Taking picture's is hard to do sometimes.....Picture Blooper's

Dating myself

Did you see the PAC MAN game on the right? Yes, that is my one and only favorite game to play, if I have to play games. It can relieve some stress..go ahead and try it. Let me know what your high score is.

Book recommendation...

In my effort's to LEARN more about what it means to be a "proverbs 31 woman" I am seeking help through reading various books.
This book seems to flow nicely with Proverbs 31:10-12....
"FASCINATING WOMANHOOD" By Helen B. Andelin, while I don't agree with everything I have greatly benefited from many suggestion's in her book. In my humble opinion its worthy of reading.

These topic's may be of some interest to you:

Introduction, What this book can do for you

Part I: Then angelic qualities
Accept a man at face value
Admiration
His sensitive pride
Sympathetic understanding
Make him No.1
Man's role in life
Man, the protector
...just to name a few

Part II: The human qualities
Femininity
The feminine manner
Radiant Happiness
Fresh Radiant Health
Child likeness
....and more

The philosophy of Fascinating Womanhood grew out of Helen Andelin's dissatisfaction with her own marriage. Feeling loved but not cherished, cared for but not treasured, Mrs. Andelin turned to the marriage books in her library for guidance. The answers weren't there. Searching further, finding fragments of information in a variety of sources Helen Andelin finally discovered the essential elements for a successful marriage. Putting her new found knowledge into practice, she watched her marriage change dramatically for the better.
It goes on to say that she began talking to woman in small groups and out of that grew this book, written in 1965.

Reading her book has enlightened me and put many of my concerns in the proper perspective. As a result of changing the way that I think I have been blessed by the fruit of it in my marriage.

Emotional weekend...

It doesn't take much for me to cry and from what one of my aunts shared with me I've always been this way. My aunt Jeannie reminded me of a time when I was young and her younger 3 children were 7+ year's younger than me so they were like my little brother's and sister's. She said she remembered a time when they would get in trouble and I knew they were about to get a spanking so I started crying for them. I laughed and vaguely remember that, but she told me that I've always been emotional.
I am thankful for the ability to "cry" and "feel". Although, at the time I am not focused on that, it is only now that I can think clearly after the rain. Can you imagine being addicted to a substance that doesn't allow "you" to feel? Or having the desire not to feel, because the pain is unbearable?

I can't imagine that, although I would prefer to "feel" happy rather than sad or heart broken or anything hard. I thank God for giving me his strength. Hey, I'm just thankful for having GOD in my life, I don't want to know where I'd be without him.


I am thankful for the body of Christ and how God uses others to help us remember to praise him through our circumstances. Being genitally reminded of this was just what I needed at the time.
Again..I am thankful for God's grace and that he knows my heart and that he loves me.

Truly, living without God isn't living at all and we need to remember that Satan is prowling around trying desperately to take our minds and hearts away from the Father. I say flee from me evil one!

We made it through

Praise God he carried me through this race today! It was incredible. There just isn't any denying that there is just a community among runner's and how fun these races really are.
It was cold,but I layered up good and it really wasn't bad.
I listened to praise and worship and with raised hands periodically as I "jogged" up and down hills I thanked my heavenly father for everything. What a blessed time this was for me. I praise the Lord for it.
I did not beat my last time I actually went over by 2 minute's but I am not discouraged because I've been blessed. I met a lady who had preemie twins at the children's hospital last year and I got to share with her about my preemie son who is almost 16 year's old...wow did I say that! It sure does sound like I must be old...ha! I also met two cute lil college student's, girls who finished the race in about 20 minute's, they had previously did a half marathon..it was so cool just meeting so many people and generally most are very friendly.

The many faces of the Chris man.....It is becoming harder to get snap shot's of him lately.
This look is as though he is thinking do I have to stop to take a picture?
The red in this picture on his face is from the camera..MY NEW ONE! I haven't figured it out yet, but I will.



Chris said grace tonight. He is talking up a storm and he repeated everything that I told him. It was the cutest thing tonight. We all clapped for him and was very blessed by it. He is a very social little boy and he never ceases to surprise me. I am so thankful that God has placed him in our lives. It is difficult not knowing what the end result will be but I am learning to be content in whatever situation that God blesses us with.

DIY Junkie!

I think that I am becoming a DIY junkie! We (Randy) made our oldest son a bed, with under bed storage. I am so excited. My job is to paint it. The bed is looking good. Our son even commented on how nice it looks. I recently painted their room and I can't wait to get this bed finished.

I love home decorating...it is so much fun. I am an artist by nature and I don't get to display that side of myself much anymore. It has been year's since I've painted, or drawn ANYTHING! I do miss it, and someday I plan to pick it back up again. Right now I'll continue to dabble in "creating" our home into a place that feels just like that...HOME!

I'll post picture's as soon as I am done.

The State of the U.S.A.

I was listening to one of my favorite christian radio station's this evening and there was a section where they reported the news. I am so disturbed at what I learned today. I was completely floored to hear that there is human trafficking in AMERICA, yes right here in the good ole' USA. They named states like Oklahoma, Kansas, certain parts of FLORIDA. This is so huge that these people are taking children right off of the streets, traumatizing them so much so that they won't try to run away. They even change their names.

...A brief story was told of a young girl 12 year's old who went to a "higher level" educated school that she had to walk some distance to get to. She was a great student and primarily good child. She was kidnapped by a pimp because the money is so GREAT they will go to major lengths to get these children. He changed her name, controlled her to a point that she was terrified of him. She was arrested 17 times in one year for "PROSTITUTION" if you can believe that! She has a record. No one checked to see who her parent's were. They allowed anyone to pick her up once she served her time. She was greatly terrified of her pimp and wouldn't turn him in. After realizing that her pimp and the men who were "buying" her didn't do any jail time she finally she got the strength to get out of this situation when she was "16"! This is mind blowing. Her pimp ended up in prison for a very long time.
These children aren't poverty stricken, there aren't any specifics as to who gets chosen as it relates to economic status or race.
There is BIG money (approximately 1,000.00 or so a day) to be made in this horrific "business" if you will, and "greed" is the main reason for this outrageous crime.

This news saddens me greatly and leaves me heart broken for all of these children and wondering "why" and "how"? It truly is beyond my level of comprehension. This is something that goes on in third world countries...are we becoming one ourselves? Not that is ok to be going on there either.What is it that we truly care about in AMERICA? Is there a New World Order? These are all question's that in my humble opinion are worth pondering over. These and many other happening's could be sign's of the end times for sure. As a Christian, I know one thing for sure I have J E S U S! No matter, what happens in this world, it is NOT my home. For that I am thankful.
Please join me in praying for all of these children who's parent's must think that they are in the bottom of an ocean somewhere...while we are at it lets pray for their parent's too!

Delicious and easy apple pie

I made apple pie last night. My children have asked me for year's to make apple pie. I finally got my nerves up to "try". I found a recipe and it was very easy and I couldn't believe how good it was. If my hubby comments on how good something taste, than I know it is good.

I used fresh granny smith apples (peeling is time consuming), flour,butter,baking powder,sucanat sugar (called for white sugar) and brown sugar. I purchased already made pie crust which came two in a package. I used one for the topping crust of one pie. I had enough filling for 2 more pies so I had to make a top crust out of the flour that I had. I used a mixture of wheat flour being hard white and red, a little bran flour and made a biscuit dough for the topping of the other two pies. I couldn't have planned it to come out tasting so good. I couldn't believe it, in my Home Comfort's book the author says that a woman should be able to cook without using a cookbook through experiment's etc. When I first read that I didn't agree totally, but now I do think that there are some advantages to being "able" to cook without using "recipe's" all of the time. My mother didn't even own any recipe books and we loved her made up dishes. I guess you can say that I am a little proud of myself for giving up fear of making apple pie.

Gearing up for another race

Yes, I have decided to participate in another race. My husband is so good to me he got me a treadmill so I've been trying to build my endurance for this next race. It will be the first week of December. I am excited that another friend of mine is going to do the race with me. My goal is always to try to beat my previous time. Pray for us to do well and our safety. As I age...not that I am old or anything :) but I have a fear of falling..ha!

Life..

I just attended a banquet for a local adoption angency in out town. What stands out the most to me is about a woman who had 7 children (single mom) traveled from the state of Illinois to Georgia to start a new life. She lived in a few shelter's and ultimately got on her feet by findind a job and a place for her chilren to live. She didn't know anyone here and to her surprise she was pregnant with her 8th child. She knew she couldn't afford to take care of another child so she made the decision to put it up for adoption. I think of how hard that must have been for that mother to already have childrena and not be able to keep this one. Ultimately the child was adopted into a wonderful family and is fine. What a huge sacrifice this woman made. I can't imagine ever doing that and I know this woman must have felt GREAT pain in making this desicion, but I thank God that she made the decision.
...Another story about a older child between the age of 7-9 I really don't remember, because I had Chris with me (smile) anyway the agency got a call that this biological child's parent wanted to put "her" up for adoption, I kept thinking "really" after all of this time. They didn't go into details as to why but that they had to really pray for this situation because they don't usually take older children. Her point was if we don't say "yes" to a child who will? That hit hard! Who will take a child into their home to love and train up in the LORD? Who will? They said yes and they PRAYED specific's for this child and the adoptive parent's and GOD answered not one, not two but ALL of their prayer's and this child is happy now with new parent's.

I don't know why people make the decision's that they make but I am so glad that there are agencies like this one to be there for the new born child or older one. I am so thankful for these families as well. My heart aches for the innocent child who needs a home. As a little girl I always wanted to adopt a child from every country. I don't know if the Lord has that plan for my life, but I do think that more children are in his plans for our family.

One baby..??? NO two babies!!!!

My dear sweet friend Mrs. B was pregnant with her 7th child. Two weeks before she was due she found out that there were two..instead of one. She now has 7 son's and 1 daughter. How sweet they are.... Julian and Jackson

Did you vote?

I for one am so happy that this day has come and is almost gone. I have thought about voting vs. not voting. I have had numerous conversation's with many people on this issue. Ultimately, I decided to vote. It wasn't easy for me because I did not want to choose either candidate and that included Bob Barr. Frankly, I can see the end times approaching and faster than we may realize. I have prayed and I have prayed to our Heavenly Father who should I vote for and without getting a clear answer on that issue specifically. He whispered to me to "ask" my husband. So, I did and I went solely on his advice. It amazed me at how quickly the anxiety left my body after doing what the Lord told me to do. I am content with it and so we move on to see who our new president will be. Either way it goes I believe that God will have his way and his will be done.

I am learning to be the woman that God has called me to be and it just feels GREAT! It never fails that when I make decision's from acting in obedience to him he always blesses me. What faithfulness to an undeserving woman like me.

Race for a cure...

I participated in another 5K today. This race was to help children who have cancer and their families. Just racing for that fact alone was the ultimate reason I did it. It was cold this morning at 8 a.m. I don't think I warmed up until well after noon. :)
It was really encouraging to see all of the children taking part in such a great cause today.
I met my goal and that was to beat my last time, which I did by 4 minutes and approximately 40 seconds. I was excited! There is a jingle bell race next month that I can't believe that I am honestly considering. I don't think that I can talk my friend into doing that one too! I may be alone on that one.
Overall I felt really blessed to have taken place in this race and for a friend who agreed to do it with me.

Great buy, home made and home improvement's...

This is the most recent thing that my dear husband has made. We needed more hanging space in our tiny closet since we have to share, so he designed this system, made it and stained it to match our bed. The really neat thing is that he can take the system out, it isn't nailed to the wall. Traditionally, a closet system would provide one side with just one pole and the opposite has two poles, but since I don't really have many dresses I requested two poles for hanging on my side as well. I really admire my hubby. When he gets a vision for something there is no stopping him. Things have really turned out GREAT!
I went "Antique" shopping a few weeks ago and after getting over the ticket "shock" I realized that our budget won't allow for a REAL antique at the time, I'd better fall back on plan #2! Randy allowed me to have a little time alone this past weekend and I went to an antique mall, now they have many vendor's and not everything is antique, but this dresser ( I desperately needed was a true bargain and not an antique.) It was under $200.00 bucks and what a find. It has some flaws but nothing that concerned me what-so-ever. We knew we couldn't make a dresser for this price so we got it. I just love it! Notice the hardwood floor's in this picture is more accurate of the color of the hard wood floor's.
This is a picture of the bed that we made, it has huge under bed storage and I especially love the simple headboard with fabric that makes it interesting to look at. Sorry my camera is really old and I have asked for another for Christmas.. We'll see if my wish comes true.

When we purchased our house 2 1/2 years a go we did so with a lot of "vision". It being older and smaller and not updated at all since it was built in the "80's". The largest undertaking has been the hard wood floor's that we've (my husband) has installed throughout the entire house minus bathrooms and kitchen. WE ARE FINALLY FINISHED! We started about this time last year and finished up in late August. This has really been GREAT progress since my husband has done the remainder of it with a "broken" knee cap, and fostering a baby around the same time he had his injury. God is good we've made it this far. I wanted to take a few picture's to show what we've done and we are so proud. The floors aren't as dark as they seem on this picture either, so again my camera is very old. These are a few thing's that we've really come to LOVE doing. There are many more project's to come, we don't run short of doing them, but the hardest decision is "what" to do next.

Emotional Sunday

Today I had the GREAT opportunity to see of my dear Aunt Juanita, one whom I haven't seen or spent any real time with since my mother passed away 16 year's ago.

She doesn't look any older. She looks real GOOD for "75". She was always one who kept her self up nicely. She is very petite was sporting 2 to 3 inch high heels. Not a problem for her at all. I would have been tripping all over myself in heels. I've never been one to wear high heels. Growing up in Ohio, we spent a lot of time with her family. She had three children 2 boy's and one daughter. Her oldest son passed away some time back with lukemia, Larry was smart, strong and very handsome. When he got sick he tried his best to stay strong. He use to tell me I looked like Stacy Lattisaw, in our time she was young singer. We spent many summer's at their house playing and having fun as children. The short visit went well today and we had a really good time just talking for that short while. But seeing her made me think of my mother. I am actually very emotional , just wishing I could hug my mom and she could see the "woman" I have turned out to be with the help of the Lord. Hoping she would be proud of me and how we are raising her grandson's. Which she has never seen, she passed away before they were born. She would love them dearly. My youngest told me that I look like her today. I thought that was a special "kiss" from the Lord.
There are only 5 children left of my mother's siblings...from 16! It is said that two sets were twins and died at birth. My mother's birth certificate said she was a multiple and the sister right before her has twin checked on her birth certificate. They grew up with 12, 9 were girl's and the rest boy's. Talking about a large family, I come from one. Someday real soon I'd love to do a family tree and present it to the remaining sister's.

Hearty chicken noodle soup

Dear sweet husband wanted to "taste" his chicken's so he requested chicken noodle soup for dinner today. If left up to me they would have stayed in the freezer almost indefinitely.. LOL

Nevertheless it was good. I kept telling myself not to think about it, just eat it. I got through it and I think the next time we get chicken's we will make sure to order "meat" bird's as well. If he can process, I will cook...hey and actually eat. I just had to get it over with...you know for the children's sake. :)

Random picture's from vacation

We always go to the book store on vacation (family tradition)
Chris and Seth trying to get out on the patio..

Sweet picture..

Meeting baby Jay..

Baby Jay with Mom and Dad
Baby Jay eating birthday cake with mommy, we got to celebrate his 1st birthday with him. It was touching to hear his dad praying that they didn't know if they would ever see this day.

Baby Jay is doing well and NOT missing any meal's.

Vacation picture's...Panama City Beach, Florida

Sunrise...
Chris really took to Aunt Jo..
Cam caught a crab, he caught the first one, 3 were caught in all and all were thrown back into the water.
Cute picture with daddy..
Cousins having fun in the ocean
Ross crab hunting...
Making sand castles..
Beautiful ocean....

Beautiful sunset...

YAHOO!!! VACATION TIME!!!

We are off to the beach, Lord willing tomorrow. We can't wait to feel that warm sand on our feet. We have waited all summer to go on vacation. Generally, we plan to go during most of the off season because we prefer "not" to be in crowd's. One of the blessing's of HOMESCHOOLING.

My sister-in-law is going with us this year, which is also a blessing and we are glad that she can join us. We also have Chris this year and we can't wait to see how he'll react to the ocean. He loves water so he should love the ocean.

The resort that we will be staying at is directly on the water so hopefully it will be a blessing. All of the balcony's are facing the ocean so I can't wait to get out there and be with God in the early morning.

Pray for us as we travel.

I plan to post picture's when we return.

Having fun with the boy's

CHICKEN ANY ONE????

Do you remember the 6 Rooster's and 3 Hen's that we have? Five lucky Rooster's are now in our freezer.

A really nice man came over to our house from Church to help my husband PROCESS them. I proudly walked down to the area in which they were setting up with Chris on one side and the other was the camera. As I watched them carry the bird's up one at a time from the pen, I just couldn't stay. I turned the camera over to my son and walked back into the house. Temptation got the best of me so I looked out of the window of the HOUSE of course and I saw the headless bird wiggling! That was enough for me. Needless to say the job is done and the bird's were actually a really good size. The very last thing to do was to wash them and prepare them for the freezer. I had the hardest time touching them, even though the looked just like a bird that had been purchased at the grocery store! I just couldn't hardly stand it so my friend helped me wash,o.k. she washed them!!! I held the bag open. I am such a, dare I say " C H I C K E N".!!!
I guess one day I will proudly say....I helped in processing the bird's. I can see purchasing bird's, raising them up for meat and egg's but processing and actually eating them is another story. I can even cook them for the family to eat, but the true test will be if I EAT THEM!

Having fun with Chris....

I had fun taking these picture's of Chris the other night. He had fun too!