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

Monday, November 28, 2011

Forgotten Birthday

I'm shuffling through my photo's and it just hit me.....I forgot to blog a very important birthday in October.  The birthday itself was not forgotten, but with our busy schedules I didn't get the photo's on here.

So, Randy turned 16 on Oct. 10th.  Hard to believe that he is nearly 1/2 way through high school and can be "on his own" in 2 1/2 years...It seems like yesterday that I was looking at a 9 lb 2 oz new bundle of joy.  Gee whiz, time flies too fast.  I always heard, the older you get, the faster it goes.  I now know exactly what everyone means when they say that.


This birthday was a special one for Randy.  Probably because it was his 16th.  The older you get, then less significance is placed on a birthday and a party.  Last year he had a really fun party while at his dad's house complete with a Murder Mystery, family and friends.  This year he just wanted to have dinner out with his family.  

So I did my best to gather everyone, around RANDY'S busy band schedule, and pull together a dinner at Pier 99 over on the beach.



Not pictured was big brother Dusty and family, cousin Zach and his wife.  Not sure why I didn't get pictures of everyone.  I suppose conversation and chatter was enough of a distraction.  The fellowship was good, the food was okay, and the music in the back round was old country and fun, Merle Haggard, Glen Campbel type of stuff.  Brought back memories.  LOL

Wishing Randy another wonderful year....

Hugs,
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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Another Play - "Anatomy of Grey"

Anatomy of Grey was the name of the play that the Theater Department did at Tuloso Midway mid-November.  Randy landed a part in the play as the preacher in a small town.  This small town had people getting sick and no one knew why.  Dr. Grey shows up and does his best to treat all the patients, but people are dying and they can't figure out what's wrong.  There were definitely some funny scene's throughout the play to make you laugh, but there were also those that tugged your heart strings and yanked a few tears out of your eyes.

Entire cast at the end of opening night.

The Pied Piper

Just in case there is someone out there who wonders how the mystery in the garage is coming along....here's an update for you.  The mess came back....big and huge, just like before.  This time, Johnny decided that multiple traps needed to be set and we should probably use the old fashion kind.  SNAP!!  In addition to that, we bought a metal trash can to keep the cow feed in.  So, no more bags for the little guys to chew their way through!!  Aha!  Now we'll get ya!!

First night?   Four for four....yes, four full traps...Geeshh!!  And one broken one in the process.  I won't tell you how that happened exactly, but it was broke.

Second night?  Only three traps left to set, since 4 minus one broken one equals, well, three.  Ha!   We were three for three that night.....bbbuuutttt, one trap is missing.  Disappeared somewhere amongst the boxes.  Poor thing got snapped....then tried to crawl away... UGH!!  I can only imagine how we'll find that guy eventually.

Then we were out of town for a few days over Thanksgiving.  That will give the little fella's some time to get comfy again, and maybe a little bit hungry in the process.

So, at least the mystery is solved.  Mice.  Lots of them, must crawl up inside the hole in the feed bag and participate in the happy-dance.  Can you imagine sitting on top of, and being surrounded by, your favorite food?  Well, that's what they were doing.  And the more they ran around squeaking for joy and sinning by gluttony....the more that feed trickled out the quarter-sized hole in the bag and made it's way all over the floor around it.

Makes complete and perfect sense.  Did I want to believe our garage was being overtaken by a herd of mice?  Um, no....And do I enjoy the notion that we have to set traps to get rid of them?  Um, no....But, they are completely and totally destructive.  Not to mention gross when you notice the most obvious sign they leave behind on the ground.  :(

If I could just evict them like a landlord does to a tenant, I would....but they have come to love the comforts our garage provides and I don't expect a 30 day notice letter would have them packing their bags and vacating our property.

So, we've waged war....and have every intention of winning.

Warm fuzzies,
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Boat Ramp Exploration

I posted a short while back about our impromptu trip to Austin with Johnny.  On our last day, we had to check out of the hotel a little while before daddy was done with his meetings.  What could I possibly find to do, inexpensively, to keep a 6 yr old from being bored while we waited?

As it would happen, it had been a while since I'd been to this location and as we made our way towards the Bank, I missed our exit by 15 or 20 yards or so.  I was SO tempted to just back up along the edge of the highway to make it back to the driveway we needed to get into, but the cars were really flying by in that area and it was obviously not a safe thing to do.

So, I kept on going, made the next turn around, which brought me somewhat past where we wanted to be to turn around and back track.  As we made our way through the turn around, I realized we had the perfect opportunity to stop and kill some of the time we had to wait for dad.  This perfect spot?  The city boat ramp, of course.

Caleb had the best time.  For the first 5 minutes he was a bit timid around the water and the skimpy shore  it had.  But, it didn't take long and he was venturing out, climbing, and having the very best time!  Here are a few photos of our spur of the moment school lesson as this was around the time we were studying shells, beaches, oceans and waves.

Don't be surprised if you see this post on our home school blog as well....these were great pictures and I just couldn't decide where to share them...

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Singing Praises, Turning Cartwheels

That's what I was doing yesterday!!  Singing praises:  Thank you Jesus, Praise God, Amen, Amen, Amen!!

And yes, maybe the actual cartwheels themselves were all just in my head, but they are an expression of great enthusiasm & excitement all the same.

Why?

For three weeks we've been in a state of limbo and wonder - laced with concern.  This time reminded me of this cross I saw once while we were on a trip.   It was rainy and stormy outside...What I could clearly see with my eyes as a beautiful cross, was masked by the bad weather, the windshield of the car, and the huge raindrops.  I could let our present circumstances cover my love for the Lord like a mask or I  could find a way to rise above it and Love Him no matter what.

Johnny, a cancer survivor of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, discovered a slightly painful lump/knot under his arm.  It was under the opposite arm from where He had cancer the first time.  And to use his words, "it all seemed too similar."

We had to wait 5 days to get into the doctor, only to hear what we expected, further tests would be needed in order to make a conclusive diagnosis.  Of course, the doctor was very calm, and he honestly didn't think it was Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma again.  His reasonings:

1)  Non-Hodgkins returning in patients in remission is unheard of, and Johnny is 10 years removed from it.
2)  He didn't think it was quite in the right place.

BUT,

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Heaven is for Real

I'm sure you all have seen this yellow covered book in about every store that might sell books, and maybe even some that don't -- Heaven is for Real.   I've seen it.  Everywhere.  I've heard about it.  Everywhere.  I heard on K-Love how wonderful it was.  A lady waiting at the doctors' office was reading it and commented positively on it.  It's all good, right?

Well, if you are like me, all that is fine and dandy, but, actually finding the time to read a book in its entirety, wellllll, now that's another story.  I used to be an avid book reader, but for some reason the last few years have not lent themselves to a whole lot of free time for just-for-fun-reading.  I try now and then to get into a book I've heard is really good, but I struggle with finishing it.

I think in part, sometimes it starts off good and then maybe I lose interest.  Or, maybe sometimes life just gets busy for me and the book isn't interesting ENOUGH to hold my attention.  A few months ago I read "The Lamplighter" and that was a book I had a hard time putting down.  Written in what I think was old-English, it was so captivating for me.

Mystery Update

For those that read my post the other day about the mystery critter in the garage I have an update.  We've suffered casualty number one....Two traps set out on Sunday and by Monday morning one accomplished it's mission.  So far, no further messes on the garage floor.  Of course, the feed bag that had the hole has bee used, so they would have to chew another hole to continue the mess-making task.

We shall see....will trap number two complete it's mission?  Will we still have big messes on the floor?  It all remains to be seen.

If all that mess was indeed made by one little mouse I will be completely amazed....

Blessings,
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Monday, November 14, 2011

Just a Little Fun

Last week brought us a short, unexpected get-a-way.  Johnny had to go to Austin, leaving on Monday and wouldn't be back until Thursday.  Tuesday morning he called us to check in and on a whim invited us to come up to Austin to be with him!  Talk about impromptu!!  Caleb and I grabbed everything we thought we'd need for three days and threw ourselves in the car.  Within 2 hours we were out the door and on our way!

We didn't do anything special while we were away.  We had some quality family time and that's enough for me.  During the day Caleb and I walked around the mall area, did a "little" bit of school work, and basically hung out in our hotel room (The Westin at the Domain).  In the evening we ventured out again with dad, spending some fun time together.  

The Domain was a beautifully landscaped, upscale, outside mall.  You literally walked "city" streets and could peer in all the store fronts as you went.  My favorite store was probably Sur La Table.  All sorts of kitchen gadgets.  Our favorite gadget was the Chef'n StemGem Strawberry Huller.  I tried to capture a picture to put here, but the computer won't let me.  If you're curious, you can just click on the link.  We tried it out Sunday afternoon and it works GREAT!  Since strawberries are actually one fruit Caleb WILL eat, this little guy made my job easier!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

A Complete Mystery

Life is filled with mysteries.  Big one's like the mystery of God and all His glory.  And little one's, like the one we are experiencing in our garage.  Yes, garage.  I am completely baffled and I think I'm going to share it with you so you can be baffled along with me.

Here is a picture of the feed bags in our garage.  And what you see between them is a pile of feed.  Now, when I walked into the garage and saw all that feed on the floor of the garage I know my eyebrows scrunched up and I probably had a very puzzled look on my face.  HOW did all the feed escape its bag?

Trick or Treat....

In all honestly I've always thought of Halloween as a harmless "holiday" where my kids could be silly and have fun.  It's something I've celebrated as a child and then with all my kids from the time they were itty-bitty's.  I think I have a post from last year where I was struggling with the concept.  While I still think it can be harmless,  I have gained a new perspective on the "holiday"from views shared with me by my pastor.  And I must admit that I do feel a bit of a tug at this time of year to avoid the holiday.  At the same time though, I can honestly say I have never thought about evil or worshipped evil on Halloween.

Putting all reservations aside, I tossed Caleb's costume (new and in the bag from last year), into the car.  Okay, so that's another story in and of itself.  Why did we still have a costume new and in the bag?  Short story version - Caleb has never wanted to dress up. He gets embarrassed easily and for him I guess the thought of putting on the costume means everyone will look at him.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Judgement House 2011

A small group from our church attended Judgement House at Annaville Baptist Church on the Saturday before Halloween.  At first glance and thought, one might assume this is a Haunted House or some other similar type event.  Especially since it was presented the weekend of Halloween.  In actuality, it was far from that.  Judgement House was the telling of a story.  A story about four individuals whose life choices lead them into either heaven or hell.  As you walked through Judgement House, you watched their stories unfold.

The world is filled with good people and bad people.  Lots of good people and lots of bad people.  I know TONS of the good ones.  The sad thing is that not all good people are going to go to heaven.  For those of us who have accepted the Lord as our Savior, we are truly saved from the fires of hell.  But, if you have not made that decision, for whatever reason, you are taking a huge risk.  A risk that could have you spending the rest of eternity with the devil himself.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."  Ephesians 2:8-9