Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room

Okay, so the title totally hooked me on this book. My favorite place to pray is at the clothesline. It seems it's one of the quietest places in my life.

This is a great and quick read.

Here are a couple of my favorite quotes...

"God sometimes gives us more than we can handle so we can learn to be totally dependent on Him."

"Thinking of Jesus and those He gravitated toward - imperfect people all, His favorites. He had time to eat with the despised tax collectors and prostitutes. He had time for men He knew we would let Him down...So it's OK not to be perfect. Jesus said so. But is it okay to rest there? Is it OK to think that because God accepts us in our imperfection it's OK to stay that way forever? ... we need to lovingly accept ourselves as God accepts us, and we need to lovingly do our best to do better."

"When Satan hounds you about your weaknesses, you feel tired, depressed and full of despair. When God confronts you, you feel remorse, quickly followed by the desire to change and hope for the future."

"It's not that I believe in miracles, I depend on them." Anne Lamott

"Being an older mother has its rewards - the wisdom that comes from the things I've done right and the things I've done wrong, the mellowness, the patience - or is that just another name for exhaustion?" :-)

There is a great chapter on having Down Syndrome children and adopting. Making me think about my friend Kathy and what a great mother she is and my niece Jessica as she and her husband embark on the adoption process.

Ways to Prevent Swine Flu

1. DON'T DO THIS!


2. SEE #1

I saw this picture at Kimberly's Cup and it made me smile...

Time is moving fast!!

Barefoot Day!!!

Yeah, I was out in the flower bed this morning barefoot!!! :-)

Terry's Sixth Birthday Party

Terry picked riding 4 wheelers for his birthday. So we all went to Uncle Bryan's for the day.

Hunter and Jacob also came with us.

Granny met us there...

Emily

Granny got Terry a Spiderman video game - he loved it!!

The children got him a baseball, bat, and bases.

Granny played baseball with them and got a hit :-)

Artie and I got Terry a punching bag and gloves. He's so funny with them!!!

It was a beautiful day and they had a great place to ride.

It's time!!

Gotta wear your helmet right!!

WHOOOO!!

Troy

Brenda and Terry

Brenda, Stephen and Hunter sitting on the dock

Hunter and Brenda took the little children for a canoe ride (the water was so brown from the big rain we had the weekend before)

Bobby and Stephen

Elmo came too

After the hot of the day, the big kids decided they were getting wet

It was freezing cold!!

We all had a fun day. Looking forward to going back when it's warmer and we can swim some.

Terry's Sixth Birthday

Terry - my April Fool's baby - greeted me before I ever opened my eyes saying "Look Mama, Look!" I wiped my eyes awake to "April Fools!!" :-)

Terry had a party at Kindergarten celebrating his sixth birthday. It was a very sweet celebration. Artie and I brought the pizza and drinks - along with "Daddy had to work and I couldn't get the pizza - April Fool's!!" :-) The children were all excited.

We were suppose to bring in a poster with pictures representing Terry's life so far. We took one of him and this brothers and sisters, a baby shot, his 2 year old birthday, our whole family at the playground, Halloween as a clown, his third birthday, bowling at 3 years old, fishing at 4 years old, ring bearer at Jack and Nikki's wedding and the most current - winning the Pinewood Derby!!

Terry and Ms. Martin - the classroom helper

Terry and Mrs. Cannon - he got her with April Fool's too!

Each student has a celebration for their birthdays. They hold the earth and walk around the sun and clouds representing each of the 12 months - once for each year of their lives.

Brenda's 8th Grade Formal

So, we live in Gaffney now. Who knew there was an 8th grade formal? Back in 1982, Artie's and I were attending our first dance - the 8th grade semi-formal. :-) Wish we had got to dress up like Brenda did. Wish we had all the great friends she does.

Here's the whole gang.... (Brenda and Hunter in the very middle)

The pretty girls...

BrendaGirl

Brenda and Hunter. He was such a doll to go with her. They are so cute together!! Hunter home schools so he couldn't really ask her to her school's dance. Brenda didn't want to be the one to invite him, so his mom and I kinda invited them. :-)

Hunter was so sweet to give her such pretty jewelry and flower!!

Summer (Hunter's sister) did her makeup - I know I'm such a mama, but thought she looked so beautiful.

Terri did a wonderful job on her hair.

Why is everyone leaning towards me? They don't want me to feel bad for being the shortest one in the family. (Emily and Stephen are catching me quickly)


Off to the dance.... Such a gentleman!!


I'm sure Brenda will post the pictures of all her friends on Facebook. They took lots of beautiful pictures!! Hope the dance was a beautiful as the kids all were!!

Gaffney Art Show

Emily's basket weaving project was picked to be the the Art Show at the High School to represent Limestone Central - 3rd grade. She was very proud. Didn't it turn out cute?

Artie's New Toy

All the children had to try it out. Mama waited. Maybe next time...

Little Visits with God

I found the most precious book the other day while shopping in town. It's titled Little Visits with God by Allan Hart Jahsmann. It is beautifully written and has my little children begging each night to read a story. My older children have even sat in a time or two and listened with littles. Very highly recommended!!

Here is a review from Amazon:

"This is a wonderful tool for parents who are trying to find a way to reach their children during family devotions. Each story begins with a theme Bible verse, and then presents a story involving children and their parents related to the Bible passage. Afterward, there is a series of questions so that you can discuss the story with your children. For older children there is an extended Bible reading listed. Finally there is a concluding prayer.Not only will this help involve your children in family devotions, but the questions also help to develop listening skills. These benefits flow into church on Sunday morning. I highly recommend this book for anyone trying to involve their children in family devotions. "

Grace Livingston Hill

Monica at the Homespun Heart has found Grace Livingston Hill!! Monica is a wonderfully creative mama from South Carolina too. I have enjoyed her blog. I so love GLH and am happy with other women find her writings. Have you read any of her books?

Spring Cleaning - Week 2

We did get some Spring Cleaning done over the weekend. My weeks are so messed up - let's call this week 2. :-)

We didn't finish the bedroom yet completely but moved on to the hall while Artie and Troy were available. So, here's the list...


Hall - Upstairs and Down
Upstairs Bathroom
Master Bedroom

• wash bathroom rug
• clean hall floor - Troy
• clean out hope chest
• sweep hall - Troy
• wash hall window - inside and out - with extension ladder - Artie (inside on the ladder) and Troy outside
• paint bottom of hall burgundy - Kelly and Artie
• paint top hall white
• begin painting bathroom trim
• hang new bedroom light fixture - Artie
• hang new living room light fixture - Artie
• hang new bathroom door, new knob and strike plate - Artie
• new light covers in hall - Artie
• flipped and rotated mattress, replaced washed dust ruffle

Charming the Birds from the Trees

I found a new blog recently that I love - it's called Charming the Birds from the Trees. It is written by a young mama with two children named Emma. Here is her bio:

I am a twenty-nine year old Orthodox Christian who is happily married to an Orthodox priest. I am a mama to two little ones (Sugar Plum is two and a half and Little Man is one) and I enjoy trying to create a peaceful and lovely life for my sweet family!

One of my favorite posts I've found on her blog is a series of teaching called Finishing School. There are posts on several different topics - my favorite being on Femininity throughout the Seasons. I love the change of seasons and have begun notebooks with ideas for each month. I get so inspired by Dawn's seasonal notebooks at By Sun and Candlelight. All her notebooks inspire me.

There is a great one of her clipboard. I am fully using mine right now. It currently holds:

the upcoming April calendar (time to transfer to my bulletin board)

today's to do list - getting longer by the minute

grocery list

menu plans for the week

Bi-lo and Ingles sales items for the week

page on Easter plans - still mostly blank letting me know there's some planning to be done!!

bills to pay today

questions and to do list to talk over with Artie

Terry's birthday party plans - 4 wheeling!!

Beginning summer plans - teaching new chores, reading club, activities, calendars to do - 40 or

so days of school left?

spring cleaning lists I'm working on

some notes about a surprise for Artie for Father's day

today's updated bank account balance

and back to the start of this post - my upcoming spring plans!!

Artie has finally after all these years made peace with the fact that I can't work or do anything in my head - it all has to be down on paper for me to be able to think clearly. :-)

So, I love Emma's list of Spring ideas and will be making plans accordingly.

Pinewood Derby - Stephen

My friend, Daniel, was learning about the Pinewood Derby in a Weekly Reader type paper in his school (in Asia). He was asking his mom about it and she told him it was something little boys used to do in the states. They were surprised to find out that our boys were fixing to compete in their Boy Scouts. So, Daniel has been waiting on my to finally get the pictures up. Hope you enjoy Daniel. :-)

Stephen's Hummer

The competition - Wolf Cubs - That Batman car was fast!!

Stephen won most creative for the Wolves - it came down to him and Bobby. They also raced each other - it was like the wrestling tournament all over again - ALMOST!!

Here is a video of one of Stephen's races. The sound on our computer isn't working, so I'm not sure how this sounds, but it is a good view of Stevie's race.