Thankful Thursday

I am thankful...





.. for the husband who leaves his dirty work clothes on the bathroom floor,

because it means he is home with me and his family.





.. for the teenager who is complaining about doing

dishes, because it means she/he is at home, not on the

streets.





.. for the mess to clean after a party, because it

means that I have been surrounded by friends.





.. for the clothes that fit a little too snug,

because it means I have enough to eat.





.. for my shadow that watches me work, because it

means I am out in the sunshine.





.. for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need

cleaning, and gutters that need fixing, because it

means I have a home.





.. for all the complaining I hear about the

Government, because it means we have freedom ofspeech.





.. for the parking spot I find at the far end of the

parking lot, because it means I am capable of

walking, and that I have been blessed with

transportation.





.. for my HUGE heating bill, because it means I am

warm.





.. for the lady behind me in church that sings off

key, because it means that I can hear.





.. for the pile of laundry and ironing, because it

means I have clothes to wear.





.. for weariness and aching muscles at the end of the

day, because it means I have been capable of working

hard and using those limbs.





.. for the alarm that goes off in the early morning,

because it means that I am alive.



And finally





.... for too much e-mail, because it means I have

friends who are thinking of me and are trying to make

me smile even when they are out of touch..

Blessings!

Wordless Wednesday

WAHOO. . . . . .I Have FINALLY Been Tagged

WAHOO...................I have FINALLY been tagged! I feel like a kid in a candy store. Thank you, jsgay97. This was a lot of fun!!!!

Ok, here we go...............

The game is called Scattergories. Use the first letter of your name and find words with that letter. The number of letters in your name determines how many people you can tag.

What is your name? Laura (aka Mom, Jelly Bean, WaWa, Goofy, Larry, LaLa, Nimnod)

4 letter word: LOVE

Vehicle: Lincoln Navigator

City: Las Vegas

Boy's name: Larry

Girl's name: Laura, of course!

Movie: Left Behind

Occupation: Lawyer

Something you wear: Lacey Leotards

Celebrity: Lawrence Fishburne

Food: Lasagna

Something found in a kitchen: LOTS of dirty dishes

Something found in a bathroom: Load of cats

Reason for being late: Lost because my husband WON'T ask for directions!!!!!!!
(ha ha....just kidding, Honey!!)

Cartoon character: Little LuLu

Something you shout: LEAVE MY WHOPPERS ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Animal: Leopard

Body part: Lips MWUAH!

Word to describe you: Looney

Who to tag?? bgwannabe Because me best bud needs something to make her smile! , twogirlsmommy Because she needs something to do while there is 8" of snow on the ground and two girls ages 21 months and 6. Wait a minute...........like she needs something else to do! ha ha and so we can get to know her, MiaMay Because she can be really goofy AND she likes dinosaurs. barlowgirlgirl Because she is SWEET! luvs2bemom Because I hope it will make her laugh!

Have fun!

WOW. . . . .What A Day

Our oldest daughter, Goose, will be getting married April 18, 2009, to a WONDERFUL young man named Tang. This is their engagement announcement picture taken in our front yard. They are just perfect for each other. Tang will be entering the Police Academy, following in his father's, uncle's and brother's footsteps. Goose is currently studying to be a child psychologist.

The engagement ring.....The shuttle can find their way back to earth just by the glare alone from that diamond! : > )

BLING BLING!!!!

Goose is not wasting a minute trying to get things organized and finished so all she has to do is wait for the big day!! (smart girl) So, yesterday, we went to a Bridal Expo. We attended our first one on the 5th which was small compared to this one, but very, very nice. This one had over 300 vendors. OH MY GOSH!! They had everything you could possibly imagine from invitations to portable outside bathrooms, which by the way, were GORGEOUS.

The first thing Goose saw that she just went nuts over was a set of Bride and Groom chairs. The bride's chair was decorated with a veil. It is soooooo pretty. The grooms chair is decorated with a tuxedo. Aren't they just adorable?

They had a bunch (no pun intended) of florists there also. Goose loved the tulip bouquet that C pointed out to her and she just LOVED it. How come she didn't remember that I suggested using tulips back in OCTOBER since the wedding is in the S P R I N G?????

The one thing they had the most of and they were EVERYWHERE was...........................CAKE.....CAKE.....and more CAKE!! They were absolutely beautiful. We tried a LOT of cake and sadly, were disappointed with each one. They were all dry or the icing tasted greasy like Crisco, and ALL of them had jam in the middle. ? Whatever happened to chocolate mousse? After looking at tons of cakes, Goose decided on this design, but it will be purple at the bottom, gradually getting lighter up to the top of the cake. I really like this one too!

Tang found the groom's cake HE wanted......Isn't that AWESOME?

You know, yesterday was a looooong day and there were a gazzillion things to look at. It was nice to see Ben being such a good sport about all this and to see him wait so patiently while we went from aisle to aisle....vendor to vendor.

I couldn't resist taking this picture!

Tang's mother , C. came with us to the expo. She is a WONDERFUL and funny lady and the two of them get along so well. Goose is blessed to have such a great future mother-in-law who loves her dearly. Here they are looking at wedding albums from one of the photographers when they came across a funny shot.

Here is another picture of Tang a little bit later on when they got to the vendor giving away a free honeymoon. My, how his mood changed!!!

As I mentioned before, yesterday was a looooooong day, but it was also very exciting and a little sad at the same time watching her planning for the next chapter in her life.

OUR LITTLE GIRL IS ALL GROWN UP!!!!

Saturday Scrap & Share

Today I started getting some of the layouts and pictures together. I wanted to start this from the beginning of the year, and my intentions were good.....just not followed through with. :>( I will have to do better!!!!!

Remember my previous entry about our sisters weekend? Well this is the gift that Cathy made for each of us. Mine was for our first year homeschooling and Barbara's was about The Salvation Army. They are just gorgeous!!!!

It looks so pretty, I don't want to use it! lol

Show & Tell Friday

For Christmas '06, I gave my sister Cathy a calendar with events that I had planned for us already written in. A couple of evenings of babysitting so her and her fiancee could go out to dinner and/or a movie, dates to go yard saling, sleepovers with the kids, movie dates, lunch dates, etc.

When she got to the month of April, she read through it, then turned the page. Half way through May, she paused, looked at me with that "deer in the headlights" look, and flipped back to April. "IS THIS FOR REAL?", she screamed. I nodded, and she began to cry. About 2 months before Christmas, I had made arrangements with our other 2 sisters, Cathy's fiancee, Frank, and my husband, David, so that the four of us could have a "SISTERS WEEKEND" together.

So, last April, my sisters and I went and had our "sisters weekend" in Atlanta. We decided to have it at Barbara's in Atlanta, GA where she is in The Salvation Army Officers Training College to become a Salvation Army officer. With Dawn living in Florida, and Cathy and I here in VA, Barb was the "about halfway" point.

I wanted to have some kind of theme for our weekend but wasn't quite sure of what. Then it finally hit me ...............let's have a Christmas theme. I e-mailed my sisters and let them know what I wanted to do. They just LOVED the idea. We were to each bring 4 gifts, one for each of us including ourselves. The only thing was, they HAD to be homemade, and they all had to be the same but could be somehow personalized for that person. This way, when we were to look upon this gift, we would ALL be connected! (At least that was our thinking!)

Well, when we arrived at Barbara's, we were just thrilled. She had decorated her apartment and had even put up a Christmas tree.........AWESOME!!!!

This is what our sister Barbara made for us. Barbara picked out a specific scripture verse for each one of us and put it in at the bottom. When I read mine, I couldn't believe it........unbeknownst to her, she had put in my favorite verse. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL? I just LOVE IT!!! If you notice there are only three of us in the picture. Unfortunately, Dawn was unable to attend due to work issues.

Who says Christmas only comes once a year!!!

Thankful Thursday

What am I thankful for? WHERE DO I START?!?!?!?!? There are so many things in my life that I am thankful for and it would be impossible, as well as time consuming, to list them all. So..........

Here is my list of the top 6 things that I am most thankful for:

• God, our Heavenly Father - For his unconditional love and abundant grace and blessings he has bestowed upon me. I am rich beyond my wildest dreams!!!! Thank you, Jesus!
  
  
• My DH of 21 years - I am thankful for your love of God and family. For your friendship, understanding, and forgiveness. For those late nights watching movies and eating popcorn, or just holding me when I cry, even if it's over something as crazy as fabric softener. For having the faith in me to homeschool Steven. I know it is a BIG financial hardship on us, but it is the best thing that we have ever done for him, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for believing in us both.....You, Dah Maayaaan!!!!! Thank you for putting up with me all these years!
  
  
  

  I love you, My Skippy Man, with all my heart!
  


• My 3 beautiful children - I have been very blessed to have Goose, Bean, and Kiddo in my life. Yes, at times, they drive me CRAZY, but I would NEVER trade them for anything in this world......THEY ARE MY LIFE! I have my faults, and I am in no way perfect. I have made my share of mistakes and I am sure I will continue to make more throughout my life. I haven't met anyone who doesn't. But how fortunate we are to have a loving Father who forgives our mistakes! I only hope that I have been as big a blessing in some way to them, as they have been such a tremendous blessing to me!
  


• My family - although we are miles apart, we are never far from each other's hearts. Thank you for being there for me. I Love and Miss you all!
  
  
• My Church family - They are the most caring, loving, friendly, compassionate group of the BEST people in the world. We are very lucky to be a part of the family of God!
  


• My Friends - Whenever I need an ear to vent, someone to watch my guy, or even just a place of "refuge" you guys are always there for me. Oh yea, and to YOU KNOW WHO ~~Even when I call and say need to borrow that can of refried pinto beans or a can of tomato sauce, I can always count on your answer to be the same every time.................................."YES, NOW GET YOURSELF OVER HERE AND GET THEM OUT OF THE PANTRY YOURSELF!!!" lol
  

What are YOU thankful for today?

Wordless Wednesday

Tackle-It-Tuesday

For the past few days, I have not felt much like doing ANYTHING nor have I even wanted to see ANYONE. Last night a good friend of mine called and said, "I'm coming by to cheer you up....I'll be there in an hour." Well, after her being here only about 30 minutes and telling me I was depressed and gaining weight.......I FELT EVEN WORSE!!! So much for some friends CHEERING you up, huh? You know after that comment, I had to run and get on the scale. Thinking the worst, I closed my eyes and stepped on. With one eye open, I looked down. YEAH!!!!! To my delight, I had only gained 3.5 pounds.....and that has been over the course of the past year! What do you say to that, my cheerful friend!

I started out this morning in a much better frame of mind!!! I was determined to get things done since today was TACKLE-IT-TUESDAY. After a cup of coffee, (I was leary about eating breakfast after last night's weight gaining comment) I washed and hung up two loads of wash. After they were dry, I took them down, folded them and put them away in my bedroom. While I was there, I saw some towels that I had left misplace the other day, so I took them and put them away. Well, as I was putting the towels in the linen closet, I noticed that someone had taken out a bath towel, but had not taken it from the top, but from the bottom, messing up the entire stack. URGHH!! After fixing the closet, I went to put some hand towels in the bathroom where I found Kiddo's sneakers. (Have you ever felt like you are running in circles?) Off I go to put his room to put his sneakers away, where I find were the dog has been hiding her toys that have been missing for the past week. Now I need to go back to the kitchen to put the toys away in the basket. "Hey........has anybody fed the animals yet?

Back in the kitchen, I noticed that the kids had eaten yet AGAIN and now the sink was full of dishes.......does any of this sound familiar? Hadn't I just FINISHED washing and putting them away already? (seems like 5 minutes ago). Hey, wait a minute..........................................I thought I was supposed to be tackling the laundry? Feels like I have done everything else but!!!!!!

Monday Meanderings

Looking back over your homeschooling experiences, what would you do differently? Enjoy these reflections gleaned from other homeschooling parents just like you!

• If I had known that teaching my children would be so much fun, I would have started homeschooling sooner.


• If I had known my children were going to grow as fast as older women said they would, I would have treasured our time together even more.


• If I had known that my son was going to become an archeologist and dig in the dirt for a profession, I would have never worried about removing the stains when washing his clothes.


• If I had known that all my children would go on to receive college degrees, I would have never second guessed my curriculum choices and teaching abilities.


• If I had known how unimportant it was to keep a spotless house, I would have gone to bed on time instead of spending countless hours cleaning, organizing, and tidying up for the next day.


• If I had known how living on one income would build a solid faith in God, I would have gladly lived with less without all the complaining.


• If I could only experience the thrill of one job to last an entire lifetime, I would homeschool my children all over again.

Whatever lessons you've learned from homeschooling so far, you're incredibly blessed to teach your children. Praise God for the wonderful opportunity to be both your child's parent and teacher!

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."
Jeremiah 29:11

Lord,

I lift up a grateful heart of praise and thank You for all my homeschooling joys. As we continue with this school year, please help me appreciate the benefits of homeschooling even more. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Let It Snow. . . .Let It Snow. . . .Let It Snow!

Whenever our meteorologist tells us it is going to "snow", our little town goes NUTS. They run out and load up on milk, bread, and eggs, anticipating getting snowed in. The forecast could only be for a dusting, but it is the same reaction from most people here. The funny thing is that 95% of the time, the weatherman is WRONG!

On Wednesday, we were told that we would be seeing some snow on Thursday, possibly 2-4 inches. Well, true to form, Wal-Mart's parking lot was full and people who were coming out with their carts filled to the brim. The bread carts were out in the front by the entrance and there was hardly any milk or snow shovels.

Well, this morning when we got up, you will never guess what we saw....................................



~~~~~S N O W~~~~~

(This is the view of my front yard and side yard)

Well, you can imagine how AMAZEDwe were. The weatherman was FINALLY RIGHT! Will I run out the next time he predicts snow and stock up? I doubt it!

Wordless Wednesday

This is the only remaining piece of the World Trade Center Buildings

REMEMBER ME
By Mark Shultz

Remember me

In a Bible cracked and faded by the years

Remember me

In a santuary filled with silent prayers

CHORUS:

And age to age

And heart to heart

Bound by grace and peace

Child of wonder, Child of God

I'll remember you

Remember Me

Remember me

When the color of the sunset fills the sky

Remember me

When you pray and the tears of joy

fall from your eyes

CHORUS

Remember me

When the children leave

their Sunday school with smiles

Remember me

When they're old enough to teach

Old enough to preach

Old enough to leave

CHORUS

Age to age and heart to heart

Child of wonder child of God

Remember me

Age to age and heart to heart

Child of wonder child of God