You know you live in a small town when...

Something like this......

Causes this much excitement...

I'm back (did you miss me?)

Happy New Year! It's been awhile. Life has been filled w/ rattles that I just didn't have words for. I also spent about 2 weeks sewing every spare second (no I don't have many pic because my camera died at Fantasy of Trees which is the day after Thanksgiving) I will try to post a few Christmas pics over the coming weeks. I also hope to jump back into Fitness Fridays & You're gonna Miss This this week. I hope that everyone had a great Christmas season

I got tagged

So here's the deal, Pam (who hates tag) tagged me. I have to share 7 things people might not know about me. Then I tag 7 of my friends to share7 things about them. Pretty simple right?

• I've had 5 concusions (tallest girl in my softball league playing hindcatcher can cause problems :))
• I played softball from the time I was 9 until I was 19.
• I hate to drive. (so much that before I met BigC I intended to live in the city so I could walk or take the bus)
• My favorite veggie is a fruit and yellow ones are the best.
• I like the flavor of onions but can only eat dried ones because the texture causes me to gag (sorry tmi)
• I twirled flags & rifles in the hs marching band.

• My blog has never been tagged.

I don't know that I have 7 bloggy friends to tag. Here's something that you know if you've met me for at least 10 seconds. I'm an extreme introvert. Even in blogland I don't leave that many comments because I feel weird "talking" to someone I don't know. So I'll go w/ my rl pals.

• Melissa
• Michelle
• Val

Fireproof count down

There is only 5 days till opening night. BigC & I already have our tickets. We've looked froward to this for several months. I don't believe there could be a more timely Christian film. (Did anybody read the poll in This week's Parade?) It is so clear that marriages are under attack. So it's good to see something out there that desires to build marriages up. Let's pray that God uses it for His Glory.

Keeping it real

One of the things that I love to read on Brenda's blog is her keeping it real post. She points out that it is all to easy in our blogging to come across as though we have all together. I agree that most of the time this is not intentional. Take me for example. When I 'm struggling w/ something I tend to get quite. I call it going into my emotional cave. The same is true in my blog. I have to wrap my head around what's going on first. Take my posts about the boys going to school. If you just glance at the blog it might seem that this isn't really a big deal or at the least everything is going smoothly. Neither is totally true. This has been a huge change for us & I've shed lot's of tears over it. The last few weeks have had a few ups and many downs. But I'm coming to accept that his is where we are right now. So here's a little kepping it real update for us.
FireMan loves his teacher. He is struggling w/ some major social skills, things like volume control and walking in line. :) The real hardship that I've seen is that he has the ability to see the pros & cons of both hs & ps for himself. He came home the other day and said ,"I hate math." I asked him why he said that. He said I don't hate math, I hate school math. Then he points out that that the only difference between the problems that he did in class & the homework are the names of the kids.
"W" well that's a different story. He says that he likes school and he never cries in front of us. I really believe that his struggles are maturity. (he just turned 5 this month) If we were in any other situation I would wait a year. The hardest struggle w/ him is his safety. He has a tendency to wander. In the few short weeks of school he has left his class 4 times. I do feel that the teachers & staff are now taking his wandering tendencies seriously but it's still hard not to worry.
Just when I'm ready to throw in the towel & bring the them home, I look at BigC. He's just wore out. He has worked at least 2 jobs for the last 4years. Right now he comes home late & leaves for work early. The boys are all over him when he is home because they miss him so much. He really doesn't get to be apart of our family which puts stress on our relationship.
Me- The silence is deafening. We made this decision thinking that it would be best if I returned to work for awhile in order to for Big C to be home more. Well, we're now a month into school & I still don't have a job. Yes we're being a little picky as to the jobs that I'll apply for but, still this is getting old really quickly. I miss them terribly & worry most of the day. All this really makes me question if we're doing the right thing constantly. Believe me when I say that I've had some long heart to hearts w/ God over this.
But in the middle of those doubts I see things that show me God is moving in this. The boys teachers. I prayed very hard for the teachers that they would have & a particular teacher for FM. God put them both w/ very experienced teachers & gave FM the teacher that I had prayed for. I was really worried about FM making friends. he's so anxious & I prayed that God would give him a special buddy. He met a little guy on the 1st day that he hit it off instantly. It just so happens that FM's buddy, "I" has a little brother that in the same class as "W". FM has invited "I" to church w/ us. Last week he came home & told me that we needed to pray for "I" because he was sad. Later he explained that "I"'s parents are breaking up. I can't help but believe that God loves these 2 little boys so much that He gave them this firendship to help each other. Also I have a 2nd interview next week.

There it is. Sorry it's so long. I do believe this is where God has us for right now. I'm still learning to trust God for the next step. We could still use the prayers if you happen to think of us.

Yours

In light of everything going on in my life, this song has really ministered to me. It's a powerful song but it takes on a whole new light when you read the verse SCC added after the sudden death of his daughter. You can check out the new verse here.

Hair Intervention

As a mom we all have those things that we just let go. When life is stressful or busy it just doesn't make into the top 10 list. For me it's my hair. Typically I only get my hair cut about 3-4 times a year. Well it occurred to me a few months back that it has been over a year since I got my hair cut. Since then I mentioned it to Big C in both passing & frustration. But still I haven't done anything about it. Most of the time it's because I don't make an appointment when I'm thinking about it. Well my sweet Big C decided to take matters into his on hands. No he didn't cut it himself. But he did give the money in one hand & the phone in the other. I was to set up a girl day w/ my sis.The agenda: shopping & a hair cut. My sis is a girly girl to the max! She made our appointments & we were all set for today.
For Big C part of this was about a much needed hair cut & just getting me to do something for myself. The other part is something that came out as we talked at RLM retreat. I'm a tomboy to the core. I've never felt comfortable expressing my feminine side. I have a few girly quirks but they don't come natural & are usually the first things I let go if life is stressful. Have I mentioned that life has been very stressful lately? Now that I live in a houseful of males it is even easier than ever to let things go. This was his way to encourage me to enjoy being a girl. Here are some pics of our day.



Yes the girl that cut it used a flatiron on it. I've never had my hair straight before. What do you think? Big C really liked it & my sis just had her hair straightened. So Now I'm contemplating.

Guess what? I WON!!

Remember the scrapbook contest over@ growing in grace? Well, I was notified yesterday that I won. So anyone up for a scrap night? Maybe this is just the boost I need to get me going on my 4yro's baby book. The site is geared to younger women or moms of young women. I enjoyed it from the point of view these are things I wished someone had taught me. (ie.. the basic homemaking & beauty tips & the spiritual tips are timeless)While I was there I read some very encouraging posts, one led me to Apples of Gold. This site was a little more of where I am right now. I saw the add for a new movie that I'm really looking forward to seeing. Fireproof . I know that given where I am & many of the marriages around me this seems like a very timely message. Marriage is hard and I think any tool we can have to encourage couples is important. Here's some more info on the movie.

Happy Mother's Day

Profiletweaks.com - Free Glitter Graphics

Here's an email that I received this week. This is for you Mom!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

This is for the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up puke laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's okay honey, Mommy's here".

Who have sat in rocking chairs for hours on end soothing crying babies who can't be comforted. This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.

For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the mothers who DON'T.

This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they'll never see. And the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes.

This is for the mothers whose priceless art collections are hanging on their refrigerator doors.

And for all the mothers who froze their buns on metal bleachers at football , hockey or soccer games instead of watching from the warmth of their cars, so that when their kids asked, "Did you see me, Mom?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair when they stomp their feet and scream for ice cream before dinner. And for all the mothers who count to ten instead, but realize how child abuse happens.

This is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the (grand) mothers who wanted to, but just couldn't find the words.

This is for all the mothers who go hungry, so their children can eat.

For all the mothers who read "Goodnight, Moon"
twice a night for a year.
And then read it again. "Just one more time."

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.

This is for every mother whose head turns automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home -- or even away at college.

This is for all the mothers who sent their kids to school with stomach aches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them up. Right away.

This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the words to reach them.

For all the mothers who bite their lips until they bleed when their 14 year olds dye their hair green.

For all the mothers of the victims of recent school shootings, and the mothers of those who did the shooting.

For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror, hugging their child who just came home from school, safely.

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to be peaceful, and now pray they come home safely from a war.

What makes a good Mother anyway?

Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time?

Or is it in her heart? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time?

The jolt that t takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 A.M.
to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?

The panic, years later, that comes again at 2 A.M. when you just want to hear their key in the door and know they are safe again in your home?

Or the need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a fire, a car accident, a child dying?

The emotions of motherhood are universal and so our thoughts are for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation...

And mature mothers learning to let go.

For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers.

Single mothers and married mothers.

Mothers with money, mothers without.

This is for you all. For all of us.

Hang in there. In the end we can only do the best we can.
Tell them every
day that we love them. And pray.

Release your inner hippie

Well Big C had a birthday this week. So I wanted to do a post about him. However he hates "mushy /sappy" posts, where I tell you all how great he is. :) So I thought I 'd give you a glimpse of what I get to live w/. There are 2 things that Big C is known for. He is a self proclaimed "redneck" A term that unfortunately doesn't mean what it used to mean. I prefer the term Country or Southern Boy. So of coarse he calls himself a redneck. This would be his ideal family picture.
This was his favorite mode of transportation up until a few months ago.
Until he met me this was his idea of sports.
And his idea of classic music is
The other thing that he is known for is being cheap. He prefers the term frugal. So of coarse I call him cheap. ;)You know he's developed a reputation when the Sunday after this commercial aired he had three different people stop him to tell him that they saw a commercial that reminded them of him. Turn off the music to enjoy this.

So what does all this have to do w/ you inner hippie you might ask? A few months ago we watched Evan Almighty. One of the special features was tips for living green. As we listened to the various list I just started to laugh. I mean who knew that being cheap was living green? I mean Big C does so many of the things on the list because they are economical, not because he's environmentally conscious. Not long after that I came across this great book. As I read ,I saw that we already embraced many of the values that were in this book and could see the "logic" behind many others. As a result we are living much greener than we used to. I wouldn't go so far to say we're crunchy but, we're pretty close. He was telling this to a co-worker who is a self proclaimed hippie. She laughed & said that there was no such thing as a crunchy con, just those that need to release their inner hippie. So now we have a running joke at home about BigC's inner hippie. It just goes to show what a very complex man I married.
So what about you? Do you or someone you love have an inner hippie?

Here's another great contest.


Scraping was really my first crafty hobby & still my favorite. Looks like a place I'll want to visit again.

Check out this contest

I was searching for some lapbook stuff & came across this contest along w/ some new blogs I want to read.

Freebies

Do you have a Magic School Bus fan? I just saw a great deal over at the FIAR Board. Get a free book here.
While there I checked out her other list of freebies. There was a free planet hero DVD

But the best was the 4oo free prints.
(Now if you want to be a real pal leave me a comment because if you let me refer you I can earn more free prints.) The free prints are a limited time offer.

New look & music

Now, that I have gotten my template worked out. I always liked the 3 column look. I've changed some of my music list & finally finished my post about Women of Joy. I can get back to bloging about my life. Stay tuned for Rock collections and notebook pages.

WOW!!! What a weekend part 2

Saturday morning started off w/ Liz Curtis Higgs. Now my only knowledge of Mrs. Higgs is kindly looking Grandma who writes those great parable books. You know Pumpkin , Lily, Pine Tree, & my boys favorite Sunflower. It was quite surprising to find out that there was much more to her than meets the eye. I still have a hard time picturing Howard Stern telling anyone to clean up their life. But it just shows what a truly awesome God we have. Along w/ the stories of her life she expounded on the story of the woman who touched the hem of Jesus garment & was healed, found in Mark. What touched me most was that scripture referred to this healing as being set free. She pointed out that Jesus didn't call her out about touching him to embarrass her (which is how I feel when I have to admit my needs & sins to others.) He did this because she had to admit her need (to be healed) & her sin (touching someone while she was considered unclean) in order for her be set free from the shame of her past.
Next was Kay Arthur. There is so much that I could write about here, but I won't make a long post even longer. I'll just throw out the main point. The battle of all sin starts in the mind. This is why it is so important to have our minds filled w/ the Word of God. I know I'll share more on this later as my friend has loaned me a copy of her book Youniquely Woman, which Kay quoted from.
Jeremy Camp led us worship on Saturday evening. I was familiar w/ more of his music than I first realized. But I have to admit that he still fell in the teeny-bopper music category. That is until he started to speak. As he told his story and the place in which these songs were written it truly spoke to my heart. Particularly the song I Will Walk By Faith. My pastor says that if the Gospel is not enough to get us through the day to day struggles then how can it be enough for someone going through the most difficult things like a spouse dying. By contrast if the gospel can carry us through a moment like that then how can we doubt Him in the the day to day stuff. Jeremy wrote I will walk by Faith knowing his young bride had cancer. She later died. That kinda makes my stuff seem small. But it also reminds me that sometimes life is hard but our God is still good. His testimony of God's goodness & faithfulness is an inspiration to my faith and as you may notice I added a few of his songs to my music list.
By Sunday morning God had showed me so much that I'm not sure I could take any more of the heavy stuff. So I'm glad that our speaker was Sylvia Harney. She didn't short change us on truth but oh my she shared it in such a funny way. I laughed so much and was touched at the same time. This was a weekend that I will not soon forget. I'm so glad I went.

WOW!!! What a weekend

First let me say ladies if you ever have an opportunity to attend one of the Women of Joy Conferences, Do it. You will be blessed!
Like I said in my last post I almost didn't go this weekend. There is just a lot of stuff going on in my life. It would be real easy to just hide out in my little emotional cave. But I got some Godly counsel that reminded me that God has a plan. It's no coincidence that I registered for this conference a year ago. God knew what would be going on in my life & how much I would need to hear from him. That's really what happened. As soon as the first session started, God began to show me that He was meeting me there. The music was led by Charles Billingsley. I liked that he did more of his music, this year. I also loved his choices of praise music. One song that just hit me right where I'm at was called I Have This Hope. If you get a chance you can listen to it here. I realized that praise is a choice, praise is is a gift, & when we praise God in troublesome times there is joy & peace that comes to you in a fresh way. God met me there in this way. The Speakers were just amazing. Friday evening the speaker was Priscilla Shirer. She was just rock solid. I honestly don't know which one quoted more scripture her or Kay Arthur. Not only that she was so real. She spoke like she was having coffee w/ girlfriends. Her scripture focus was Luke 18:35- 43. As Priscilla expounded on this passage, I thought my heart would just burst. I could just see me as she talked about the beggar. I saw how circumstances in my life kept telling me stop calling out to Jesus. She challenged us to take this weekend as a chance to cry out even louder to God. Because Jesus would stop & He would give us sight. This was just Friday night. I'll save Saturday for another post.

I'm off!!!

I'm leaving in just a few hours for this great conference. I was so blessed last year & I'm very excited about what God will do in me this year. The last several months have not been easy. The last 2 weeks have been horrible. So much so that I really thought about just skipping it. However my pastor made a good point. God is in control! He knew the date of this conference & he knows all the trials that I'm dealing w/. So if I could ask a small favor, pray for me. Pray that I can shake off the burdens of life & experience the joy of being in the presence of the Lord. Pray that the Lord will speak to the specific struggles that I'm dealing w/. Pray that I don't worry to much about my guys. Pray that I have fun. ( I know that sounds weird, but sometimes I'm too serious for my own good.) Well I've gotta go pack & get the kiddos breakfast.

To post pictures or not to post pictures

There was a thread a few days ago over at the FIAR. It has brought up some of my old struggles about blogging. I like the idea of public blog. I enjoy reading others' ideas & I enjoy sharing some of mine. But I'm still looking for a happy medium on the pictures. As a visual learner it really helps me when I can see the activity or lesson plan in "action" so to speak. My dh suggested that I keep both blogs going for a while until I decide. So that's my plan for now. If you're on my friends & family list you may still want to still check out the family blog for the really cute stuff .

Kid Funny

Here's a sneak peek into our lunch conversation this week:
Mi- After rest we have clean up because we're going to church tonight.
FM- Today's not church day. Why would we go tonight?
Mi- It's Maundy Thursday and we're having a special service.
FM- Hey mom, you're hair is green.
Mi- What are you talking about?
FM- Isn't that the day you tell jokes.
Maybe we should work a little more on holidays.

Considering a move

I've been bloggging for a while now at another site and it has been quite fun. What drew me there was the privacy features. I loved that I could decide on a post by post basis what I wanted the whole world to see. Yet I could also keep somethings among just my friends. (Which is still a struggle to me) However that site did not provide some of the fun toys that I saw on other blogs. I like blinkies, music, and even some adds. I'm also exploring how to use my blog in a more marketable way. (hey us single income families gotta do what we gotta do in order to do what we love.) So for now I'm going to to play around at this place for a while . If you want to know a little more about me check out my other blog.