What's Wrong With Me?

After months of phone calls and getting the run around I finally find out that Miles wheelchair lift is going to be paid for ($2,500) and I thank the Lord for the wonderful blessing and then with my next breath I’m complaining about having to get tonight ready for Life Group. How wicked is that?

After watching a movie about the Holocaust and seeing their suffering I complain because Joey has grown out of his new jeans again and I “have” to buy him more jeans again.

Compared to 99% of the world I don’t even know what it means to suffer. I don’t know what it means to be without. I have no reason to complain. I should be the happiest person on the planet. The thing is that I am happy, but I get riled up about the smallest of things. To complain about having to go grocery shopping is so ungrateful. I should be so thankful for the money in my wallet and the blessing to get to feed my family. How many people in this world can go weekly to the store with money to buy all the food their family needs? To whine about having to pick up the kids from school is terrible. What if I had to walk every where I wanted to go? What if I had to ask for rides?

Why in the world would I complain because a bunch of people that I really like are coming over to my house to eat, have fun together and talk about Jesus? Is it really that hard? Is it really such a sacrifice? I think not. It’s fun. I have to do thirty minutes of house work that I would do if they were coming or not.

Forgive me Lord for being such a brat. I’m thankful for you and everything you do for me. I do not want to grieve you with my complaining heart. Again, Lord wash me clean and I choose to have a thankful heart towards you and the people you’ve put in my life.

Me want!

It's true. I am a gaget girl. This thing is so cool! You can check it out at amazon.com. It's called Kindle. If any of you plan on buying me a $400 gift for Christmas please get this! The great thing is that shipping is free!

I'm Thankful For...

Thanksgiving is only one day away. In Randy’s family they have a wonderful tradition before we eat. We all hold hands in a circle and say at least one thing we’re thankful for. It’s always a sweet time. One thing that I’m thankful for that I won’t be sharing with that group is Blogville.
I love the thrill before I delve into a new post and to check out the comments on controversial topics and of course all the quick wit. Usually one of you will make my day with an offbeat post.
Blogville is an easy place for me to stay connected with my dearest. I get to rant and rave and be silly and share things I won’t bring up if we’re face to face. Also, I get to peek into the lives of all of you. I know things about most of you that I wouldn’t know without Blogville. I like that this place isn’t a replacement for relationship, but an enhancer.
So, this thanksgiving, as strange as it seems, I’m thankful for Blogville.

Melody's Heart

The girls and I were just painting some upcoming birthday presents and we were chatting and painting together. I squirted Melody some black paint on her plate and it shaped itself into a heart. Melody told me to look at the black heart. Then she said, “I have a black heart.” I looked at her and told her that she didn’t have a black heart. But then she looked at me very seriously and assured me that she did. She said, “Yes, I do have a black heart because I haven’t ever been bath-a-tized.”

She’s been asking a lot of questions lately about having a clean heart. I think it will be very soon that she asks Jesus into her heart. It’s so exciting!

My First Turkey!

Well, I’m cooking my first turkey today! I’ve never even cooked a whole chicken before! I’ve never even touched a slimy whole carcass of any kind before. I’ve definitely never pulled anything out of a body cavity. That was interesting. I actually had Randy do that. I was having flash back memories of my cousin chasing me around the house with a turkey neck while I screamed my head off. I locked myself in the bathroom and he stood outside the door telling that he and the neck were waiting for me! Sweet memories!
Last night we prepared the turkey to get it ready to cook and it was a whole family event. We had out the video camera and the video is already an instant classic. We were all so grossed out by the whole thing. Melody kept saying, “I see its ears.” She was talking about its wings. The she asked us, “Is that an animal turkey?” When we told her yes Jocie acted like we were barbarians. She thought it was gross but she liked hanging out with us to talk about how gross it was. Spencer who is an “almost vegetarian” had nothing to do with us. He would peek his head in the kitchen every once in a while, but he took advantage of no one else on the computer while we prepared our young turkey. Miles was neither excited nor troubled by our acts. Joey was right in the middle of the whole thing continuously repeating, “Giblet Gravy! Giblet Gravy!” How in the world does anyone eat giblet gravy? That’s horrifying!
So, today I got up so excited to get that turkey in the oven! The spices I put on it last night smelled up my whole house in such a yummy way! I’m looking forward to smelling that turkey all day. Between last night and this morning I’ve called my Mom several times to ask her turkey questions. She doesn’t seem to mind. So far, it’s all good. It will be done around 3 or 4 this afternoon. I really want it to turn out great! Oh, the reason I’m cooking it today is because I’ve got to take it to the church and it has to be de-boned. Mom said I should do it today so that’s what I’m doing.
Last night after we finished preparing the turkey I was talking to my brother on the phone. Melody ended up talking to her 3 year old cousin Connor on the phone. She said, “We cooked a huge turkey! A animal one! A dead one!” He said, “A turkey! Gross!”

Really?

I was walking by the bathroom when I saw Jocie brushing her teeth. My brain said, "Really? A slinky? How did that happen?"

How do you just go about your business and brush your teeth when you have a slinky tangled in your hair? How did it get in there?

Cast Your Vote

Hey, remember this summer when Becky and I went on our mini getaway? Do you remember me telling you about our fantastic shoe shopping? Well, I recently remembered that Miss Becky has not followed through with our plan to wear our fancy Sneaker Heel shoes to church on the same day. Now, I was going to wear mine AGAIN to church yesterday, but I decided to wait so you guys could convince Becky to wear her shoes as well! (Peer Pressure Works!)

So, if you would please cast your vote on the comments and give a little encouragement to Becky to wear her shoes this Sunday you can see us both wear our one of a kind shoes to church! I will also add that I have one more pair in size 9 if anyone else wants to join us. They are hot pink and black. I will admit that they kill your feet after one hour, but it's worth it. I would wear the silly things all the time if they didn't hurt so bad!

Anyway, please help me convince you know who and her husband!

Learning the Letter 'W".

Teacher: When I call your name tell me a ‘W” word and use it in a sentence.

Kid #1: Wagon. I play with the wagon.

Kid #2: Wash. I was my hands.

Kid #3: I need help.

Teacher: Okay, what is made of glass and you look out it?

Kid #3: A Window! I look out the window.

Kid #4. Wax! I don’t know a sentence.

Teacher: I like to Wax the floor.

Teacher: Jocie, can you give me a “W” word?

Jocie: WINE!

Teacher: (smiling) Yes, Jesus drank wine.

Jocie: My Daddy drinks wine!

Indian Vests

After working on a project for the Kindergarten class today I needed a boost for my self esteem. November is here so that of course means Indian vests made out of paper sacks for Kindergartners all over the country. Well, I was given the task of making them ready to decorate. That means that I took a regular paper sack and turned it into a wearable vest for nine sweet kids I know. Well, I decided to take the sacks into the cafeteria to work on them because the paper sack was a little loud to work with. I thought I would be a distraction to the kids while they learned their lessons.

Well, Mrs. Brokaw showed me how to make the vest, but my brain could not figure it out once I was in the cafeteria all alone. My rapidly growing scrap pile mocked me as I tried to figure out this quite simple craft. I started out with a few extra sacks but I was just about out of extras when I decided to pray and ask the Lord to please spare me the embarrassment of having to ask how to make them again. At once He showed me the way and I began to cut up those sacks like a pro. I will say that those sacks did not want to submit to their higher calling. They were determined to stay sacks. They were not interested in being vests. Oh how they begged me to leave them alone. Believe me. I have a blister on my thumb from the scissors to prove it. I did wrestle them and they did submit. I even made an extra one just to prove to them who was boss. Somehow during the cutting process the sacks convinced the principle to do a fire drill. I had to stop my cutting to help Kindergarten get out safely and quickly. The soon to be vests probably were convinced that I would be too distracted with the fire drill to return to them, but indeed I was not. I returned with determination that got the job done.

Tomorrow I will watch the vests be turned into one of a kind art creations as they are colored by chubby little hands.


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I'm afraid I have some bad news. I'm going to have to go to a password protected blog. I'm going to keep the same blog it's just that you'll have to sign in to be able to read it. It will be like Becky's (if you read Becky's). If you read this and I don't know it or I don't have your email address then please leave me a comment on here that you would like to continue reading and I'll send you an invitation. I'll give you about a week before I shut er' down.

What's for Dinner?

Sunday nights are one of our busiest evenings. It’s the night that we get our house and paperwork in order for the coming week. After our afternoon nap I make a list of things that have to be done. It always has put away laundry on it. That’s a big chore. It also has organize calendar, sign kid’s folders, make lunches for the next day, clean house and clean house. It takes us hours to get all these things done, but it makes for a beautiful Monday morning.

I always do these things.

Well, last night was Sunday night, and after I made my list I had an unfamiliar feeling. I didn’t want to do those things. When those things are done I feel so good about the week. I feel accomplished and together, but last night I didn’t care. I wanted to do something fun with Randy and the kids. We had already spent all weekend together enjoying each other but I wanted more free time with them.

I told Randy what I was feeling and a great idea came to me about what we could do. Very quickly we all threw on clothes and headed off to H-E-B. We told the kids before we left what we were doing. We told them that we were going to go to the store and they were going to get to pick out what ever they wanted to eat for dinner. I was really determined in my heart not to say no. I was just going to let them pick out what they wanted.

Before we got there Spencer knew he wanted some plums. Unfortunately for him they were out of season so he didn’t get any, but I wasn’t the one to say no…nature was. Okay, so right off the bat I did say no, but it was only one time, and it was when Joey wanted to eat caramel apples. That’s more of a project than a food. So, no more saying no after that.

No longer than it took me to say, “Hey, let’s all keep our eye out for something that Miles would like.” Spencer brought me the perfect thing. In the bakery he saw a little cup of Trifle like he had for his birthday cake. It’s his favorite sweet. Miles was very pleased at dinner time. Joey wasn’t too thrilled though because Miles was sitting by him and kept sneezing whip cream all over Joey. By the end of dinner Joey had big chunks of white stuff all in his hair.

Melody was easy. She wanted a Lunchable for dinner. The other kids get a Lunchable once a week for lunch and she doesn’t get one. It’s a big deal every week so she was excited that she could actually get one.

Joey found some nacho cheese so he could make nachos at the house.

Jocie decided she also wanted a Lunchable but instead of the regular kind she wanted the Hamburger Lunchable. I’ve never bought one of those before but she loved it.

I decided that I would go check out what was in the deli. I never shop at the deli. It was such a treat to pick out some rotisserie chicken salad. Randy and I bought some tomato and Club crackers and shared the chicken salad for our supper.

Also, Randy was really in the mood for cottage cheese so he bought some of that to eat with crackers as well. I can say that I’ve never been in the mood for cottage cheese. I don’t even like typing it.

Spencer was the last to pick. He always is. He likes to take his time and evaluate all his choices. He ended up seeing some rice pudding in the deli section and he decided on that. He ended up eating some rice pudding and sharing nachos with Joey.

We also bought a Coke to drink. Then Spencer and Randy saw some red CRUSH that they were sure they needed.

We went home and had our feast. All the smells made my stomach hurt so I couldn’t really enjoy the chicken salad too much. I was sitting by Jocie and she was eating that pre-fab hamburger. It totally grossed me out. She loved it, but I did not like looking at it. I did eat my chicken salad for lunch today and it was good.

Last night our table was filled with trash from our packages. There were empty red CRUSH bottles every where. There were lots of things half eaten and several people had shared their food. I made a request before we were done with dinner. I asked that no one throw up that night! There were so many different colors, textures and smells going on that the throw up would have been too much. Thankfully everyone paid attention to the request.

Anyway, we had a great time. It was a nice treat for everyone.

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I'm afraid I have some bad news. I'm going to have to go to a password protected blog. I'm going to keep the same blog it's just that you'll have to sign in to be able to read it. It will be like Becky's (if you read Becky's). If you read this and I don't know it or I don't have your email address then please leave me a comment on here that you would like to continue reading and I'll send you an invitation. I'll give you about a week before I shut er' down.

New Changes

I'm afraid I have some bad news. I'm going to have to go to a password protected blog. I'm going to keep the same blog it's just that you'll have to sign in to be able to read it. It will be like Becky's (if you read Becky's). If you read this and I don't know it or I don't have your email address then please leave me a comment on here that you would like to continue reading and I'll send you an invitation. I'll give you about a week before I shut er' down.