A few pictures

I finally have a few (just a few) pictures from my sister's bridal shower a few weeks ago.


Me and the beautiful bride-to-be...



Me and my beautiful co-hostesses...



In other news...my baby shaved for the first time today! :( He is really growing up!

45 Odd things about me

45 ODD Things about you! FILL IT OUT and pass it on
and also back to the person that sent it to you!
Learn 45 things about your friends, and let them
learn 45 things about you!

Ha ha if you're reading this, you gotta do it, too! I had to!

And I like the black background better, anyone else?


1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? yes, on my hot wings during football season!
2. Have you ever smoked heroin? NO!
3. Do you own a gun? Not me but Jeff and Dylan have plenty!
4. Your favorite drink at MARYLOU's or other specialty? never been to Mary Lou's, where does she live? lol
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? not usually
6. What do you think of hot dogs? gettin' kinda tired of 'em to be honest
7. Favorite Christmas song? sheesh, guess I'll go with anything by Clint Black or Karen Carpenter
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? coke, baby, straight up!
9. Can you do push ups? you mean like, on the floor? lol
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? I guess my rings, that's typically all the jewelry I wear
11. Favorite hobby? depends on what time of the year you ask me. Right now, bellydancing!
12. Do you have A.D.D.? nah, what was the question again? lol
13. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? I could stand to lose a few (okay a lot) pounds
14. Middle name? Michelle
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? Would you believe, I honestly have no thoughts at present?
16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? coke, coke & coke. Yes, my kidneys are due to shut down anytime now
17. Current worry right now? finding something to wear for my sister's wedding this Sunday!!!
19. Favorite place to be? on the beach
20. How did you bring in the New Year? with family
21. Do you like to travel? yes
22. Name three people who will complete this? Yvie already did, so I guess anyone else who is bored to tears
23. Do you own slippers? no way
24. What color shirt are you wearing? grey
25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? no, they're itchy to me
26. Can you whistle? yes but not loudly
27. Favorite color? red
28. Would you be a pirate? Who thinks of these questions?
29. What songs do you sing in the shower? none
30. Favorite girl's names? Laura Brooklan & Sara Kaytlan
31. Favorite boy's name? Dylan
32. What's in your pocket right now? nothing
33. Last thing that made you laugh? probably Brooke
34. Best bed sheets as a child? don't recall being that fascinated with my bedsheets. As long as they were clean, I was good.
35. Worst injury you've ever had? ?? broken arm
36. Do you love where you live? I like the area okay, just wish our house was bigger
37. How many TVs do you have in your house? 4
38. Who is your loudest friend? Lynne probably but none can really hold a candle to me! You wanna talk loud, let me introduce my sisters!
40. Does someone have a crush on you? I hope not, I'm too tired for that mess
41. What is your favorite book? I should say the Bible and it IS up there but honestly it's anything by Lisa Whelchel
42. What is your favorite candy? chocolate, is there another kind? (in my best Jack Nicholson voice!)
43. Favorite Sports Team? The Tide
44. What were you doing 12 AM last night? sleeping on the couch
45. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this
morning? Fiddle, Jeff didn't wake me up early enough!

:)

Convicted! (and trying to stay on top of things)

This morning my devotional was about simplicity. As far as material things go, I have that down pat! Our house is very small and simple, our furnishings extremely modest (bordering on meager and crappy! I joke all the time about how you could destroy everything in my house and I'm only out about $15! LOL) Both our cars are old clunkers (but hey--paid for so na na na boo boo!) and my wardrobe....oh my goodness, we won't even go there. Let's just say I have the redneck mom look to perfection!

But activities, how I spend my time, that definitely can use a makeover. I've always been more of a Martha, not so much a Mary. I love my Jesus, very much and I make time for Him all throughout the day. But it doesn't feel like it's enough and that's because it probably isn't. I tend to busy myself with things, though meaningful and worthwhile, that could probably be put off just a bit. But oh how I HATE procrastinators and I'm determined never to be one. I like to plan and be on top of things. I don't mind a surprise now and then (prefer GOOD surprises though) and I don't get all stressed out over it, I can go with the flow as good as they next woman. But I at least have to have an original gameplan before I can "plan b" it! And I hate to be bored. Doesn't the Bible also say something about 'idle hands'???? There, that's my defense! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

No, seriously, I am going to rethink a few things that I do. And of course, when school starts back, things will slow down in some areas and pick up in others so maybe I'll be on an even keel for a bit. I just want to be sure all that I'm doing is what God wants me to do. You direct my steps, Lord Jesus! Reveal to me what I can hold onto and what I can let go of.

One thing I know I won't be letting go of are all my preschool activities (dance, music & movement, discovery room, etc.) Preschool is my calling. Every time in my life when I've tried to take my "career" (lol) in a different direction, God has always yanked me right back into preschool and I know I have the gift for it. The little monsters, uh, I mean angels absolutely have my heart! Even the ones who can really try my patience sometimes! I don't mind getting tough with them when they need it--too many of them come from broken homes and homes where they is an extremely liberal child-led parenting philosophy or something (my mom would call it a spoiled brat syndrome!) going on and they desparately need boundaries and limits. And I've no doubt God knew what He was doing when He said the rod of discipline will drive mischief far from a child. And I don't mean spanking, but being firm, consistent and letting your yes be a yes and your no be a no and then above all, balancing all that out with some tickles, hugs, kisses and snuggles! No, this is really what God has for me right now and I know I am where I need to be. He orchestrated it all. And I am really excited about the plans we have all made for the coming school year. I'm glad to work for a church that believes in its weekday ministry and supports it in ways that most don't. I just wish they could see the rewards more often.

Homeschooling is my other passion. I so wish I'd begun doing it sooner. I cannot imagine what my relationship with my girls would be like if they were still in school. If you send your children to school, I don't judge you for that--I did it for many years. But believe me when I say these past three years have been SO worth it. And I love being involved in our homeschool community. I have met so many wonderful families and have learned so much that has helped my own family because of it. So that is definitely staying!

So what will be going? I don't know. Like I said, God will just have to show me but I'm sure it won't be either of those two things! If God let's me have a vote, I'm going to choose housework as one! LOL If only I could TRULY let go of that and not worry about it not being done to my expectations....if that ever happens, you will KNOW God has worked a miracle.

Brooke is off to camp as of this morning. I sure hope the child finds something to eat this week. Such a picky eater still but she tends to do better when she's off like that and I'm not around.

Dylan leaves tomorrow for the beach and he's already gotten the lecture. He's really smart and a good boy, really he is. But sometimes he does do some boneheaded things! And I've told him that HE will have to be the responsible adult this week because God help 'em, he surely is not going with any! LOL I think my cuz' acts more like a kid than some of my preschoolers!

So Kayti will be an only child for a few days! Whatever will we do? LOL

Cathing up (again)

I hate playing the catch-up game with my blogging but I really haven't been in the mood to do it lately. Most everything is same-ol, same-ol anyway, just trucking along with all our stuff and getting ready for the summer to be over (not that we're ready for summer to be over but we do have to be prepared for next month when school is going to start back whether we like it or not!)

Last week, Brooke had dance camp and Shalita let me come and teach baton for a few hours. Thank you, Shalita! I had forgotten how much I love it. I had also forgotten how terribly out of shape I am. I was SO sore the next day from pushing myself. I need to remember I'm not 16 anymore! LOL But some of my fondest memories of high school are from twirling and I regret that I haven't put more time into teaching my own girls. There isn't a big demand for majorettes anymore and I think that's so sad because twirling is fastly becoming a lost art. :(

I'm ready to get back into bellydancing. I found a unitard that I'm going to get that has a sheer piece of fabric that covers the belly slightly (since I'm a little self-conscious about my scars still) and a hip scarf that I like and I hope to be ordering those next week. Now I just either need to find a class that fits my schedule or I need to find a place to practice with my Shimmy tapes! LOL But that's another thing I absolutely love!

My sister's bridal tea went off last weekend without a hitch. Everything turned out lovely and because I was so busy with serving and everything, I didn't get any pictures. I'm waiting on Jenny to email me some. She's already been threatened that if I don't have them by Monday, I'm opening up a can of you know what on her! lol Just joking. I love Jenny to death. But I DO want those pictures!

Last night was the lingerie shower/bachelorette party. I didn't stay long. And I'm SO glad I did not take Kayti. I debated about it but she still gets embarrassed talking about bras so I decided it might not be the best place for her! Let her stay innocent a while longer. She knows all about the birds and the bees but oh boy was I right to leave her at home! I won't go into details but I'm sure you can imagine and I was okay until the stripper got there. I've been to Chippendales and the Male Factor (many many years ago) and my goodness, they are choir boys compared to this guy! Ranchy. That was the only way to describe it. I felt so bad for Chris' grandmother, who had been such a trooper up until that point but several of us went into the other room for awhile and I'm sure I'll get made fun of by my sisters and my own mom for not sticking around. They were already ticked that I wasn't going out to the clubs with them afterward. I am NOT against drinking. I think (and from what I can tell from my reading, the Bible backs me up on this) it's fine to have some wine or whatever now and then. As long as the drinking doesn't consume your life and you start to put it before everything else. But clubs are just not my thing and never have been, even back in my younger days. It's loud, it's smokey, it reaks of sweat, it's crowded, the drinks are overpriced and I just don't care for it. But hey, if that's your thing, knock yourself out. I'll see you tomorrow! LOL

It's really hard for me to stand up for my beliefs and convictions without them taking it as me judging them. I promise I'm not doing that. They are about as lost as they can be (though my sister says she is saved) and I pray for them constantly. But I know how it feels to be judged and I try really really hard not to act that way towards them. I didn't stand up and preach to them and throw a big fit about how nasty it all was. I just simply went in the other room. But sometimes I feel like they think if I'm not with them, I'm against them. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them dearly. I just don't like and don't want to do some of the things they do.

Jeff has been on seven days working these past few weeks and while the money is good and we really need it right now (thank you, Lord!) I hate that he has to work so hard to get it. Things are really not good for him at his job and I keep praying that he'll find fulfillment in his work or that God will lead him elsewhere.

I'm letting the kids sleep in this morning. Bad mom! I know I should be getting them up and taking them to church. But they are sleeping so peacefully and I won't get to see two of them much this week. Brooke is headed to camp tomorrow and Dylan goes to the beach with my cousin for a week on Tuesday. Kayti is excited to be an "only child" for a few days and I'm excited to get to spend some one-on-one time with her. She is growing up so fast (they all are).

I helped out with registration yesterday for co-op and it went really well. I'm really excited about this co-op. The classes are all so interesting and fun! I already have 12 girls signed up for American Girls and we are capping that off at 20-25. I'm going to hate having to turn people away. I fear so many are waiting until the last minute to sign up and it's not going to be pretty when they don't get the classes they want.

I got most of our school supplies bought already and I feel so on top of it this year that I am so afraid I'm forgetting something HUGE....but no idea what it could be.

My last major reorganization is needing to be redone. I'm not satisfied with the kitchen. I want to find a small table and storage for my sewing and crafts, use what I have there for my computer/office area and get rid of this big hunking computer desk that is falling apart! I also want to get rid of our kitchen chairs and get stools that will slide underneath the table and save some more space. Ugh! So much organizing to do and so little time and money! I wish people would pay me to organize their stuff--I get such a high from it! lol Then maybe I'd have more money to organize mine like I want to.

I decided to let Kayti continue taking violin. Previously I'd thought about not doing it because I wasn't sure it was going to work out. But Miss Connie let us change our time to a time when I would be in the area anyway so that works. I don't know what to do about Brooke and piano. She's about ready for someone besides me. I think I've taken her as far as I can take her and she and I butt heads with it sometimes anyway. Don't ask me how I get her to do her schoolwork but I can't get her to understand what I'm talking about with piano. Guess I'm not a very good piano teacher. Or maybe it's because she's mine. Anyhow...we may be calling on someone else to do that this year.

I also have to make some decisions about Camp Fire. They both love it and I want them to continue in it. But our schedule is getting so full and though we thrive on structure, downtime is important, too. Even though I have to listen to "I'm bored" on those days. Gosh my kids are just like me, Lord help 'em.

So I'm off now to spend some time in the Word and in prayer. Even though I'm not heading to church this morning, I still need my Jesus time!

Blessings to all for a great week!

Thank you for your prayers and a quick update

God is good! He bought me a little time to figure out how to handle this "first-meeting-with-the-bio-dad-in-28-years" thing! I finally talked to him for a few minutes and found out that he is not allowed to leave the premises of the half-way house except to look for employment. And since he will be moving to Athens to stay with my half-sister for a while, they don't really expect him to find a job around here. Also, through some freakish error (yes, I know it was you, God!), my name did not get put on his visitors list so I can't go visit him either. He was upset about the mistake but obviously, I'm not. I tried to be sympathetic and said, well, a few more weeks is not that long but I'm glad. I really really need to pray some more about this and get my emotions under control. I must admit, I am more freaked out by this than I ever expected to be.

Sometime last week in my Journey devotional, I read an article titled "Be Bitter or Be Blessed". It totally defines how I think I feel. Forgiveness isn't about the person who wronged us, it's about us. We can't be filled with things of God if we are already filled with a bunch of other junk. And I KNOW how blessed I am. I am SO NOT carrying all that around with me anymore and haven't in a long time. But it's just still a little weird, ya know? LOL I guess it's like meeting someone you've chatted with online with for years and never actually thought you'd see face to face. That's the closest I can come to explaining it. I'm a little curious, naturally, a little nervous, etc. But mostly ambivolent (did I spell that right?) and I feel like I should feel something more. Just a whole lotta weirdness goin' on.

And also, thank you, Lord, I've been too busy to focus on it right now anyway. So much to do right now!

We had a great time in Atlanta. We were late getting there because I made a wrong turn (me! Miss Great-sense-of-direction, usually) and it took me forever to figure out how to get turned around on the toll road! But they held our reservation for us and we were seated quickly. They had little booster chairs and menus for the dolls even! And we got to take our cookie cutter napkin rings home. Haven't used them yet but we will!

We all got something different so we could taste everyone's food. The food was pretty good and I'm glad we did that just so we can say we did it but we're not likely to do it again. For what we paid, we could have eaten a lot better elsewhere. I think next time, we'll just have a milkshake or something.

Kayti used her birthday money and bought Ruthie. Ruthie is Kit's friend and the Kit movie just came out at the theatres. Kit is Kayti's absolute favorite American Girl doll and she's been eagerly awaiting the release of both the doll and the movie for several months now. We still have not been to see the movie yet. Hopefully, we'll get around to it sometime this week.








I think my mom enjoyed the store as much as the girls and I do. I know she got a kick out of the old stove and washing machine, having watched her own mother cook and wash on them many times. I know Maw Maw would love those dolls and books, too.



After we were done with the American Girl store, I redeemed myself and my sense of direction by finding our way to the Bass Pro Shops in Lawrenceville! (go me, go me, go me, who's ya daddy?) We let Dylan spend a few hours there while we walked around the rest of the mall, though we redneck girls enjoy the Bass Pro Shops a little, too!

I've been working hard trying to get ahead for the Fall. Everyone always tells me I take on too much and I usually laugh it off because I can't imagine sitting around doing NOTHING all the time. Not that anyone else does that but I would if I didn't find fun, constructive things to do with myself. But I may have actually bit off a HUGE bite this time. I know I can handle it but I know now more than ever, I MUST stay organized. So far, so good. I have the entire first semester of lesson plans for both Discovery & Music and Movement for FBCA, almost all the lesson plans for Home Ec, the first three weeks of lesson plans for Brooke, and the syllabus completed for American Girls (still working on the lesson plans for that one, though)

I am really excited about my new job with FBCA (First Baptist Christian Academy) doing Discovery and Music & Movement and about the classes I'm teaching for the co-op. Speaking of American Girls, I am teaching one class devoted solely to Kaya, the Indian girl. We'll be reading her books and studying the Nez Perce tribe for 14 weeks this Fall! The children's librarian at the Trussville Library found out I was doing this and she's asked me to come and be her guest speaker when their American Girls Club does Kaya in the Spring. I'm also teaching a Music & Movement for preschoolers for the Co-op and helping another teacher out with the Home Ec class. I think that one has kept me the most busy because we decided to write our own curriculum instead of buying one and there is SO MUCH to cover in Home Ec. We want to touch on cooking, cleaning, laundry, child care, sewing, crafts & decorating, personal finance, being organized, maintaining a godly home, hostessing, etc. and we could literally spend all 14 weeks on just ONE of those! And maybe we will, next semester.

I am excited for Kayti and her CORE classes and I'm so glad she is excited, too. We've started reading Treasure Island, her summer reading assignment together as a family.

I absolutely LOVE homeschooling and I so wish I'd begun doing it sooner! We got the girls' SAT scores back and they did great! I was a little nervous only because I was afraid that if they did not do good, Jeff would want me to send them back to school or something (he's still in that public school mindset) and I am SO not doing that. As long as God keeps working out a way for me to do this, I'm going to keep doing it. But I had nothing to be nervous about. Brooke scored a little behind in Math, but I knew she would. She really struggles with Math but that's okay. She'll get there and she's not SO far behind that it's anything I need to worry about. I expected Kayti to be behind in Math as well but she tested exactly on grade level. Brooke scored around 7th grade in Social Studies (do ya think her teacher mom might be a history buff? lol) and exactly on grade level in everything else. Everything else of Kayti's was either on grade level of above except for "listening skills". I was kind of surprised at that and thought 'she must have just had a bad day' or something when she took that test but since the results came back, I have noticed it more. So I'm glad it was brought to my attention and we're definitely working on that this summer.

I'm not sure if I already posted this or not but Brooke made the Dance team at Shalita's! She is thrilled and extra thrilled that her bff Hannah made it, too. I don't think one would have liked being without the other.

Pep Squad is a go, too, and we're having our first meeting this Saturday.

We're still enjoying our Tuesday pool parties at Mrs. Donna's (thank you, Donna so much for doing these!) I tell everyone about my Tuesdays. That's a day where the kids get to all play together and they don't bug us to death "watch me, mommy" all day (not that I mind that now and again but not every 5 minutes) and we moms get to sit and talk and laugh. We have such a good time. Mom time is very important, too, ya know!

Arts & Crafts is still moving right along. The girls learned to sew this week, each of them making a simple top/dress. This week is supposed to be string art but I'm not sure we'll have the supplies ready so we may do mosaic instead and put string art off a bit.

I did get all the invites mailed out for Mia's bridal shower which is this weekend (still blows my mind she is getting married--I just changed her diaper yesterday!) and last night we went to Nett's to get all the wedding invites addressed and ready. That reminds me, I need to get started on her gift. It will in no way shape or form be ready by this weekend. Hopefully soon, though. Right now I'm concentrating on getting the shower done. I've never hosted one before so I want to make sure I dot all my i's and cross all my t's so to speak.

I think that's about all the excitement in my life for now. Hope that's enough!