movie as much as Diary of a Mad Black Woman or Madea's Family Reunion both of which had me laughing hysterically throughout their entirety. This newest movie was rather sad and I found myself crying more than anything else. I don't want to give away too much information in case anyone reading this is planning on seeing the movie so I'm not going to say anything else about that movie.

The main reason I am writing this is because when I went to the movies last weekend there was a trailer for a new movie coming out the beginning of November. I can't get that movie out of my mind. I know it is just a movie...but unfortunately for thousands (maybe millions) of children it IS a reality!

The movie is called Precious - watch the trailer for yourself...


I will go see this movie when it comes out. I already know I need to take a box of tissue with me and I may need to go see it by myself so I can sit and cry silently without anyone looking at me. I am curious to see how this movie will end. Will Precious succeed in life because she is shown love and encouragement by a few people around her? Or will she forever be stuck in the wretched lifestyle she was born into because she has been shot down and torn down from every angle?

This boy's got moves!

This is hilarious...watch this boy dance!

Toonful Tuesday

We can be joyful in the midst of tests and trials, because we know that God is allowing them to make us stronger in the faith.

Love my "mama" job

I mentioned in a previous post that Greg & Dakota were sick. Greg has a "cold" whereas Dakota has the flu I believe...he's got all the yucky symptoms anyway. They both spent the day in bed yesterday.

I've moved my computer desk from my bedroom out to the living room so I can work in peace without having to listen to the TV my husband loves to watch. Dakota made a pallet on the floor in the living room at my feet by my computer desk instead of laying in his bed or in bed with his daddy. I had to chuckle at this. He's 13 yrs old - that hard in-between age where he is beginning to want his freedom and make his own choices, yet he is still just a young boy...MY young boy. :-) Now here he is sick and he is curling up on the floor at my feet because he wants his mama to be close to him.
I was supposed to go to a concert last night with a friend. I ran to the store to pick up some food/soup, etc and while I was gone I called my friend and bailed on her and her teenage daughter. She is a mother and completely understood why I just didn't feel right about leaving Dakota.

When I got back to the house and told Greg what I had done he said "WHAT?! Hello!! I'm here!" I told Greg "I'm a mom, that's my job and I love it...so I'm staying home and taking care of our boy." There will be another concert down the road. I am slowly "losing" my children to life...they are all growing up and moving on (Praise God since that's as it should be!) so I'm not passing up this opportunity to love on and nurse my son back to health.

This is the group I was going to see last night - Skillet - I've seen them once before in concert and loved it. I must admit I LOVE Christian rock and enjoy going to these concerts. They are sooooo energetic!

My boys are sick

I've been working long hours/long days the last couple of weeks...it's a job stocking Halloween candy in all the stores in my town. Great money but long hours. I'm off every day this next week except Tuesday (Praise God!) and then the last two weeks I'll be working every day right up until Halloween.

I was so looking forward to just kicking back this week and catching up on some school work with Dakota and spending extra time with him. He's been doing school on his own while I've been working lately...glad he's doing it, but it's not the same.

This morning I woke up early before Greg & Dakota and decided to catch up on some long overdue emails before I started getting ready for church. Greg woke up about an hour later - I heard him speak and said "Ugh! Are you getting sick!?"

His answer..."Yes, I feel terrible."

Being the loving wife I am, I told him "Well stay AWAY from me! I don't want whatever it is you have!!"--and then I got the bleach spray bottle out and started wiping down doorknobs, light switches and all the surfaces he touched.

About 30 mins later, Dakota woke up and he is really sick. "Awww, my poor little man, do you need some medicine, can I get you a drink..."

Hmmm, took me about a minute to realize the difference in MY attitude towards my sick hubby & son. Wow! Where did THAT WOMAN come from? Did I not realize my honey bunny needs just as much loving and sympathy as my little man? Thank you Lord for opening my eyes quickly this morning so I can take care of, love on and nurse the two males in this house back to better health! Oh yeah....and please please please don't let me get sick!!! ;-)

Toonful Tuesday

Whatever enemies we may be facing, be it sickness, poverty, loneliness, fear, etc., we can be safe from them in Jesus, just as this joey is safe from the dingos in his mother's pouch.