Yippee!!!!!!

Just a shout out to thank God for keeping Chris's family safe!!!!!!! How amazing is He? I have been glued to the TV hoping to see their face. Thank you God for your many blessings!

Katrina

Well, I haven't had much to say since Katrina pulled in. I've been glued to the TV & on the phone with family and friends who were in the path of destruction. We've been praying for Staci & Chris, that they would hear from some of their family but nothing so far. There is so much devestation everywhere! My aunt, her daughter & boyfriend evacuated from New Orleans. My uncle took his family out of the city too. I'm so thankful that they left this time!!! 99% of the time they don't. Most people don't believe it's gonna happen to them b/c of all the false alarms. It's so sad all the lives lost, homes lost. Stack- we're praying for you guys!!!!!!!

Progressive Dinner

Anyone ever been to a progressive dinner?? Where you have each course of a meal at a different house?? Last night our women's ministry had one and it was so much fun!! We had a bout 30 some women go & we stopped at 3 different houses. We skipped the appetizer & something else. But we ate salad, main course, & desserts. I was absolutely stuffed!

The salad was good, with any topping you could imagine. Then for the main course we had lasagna with spinach, pepperoni & italian sausage...very good!.. Then the lady who did desserts went all out! She mde this awesome fruit salsa ; we ate that with graham crackers. Orange cake...yum yum. FUDGE :) Some kind of toffee with choc. and nuts. OMG- I was stuffed!

On the rides between houses we learn where each other was born, favorite food & other silly things like that. I also learned names to go with the faces. Bethany went with me, & had a good time. I'm trying to talk her into going with me to the ladies conference in November. It would be during her birthday so it would be a nice break for her! Please pray that she will meet more ladies & be drawn into church. We all need the fellowship & friendship! Guess that's about it.

One small milestone

Justus stayed in church the entire time today!!!!!!!!!!! It seemed like this day would NEVER come but it did! I actually sat through an entire sermon, an entire praise service, and entire prayer time! WOW. It was so nice, I was a little anxious to see if he had been crying the whole time but he hadn't! He slept instead.

Then when we got home he slept for another 2 1/2 hours! I hope he's not getting sick, but I'm glad he stayed in his class today. Our pastor is doing a series on the battle of the worlds. The church vs The world. It was a good sermon but I'm not used to sitting still for so long. OH well, hopefully I'll have the chance to get used to it. I hope it wasn't a fluke.

YEAH for me!

A night out

Tonight we went to Gary's Barbeque, the Best place in town. Then we went to a football game at my old high school. I kept looking for people who I'd recognize and at the same time hoping that I woudn't run into anyone I know. How goofy is that ?
The game was between South Rowan & AL brown. Translation: red neck vs. those with soul. I of course attended red neck high. And we of course lost. But this one kid did an awesome play & made a touchdown without the assistance of his teammates. There was a chill in the air that just gives you that great feeling that fall is around the corner. WHO HOO!!
After 3 hours or so without my baby I was ready to go pick him up. I was in need of some baby love. J was so funny when we picked him up. He couldn't decide if he wanted to go to me or Sam. SO we just had a group hug. AHHHH. A great ending to a fun night!

Provision

You know how it gets at the end of the month or whatever time of the month that you get paid. There is little or no money left. That would be us right now, scraping by til the beginning of the month. Well yesterday we blew out another tire. This is the fifth one in a matter of months. But after buying 4 last month we didn't have any extra money to fix the origin of the problem. We NEED an alignment. That's what causing the problem.

So yesterday the fifth tire went haywire so Sam had to call my dad for help. Dad knew somewhere we could get a used tire for dirt cheap until payday. But we didn't want to wait another week & kill another tire. So Sam asked our pastor for an advance on his pay. Kind of embarrassing but necessary. After explaining the situation our pastor said that the church would pay for the alignment & new tires for our car.

Holy Crap! I'm grateful that someone who saw our need was able to help. It was totally unexpected provision. YEAH!!!!!!!!!! That's my story, I just had to share!

Blessings

Well it's time to talk about something good for a change! The first thing I want to mention is a thanks you each of you for understanding & listening to all my jabber. It's nice to know someone cares about the woes of everyday life. You are a major encouragement. Reminding me that I'm semi-normal. And challenging me to be try harder & not to settle just for normal but for excellence.

One thing that i realized the other day was that a lot of healing has taken place in my heart over the past several months. I went through a time of rebelion so to speak. I wrestled with feeling, hurts, & memories. Remember my bump in the road?? Well I can now say I'm over the bump!!!! And moving on. Thankfully God had you each in place & many other lifting me up in prayer.

Learning to move on takes a concious effert every day but I'm not thrilled staying in one spot. So I guess I must move on, on lifes highway & keep going to see what lays ahead. Anyways God has been blessing me!

I'm finally getting to know ladies at our church. The "dreaded nursery" has helped with that and each week Justus gets to know these ladies my day gets a little better. These weekend os our ladies progressive dinner and Bethany has decided to go with me. I'm hoping that she will realize that just like her we all have our issues & problems to deal with. She need fellowship just like we all do.

Justus is asleep right now so I'm goiing to get a few things done. Thanks for lending an ear. LOVE YA!

Movin' Fast

OK several months ago I mentioned helping my sister get into her trailer. Well it's been slow go for a variety of reasons. One being no electricity. That problem got solved a few weeks ago & she was just waiting for the carpet to be put down in the livingroom.

Well she lives with her in-laws. And they went on vacation last week. Yesterday she got a call at work saying that the power had been turned off (at the in-laws). Very frustrating b/c she gave them money towards the electric bill & they left her high & dry.

So needless to say yesterday we dropped whatever we were doing to help her move all her stuff into the trailer. They only have one window unti a/c but it was so much better than sleeping in the heat! I'm glad that she is finally in her own place and she was so grateful for the help. Maybe I'll be next?

He's got the look

I was sharing with Dana yesterday about the look a child gets when he is trying to figure out if he's in trouble or not. I believe every child has "the look". Justus' is a wide smile with his head tilted down & his eyes looking up like"yep you caught me , now what?" Most times I talk to him & tell him what he needs to do next time. But I barely get the words out before I start laughing. I'm trying to get better at this so I won't send mixed signals. It's hard when they're just so darn cute! The cuteness won't last if he turns into a full fledged brat, so we're working on it.

Eye Test

Eye Test
Posted by: tma.

I thought this was funny so I share it now with you. If you can't read it clearly pull back the corners of your eyes. Like chinese eyes.

BB

I watched Big Brother tonight & was sad to Kaysar go but pretty much expected that one. I'm hoping that no one will win the power of veto this week. One of those guys needs to go. Maggie isn't all that bad. I think she is pretty smart. My least favorite in the house is Ivette. She grinds on my nerves so bad!!! James will eventually get what he deserves. As will Jennifer. She had such a big smirk on her face the past couple of days. She tried normal when she was put up for eviction but we'll have to wait until Saturday to see what happens!

Just one Minute

After a million NO!'s, Please, & Stops! I had had enough. So when Sam finally got home from work he volunteered to take Justus for a minute. And that's exactly how much time I got before I heard a frustrated daddy. Sam had taken Justus upstairs to warm up some food. Somehow Justus got ahold of mom's bleach & the top wasn't on there properly. He dumped it all over himself & just barely missed his eyes. THANK GOD, who was watching over my baby that he didn't get hurt! Bleach can do some serious damage. I'm not really sure why the bleach was within his reach. I can't really blame anyone. One thing I have learned for sure is that you can't protect them from everything. There is always some danger that goes unnoticed by the naked eye. However our Heavenly Father watches over us. sighhhhhh. Thank you Jesus for your protection tonight!

I threw him in the tub & he had his regular water fix while I washed him down & inspected for burns or skin irritation. NOT a scratch, burn or anything out of place. Yeah! Safe baby!

A pile of poo...

As I was trying to say before, I rejoined xanga today. And spend most of the day visiting sites. It was fun but Justus didn't enjoy it as much as me. He spent most of the time coming & going. Sitting on my lap. And finding other things to do.

A few minutes ago he came & got on my lap. I smelled a dirty diaper. But when I went to pick him up I saw a naked booty. However it wasn't a clean booty. My first thought was yuck, gross, disguisting! Then I laughed. Then I got mad.

I went in search of the diaper & whatever contents were left in it instead of what was on my lap. It was on my freshly bleached floor, smashed on the area rug & on one of J's toys. YIKES. Counting to ten, breathe in breathe out.

Well after changing my clothes, cleaning him up & disinfecting everything Justus & I had a talk. There will be no more diaper baby, which he loves. I won't be making that mistake again.

Sorry if this grosses you out, or you think I'm not very good mom. I'm usually more attentive.

Xanga

OK- I rejoined xanga. Not because I wanted to but b/c it's a pain to email everyone instead of leaving a comment. I want to keep this as a place for you my friends & the xanga for catching up with old friends. Everybody & their brother has one! Including all of you, and many other. John Foley, Pastor Sims, Izzy, Aja, etc. As you probably already know the list goes on. It's mainly people from my second year- todays MC.

Gotta go, grumpy kid. OH yeah- behindthesceens is my screenname.

Kaysar

What an idiot! I was so glad that he got voted back into the house. I guess his "rest" did him little good. I know that Jen seemed like an honest player but isn't that the game??? You can't expect others to play with the level of integrity you have in a game like this. It really stinks that he let his guard down & now he'll be going home. (Unless Janelle ticks someone off.)

AAAAARRRRGH! I really wanted to see him stir things up but I guess he is reaping what he sowed already. Man! What if he strikes a deal with James to get back at everyone?? Don't think James would go for it at this point. WHY can't BB pull out a surprise in this summer of mysteries??? Like another veto competition??? Someone save Kaysar!

If he goes home Oh well. He derserves it for not keeping up with the game. Still it stinks!

Howdy

Well not much is going on around here. Today we swamne've been painted once & are looking pretty dingy. I want to repaint them and the walls. Now all I need is the paint & some help. Anyone want to help me redecorate??? I get the itch about once a year & we usually buy a new comforter set (cheapy from Walmart). That way we haven't wasted our money and we always have plenty of blankets for when we move or if someone stops by overnight.

The air conditioner is leaking again so we have a bucket under the leak. Justus loves it, he thinks its his personal mission to dump the water on the floor. That particular spot is pretty clean since we've wiped up some much water.

This past weekend was our discipleship weekend with the youth group. Fifteen kids showed up instead of the ten that signed up. Sam was so excited!! It went very well. And is being followed up by an evengalist/revival. So far, so good! That's all I have time for right now.

Can't wait for Big Brother tonight!

Memories

One that really stands out has already been shared but I'll share it again. You had just gotten a new comforter set, sheets, dust ruffel, shams, curtains...the whole kitten caboodle. Anyways I sat down on the bed , OMG you had a heart attack. "Get up, get up you're gonna ruin my comforter. That was so funny! I think you eventually got over it. I remember that it was pretty pricey but it looked great.

What about at my wedding when you took a bite of fruit & then put it back in the basket. We probably all needed some comic relief that day. Especially b/c of me crying & my gma shouting. LOL. My parents still talk about it.

EEMMM...the summer of our 1st year was the first time I met Brooke Story. You introduced me & then we all went to the church on the hill. Somewhere I have a pic of the three of us. I think I had come to visit you some time during the summer.

Also many great times at Oak Mt. Somewhere I have a pic of all of us at the waterfall. One of always got injured but we kept coming back anyways. Gluttons for punishment I guess.

There are so many more memories but I'll have to save them for another day. Love You Nicole!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY , HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday NIC!!!!!

OK, so I got more pics out & had to show a few that I found. There are many still buried in our storage closet that I can't get to. I guess they will have to wait until next year. Anyways I just want to wish Nicole a very happy birthday!!!!!!!!!!!

1st year Graduation party

1st year Graduation party
Posted by: tma.

Look at those foxy ladies! A great pic.

Kid's Crusade

Kid's Crusade
Posted by: tma.

In a word:TROUBLE!