How are you living your life?

If I Had My Child to Raise Over Again
By Diane Loomans
If I had my child to raise all over again,
I'd build self esteem first, and the house later.
I'd finger paint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I would care to know less and know to care more.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I'd do more hugging and less tugging.
I'd see the oak tree in the acorn more often.
I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.
I'd model less about the love of power,
And more about the power of love.

This is a wonderful poem for parents but it is also true for relationships in general. We get caught up in our daily tasks and forget to show love to those around us. To often we try to control every aspect of our lives that we get upset and even angry if someone does not act how we expect them to or disagrees with us. Life is not all about being in charge, it is about giving God control. We need to slow down and enjoy the life that God has given us. Life is a gift, why would we want to spend our time worrying, criticising, and yelling when God says "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control" Galatians:5:22,23. How are you living your life?

MP3's

I took a break from all the cleaning to do something nice for Jake. He will be on a school bus for 7 hours tomorrow (that is if traffic is good) so I got him an MP3 player and I am loading it with songs. He has an old MP3 player but it only help like 10 songs. This one I am pretty sure has more than 200 and it is not even half way full! I am still adding songs. He asked for a few new songs but the rest are songs from the 1990's to present day. Collective Soul, Cornerstone, Casting Crowns, Cold Play, Maroon 5, 3 Doors Down, Richochet (seven bridges road), Mercy Me, Jeremy Camp and many others. I have been loading songs for hours. It would have gone faster but many of the songs had never been uploaded to the computer... that is why I love itunes! One click and the song is on my computer and then I sync his player and he is ready to go. I really hope this makes his ride more enjoyable. Why will he be on the bus so long you may be asking? His team is headed to Shaw High School in Columbus for the State Playoffs. I think they will do well... at least they better!!! :) Go Raiders!! Wait Shaw is also Raiders I better say Go Southeast!!

First Inquiry

I got excited. I got a reply to our ad posted on North GA Trader, "Would you be willing to do a rent to own?"... gag!!! Oh well, I was prepared for this. A friend of mine had many request for rent to own so I know there may be many more to come. Which makes me think... would anyone like to buy a great house to rent out?

Still Sorting and Waiting

The last few days I have been spending an hour or more in storage, sorting. Our empty box pile is growing. That is very good news! I hauled 3 bags of trash to the dump yesterday, all from papers and broken things that had been kept in storage or around the house. It felt really good to get rid of that stuff. The yard sale pile is getting bigger. After our last yard sale I thought we had nothing left worth selling. I had even taken a couple of loads of yard sale leftovers to Salvation Army and Goodwill. I said I would never have another yard sale. I did not realize what we had packed away! I am going to try to finish the sorting this week so that we can have a yard sale on the 24th. Let me know if you are interested in joining me. Even if you have a small amount of stuff... bring it on!

The house selling process seems to be going really slow. Right now I have our house listed on 5 web sites and at least 2 of them seem to be getting a steady flow of visitors (the only 2 I can see how many views the page gets). Our fliers flew out the first weekend but now they are going about 1 every other day. It is great to know that people are looking but no one has even called or emailed us about it so we will just wait and pray. Our next step would be to pay to advertise in the Chatsworth paper (I understand the Dalton ads are way expensive). If we still do not get any calls then we might have to shell out the money to list on the MLS. The MLS would get our house out there for EVERYONE to see. The problem with the MLS and for sale by owner is #1 it is expensive!! #2 it is a data base used by realtors. If a realtor wants to show our home to someone then we would have to consider the options. The realtor would want a % if they helped make the sale. From what I understand it is any where from 1-3%. If we could get 100% of what we are asking then I think we could pay 1-2% to the realtor but we would make nothing. I think if we get to the point of where we really need to sell then we would consider that. We are not really going to make much any way. We look at what our loan was and what we owe now and have decided that we have been renting from the bank... haha. Ok so it is not really that bad but in this housing market our home is probably worth what we are asking even though it is $2000 less than we paid for it 3 years ago.

The good news is that the foreclosure up the street and the house that was for sale across the street from it look like they might have been sold. One says Sale Pending and the other one does not have a for sale sign anymore! That leave 2 houses for sale in our neighborhood. Our house for $137,9,00 and a house up the street that last time I checked was for sale for $148,000 or so. So even though no one has called after 2 weeks we are remaining optimistic and we are reminding ourselves that God is in control... after all it has only been 2 weeks.

If any of you have advice on selling a home we would love to hear it... especially if you have experience.

Storage

It has been nice to have extra room for storage but now I am realizing how unnecessary it is. Storage = Junk. Every bit of extra space just leaves more room for us to fill with junk. It makes us lazy "we don't have to sort that right now, let's just put it down here"... then 3 years later it's still there. If something is in storage for three years then how much of a necessity is it really? I am looking forward to having a yard sale to get rid of all of this... and the numerous trip I will need to make to the dump to get rid of all of the trash that has built up (not stinky trash... just years of papers and broken things that we said... I'll get to that later.)

More Cleaning

This morning I picked up Caleb from his very first sleepover. It was right next door but that is a big event in a little boys life. Then we went to Taylor's football practice. Today they practiced blocking and tackling with dummies. I thought it was a nice change from the usual practice where the kids beat up on each other. After practice I realized why they did it this way. No contact between the boys + a talk about make sure you wash your hands = swine flu prevention. It seems to be running wild here. Of course very few cases are actually diagnosed as swine but it is the flu and it spreads fast and hits hard. So either way we don't want it.

After practice it was back to cleaning and playing with the kids and more cleaning. This is the 3rd time I have had a break today. The first was writing an email to a dear friend and the second was a much needed nap. It was only 20 min or less but it was refreshing and got me geared up to tackle Taryn's room. Her room was left until last, upstairs, because she has so much stuff. I found better ways of organizing and talked her in to giving some of the baby toys away. So between my normal tidying up, finishing my room and Taryn's it has been a pretty busy day. I think tomorrow I will work on my closet and then I think it will be time to move down to storage. I do have the main bonus room cleaned up so it can be turned into the super sort room!

Now it's off to fix supper, play with the kids and then fold clothes (I have been putting this off all week) while hanging out with Jake. He has been at his volleyball tournament all day. The girls have been playing good today... sorry the kids and I did not go but between Caleb staying up late at his friends and Taryn cutting molars I did not feel like taking them out.

Pictures and Listings

So today I have focused my efforts on our master bedroom and photos. I have been cleaning and organizing our bedroom. It is not in bad shape but it is the room that is often on my daily cleaning schedule and often turns into a dumping ground when we have company coming over. So I am almost done with the basic cleaning and then I will begin to pack up things such as books that we never look at and bag up items for a yard sale. I have read that it is best to clear out any unused items because it helps the room to look clean and spacious... that is my goal. My other job for the day has been taking pictures and adding our home to listings. I am taking pictures as I get a room prepared. So far I have pictures from outside, the kitchen, dining room, kids bath, attic entry, 1 view of the bonus room, the boys room and a photo of the trey ceiling in the master bedroom. I can't decide if I want to post pictures of Taryn's room before or after I paint it. Right now it is pepto- pink. I will be painting it a nice neutral brown/tan color... unless someone comes along in the meantime that likes the pink! Now I will take a break from my cleaning to go eat with Jake... among other things and then continue (maybe with Jake's help) with out closet this evening.
Here is the link of our pictures... so far... if you know of anyone who might be interested :) I plan to go back later and add room dimensions so people can try to visualize the space.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lisabdickey/House#

For Sale By Owner

This has been a great house and we have the best neighbors but we feel that we need to make this financial decision for the betterment of our family. We have been praying about this for months. So why now? We have gone back and forth about what is best for our family. We decided that having our finances in better shapes and not having to pinch pennies is better than living in a big house. Please keep us in your prayers and if you have any advice on For Sale By Owner we would love to hear it. Also if you know of anyone who is looking for a house in Dalton please send them our way!

I am going to try to blog throughout this whole process. For the last week I have been cleaning, clearing, sorting, etc. So far the laundry, kitchen and dining rooms are almost show ready. The kids rooms look good enough but I am trying not to displace to much of their stuff at one time. I worked on the bonus room yesterday. It was a MESS... but not any more. It still needs some work but for the first time in months I can see the floor! That was just part of the bonus room... hopefully tomorrow I can begin on bonus room part 2. It actually feels good to clean and clear out spaces. I am hoping to be done with all of this by next weekend so that I can begin to plan a yard sale... if I have enough stuff worth selling. If any of you are interested in joining me for a yard sale at my house let me know... we get good yard sale traffic.

St. Simons Part 2

So we took care of the whole RoofBag situation and took off down the road. The drive went pretty good and the dvd player was awesome! When the kids are watching a movie we have to listen to it because it is routed through the speakers but it was much nicer listening to it than 3 kids whining about the car ride :) It took us about 6 hours to get there. We arrived and quickly got into camp mode. We got all of our name tags, schedules, tshirts and stuff, unpacked, went for a walk and ate dinner. Then we dropped the kids off and went to our first chapel service. This years speaker was Brad Bird and he spoke on Romans 12; how we belong to God, we are part of God's body, and we are to love each other... of course it was a lot deeper than this but I am not going to type out all of my notes... haha. After chapel we got to break up into our small groups which is always a great way to get advice from other coaches (for Jake) and coaches wives (for me). There just happened to be a guy in Jake's group that had taught at Apalachee when Jake was there. After huddles we went to the adult fellowship, a time for the adults to eat snacks and socialize. We spent the first evening social talking with the guy Jake used to work with and his wife. They only live 30 from my parents house so I am hoping one of these days we can go down for a visit. The next mornig we were up at 6:30 and off to breakfast by 7am. From breakfast we took the kids to their groups and went to competition. Jake did a mixture of sports everyday from football, to kick ball, to softball, to his favorite volleyball. I also competed everyday with women coaches and coaches wives. I have to say that this year was much more competitive than last year. We played volleyball, wiffleball, kickball, and ultimate frisbee. After competitions we would go to a morning session. This years was called Balanced. It was about balancing finances. It was amazing! We only got to hear the first 3 lessons at camp and are doing the rest here at home (balancedonline.org you can watch the lessons and download the pdf's). After morning sessions was huddles, lunch then free time. Our first day of free time was spent napping. I had a headache and Jake was going to a class for FCA huddle leaders so the kids and I slept, it was the best 3 hour nap ever! The next day we went to the light house and the playground overlooking the ocean and then hit up Dairy Queen. Our last day of free time we went to the pool. After free time was supper, then break out sessions, chapel, adult fellowship and child pickup.

Oh and how can I forget Thursday night. Thursday night was date night. As we sat in the cafeteria waiting on the kids to finish eating a storm blew in. It poured and the wind blew and then it was over... so we thought! Jake and I dropped off the kids and headed out to eat. As we headed towards the bridge a HUGE storm appeared. It was raining in every direction, the wind was pulling the car up rom the road, it was hailing... it was scarey. We made it across the bridge. We were in a state of shock but we decided to go ahead and eat (at Five Guys and it was YUMMY!) then we walked around Target waiting on the storm to go away. When we felt it was safe to venture back out we went through the Chic-Fil-A drive through for a milk shake and then headed back to the camp. It was the night the kids were to perform and I was scared that the weather would cause us to miss out but we made it back in time... in time to find out the power was out in most of the buildings. We were asked to pick up Taryn and T and take them with us to watch the older kids sing. Instead of the kids singing infront of just parents in our evening chapel they were moved to the teen chapel because they had power. It was great! Hundreds of teenagers worshipping and then cheering for our kids on the stage. I believe some of the kids were a bit shocked. They were up on stage in front of hundreds of teens and perents and siblings but they did great.

It was a really fun week. It was exciting because this year we had 6 families from our area that were able to go! I know I had much more to say about camp but I will have to post more later as I think about it. There is just so much that happens during this time of relationship building, fellowship and worship.

St.Simons Part 1

June 29th was when our summer really kicked into gear. I drove for 6 hours! Yes, me... who usually falls asleep after 2 hours of driving managed to drive the full 6 hours to St.Simons. I really surprised myself. Now the drive home was a different story. Jake drove and I am pretty sure I fell asleep around the 2nd hour. We will talk about the drive home later. Back to the drive there. Our new car does not have as much room for luggage as our van did so I ordered a luggage bag to strap to the car. The night before we left I loaded the bag and carefully followed the directions to strap it on our car, with no luggage rack. It's ok, the directions explained how to do it. As we started down the interstate the straps started to vibrate. It's ok, the directions said this might happen. So we pulled over and I adjusted the straps and we proceeded down the road. The straps seemed better and we drove through Atlanta. An hour or so past Atlanta several cars drove by pointing at the bag on the car. Jake looks at our cars shadow and said that's how it has looked the whole time so I don't bother to pull over. But then I realize we are getting horrible gas mileage so I use the side mirror to point up so I can get the bag into view. The front of the bag had folded up causing an L shape. No wonder our gas mileage was so bad :( We found a rest area and I looked over the bag, looked in the car and said we are not going to waste any more time. Jake and I unstrapped the bag, shuffled the kids around, emptied the contents of the bag into the car, folded the roof bag and shoved it in the floor board. I am determined to use this bag on future trips, there are other ways to strap it (that in hindsight make more sense anyway). So maybe I will try it out this weekend when I take the kids and the dog to Cleveland. This is going to have to be it for the evening. I have so much more to post!

Ft. Mountain

My parents and my brother and his wife spent the night last night. This morning we went to Ft. Mountain. We hiked to the overlook, then stopped at the tower for a family photo, we then made our way to the rock formations and then through the woods to the parking lot. We enjoyed a PB&J picnic lunch with some Pringles, Oatmeal Cream Pies, and Star Crunch. The kids ran around for a while before we made our way to the lake where we walked the trail. The boys did great. They walked the entire time. Taryn on the other hand did not. Jake carried her most of the way to the overlook and then down to the parking lot. I carried her halfway around the lake. Jake was already feeling worn out from a non-stop week of volleyball camp so today put him over the edge. I told him to lay down when we got home and he's been asleep ever since! I hope it's just exhaustion and not some kind of sickness because we will hit the ground running on Monday for our trip to FCA camp at St.Simons!!

With that said there are things that must be done. Clothes to wash, fold and put away, bags that need packed, a really messy kitchen from company, a car to vaccum and wash (a habit I have before any trip), a bit of shopping for the trip, and kids to feed... Taryn is getting cranky. At least we are not leaving until Monday so I have some time to do all of this, if I can keep on task :) Now I am off to feed the kiddos.

Boredom

Are you prepared for the digital switch? I sure hope so because it has happened... and my abc is gone! I hope it shows back up when I rescan... how can I watch WipeOut if abc is gone!! And it's back but the CW disappeared and then was back and now it's gone again. What am I even doing up thinking about this right now I really need to shut my brain down and go to bed. I blame it on Jake who said he would go to bed at 1, at the latest... he is still playing his game so I have become a permanant fixture with the laptop on the sofa! Maybe I should just flop over and fall asleep. That would be a whole lot easier than going up the stairs to bed. Wow! Can you tell I have had a boring evening... we did have great steaks (thanks April) for dinner and a quick game of spades with Paul. Paul left to go home and get on his computer so he and Jake could look for keys of some type in their video game. Oh that sounds like fun? Anyway, I could have picked something productive to do with my time but I sit here watching everything from Samantha Who to 20/20 to news to late night. You know I have never watch the Last Call with Carson Daly but it's on right now. I am going to be SO tired tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow... Jake is going to take the boys to the driving range and then a baseball field. Taryn and I will probably clean the house and then take a nap... yes a nap tomorrow... I mean today sounds great. I really must get off of here and go to bed. Have a great day!!

Our Van

On May 22nd, as I was taking Caleb to school, a car rolled past a stop sign into the side of our van. I will always remember the loud noise and the screeching tires and the look on the faces of the kids. Thankfully no one was injured but it sure was scary. The other driver was insured so I have spent the last few weeks working with them to get our accident resolved. After the insurance adjuster took her photos and measurements she left me wondering "repair" or "total loss". It is a total loss! I don't know how I am supposed to feel about this. We bought that van when Caleb was around a year old. It is the van that we used for many years as our only vehicle. All the trips taken, all the memories that centered around that van. Then there were the repairs. Last night I found the papers from where we had the lifters replaced, the 100,000 mile tune-up that resulted in buying a new engine. I had just replaced both headlight casings within the last year. The air filter that was almost impossible to replace... but between Jake's muscle and my skinny fingers we always changed. The stains I had just cleaned out of the carpet and seats. The cd player that was messing up. The rear windshield wiper that only worked for the first week but the car place would not repair because I bought it as-is. Both good and bad memories. But being faced with giving up something that we have had for so long it feels weird. Now we face the what-if's. What if the new car we have to buy, with the small amount our van was worth, turns out to need repairs in a few months? What if we are faced with replacing another engine or transmission or some other big part? Is it better to buy a cheap used vehicle that may break down in a few months or make a nice downpayment on a newer vehicle that we know will not need repairs for years? Ever since we bought our van I have not enjoyed car shopping. I feel like we were tricked into the van and so now I am scared of car lots. When Jake bought his used Honda I thought it was great because we did not pay much for it so we were not scared of future repairs. When Jake decided that he wanted a newer car I supported him but he understood our limit and found a new car we could afford, but he pretty much took care of this himself.

Now I am faced with making the decisions. I have to pick out the vehicle that I will use to drive my kids around. Do I get a smaller more fuel efficent vehicle, another van, or an SUV? I guess once we have the insurance check and we look at some vehicles my mind may feel better but right now I am confused. I guess we really have until the end of the summer to find something because we can share a car during the summer.

This morning the tow truck came to haul the van off to a dump somewhere. It makes me sad because it still ran. It's not like the engine was destroyed. Now it will sit in a dump somewhere collecting rust. I need to look at it like our van is an organ donor. It was not safe to drive so it had to be put to sleep. It's parts will be stripped and sold to people who will be able to fix their car for a cheaper price than buying new parts. It will help others. Silly I know but maybe this will help me feel better.

God Knows Best

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths." Proverbs 3:5,6

After months of hearing Caleb and T pray, "God please let daddy get the job if you want him to have it." I guess God did not want daddy to get the job. We are fine with Gods decision because we know He knows what is best for us. The hard part was seeing Caleb cry. He had been praying for months and the answer was not what he wanted. So I pulled him aside and reminded him that we ask God for things that we want and then wait for Him to answers. We do not always like the answer when we hear it but Gods plans are greater than our own. He knows our needs and understands us better than any one (including interview committees). So what should we do in our disappointment? Look to God! Thank God for the fact that Jake still has a job. Thank God that Jake will be able to coach great athletes at Choo Choo City Volleyball Club. Thank God that we will not be sitting in a gym at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thank God that Jake will only have practice twice a week. Thank God that Jake has finished his degree so he will not be working on papers during his off days!

We have so much to be thankful for. So he did not get the job we thought he wanted, we thought he needed. These were our own desires. This is what WE thought would be best. But God knows what is best. We thank God for each other because after yesterdays events all we could do is laugh! Prayer is the best medicine but I believe God gives us laughter to help heal the hurt we feel inside. So now we will continue on our journey through life. One more disappointment behind us and a whole new outlook on the future. Who knows what the future holds? God does, we do not. Instead of being scared or nervous we go from day to day thanking God for all that he has blessed us with. Knowing that no matter what ups and downs we experience God is right by our side!! Isn't that exciting!

Praise God for His Love

My mother, grandmother and I sat and stared out the window at the trees swaying in the breeze. My mother said she had heard someone say that the trees are singing and praising God with outstretched arms. I knew I had heard this somewhere before and found it:
"You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!" Isaiah 55:11

In reading this one verse I read the whole chapter: Isaiah 55 "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor." Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed."God's blesses those who seek Him. If we allow God to reign in our lives we will have peace and comfort in troubled times because we know that God is in control. We do not always understand God's plans because they are His plans not ours. We ask for His help when we are weary. Do we spend time with God allowing Him to comfort us or do we get so caught up in our worries that we forget that God is in control? God wants us to live a life of joy and peace, a life free from worry. When we are sad we need to look for God in the situation and He will give us rest. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

As I finish my thoughts I want to share one more verse, Philippians 4:6-9. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Right now I know there are many struggling with jobs, money, illness, loss, etc. With all that is wrong in the world and in our own lives if we do not know Christ then life could be very depressing. For my friends who have not found the awesome peace that God has for you, I pray that you seek it. For my friends and family who know of the peace but sometimes forget that God is there for you, I pray that you seek Him in everything you do. For my family dealing with the illness of our loved ones, I pray everyday for God to give comfort.

Family and Friends I love you! May you all find the joy and peace that God has for you. May you rise up and sing like the mountains and clap your hands like the trees, praising God for all that He is and all that He has promised.

1st Tball Games of the Season

Tonight were the boys first t-ball/baseball games of the season. I want to start off by saying THANK YOU to Melydia for helping me out with getting the boys to their games. They were both at the same park at the same time but one was in the east section and one was in the west. So Melydia help me get the boys where they needed to go. I started out at T's game. They are the Blue Claws. He hit off a pitch and got on base. He made it all the way around and when he got back to home he threw his arms out and did a celebration dance. When it was their turn in the field T did his share of running for the ball but when he got bored he danced... Melydia said while she was watching him his hat was on in 20 different directions. He is such a goof off. The I got to go watch Caleb. He plays 3rd base because he is the only one on his team who can throw the ball all the way to 1st. His age group mixes girls and boys and on his team there are more girls than boys... 2 boys! I have to keep reminding myself that it is only for one year and then he is on an all boys team. Anyway, Caleb also hits off a pitch. Melydia said his first hit was right to first base. I think Caleb said he got tagged out. His second hit was straight to 3rd base. So he was safe and actually scored a run... but they don't keep score in these games. He takes his 3rd base position seriously. It's just to bad that all of the balls are usually hit straight to the pitcher in tball. Next year will be fun because it will be more serious but I will miss the silliness of tball :)

Today

This morning started out with waffles, made by Jake (he is our official waffle/pancake/ french toast man. Jake had to go to the school to work on straightening his classroom and preparing a powerpoint presentation for his capstone project. The kids and I took a walk down the street to a neighbors yard sale. Caleb stocked up on Star Wars figures, Taylor got a Transformer gun thingy and I got an art desk!!!! I was so excited when I saw it. I have wanted one of these for years and there it was. It now sits in our kitchen waiting for me to get creative. I put it beside Jake's computer so I can do my hobby while he plays his video game. I have not painted anything in a couple of years so I would love to break out the paints soon. For now I am working on making hair bows and a picture frame for an FCA Raffle.

The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning the house and running to Lowes to get some heavy duty gloves and a wasp trap. The gloves are to wear while I work on refinishing our new dining chairs. Jake's grandfather and dad passed a dining table and chairs on to us. The dining table is beautiful! The chairs had some minor wear and moisture damage so we will spend the next few weeks/months making them look new again.

Our day was finished off with some relaxing with friends by a campfire! We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows... we made Smores... yum!! It was so much fun. I can't wait until this summer when we can do stuff like this any day of the week.

On a different note. My grandmother Barber needs prayers. Her health is not good. Also please pray for the whole family... especially my mom, her sister and brothers.

Praters Mill Walk

Today was Jake's day off. He is not teaching, he is not here doing daddy/husband stuff. It is his day to relax. He is with a friend. They started the day off by going to a PGA Golf store somewhere near Atlanta. After Jake has had his swing analyzed and has done his window shopping they will be heading to the golf course. The last time Jake played a round of golf was in the summer of 2007, I think. So he should be having a lot of fun right now :) hahaha. The kids and I started our day by going for a nice walk around the loop at Praters Mill. It is a nature walk that goes along the river. It was a bit chilly but we were prepared and we really enjoyed our time together. When we began our walk Caleb stopped by the water and said mommy can we pray here? Of course we stopped and prayed, thanking God for the weather, the beautiful nature we were surrounded by, and then Caleb added to the end, "Please be with daddy today and do not let him get hit with a golf club." I wish I could record his prayers because he can come up with some fun stuff :)

We are home now and the boys are finishing up their game time before they head outside to play with the neighbor kid. I think I will go out and rescue some hostas and lilies. I planted them last fall in a place that I thought would make a great flower bed. I did not realize that the neighbor kids would be tramping through that area and pulling up plants and breaking the trees we planted. So today I will begin rescure efforts to save my plants. I will begin the yard work so that Jake can mow the grass when he gets home... he promised he would! I usually mow the grass, I enjoy the quite time in the sun but Jake has told me he wants to do it today so I will step aside and let him :) I guess I need to go make sure the oil filter is clean and that there is enough gas for him to mow the whole yard!

A visit with our cousins

This past weekend we traveled up to Nashville to spent some time with our cousins. We had a great time visiting, watching the kids play, going to the zoo, and making Easter cookies. Tracey shared an Easter tradition with us called Resurrection eggs. There were 12 eggs, each egg contained a small item that represented a part of the Easter story. As we opened them one by one the kids were read the story and asked to tell what the items meant. It was such a neat way to teach the children about the love that Jesus has for us.

Im Back

As you can see it has been a while since my last post. I think that is about the time I found Facebook. But as I look back over my blog post I realized how different it is from just posting photos on facebook. With a blog you get the full story behind the photos. So here I am attempting to catch up. This is the shortened version of our lives from September 2008 until March 2009.

September
The weather was nice, Caleb turned 6, T had his first dentist appointment, we went to a festival in Cleveland GA with grandma and papa Burt, and we went to a Civil War Reenactment at Tunnel Hill.October
The kids and I went with Melydia and Lisa S to a Pumpkin Farm, we went to Fort Mountain and hiked to the overlook, the kids and I went with grandma and papa Burt to the Cowboy festival in Cartersville GA, we took the kids trick or treating around the neighborhood and then went to Sonic for icecream (we go out for icecream every Halloween).
November
We went to visit great grandpa and grandma Barber.
December
We went to Jake B's birthday party at the bowling alley, I went with Caleb's class to a Christmas tree farm, I took T and Taryn to Caleb's class Christmas party, We got our new tv, we did Christmas at home, the kids and I went to Montgomery to visit the great grandpa and grandma Burt and aunt Olivia. While we were in Montgomery the kids raked leaves and used the leaf blower. Aunt Olivia took us to see the lights at the zoo. Caleb, T and aunt Olivia rode a camel. The next day we took the kids to the kids museum at Shakesphere park.

January
We went to my parents house. Sam and Rose were there and brought the game RISK. We stayed up late playing. Dad ultimately won with world domination!
February
We went to the Chattanooga Aquarium and I took T and Taryn to Caleb's valentines party.
March
Caleb had his first school performance (he was a white duck). We went to visit grandma and papa Burt and went bowling. Taryn had her 2nd birthday!