Dishin' out the candy!

As the days grow shorter, the nights grow colder, the leaves begin to turn, our minds start to fill with excitement of upcoming birthdays, family celebrations, dare we mention Christmas....lots to make a girl smile!

With all of these thrills that we've come to expect, so does the question, "So, little girl, what are you going to be for Halloween?" My girls used to respond to the staring gaze of a stranger...with a staring glaze, then when they grew older they'd say, "I don't like Halloween...it's scary!" And now, our little Cricket has overtaken all of the answering for everyone; she'll say (with great enthusiasm!), "I'm going to be a cowgirl!" (every year!)

In the past, we have either just taken the girls (dressed up, if they wished) to the homes of a few of our closest friends, out to dinner, or out for ice-cream and fun with other friends, etc., and we've not really made that big of a deal of Halloween. My girls naturally turn their heads from "yucky" billboards, TV ads, etc., and we've openly discussed our viewpoints on Halloween, but this last year we decided that we'd take back the holiday and embrace it as a Christian holiday, which is how it began.

So as Ricci and I age and mature (I'd like to think), our viewpoints naturally age and mature along with us. So as the little girl that was out tricker-treating with her daddy and terrified by a neighbor, Suzy Johnson to name, I'm now proud to say that I'm over it (not really!) and am ready to arm myself with candy to give and to receive.


Our little Lovey will be our darling Eloise, proudly living at the Plaza!

Our spunky, little Cricket...you guessed it...a cute, little cowgirl!

And our sweet AngelWings is planning to be our effervescent Vitameatavegamin Girl.

I love Lucy Vitameatavegamin 10 min - http://www.youtube.com/

So after answering a fellow homeschooler on this same topic, I thought I'd also post my response here, including a blog posting written by Doug Wilson:

***********

This blog posting by Doug Wilson was very encouraging, and I thought you might appreciate it as well.

Wilson is a CREC (Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches) pastor in Idaho, and he is also well-known for his numerous books, particularly on classical Christian education, courtship, and marriage.

Anyway, on this Halloween blog posting, I especially liked his point about how Christians should be more giving (i.e., candy), for recently our pastor (Pastor Jeremy Jones) recently spoke to us on how Christians should be seen as bigger-givers than stingy-keepers (my simple words not his which were much more eloquent!) to show that we more fully appreciate all that Christ has given us.

Doug Wilson's blog posting: Halloween
Here is a brief something I sent out to our church a few years ago. Some of you all might find it helpful. I forget if I have posted it before.

- Halloween -
As another Halloween approaches, and as many of us are working on building alternatives, I wanted to take the opportunity to offer a few thoughts and pastoral suggestions.

Here is the background. First, November 1 is All Saints Day. The All Saints festival was first established during the times of persecution in the early church when the number of martyrs accumulated to the point where it was no longer possible to commemorate them all. In the time of John Chrysostom, all the martyrs were remembered on the first Sunday after Pentecost. In 608 A.D., the Pantheon, a former pagan temple to all the gods, was dedicated in Rome as a Christian church. The date of that dedication (May 13) became the day of "all saints." The day was moved to November 1 in 741 A.D. with the dedication of the Chapel of All Saints.

Second, in the British Isles, the day was known as All Hallows Day. The "eve" of that day, the night before, was known as Hallowe’en. In the minds of simple people, the night before the day of the holy ones was thought to be a last ditch party on the part of unholy ones — devils, witches, fairies, imps and so forth. With this kind of superstition, of course, we have nothing to do. Obviously, the custom of kids dressing up in order to play trick or treat did descend from this view, but the thing that is objectionable here is not the dressing up in itself, or the consumption of candy, but rather the dressing up as wicked creatures.

Third, Reformation Day is on October 31 and commemorates the posting of Luther’s famous theses, which is usually regarded as the inauguration of the Reformation. It is frequently honored by churches on the last Sunday of October. As it happens, Reformation Day is also Halloween.

Fourth, and the bottom line for us, is that both of these two days belong to the Christian church, and not to the pagans. And the days have been ours for many centuries, despite certain pagan encroachments of late. We should keep the days, and fight off the encroachments. And so . . .
Here are a few things to do: We are encouraging parishes to hold Reformation Day/All Saints Day parties and gatherings. The mood should be festive and filled with rejoicing — an exhibition of our gratitude for the faithfulness of the martyrs of the early church and the martyrs of the Reformation. This obviously can (and should) include kids dressing up and getting boatloads of candy, but I would strongly urge that no one have their kids dress up as members of the other team — witches, ghosts, devils, imps, or congressmen. We do want to urge a high level of celebration, but we don’t want to take our cues from the surrounding culture. So if you take your kid around to grandma’s house dressed up like a red M & M, or like Theodore Beza, don’t have them say trick or treat the same way some ghost or witch would. Of course, repent or perish or sola fide probably wouldn’t work either. Let’s do this differently, and intelligently, and still have fun. So have them say trick or treat the way a cute M & M would.

What to avoid. We want parish parties, not pious parties. So when neighborhood trick or treaters come to your door, I would encourage you to give them more candy than unbelievers give, as opposed to a glare and/or a tract about the fires of hell. We want to behave during this time in such a way that their celebrations are revealed as far more anemic than ours (not to mention twisted and gross). We do not want our parish parties to be a cheesy alternative, a sort of faux-Halloween. It should be a true All Hallow’s Eve, a true Reformation Day blow-out.

On a related note, there is no way to do this without kirkers differing among themselves about what is appropriate. This is reasonable — up to a point. We know the general direction we want to go, and we want to get there together with unity of spirit. This means learning to lighten up on details. So don’t freak out and rebuke someone if their kid goes over to an aunt’s house dressed like John Knox, but he cackles evilly instead of saying soli Deo gloria. But feel free to be concerned if someone from the Night of the Living Dead shows up at the parish party.

All for now . . .Posted by Douglas Wilson - 10/2/2008

"I thought you were a professional!"

Growing up, my only experience with a library was the one that we owned and the little bus that came to park in the corner of the Handy-Andy every Monday morning. I still think it's amazing that this stranger (a librarian, I guess) would allow us to board her vehicle, which had its walls lined with books and then allow us to borrow as many books as we wanted! Thanks, Mom, for taking us!

Then my next memory was in high school going to the college library with the rest of my class. And I can now appreciate the looks from the "older kids" (college students) who were annoyed that our class was even there. We would go over to OW and have to walk through the metal detectors...I still have no idea why they're there in a library, nor do I like them to this day! We learned how to use the Dewey Decimal System, microfiche (which Chip Adams could still get me giggling when he asks 'where the aquarium is'), and supposedly work on our term papers. [;)] All of this to say, it was quite a production, and I still to this day do not like large college or downtown libraries! Boy-am-I-thankful for the use of google...and my little library that I use today!

We do have the quaintest, little, satellite library with the most reliable, wonderful, helpful "Mr. Greg" and "Miss Hallie." Honestly, it's not that much different from the library that I used when I was little...it's just stationary, and it has TWO librarians! Yes, it's tiny; there's no metal detector, and it's always such a joy to walk in and be greeted by name. So today after running around town (and finally going to get an x-ray of my foot that's still bothering me), I quickly ran inside our little library to pick up some books that we had on hold.

As I picked up one of the books, I asked, "Hallie, have you read any of these books by this author?"

"No, I haven't. Have you?"

"No, not yet, but some of our curriculum calls for one of them, and the other book looked interesting as well."

"What grade do you teach again?"

"Actually, I teach all of them [the girls] together, so 2nd, 3rd, and 5th."

"Oh! That's right; you home school...I thought you were a professional!"

You've gotta love our little, quaint library and the blessed ones that run it!

We just had a good laugh about it! "Bless her heart!"

(By the way, Ricci did just tell me that they aren't "metal detectors" but that they are "scanners"! Same dif!)

My New BFF!

Written back in August....

Last Wednesday afternoon, when I spoke to Miss Craig, we postponed a busy, shopping trip that we gals were going to take, for she had lots to do as did we. Fast forward four hours, and our phone rang...she had fallen…backwards...4 feet off of the retaining wall around her garden! Oh, the horror!

Thankfully, that afternoon, her kids called to talk to her and noticed that she wasn't herself...then she admitted that she had fallen. So on another line, they called us, and we ran up there...she looked fine, but she was already getting dressed (to the 9's, of course!) to go on to the hospital...she knew she had to go. She had a huge knot on the back of her head, and it was bleeding.

Thankfully, she really did seem to be fine, but she was complaining about being sore and having lots of pain on her right side (apparently the side that took the brunt of her fall), so once we got to the E/R, I just grabbed the closest wheelchair to keep her from having to walk, and when we wheeled her in, I explained to the receptionist that she had fallen close to 5 hours ago...a friend had told me to make sure that they knew the timeline...so they immediately came over to us to examine the back of her head while they handed me "the all-dreaded" clip-board and just told me to sign it for her. Of course, she hears EVERYthing that one says around her...can't see it, but she can hear it!

Craig said loudly enough for all to hear, "Sign your name and just write "BFF."

WHAT?!? I know she's "up with the times and all" but even I don't use that term...and last time I checked...neither of us text message anyone! (Well, maybe she does and we just don't see her do it!)

I, the receptionist, and the security guard were laughing hysterically! Later I asked her where she had heard that term, and she said, "I just made it up! You'll probably have to explain it to them."

I said, "No ma'am...I think they know."

She said, "How could they? I just made it up!"

As she was speaking...an ambiguous young guy was walking by, so to prove to her that it's a popular term, I said, "Hey! What's BFF?" And without stopping he just said, "Best Friends Forever."

She was shocked...put her hand on her forehead (like she always does) and giggled to herself.

So we continued to sit there...chit-chat, giggle, doze off; chit-chat, giggle, doze off.... and after several CT scans and X-rays, they revealed that there were shockingly no broken bones (angels had to have helped her land!), but she did have a nice gash in the back of her head with a small (quarter-size) hemorrhage in the front of her brain. So after sitting there for hours in the E/R spening boughts of allowing her to rest, lots of phone calls, and laughing at this and that, she was finally admitted to a room so that she could be observed for a few days as well as continue to get CT scans to show improvement in the hemorrhage, Lord-willingly!

Pride Goeth Before A Fall!

As if this saying couldn't be true enough...pride definitely goeth before a fall...we just hope that it doesn't happen in front of others!

Ever since the girls were itty-bitty and ready to have some fun... whenever we have taken them to Sams, we'd put one girl in the back of the buggy, another in the floppy seat (man, I miss those days!), and one girl in the stroller. And as soon as the girls were old enough, they'd say, "Faster, momma/daddy, faster!" And off we'd go in a race to see who could go through the entrance doors faster...the grocery buggy or the stroller?!?

Now as the girls are older, we're still occasionally seen racing to see who can make it inside the store the first....often it's a mad dash at the last second. Yesterday went no differently!

Being the day before a holiday, the parking lot at Sams was JAM-packed! So once we found an appropriate (first!) parking spot, we unloaded the car and proceeded to walk through the mass of people going/coming! Ricci, Cricket, and Lovey were walking ahead while AngelWings and I closely followed...racing never crossing any of our minds, for I'm telling you...I've never seen so many people at Sams! Then I noticed that every couple of seconds, Lovey would look back at us and smile...I just thought she was sweetly keeping up with knowing that we were still there. Then as we got closer and closer to the entrance doors, her grin grew larger...and I knew what she was up to. So I whispered to AngelWings, "Come'on...let's beat 'em!" And off we went trying to make our mad dash around them...not even being respectful of the others also trying to enter Sams...yes, we may have taken out an unsuspecting elderly person or two, but I tell ya...the adrenaline over-took every heart-beat or care! And then there we all were...entering the store all shoulder to shoulder...neck and neck, if you will. Who was going to be able to proudly say that they were the winner?!? So with one last stride, I made it a little longer than I should have....and came down on my bum foot! OH! We were all laughing so hard and giggling with glee that it didn't appear to others that there was anything wrong...they just saw a family that was enjoying being together...hopefully! (Or just an odd grouping of ages that don't know how to act in public!) Then I tried to step out of the way of the entrance door, and there was absolutely no way that I could bear ANY weight at all on my right foot! Oh, the pain was unbearable!

In the midst of the laughter and crying (although it was painful, it still was very funny!), I just couldn't take a single step...although Ricci and the fella at the entrance kept nodding their heads toward the automatic wheelchair seats with buggies...um, no thank you! I didn't want to draw any more attention to myself than I already had! And I was very thankful that no one else had been hurt in any way as our family rudely careened into the already opened doors!

So after deciding that we'd abandon all other errands and just go on home (versus the emergency room), Ricci went to get the car and pulled it as close to the building as possible, and with his help I somehow managed to get into the car. So we all just went back home, and oh...the pain, and oh...how anxious I was...we had friends' coming over to celebrate Independence Day with us the next day! We still had sooo much to do...there was still a house and yard to be readied, food to be prepared, fun party favors to create, and oh-yeah...packing for our upcoming trip! (Of course, the first thing that anyone said to me, "Oh...that's your driving foot!") I was/am fearful that God has other plans!

Once we got home, Ricci helped me upstairs...I couldn't bear ANY weight at all on my right foot, and he and the girls immediately got me set up with ice and lots of ibuprofen. I love you all so much for all of your help! (Cricket has even provided me a bell in the event that no one is upstairs with me and I need something...too precious! I like it!)

Today...I can bear 'some' weight on the front part of my foot, so I just sit here while I keep ice on my heel and field questions from my precious lovies as they are generously preparing for our party this afternoon and also being sure to attend to my every whims. I am in such awe of everyone's pulling together! The good thing in this is that those coming over this evening to celebrate with us are some of our closest friends...more like family...so all will work out, Lord-willingly!

So today is our great country's 233rd birthday! 233 years! So many things have taken place in 233 years! In some way that seems like a very long time, but in light of other countries and their heritage, it doesn't seem like much time at all! Either way, I'm so very grateful for what we do have! And I do remember that our freedom isn't free; we must all do our parts (simple or large) to declare and protect our independence. I do pray that we all enjoy this holiday and are able to celebrate the rich heritage with which our great United States has been blessed!

I pray for our great country and those that serve and lead it.
Blessings on each of you this Independence Day!

"Father Knows Best!"

I have to say that I do think "Father Knows Best" in so many ways! My Heavenly Father! My earthly father! And of course, who doesn't have a glimpse of a smile come to their face when they see Jim Anderson and how he loved his family?!?

Most afternoons after school, Jen and I would watch every episode that we could of "Father Knows Best," one of our favorite childhood shows from the 50's. (I feel that I should clarify...the show was from the 50's; this childhood memory was from the 80's.) I guess a local TV station was re-airing them.

And just like Betty, Bud and Kathy, I still like to think "Father Knows Best." I have an amazing daddy; my girls have an amazing daddy... and we all have an amazing Father.

This week, I just knew that it was going to be rough to accomplish all that was going to be on our plates and we all know that humorous saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." I had Him laughing hysterically this week....

Sunday night we laid our clothes out and went to bed early (well, early to us!), and we all awoke bright and early to get out the door at 8AM! That's WAY early for us! The girls were participating in a Music Camp this week...on the other side of town!

Daddy set out the Starbucks card and made sure we had everything and headed off to work. So we finished getting ready and headed out the door on time...shockingly, I know! While paying for my 'skinny, iced coffee...two pumps of mocha...hold the whip' (160 calories...yum!), I got the phone call for which we'd been waiting...we needed to make the decision as to when to return to Louisiana for a family funeral. It's a sad time, but it will be nice to see the family out there...if we go now or later!

Then we continued on to Music Camp where I dropped off the girls...oh, it's so cute to see an assembly of children excited about a new adventure! And then you should have seen the moms...excited for the same reason! After we got the kiddos settled, L and I took off for a play day just for us. All along, we kept mentioning more fun things we could do that week while the kids were busy at Camp, and I kept telling her, "Oh! I haven't even told you about Tuesday! I don't know how I'll get everything done!" So after we went back to pick up the kids, we all ran over to Taco Roc (hmmm!) for a late lunch, and she helped me create a way to accomplish 'most' of what was on my plate the following day. (Music Camp 8-12/board meeting 12-1/ setting up an event at Riverbend for Bethany 1:30-5/ helping host the event 5 'til / book club 7:30-9ish...all or most with chauffeuring...you know the type of day where you can mentally figure out how you can do it all, but if you write it down, you'd know immediately that it will never work!) Then we had to segregate the Chans from the Champs (very difficult to do!) so that we could get our girls up to their swim lessons.

And whew...it's been SO hot and humid this week! And swim lessons weren't any different! While we were there, I was fine one second, and then the next I thought I was going to pass out! Needless to say, I think I may have gotten some heat exhaustion (at least that's what I'd like to think!), for after I managed to get us all back to the car and back at home, I started to feel better after showers, some fruits and plenty of fluids! The next mornin'...not so much! I woke up not feeling too great and was "ill" for most of the day!

Yep...Father knows best! He completely took care of my to-do list...wiped it clean, in fact! And my more-than-wonderful husband picked up where I had left off! He took the girls to camp, delivered the 1000 balloon ribbons that we had cut (yes, that's another story in itself!), took care of me, made some returns for me, picked the girls back up, made supper...all the while he worked from home. The next day was more of the same while I recovered. Thank you, my love!

Thankfully, the rest of the week has gone very smoothly! We have loved every minute of Music Camp (the girls' learning all of the new songs, games and friends AND the moms' child-free shopping and lunch dates)!

Do you see what I see? Um...gum behind the ear? This child is so 'function before fashion'...and WHO ON EARTH taught her that?!?

Thank you, love, for loving me and helping me as you did this week!
Thank you, daddy, for loving us and sharing your wisdom with us!
Thank you, Father, for loving us and knowing what is best for us!

Will Blog for Food, I mean... Comments!

Blogging for Food Comments:

Okay... some of you gals (and you know who you are!) crack me up by emailing me your comments instead of posting them! I really do blog just to keep up with our own day-to-day life and help myself remember little things (since I don't scrapbook anymore!), and I also blog for those friends and family that live far away! But I have to say that a blogger doesn't know if one has stopped by for a visit, unless one leaves a comment!

And who doesn't want to know if they've had a visitor?!? I certainly do!

Has Peggy Post written a book yet on Bloggers'/Readers' Etiquette? I'm sure that there's one written by someone out there!

Defending my pals that have leaving-a-comment fears, I will say that Blogger isn't the easiest blog publisher to use when it comes to finding where to place a comment, so until I find another way to enable a "click here to leave a comment button," please say hello when you drop by...it's not scary! I promise!

So for those of you who have asked (Jen, Carolyn, Mimi, Bonnie)... here's how to leave your comments...

at the bottom of each posting there's a posting-time-stamp with a link for comments next to it. Click on that, and then one can write their comment and choose how to sign it by either leaving a link back to your blog if you have one or by just signing your name or by just signing it "anonymously."

I do love your emails, but I'd also like to have your comments!

Hope that helps!

A Memorable May!

Whew...is it already the end of May?!? It's really hard for me to believe that May is almost over...which has had a lot goin' on!

We "wrapped up" our school year this past week; so we are thoroughly enjoying this week without having many commitments. {Hence...time to catch up on my blog...woohoo!}

Of course, this past weekend was a holiday weekend, and we successfully squeezed out every memorable inch out of it! And now it's Wednesday, and we're already closing in on next weekend when Daddy doesn't have to go to work every day! So now I look back and wonder where the heck May went! I still can't account for every day, but there were some pretty memorable days in it!

At the beginning of this month, I began (once again) Weight Watchers, and I'm so thankful for the great group of gals that are in it with me...it does make it more enjoyable! I think it's what works the best for me...I enjoy the monotony of writing things down (give me a checklist, and I'm all over it!), and the girls enjoy helping me track the calories, fiber and fat grams. I did really well on it after I had Cricket, so we'll see how I do on it this go-round! So after I attended my first WW meeting and took Cricket to soccer, we ran out to get last minute things for our cinco de mayo party...and stayed out way too late, for the next morning was the Belk Sale benefiting Bethany! And of course I didn't have time to sell as many tickets as I had planned on selling, sooo...I guess that meant I had to spend them, oh well...shopping for charity!

For those that know me, they know that I am NOT a morning person...but tell me that there's a sale that will end at 10 AM, and somehow I can muster up the strength to become a morning person! Oh my word...next year, I'm going to really push this sale! It's a great fundraiser! Bethany was able to sell tickets to Belk for $5, and Bethany was able to keep the profits! The tickets got one in the doors early at Belk and I'm telling you....everything was marked down drastically! It was like I was living a dream! You know...the dream where everything is marked down and you can grab what you can before the time runs out! The stores were so quiet (with the exception of cash registers' ringing and people hollering over sales!), and there were coffee stations with Krispy Kreme donuts (I did well, WW friends!) I'm telling you it was a dream! We bought a couple of little Ralph Lauren dresses for Cricket and Lovey (they're Lovey's favorite, and I'm pretty sure that they were only $10!), a RL shirt for AngelWings ($10), an MP4 player for $17, Ricci bought me some more Estee Lauder pleasures for Mother's Day (thank you, Ricci!), and I can't remember what other things we bought...I'm telling you...great sales all throughout the store; then they started to take the magic signs down when they opened up the doors to the public!

One thing that I've learned...being on the board of directors for Bethany means...fundraising! Previously, I didn't really know that 1/2 of Bethany's funds come from donations, and the other 1/2 comes from adoptions. There is no charge to the moms that come through and receive counseling and then choose to use another means of adoption. So this next year's sale, I'm going to come and get you gals to purchase these tickets and put on your shopping shoes...cause we're hitting the Belk stores early! In the name of charity!!!

Yes, I began WW just in time for our 4th annual cinco de mayo party...oh well! And for some reason, I didn't seem to get the camera out as often as I usually do, but here are a few pics of some of our closest loved ones that celebrated the special day with us.

As our tradition, I served the usual: Alals' chicken-spinach enchiladas, black beans with lime, Spanish rice (I ran out of time and fudged on this one with a semi-homemade version...if anyone has a good recipe for Spanish rice, I'd love it if you share it with me!), and for the first time I served a new appetizer, Black Bean Tartlets, that I thought was really yummy. Try it...I'm sure you'll love it too!

Black Bean Tartlets
Yields: 32 appetizers

Garnishes: sour cream, fresh cilantro

Ingredients for the tartlets:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with peppers
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons ice water

Combine first 8 ingredients in a food processor; pulse until blended. Add butter; pulse until mixture is crumbly. Add egg and ice water; process just until the mixture forms a ball.
Divide dough in half; shape each half of dough into 16 (1") balls. Press balls into lightly greased miniature (1 3/4") muffin pans, pressing evenly into bottom and up sides.
Bake tartlet shells at 450° for 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove shells to wire racks, and cool completely.

Ingredients for the Black Bean Salsa:

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet yellow pepper
1 plum tomato, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, tossing well. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.

Spoon 1 tablespoon Black Bean Salsa into each tartlet shell; garnish, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

I found this recipe in the Christmas with Southern Living 2000

We served mango tea with fruit for the kids, sangria and a selection of Mexican beer for the mamas and the papas, and for dessert we once again served vanilla ice cream with your choice of toppings (toasted coconut, chocolate sauce, and Uncle Charles' roasted Spanish peanuts...thanks, Uncle Charles!) Of course, we were having such a great time that I didn't even start the waiting coffee...we were with such close friends and family that it was a very relaxed evening; it was wonderful!

Thankfully, God doesn't give us more than we can handle; the rest of that week I spent recovering from a ruptured ovarian cyst; Ricci took a day off of work to allow me to rest (there's not much more one can do but keep still and just rest...ahhh...that part's nice!), and he helped the girls with some of their schoolwork. There's nothing like knowing that you're in the home stretch...summer's awaiting around the corner!

Later that week, we celebrated 58th National Day of Prayer with our community. I have to say that I really appreciate this national holiday, and I also have to say that I struggle with knowing that others don't hold the same value of it as I do...why is it not more widely attended?

On the first Thursday in May, every community across the US is encouraged to hold an event at noon, and the theme for this year was “Prayer…America’s Hope” based on the verse from Psalm 33:22 which states, “May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.” Oh! How we need His unfailing love to rest upon us, and oh...we need to be faithfully putting our hope in Him!

This is the second year that I've helped facilitate our location's event, and I love seeing who participates in it! It's such a sweet time of coming together (denominations set aside) as a body of believers that desire our God to hear us as one church. Our pastor Jeremy led us this year, and he did a fabulous job; he opened up the time with a reading of Psalm 33, and then we spent time in prayer for our government, our military, our media, our businesses, our churches, and our families! What a sweet time it is! I'm thankful that my girls have the opportunity to hopefully grow up remembering this experience as a special one in our community.

That afternoon, we spent some time playing outside with Savannah, Ben, Emmaline and Jonathan (the creek is so full from all of the rain, and it's just irresistible to children!), then we had a memorable late lunch at Piccadilly (I'll spare you the details!) with friends before a play date at our new favorite park...welp...almost our favorite...I had to call the girls back to get back in the car...we'd have to come back to the playground, but not today...the battery was flirting with death! So after "I" took care of the car (at the fixit shop, of course! "I" meaning...I ordered a new battery, watched it being installed and paid for it! Yes, Daddy'd be proud!), we were on the road again!!

That next Saturday Jenna graduated from UT-Martin! Woohoo! We're all sooo very proud of you, Jenna! We were supposed to go to her graduation, but after the car was acting up and we were all so exhausted from busi-ness, we decided to play hookie and stay at home...I hear they call that a "staycation"! LOVED~IT! (Sorry, Jenna!) Others thought we were out of town, and it felt sooo good to just stay at home....the girls played while Ricci and I spent the day binge-watching this season of LOST. Wow~it's really picking up the pace....but now we have to wait until 2010?!? What's up with that?!?

Mother's Day couldn't have been sweeter...every year is sweet, but this one tops them all! The girls took the opportunity to call it a Mother's day weekend...who am I to argue with them?!? They started giving me gifts on Friday and Saturday....they're like their mamma, who just can't keep a gift a secret! Ricci bought me two new Adirondack chairs....I love'em! Come over and sit a spell in 'em with me! And they all made me breakfast in bed while the girls made me special cards and gifts.

AngelWings made me these gorgeous earrings...including the beautifully, wrapped box! Thank you, MaeMae! And thank you, girls and Ricci, for loving me and thinking that I'm the mom you say I am! I love you all...to the moon and back...and around and around....!

Speaking of Mother's Day, the end of this month has been a little discomforting (is that a word?) because our family will be getting together to 'lay to rest' our dear Alal, who has been so incredibly important in all of our lives. The flip side...we get an extra trip to see the rest of our family in Louisiana! That's good!

This past week, we've thoroughly enjoyed participating in some of the gardening lectures and workshops with Rock City's 1st annual Southern Blooms Festival! We've learned a lot and incorporated several of the lessons into the end-of-the-year schoolweek!

This past weekend, we did our usual Friday craziness and then had some friends over for an early Memorial day cookout. After we ate some yummy BBQ, we headed over to the Wilderness Theatre to see the movie, Night at the Museum 2, which was really good! There's nothing like sitting out under the stars with friends and watching a movie on the "world's largest movie screen"!

Here's a couple of pics...taken in the pitch-black; sorry for the blindness y'all experienced afterwards! You know...it's important to make memories!

The three amigos! Marion & Indiana Jones!
Two peas in a pod!

George & Wendy and Co. (couldn't find the rest of them in the dark!)

Saturday morning, we all awoke a little later than we had planned...we had to get over to RC to make our hypertufas! (Don't worry...I had to look up the word as well!) "Hypertufa is a man made substitute for Tufa rock. Tufa is a spongy cellular rock found in limestone country and especially where water has been involved in the wearing and leaching out of the original materials to effect a porous spongy consistency. In many countries throughout the world this natural stone has for centuries been hollowed out and carved for tubs and planters." (quote taken from here)

We each made a garden container out of a mixture of Portland cement, sand, peat moss and perlite. Camera? Didn't even think of it as we ran out of the house! oops!

That evening, we ran up to Sewanee for dinner with Aunt Jan, Uncle Eddie & Erich. We made our traditional pizzas and ice-cream, and let the pups have a good time...mental note...next time remember to bring an extra tennis ball!And the girls gave cousin Erich quite the workout! They had him running them all over the house..Macy was riding on his back for at least 30 minutes straight until we told her to get off...then he just took the fun outside on a wild chase all over the property with flashlights....what more fun could a girl have?!? Thanks, Erich, for all of the fun!It's so relaxing being up there...well, I'm not sure it is for Erich! The waterfall was huge after all of the rain that we've had this month; it was difficult to hear one another when on their deck overlooking the falls. Before we left, I had to snap these photos...I know it's poor lighting...I just had to get this photo before they all moved!

Unknowingly, Erich's moving in for the "my favorite cousin" title! Sorry, Will!

I just couldn't resist this photo! I could make a collage of all of the different pictures of the girls and Uncle Eddie still looking for Waldo! This is my Uncle Eddie that partook of teaparty after teaparty with me as a little girl! We love you, Uncle Eddie!

Ooh...it is exciting that we've wrapped up our school year! Now, of course, I had planned way more than was reasonable, so we'll still be doing some readings together over the summer, but I find that enjoyable and not feeling like I'm behind the 8-ball! And the girls are participating in some summer-reading-programs, so they'll get to count their free-reading assignments as books that count toward these extra rewarding programs...woohoo! We're also enjoying soccer practice, swimming and will be enjoying tennis and music camps! Woohoo, Summer, bring on the F-U-N!

"Please get the snow out of your sand pail!"

With snow falling, we somehow managed to get the car loaded up for our Easter trip. We didn't leave as early as we had intended...partly, because we Southerners were enjoying the snow...even though we were shouting, "Don't forget the beach chairs!" "Do you have your new swimsuit?" And "Please dump the snow out of that sand pail before you put it in the car!" How exciting!

Ever since the girls were little, I've taken photos of them when we're embarking on a trip...never intentionally; it's just something that's always happened! These I thought were pretty telling...

Lovey with her lovies and her shades on....ready to hit the beach!

Cricket watching a movie on her mp4 player (it's sitting atop her lantern where she's cocooned herself in the back of the car)...I wonder if Gramma and Grampa knew what doors they were opening when they gave her this! Thank you, again! This gal thinks she's in heaven between singing with Judy Rogers and watching Ratatouille!

And AngelWings, sitting there all pretty...pretty excited like me! "Let's get this show on the road! We wanna see our peeps and smell the salt air!"

So with the mail stopped, everything turned off, house locked up, Brody over at Zachary's and Mama Maria's, and Bluey in the capable hands of Connor and Emily, we got on the road! It snowed on us (I guess, I should technically say the word "flurried") at least until half-way to B'ham! We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the Summit (again...can't go through B'ham without at least driving through the Summit!) and continued on our way! First stop...Uncle Charles!

We pulled into the restaurant parking lot at the exact same time he did, and we had a nice supper together and then drove over to his house to see his new, little puppy, Little Girl. Sadly, I look back and see that we didn't get one picture of the girls with Uncle Charles! In the cold weather, I guess we were in a hurry...then once inside, we had Little Girl(s) quite excited about seeing one another! It was a fury of activity! And Uncle Charles just sat there and didn't seem to mind the loud squeals and giggles! We love you, Uncle Charles!

Then after we said our goodbyes and accepted all of the gifts that he had for us (toys for the girls and boiled & raw peanuts...it's the "Peanut Capital of the World," ya know! Thank you, Uncle Charles!), we headed on to Mimi and Pawpaw's. We got in a little after midnight, but Mimi was still waiting up for us and had a fire going in the fireplace....again, this global cooling has got to go!

Oh, it was good to be home! I'm so sentimental, so the smells, sounds, etc. are so special to me! We stayed with Mimi and Pawpaw for a few days...long enough to start a demolish job in her bathroom...we ran out of time to finish it...oops! I guess we'll have to make another trip back! And one night we had Jen and Nate over for a cookout and another night we all went bowling...grandkids love it, and the adults don't mind it so much either...pretty fun stuff with all of the fellas with us this time! Let's just say that P-Daddy had to show us all a thing or two! My score's not even worth mentioning! On the kids' lane, once again...Macy did really well!

After a couple of days, Ricci and the girls and I headed over to stay at the condo, and what fun it was! Driving there wasn't the fun part; I had one of three migraines in my entire life, so I was trying not to "get sick" (I know that's improper English, but you know what I mean!), and the spring break traffic's flood gates were opened! And we had so much stuff in our car that we could barely see out...and I'm not kidding! And of course, there's a mandatory sign when you get close to the beach that one HAS to stop at Wal-Marts (again, deep south) and pick up more than you can carry back to your car.

Um...somehow we all forgot that there wasn't any room in the car in the first place. I still don't know how Ricci packed us all in WITH the added plastic bags from WallyWorld! We had to roll the windows down and hang our legs and arms out with the bags...this time I am kidding. Somehow we made it to the condo, and Ricci and the girls unpacked the car, I went to town doin' my thing: ever since I was a child, I've tossed what I can into the dishwasher (plates, utensils, cups, etc.) and always empty out the ice to start fresh. Whew...it was nice just being at the condo. And then the fury of questions began, "Can we get our suits on? Can we go down to the pool? Can I blow up the beach balls? Where are the towels?" I have to say that I was just as excited as they were, and thankfully my headache subsided after everything settled down and we got something to eat! So we made it down to the beach just in time for the sunset!

A storm was a'brewin', so we couldn't stay out there for too long (and it was still a little chilly!), so when Jen and Nate got there for supper, we ate and then let the kids play in the heated indoor pool. Camera? Urgh...I got everything else but my camera!

The next morning, we woke up bright and early to hit the beach! Man, I married a sweet fella! He doesn't question a thing when he helps take the umbrella, cooler, two beach bags (one for toys and one for towels/sunscreen), oh yeah...chairs, etc. We all love just being on the beach, and it's so much easier now that the girls can carry their own (literally)! We stayed out as long as we could, and then I remembered...Easter shoes! We still hadn't bought the girls' Easter shoes! Man, why do I do this every year?!? I guess I'm waiting for the sales: supply and demand! And one certainly can't wear white shoes before Easter Sunday! It's just not proper!

So we made our way through the crowds at the Sandestin outlets, grabbed what we needed and headed back to the condo, for Meems and P-daddy were coming over for supper! After supper, the girls showed Mimi and Pawpaw their new tricks in the pool before they left, and then Ricci and I got busy getting ready for Easter Sunday (Easter baskets, Easter lunch, Cricket's bday cake, birthday party goodie bags...)

The next morning we woke up and headed off to church; it was great to see everybody, and then we all went back to the condo with Mimi & Pawpaw, Jen & Nate & Co., and Greg & MaryAnn & Co. to have Easter lunch together and to celebrate Cricket's birthday.

Jen brought this amazing appetizer; maybe she'll share the recipe with us; maybe...Jen?!? Lunch was yummy...it was the same menu that we served for Cricket's baptism luncheon (sniff, sniff)...garlic and herb chicken-pasta salad, a really yummy salad with cranberries, sugared pecans, and bleu cheese, and croissants. Some ate in the condo, and some ate out on the balcony! And her birthday cake was just a simple pound cake (Sorry, Carolyn, I used a cake mix...we were on vacation!) made in a fun sand-castle Williams-Sonoma cake mold that I thought I'd never find! [Ricci finally found one online on Friday afternoon, ordered it, and it was shipped to our condo the next morning...AND it was less than I would have paid for it in the store...amazing! Way to go, Ricci!] And I just added some seashells and raw sugar around the base of it! (So I now have the form, if anyone wants to borrow it!) Simple and fun...much like my Cricket, who loved the cake!After lunch, we ate some birthday cake, opened some gifts (Seriously, we weren't expecting gifts! And y'all gave her some really great ones...thank you, again!)

Then we went on a treasure hunt! I hid all of the kids' goodie bags inside a treasure box (I forgot that at home, so a simple Rubbermaid box had to do!), and Ricci and James hid the box somewhere along the beach. Here's the poem that Ricci wrote and had them follow (smart fella; he is!):

Out the door and to the left,
Around the corner and down the steps,
Look across; it stands so high;
Better go under, unless you can fly!

To the left or to the right,
Go the way with the beach in sight!
Go to the end and wait right there!
Read the last clue at the very top stair!

He Is Risen!
We heard it in church!
The treasure is hidden
By a man on a perch!

The weather had once again turned colder, so once the buried treasure was found, those of us that were brave enough (not me!) got into the outdoor pool, and those of us that weren't brave enough stayed in out of the wind and just watched everyone play from a distance and gabbed!

That evening after everyone was gone, Mimi stayed with us to spend our final night on the beach, and we had such a good time enjoying our last night there! It was actually the first time that I had to sit down and just relax, have a glass of wine and unwind! I guess there's no better test of a great vacation than one that makes you go back home to get your relaxation!

The next morning we awoke to terrible weather and waited out the storms that were covering the southeast; maybe I shouldn't admit this on the world-wide-web, but my all-time, recurring nightmare is being with my family...overlooking the water...and seeing a water-spout or tornado coming at us. Aghhh! (Maybe confessing this is good therapy!) We kept the local weather on all morning, and that's all that was being reported...water spouts and tornadoes...right where we were! Again, aghhh! Finally, the weather somewhat subsided, and we HAD to leave to get Ricci back to work, so we got our car and Mimi's car loaded up and got on the road! Boohoo!

Thankfully, we made it "back up north" (to B'ham...as Mother Simpson would have said), and we met K-Ren at our usual Cracker Barrel; it was great to see her, and then we headed on home!

Ahhh...home again, home again, jiggety jig!