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When I’m an old lady

By on January 14, 2006 in Home 17

When I’m an old lady, I’ll live with each kid,
And bring so much happiness…just as they did.
I want to pay back all the joy they’ve provided.
Returning each deed! Oh, they’ll be so excited!

When I’m an old lady and live with my kids

I’ll write on the wall with reds, whites and blues,
And I’ll bounce on the furniture…wearing my shoes.
I’ll drink from the carton and then leave it out.
I’ll stuff all the toilets and oh, how they’ll shout!

When I’m an old lady and live with my kids

When they’re on the phone and just out of reach,
I’ll get into things like sugar and bleach.
Oh, they’ll snap their fingers and then shake their head,
And when that is done I’ll hide under the bed!

When I’m an old lady and live with my kids

When they cook dinner and call me to eat,
I’ll not eat my green beans or salad or meat,
I’ll gag on my okra, spill milk on the table,
And when they get angry…I’ll run…if I’m able!

When I’m an old lady and live with my kids

I’ll sit close to the TV, through the channels I’ll click,
I’ll cross both eyes just to see if they stick.
I’ll take off my socks and throw one away,
And play in the mud ’til the end of the day!

When I’m an old lady and live with my kids

And later in bed, I’ll lay back and sigh,
I’ll thank God in prayer and then close my eyes.
My kids will look down with a smile slowly creeping,
And say with a groan, “She’s so sweet when she’ s sleeping!”

When I’m an old lady and live with my kids

Anjelia Hope

By on January 11, 2006 in Home, kiddos 30


I caught her in the act, pretending and playing with toys!

An amazing thing is happening in our home! It’s a transformation. Anjelia is beginning to play with toys!!! She is also reading books and posing for pictures and watching half hour cartoons! I have loved these years of babies and toddlers and I will surely miss it for the rest of my life, but this is also great! Anjelia’s past activities did not involve toys (as hard as I tried). She wanted to explore and get into things and make messes. Until now she liked to spend her time doing such things as the following:

*Climbing on chairs to reach anything in the house that was supposed to be out of her reach.

*Squirting dish soap all over the countertop and floor and smearing it on herself.

*Eating butter out of the tub with her hand and smearing it all over her hair!

*Scribbling all over her face with my makeup.

*Smearing her body down with diaper ointment and wiping it on the floor and on her toys.

*Rubbing hand sanitizer in her eyes. OUCH!

*Getting into her sisters panty drawers and throwing them all over the bedroom.

*Unrolling toilet paper rolls.

*General mess making.

I am beginning to feel like I have somehow “arrived”. Like I’ve made it to a crucial sanity keeping milestone! My baby is slowly becoming a little girl. As sad as that is, I am beginning to see some benefits of this metamorphosis!

“We do not remember days, we remember moments.” Cesare Pavese

nutty fun

By on January 8, 2006 in Home 38

I think the strange weather around these parts is doing a number on my sinuses. Ugh. Today was 60 degrees and tomorrow the high is 38 degrees. James is thankful for the warm weather. It keeps construction from stalling. I think I inherited my sinus problems from my mom’s side of the family. Some of her family gathered Saturday for our yearly after Christmas celebration. The nice weather was a plus for the kiddos, who got to play all day outside on the farm. My head is throbbing, so I hope this makes sense! I wanted to post some pics of our gathering. We had a very fun day together.


Mom and Grandma pose with Mom and Larry’s tree, Forest! He was a Christmas gift from James and I.


Aunt Marilyn and Aunt Marlis (AKA, Punky and Tootsie) unwrap my craft.

I saved all the blue jeans that we wore out this year and cut off all the pockets. I glued magnets to the back and they’re great for the fridge to hold grocery lists and pens. It was an easy and very cheap craft!

Kandis and I were very excited about the doilies that Aunt Marilyn made especially for us. Mine are shaped like stars and crocheted with sparkly thread to go with my Christmas decorations. I love them!

Mom made pretty, aromatic sachets and Aunt Marlis painted jars for everyone. She’s such a good artist! Kandi gave out yummy smelling body lotions.


The kiddos, of course! Jessica, Lydia and Ian

Sometimes we bring door prizes. Mom gave away a pretty set of embroidered tea towels. Aunt Marilyn won those. Aunt Marlis brought a beautiful hummingbird painting. She gave it to Aunt Marilyn because everyone else had won a painting in the past.


Kandi and her new love.

After Christmas this year I went to Wal-Mart and purchased another giant nutcracker. It was marked down and I couldn’t resist. I began to debate once I got it home if I should keep it. It’s identical to the other one, except that the new one had a hat instead of a crown. I thought they looked too much alike. This week as we were putting all the Christmas stuff in the attic, I didn’t feel like I was supposed to keep the new one. I decided to bring it and give it as a door prize on Saturday. I had no idea that Kandi was wanting to start collecting nutcrackers, but God knew! The story gets even better! Today, I wasn’t feeling well so I stayed home from church. James went and came home with a set of nutcrackers for me from my friend and Carl’s sister, Abby! Thank you Abby! She gave me a set of four six inches nutcrackers and one bigger 12 inch one. Isn’t that amazing! God wanted Kandi to have the big one and He replaced it with five smaller ones! I don’t believe that was a coincidence! See how much He loves us Kandi!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

love and good deeds

By on January 3, 2006 in Faith 55

Yesterday’s conversations on my blog were a great encouragement to me. Your comments made me think of the scripture, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Hebrews 10:24

A few weeks ago, James gave me a cute journal and I sat down and compiled a list of some of my favorite scriptures, quotes, etc. that I felt God really used to speak to me this past year. It’s interesting to look back and see a theme that He’s been trying to patiently teach me. I thought if they encouraged me so much, maybe the Lord could use them to encourage you as well. I welcome you to share your own if you so desire. I am sure we need all the encouragment we can get!

Yes My child, I want you to share even what you think are just tiny little morsels that wouldn’t even make a ripple in the water. How little you know about ripples! Every piece of bread you share as you cast it upon the waters of life, makes a huge difference in My Kingdom. Angels are sent, divine connections are made, Words are caught and seed is planted. In every seed is a future harvest of plenty. You are thinking too small. I rejoice over the smallest details of your life, and as you share them with others, they are multiplied over and over again. So cast your bread upon the waters and trust Me to do exactly what I have promised.

Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.” Ecclesiastes 11:1 NJKV

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We can do no great things– only small things with great love.” ~Mother Teresa

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Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

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He takes care of His flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in His arms. He carries them close to His heart. He gently leads those that have little ones. Isaiah 40:11 I love this! My children are safe in His care. All I have to do is follow Him!

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Faith is action. Faith is something we do. It isn’t necessarily “spectacular”.

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Faith is praise turned inside-out!

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As for me and my house, we WILL serve the Lord. Be a rock for those around you.

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The way I feel is determined by what I believe. What I believe controls what I feel.

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The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.

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Whatever coaxes us out of hiding, to write, record, and express, is a revolutionary act. It says that we believe our lives count: our lives do count.” SARK (The reason I started my blog)

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So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10:35-36

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Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. . . Ecclesiastes 9:10 God gave David a slingshot as a boy. He had no idea how God would use his ability in the future. God has given me a home and family and placed them in my care. Lord use me in the simple, mundane things. May my efforts reap a beautiful harvest.

happy new year

By on January 1, 2006 in Faith 33

The last few weeks have been very busy ones for me. My posting has slowed down quite a bit. With four little ones at home, it’s challenging to sit down and do a new post. Wednesday Lydia and Jessica return to school and things should return to a normal pace.

Our Christmas turned out to be an extremely anxiety filled one. To appreciate the story you need some history:

In February of 1991, James pulled into the driveway of our humble, honeymoon mobile home with a malnourished little puppy, snuggling up to his neck. The pup was a Valentine’s gift for me, which James had saved from the barrel of a co-worker’s gun. James named him Razz — short for Razzleflacker.

Razz lived with us for the next 12 years. He is most definitely the best dog ever and was like a child to me for many years. After the birth of our third child, I could no longer handle the demands of having a pet. I know those of you that love your pets dearly may have a hard time understanding that. Razz is very emotionally needy and was growing too old for our busy, loud home.

Our close friends Carl, Mary and Tori became Razz’s loving, adoptive family. We surprised Tori with Razz at Christmas three years ago. I think Tori was eleven at the time. His retirement home is the best. Razz is very loved and wants for nothing.

We are Razz’s dogsitters now. He always comes home for the holidays as Carl and Mary travel out-of-town to visit family each year. On December 23 of this year, Mary and Tori dropped Razz off at our home. Around 10 0′clock that night James let Razz out in our backyard to sniff around and do his business. We did not realize the gate was open and Razz walked off (he can no longer run away like he used to). We drove around and walked the neighborhood for hours and got very little sleep that night. We could not find him anywhere!! We were very stressed and panicked feeling. We spent the next two days trying to find Razz. We imagined his geriatric, arthritic body freezing to death in an alley somewhere in the cold rain. Such a good dog should not go this way!!! We dreaded telling Carl and Mary we’d lost their dog. I cried all day Saturday and much of Sunday. James drove around for hours, sometimes yelling and pounding his fists on the dash! I’d take my turn driving around until my nerves could take it no longer.

Saturday morning someone actually found Razz, but by the time James got to Carl and Mary’s answering machine, he’d gotten loose and ran off again! They had called the police and an officer had taken his identification off his collar!!! Now he had no identification!! We prayed and begged God to bring Razz back safe. I just knew he was going to freeze and die alone somewhere in the night or get ran over by a car!

Christmas evening we received the most wonderful call! A man had found Razz in the middle of the street, stopping traffic, and had taken him home and called the police. We had been in touch with the local police department several times and they promised to keep their eyes open for our dog. We rushed to this kind man’s home and there was Razz. He was perfectly fine! I was so happy to give him his arthritis medicine!!! I guess this fifteen year old dog wanted one last, big, 48 hour adventure!!!


I took this pic of Razz the morning after his big adventure.

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The Moral of The Story

As I was driving around, praying for Razz, I asked God if there was anything I was supposed to learn in this situation. To be honest, I was trying to speed things along. I thought maybe I could quickly learn my “lesson” so Razz could come home quicker! Despite my intentions, the Lord answered me immediately with this scripture from Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek ME and you will find ME if you seek ME with all your heart”. Whoa!!! We had spent hours seeking to find a silly dog. We would stop at nothing less than finding Razz! I believe the Lord spoke to me in that wet, cold rain. This year, I need to let nothing stop me from seeking Him each day. He needs to be my priority. I need to stop at nothing less than finding Him. Lord, please help me, help us all, to be hungry and thirsty for you this year. May we all be satisfied daily in your presence. ~ Selah

By on December 25, 2005 in Celebrations, family, Home, kiddos 32

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM MY FAMILY TO YOURS!


A dear family friend surprised me with matching Christmas dresses for my girls and I!

May God be glorified in the coming year through our lives and families and friendships. Thanks be to God!

Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19

a christmas visit

By on December 22, 2005 in friendship, Home 20

Friends and fellow bloggers, Rob, Melissa, Jim and Sarah (a new friend) came to our home for a visit last evening. They’re in town for Chistmas and it’s always a treat to see them. We had a good time eating pizza, visiting, and playing Sudoku. I excitedly showed them my new washer and dryer. My lovely washer sang it’s perky little song for them. I’m sure it had to have been an evening highlight for the guests. I also decided to do a physical demonstration of the immense capacity of my awesome new dryer. If I remember correctly, I was egged on.

A good friend will come and bail you out of jail…but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, “Wow…that was fun!”

Mother’s Day out christmas program

By on December 20, 2005 in Home 12

It’s so hard to get good pictures while they’re on stage. Afterwards, we had a cookie and punch reception and I snapped a few shots. Elaina was very excited about the program and even more excited to get to sit on Santa’s lap. Elaina sees the world as her playground. James and I don’t think she’s going to grow up. One day she’s going to turn into a fairy, sprout wings and flutter away!!! She’s such a Tink!

Anjelia loved wandering around at the front of the stage, shaking her jingle bells. It was a proud moment for James and I.

“The only real blind person at Christmas-time is he who has not Christmas in his heart.” Helen Keller

shop ’till ya drop

By on December 20, 2005 in Home 16

I’ve been really busy the last couple of weeks. Every year at this time, I promise myself that I will get a head start on Christmas next year and each year I break my promise. I get down on myself; I feel like I am always last minute and unorganized. I try to remind myself that I am the mother of four young children, but I still feel bummed about it.

On the bright side, I finished shopping for the kiddos yesterday! Their Christmas should be very merry! James’ Aunt Joyce really helped me out. I had purchased a few stocking stuffers. Friday she gave me a bag stuffed full of wrapped stocking stuffers for the girls! Her giving heart in the midst of her busy life totally amazes me! I can only hope to someday be half as generous as she is. She made 22 boxes for Samaritan’s Purse this year!!!

Today I finished shopping for the wonderful teachers in my children’s lives. I had six special teachers to buy for so I am glad that’s done. Yesterday, I bought James a new coat that he desperately needed. I gave it to him as an early gift, but I’ve got one more present to give him on Christmas!

In the midst of all this shopping, Jessica sweetly asked me this evening if I would get her a new dress at Wal-Mart. She is going to the nursing home tomorrow on a field trip to sing carols and she wanted something new to wear. Sometimes it just feels good to buy a brand new outfit for my girls. Girl clothes are sooooo fun! I spend six months of the year picking through garage sales for hand-me-down kids clothes. So, I went to Target and in a moment of weakness, I bought a new outfit for each of my four girls. Lydia is going caroling for the old people tomorrow, too. Elaina and Anjelia are performing for the Mother’s Day Out Christmas program, as well. I am not a big spender, so I am feeling a little stressed!

I guess I am kinda rambling. In the midst of the holiday busyness, I am trying to remember that this season is a celebration of God’s gift to us. Each day I talk to the girls and remind them that this is a celebration of Jesus’ birth. It’s the most important birthday party of all time. The girls relate really well to that. Birthday parties are a huge deal to them.

“There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.” Erma Bombeck

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We went sledding, before the remaining snow melted, after our 10 inch snow storm. We spent the Saturday at Mom and Larry’s. Larry was determined to take the kids sledding. He tinkered with the tractor much of the day, until he had the conditions perfect. You haven’t been sledding until you’ve done so on a car hood being pulled by a tractor!! I screamed a lot. I’m sure that’s hard for most of you to imagine!! :)

I’ll leave you with these fun pictures of our sledding adventure!

Grandma Pearl

By on December 14, 2005 in Home 33

My 106 year old Great Grandma passed away Sunday night. She was born in 1899!!!! This picture was taken on her 106th birthday. Her funeral will be held Thursday. I just know she is so happy to have left that old wore out body behind. She is with the Lord and our loved ones that have gone before her. I am so thankful that, because of Jesus, we have an eternal hope.

My dad stopped by to visit Monday morning. We were visiting and he asked about Grandma Pearl. As we were talking about her, my mom called to pass on the news of her death. When I told my dad about it, he looked a little startled. He shared with me that the reason he had asked about her was because he had dreamed the previous night that she had passed away. This was the same night that she had died. Very odd.

I had a good visit with my dad. He usually stays for the day when he stops by. Sometimes, he calls into work and comes to visit. I really enjoy the company. He always buys Pizza Hut pizza so that he can have a pizza party with Elaina. It’s cute watching them sit on the floor together and eat pizza and watch tv or play video games. They banter back and forth with each other!

Daddy went on and on about what a good person Grandma Pearl was. He said he can’t think of one negative thing to say about her, which is a big deal for my dad!!

“Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.” Kevin Arnold

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