Sweet Home Mississippi

I know ya'll have been waiting to hear about our trip down south, but since it was over 2 weeks ago I will not bore you will all the details just some highlights.

• Attended Family Reunion - Coconut Cake - yummy. Sign by the bridge over a little creek - "Do not play in water due to broken glass and snakes" nice
• We did several field trips for school - Ag and Forestry Museum, Natural History Museum, Waverly Antebellum Home, Nanih Waiya Mound, and Mississippi State.
• Ate at my favorite BBQ restaurant - pulled pork plate and sweet tea to ya!Delish!
• Visited various family and friends
• The most exciting thing for me - Watching my alma mater play football. GO DAWGS!!! I didn't even mind the fact that the game was at 1:30 CST in the sun and HOT!! I was just happy to be there with other people who love MSU football.

I am just happy to be back home with my family. I missed my dear hubby terribly. I do not like being away from him that long. We did have a fun time with mom down south and when she came back with us.

We a currently getting geared up for busy couple of months with Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have planned on visiting the Dear family this year for Thanksgiving. We have Hannah's bday party to plan. Is it too early to go ahead and decorate for Christmas? I am very excited about decorating our new home. I am trying to talk dear hubby into letting me get the girls another tree because they are running out of room on their 4 ft tree. I would like to put their tree in the kitchen and get newer one for upstairs for them. Hannah thinks we don't need one for the kitchen because there will be one in the living room - which will be a REAL ONE! By the way I need a good recommendation for a tree farm to get the perfect tree.

I am looking thru my Southern Livings looking at all the new deco ideas especially mantels and looking at all the food options to cook for the holidays. Can you tell I love Christmas? I am excited Boomama is doing her Christmas Tour of Homes. I am sorry for my excitement. This will be the first time in 3 yrs to get out ALL my Christmas decorations. We will not even go into my dilemma of how to decorate the outside of our home.

Oh, well. I will not bore you any more. Here are a few pics from our trip.

"Is this Devil's Meal?"

Yesterday the dear hubby took Emily to breakfast. He likes to get them up early and the "sneak off" to breakfast. The girls get to pick where they go. Emily's choice this time - Jolly Pirate - which is most of the time. They arrived back early with doughnuts in hand, and I asked Emily why they didn't eat there. She told me they tried but the lady would not move down a seat. So there where not 2 seats together. Why people will you not moved down so a dad and his daughter can have some quality time together bonding over doughnuts. So we were able to all have breakfast together at home.

Well, while were eating Emily had gotten herself a cruller and Hannah a pumpkin spice. Hannah was eating hers and was not sure if it was pumpkin spice and politely asked - "Is this Devil's Meal?" Dear hubby and I just started laughing when we realized what she asked. We asked if she meant devil's food, and then we started joking around if this is what he really likes.

I will hopefully post some more about our trip down south later. We are just glad to be back home.

oh to breathe again

My allergies have kicked in with the combination of Ohio weather, I long to breathe normally again. Maybe with some rain coming in it will wash some of this away. I pray this is the only cold for the season.

We have a busy weekend and week coming up. Saturday the girls and I fly out to MS to see my mom. We are attended a family reunion among other things this next week This is my mom's side of the family. I remember growing up attending this reunion every year. Since I have been in college and married I don't make too many of them anymore, and the main reason - it is on a Sunday. This reunion does have good memories is seeing my cousins, playing in the park, and going to the zoo afterwards. I have memories of my parents would always bring the drinks to the reunion and they were the bottles of various Coke products - CocaCola, Tab, Sprite, Nehi Grape. My cousins and I would always collect the bottle caps. I don't remember much about the food except for buckets of KFC and my mom's banana pudding. Many of my cousins now have families of their own and are scattered across the country. My grandfather of whom this is his family is no longer living. So, there will be many people at this reunion that we will not know other than my mom and probably a handful of people. One thing I am looking forward to - my aunt's coconut cake and maybe some banana pudding.

The girls will get to see some new places while we are in MS. We are studying MS in school, so we plan to visit several sites around the great state. Fun, Fun. The most exciting thing is MSU Homecoming on Saturday. Getting to eat Lil Dooeys BBQ, hearing the band, and all the other festivities is just very exciting.

Here is your pick'em results for week #4 -

• #1 - me
• #2 - emily
• #3 - hannah
• #4 - dear hubby - although he says he got the first 10 picks right but did not import them to the family pickem. if i believe him he would be ahead of me by one point.

Everyone have great week.

Week #3 Pick'em Update

For the week:

• #1 - Hannah
• #2 - Emily
• #3 - Dad
• #4 - me

Cumulative Total

• #1 - Hannah
• #2 - Dad
• #3 - me
• #4 - Emily

I know I have fallen a little but our points are close, so it is any body's game still. Hannah had a great week with 14 points, and for some reason I failed to pick two games. Oh well, the only thing that mattered this past Saturday is that my team won!! (In case you didn't already know). Good Luck with your picks this week.

Movin' On Up!

MSU 19 - Auburn 14. I am just shocked!! Words escape me. Check out my friend Susanne's blog.

Well, I'm Back

Everyone is back home safe and sound. I did enjoy some time alone. I was able to paint the girls bathroom and get is mostly decorated. It is so cute and maybe I will post a pic of it sometime soon. If not just picture a real nice grassy green color walls, a red gingham shower curtain and rug, and ladybugs attached to various places around the room. All very cute and girly.

Some girlfriends and I were able to enjoy some good bargain hunting time at the thrift store. We have to go in groups to one of the stores because it may not be the greatest area of Columbus, but it is on a major road there. We did go in the daytime, so it was ok. We got some great deals. Penny was excited to get a Super Shooter, and now she doesn't have to borrow her moms and can make you some deviled eggs. Amanda loaded up on snow pants. Amy found an excellent deal on a book. And now my favorite find beside a beautiful blouse for myself and for my dear hubby a golf wind shirt for $1.50.

Drum roll please - A 1978 Edition The Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette. It covers a variety of topics such as should we give our children as an allowance, place setting, how to address people, proper attire, and what I most needed - how to prepare for an audience with the pope. You can just never be too prepared, but now I am. If you any etiquette questions just call, or I think the book my require a formal letter written to me on your personal stationary.

Well, needless to say we got some good bargains. Also due to the overload of moms cleaning out their closets getting ready for winter the other store we went too was behind on accessing clothing. I brought some clothing to sell to sorta even out my purchases, so that necessitated me going back to Columbus on Friday. Penny said she would go again so off we went early yesterday. We had a great time. I had got a call from the dear hubby while we were in one store saying that he needed some more golf shirts, so the required a trip to the mall. We were excited. After perusing Old Navy and outfitting Zac with shorts for the next year we were off. Macy's here we come! Although it is hard to go to some department stores and see prices after you go to a thrift store, but how can you pass up buy one get one free at Macy's. We did secure some shirts for the hubby and a nice pair of plaid shorts. Look for you local pastor to be sporting some very fashionable plaid shorts at a golf course near you. He did say he liked them. We did try to find some for Pastor Shawn, and we could have found some matching ones for he and Zac, but Penny said he was own his own for clothes. Sorry Shawn. We were able to secure some good bargains again yesterday as well. I next shopping adventure - Amish Country - but after our hubby's get paid. Who's on board?

It has been a good couple of days hanging out with the girls, but I did miss my family and glad they are home safe. We are preparing to the big football showdown between MSU and AU today. Everyone have a great weekend!!

FREEEDOMMMMM!

Off to shop. See you later......

because you just needed to know...

OK, here it is the weekly update in the pick'em -

• #1 - Dear Hubby
• #2 - Me
• #2 - Hannah
• #4 - Emily

As far as the cumulative total dear hubby and I are tied. This week was pretty close. We went back and forth until the last game was played. I know dear hubby did not enjoy his game, but one thing that did please me was that the game ended at 1am, and I did not have to watch him be sad for the rest of the day. An upbeat part of the day was the win by my DAWGS!! YEA!!(insert cowbell ringing).

Today we purchase our tickets for the MSU Homecoming game, and I am sooooo excited about being there celebrating the university and being with all my closest MSU friends. This weekend should be exciting around the house - it is the MSU vs AUBURN game with Taylor Hicks as the halftime entertainment. There will not be much conversation between the dear hubby and I during the game. We will most likely be watching the game in separate rooms. But, it will be fun just to see some great SEC football. The game is at Auburn so it will tough for the Dawgs, but Appy St and South FL give us hope. Whatever happens it is just a game (right Sean).

Please keep my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law in your prayers. Rita needs some lifting up during this time taking care of her mom.

For all my northern friends who would like to hear some good southern women conversation please check out boomama and listen to hear podcast with bigmama. Enjoy!

Wishing you a great day in the Lord!

P.S. As I have been sitting here typing the girls are getting into bed. Hannah has her radio listen to Christian music and singing along to the song "Heart of Worship" I am just about to cry. I thank the Lord for my little girls!

Procrastinating

I am sitting here needing to clean and do other things, but I am just not in the mood. My dear hubby is wanting to take me out but we cannot currently find a babysitter. I just read boomama's latest post and she is on her way to the Deeper Still conference in Nashville and I admit I jealous - Kay Arthur and Beth Moore on one stage - WOW!! I think you could get a big dose of Jesus at that confence.

I know it is wrong, but I am a little looking for to 2 days home alone next week. My dear hubby is taking the girls to see his grandmother and I had to stay behind to teach piano. I don't think I will know how to act. Penny, Amy, and I have already planned a trip for one - we are touring various thift stores and other places we want to go. Needless to say I am looking forward to a little girls only time. I am so thankful for my friends in our church.

Well, I wish everyone a good weekend and may your football teams prevail (especially mine - GO DAWGS!!)

Week #1 Pick'em

Here is an update for those who are just dying to know how the family did in the football picks. In no I am bragging and things will change over the season, but I am rather please with the first round. Here is it:

• #1 - me
• #2 - dear hubby
• #2 - Hannah
• #4 - Emily

We wish everyone a fun football season.

Let the Games Begin

Tonight is the first college football game of the season, and not surprisingly it is SEC game because we have the best conference. ESPN is showcasing some great football tonight - MSU vs LSU. As many of you know MSU is my football team and I know we aren't the great team like Auburn but they are my team - deal with it! I am looking foward to watching football on Saturdays and having my dear hubby at home. Which this also allows me to go places on Saturday without kids because I know he will be at home.





This year we have added a little fun into the season. Since my dear hubby cannot seem to get enough fantasy sports, he has added fantasy football to his college pickem as well. He got a jump on Jeff S. on setting up the pickem in which they have to type in the password goauburn - fun. Well, he would not let me in the pickem with the guys, but he set one up for the our dear family. Yes it is girls vs guy, and yes I said girls - the girls are going to pickem. Let the fun begin.

Hail State (Fight Song)

(click on title to here fight song)

Hail dear 'ole State!Fight for that victory today.Hit that line and tote that ball,Cross the goal before you fall!And then we'll yell, yell, yell, yell!For dear 'ole State we'll yell like H-E-L-L!Fight for Mis-sis-sip-pi State,Win that game today!

Maroon and White (Alma Mater)

In the heart of Mississippi

Made by none but God's own hands

Stately in her nat'ral splendor

Our Alma Mater proudly stands.

State College of Mississippi,Fondest mem'ries cling to thee.

Life shall hoard thy spirit ever,

Loyal sons we'll always be.

Chorus:Maroon and White! Maroon and White!

Of thee with joy we sing.

Thy colors bright, our souls delight,

With praise our voices ring.

Tho' our life some pow'r may vanquish,

Loyalty can't be o'er run;

Honors true on thee we lavish

Until the setting of the sun;

Live Maroon and White for ever,

Ne'er can evil mar thy fame,Nothing us from thee can sever,

Alma Mater we acclaim.

To My Fantasy "insert sport of the season" Widows

I think this is absolutely hilarious. Please read "Fantasy Land" first before "From the Commissioner". I thought we were suppose to be our dear hubby's fantasy!

A New Look

With school starting back and other new things popping up, I thought I would update the look of my blog. I read several other blogs and see all these cute designs, but most of those come with a price. In our effort to save a little money here and there, I kinda did it myself. You can get some free ones on the internet but I just didn't care for too many of them. So here it is, I like it. Let me know what you think.

On a another note we have started school back and soon we will be back into all our activities, except gymnastics. We have decided to take the year off. But we are looking forward to a good year in school.

all's fun till the police show up.

Last night we had our Connect Group Social at our home. We had 56 people, yes, 56 people in our home. Everyone had a great time eating pizza and desserts and watching the movie. I cannot believe we had that many people in which we think about half of them were children. When we surveyed the damage after everyone left, I think we may have pizza boxes that stood about 4 ft tall. Inventory of items left - lawn chairs, socks, pacifier, sunscreen, sweatshirt, parachute toy soldier, and one child - oops sorry Hailey was suppose to stay. We did have to call the socializing to an end when the police showed up, but thankful it was not for our party. There was a burglar on the loose and the cops were out with the dogs trying to find him. The police wanted to make sure our people got to their cars safely. So thankfully no one called them on us.

Here is another item of business. We have these flowers blooming in our backyard. The blooms are almost the size of dinner plates. Will someone please enlighten on what kind of flower this is?

CLEVELAND ROCKS!

Great time and Good Food.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DEAR HUBBY!!

I know you may or may not read this, but I would love you wish you HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!! Thanks for choosing me!



Last night we have our new worship pastor's daughter spent the night with us. When they first met they just hit it off. All the girls were in vbs together, so we decided to have a sleepover. The girls were up late having fun, and in the middle of the night since they could not go to sleep, they cleaned the kitchen. I know that is so hard to believe kids cleaning, but they did. But the sweetest thing was what was on the wall...



THANKS GIRLS!!!

AMEN SISTER Part 2!

Vicky Courtney has done it again. Check out her 2 latest blogs. Also for the moms out there check out www.purefashion.com. I am praying for these current fashions to change to return to modesty for little girls.

It is not big enough to eat us yet?

I know you are just anxiously awaiting how our vacation was. It was great. We started our trip by visiting family and friends in AL(which including eating Mata's Pizza!!) before heading toward the beach. Thankfully in the wee hours Wednesday morning we pulled into the parking lot of our condo. Our vacation consisted mostly of swimming, playing at the beach, and eating of course. The girls are getting more fun and braver at the beach. We were afraid this time of year would be too busy, but it was not too bad. We picked out the best section of the beach to go to. We only had one day where the waves were too rough to play in. The most exciting and a little scary thing we got to see was a school of stingray swimming by, and it was a lot of them. I think our favorite day was the Fourth of July. There were alot of people there that day, but it was not bad. We arrived in the morning and stayed till late afternoon. The weather and waves were great! My dear hubby was happy with his spf50, book, and beach umbrella. We brought lunch and snacks, and I think it was just about the best family day we had had in a while. Emily even took a nap laying on her beach towel. The evening was capped off that night with BBQ at one of our favorite restaurants Sticky Fingers, and the we watched fireworks at Broadway at the Beach. It was just a wonderful day. What a day - Beach-BBQ-Fireworks!!

One exciting/scary night we went to watch fireworks at another shopping area of the beach and not realizing how close the fireworks would go off to us. We were hit by the shrapnel of exploding shells. It scared Emily, and it was SO loud were we decided to sit. Thankfully there was only one piece of cardboard that was still burning but it did not land near us. The fireworks were pretty though.

I am sure you are wondering if we tried anything new. Only Emily. I was able to sneak a fried scallop in with her shrimp, but she caught that and didn't care for that. She also tried smoked chicken wings like Hannah did last year and is anxiously awaiting to eat more of them. I was able to get my favorite soup - She Crab Soup - mmmmmGOOOD! Many have also asked Krispy Kreme count - 4 dozen.

One last exciting this - I finally beat my dear hubby in a round of putt-putt!! We played 36 holes - he won the first by 1 and then I came back to win the second round. Yea for me! Wii golf may be paying off?

I almost forgot. At our condo complex there is a pond behind our building. Every year we go out and feed the turtles, always fun and exciting for the girls. This year was a little more exciting - an alligator. He would come up and try to get the food we were throwing out and would come up to the side of the pond you were on. Thankfully he never came out, but my dear hubby called the sheriff's dept and they came and investigated. He was about 5-6 ft long, but they said he was too small to take out and that it could not eat anyone yet. Hopefully management will put up signs about not feeding the alligator and it will not be there next year.

But overall a nice relaxing time spent with the family!!

AMEN SISTER!

I know you are hoping for an update from vacation, but you will have to wait a little longer. There is laundry and cleaning needed to be done. So here is a good read. Vicky Courtney is an author I enjoy reading. She is a Christian writer for parents who especially have girls of which I have two. I recommend her books. She has joined the blogging world and this is her lastest entry. All I can say to this is AMEN!!! So check out Virtue Alert.

Emily's Dance Recital 2007

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Hannah's Dance Recital 2007

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Can I click my heels and be home now?

We are finally back home. We had a wonderful time in San Antonio. We enjoyed walking and riding on the Riverwalk, Mexican food, Texas BBQ and seafood, and did I say Mexican food? We enjoy Mexican food, but I do think I got my fill of it this week.

It has been nice to get away with my dear hubby this week and enjoy talking without kids interrupting you. The convention was good and it is always fun to see Baptists get into heated business. Each year for the minister's wives they have a lunch. For the 3 yr I was a table hostess. It is nothing fancy. You just basically get into the event earlier. This year was nice because Dennis Swanberg was the one of the speakers. The lunch was good and was nice to meet other minister wives from across the country.

We were able to take in some of the sights of new and old San Antonio. We saw the Alamo of course, but we then decided to drive the Mission Trail. It was very interesting to see the old mission churches and learn a little history behind them.

As you may have read in earlier posts our flight to TX was interesting why shouldn't the flight home not be as well. We arrived early enough and were going to be on the way home. They announced that the flight was overbooked and were looking for volunteers to take a later flight. We decided to look into it and see how late it would put us and where we would have to fly to. I was already not looking forward to flying for 3 hours in the middle set, so I was just hoping for a little better. The agent was able to find actually a better flight that would get in 1 minute earlier (or so we thought) and we would connect thru Kansas City and not Detroit. So we went for it. We were flying Midwest Air which we found out hands out warm chocolate chip cookies on flights after 10am. Well, our flight was delayed 20 minutes so there went our 1 minute lead and then the pilot announced that due to bad weather we would have to zigzag around them pushing a 1 1/2 hour flight to 2 hours. We only had a 20 minute layover in KC but we found out that we didn't have to disembark because our plan we continuing onto Columbus. Our luggage beat us. It was on our old flight. But I will say we did get compensated for the change. We are happy to be back home with our girls.

I will hoping to post pics from our trip and pics from the girls recital soon. I am just trying to catch up on sleep, so if there are typos I am sorry.

Finally Here

We are here finally and enjoying San Antonio. It is warmer here, but it is fine. First class was nice but didn't last long enough and real glasses not plastic.

Funny thing while I was typing my last blog, I looked up to see Pastor Tim and his wife. They were on the same flight with us to Dallas.

We are just trying to decide which Mexican restaurant to try first.

Texas here we come...maybe?

It is 2 pm and we are still sitting in Columbus Airport. Yes , by now we should be in Texas enjoying the heat and Mexican food, but here we sit. We were scheduled to leave this morning at 7:40 and had left in enough time to get here and make it to the flight. Thanks to the FAA computer problems yesterday threw everything off this morning. Needless to say we missed our flight this morning. We were waiting at curbside check in to only see the skycap to disappear and never to return. We go inside and missed them calling for passengers on our flight and therefore missed our flight. We waited over 2hrs in line to finally get help to get on another flight. We did try calling and getting on the internet but to no avail.

We were so thankful the lady at the counter was VERY helpful and who was working over to help people find flights who were missed or delayed. It was exciting in line. We had nice people to talk to. We got to the the Kansas City arena football team and found out that one of their players played for Auburn.

So, we are sitting here waiting for our flight to leave at 3:30 with a different airline than we booked which was fine. We are very sleepy and ready to get to our destination. There is one bright side to our delay - we get to fly 1st class from Dallas to San Antonio! They were the last seats available so thanks for the upgrade!

P.S. Dance is over for the summer. The girls did great and I will try to post pictures when we get back.

Remember the Alamo!

Happy Birthday Emily!!

It is hard to believe you are 6 years old today. You are such a blessing to our little family. You bring life, happiness, and laughter to all. You are a great sister and daughter. You were so excited to start kindergarten this past year and have been a great student. I pray you will always love learning. Here are some exciting things you have learned since your last birthday.

• Learned to read


• Decided tap dancing is more exciting than ballet


• You have almost mastered the cartwheel


• LOVED Disneyworld


• Gotten your first American Girl


• Lost your first tooth


• Moved into your own bedroom


• Had your first solo and drama part in musical


• completed your first year of Sparks


• Loved Jesus More!

My prayer for you is to continue to love Jesus more and continue to love and care for others. I am so glad God blessed our family with you! You are an important part to us and love you more than you will ever know.

WE LOVE YOU EMILY! Mom

The Carr Family

Friends of ours from Florida just adopted another child from China. This time it was a deaf girl. Pray for this family as they adjust to another child in the family as well as another deaf child. Here is the link to their story http://carrfamilyadoption.blogspot.com/. Be sure to watch the videos with tissue in hand.

Congrats Johnny, Beth, Heather, Jarred, James, and Xiaoli!!!

The Tale of the Toilet

As many of you know the new home we bought was a foreclosure. Foreclosures in many instances are not in good shape, but thankfully not too much was wrong with this house. The only problem we have consistently been having is a toilet in the master bath not flushing correctly. I was thankful it was not the guest bathroom. We would have to plunge it every time we flushed. It was very frustrating. We thought we may have to call a plumber, take the toilet up, or check our homeowners insurance to see if it would be covered. I just wanted it fixed. All the other toilets worked great.

Yesterday my dear hubby bought a toilet auger for one last shot of trying to fix it before taking it up or calling a plumber. The auger brought final success!! You would not believe what was stopping up our toilet - a nose hair trimmer! We guess the former owner or child of owner must have flushed it, why I don't know, but now our toilet flushes. The plunger can now take up residence in the basement.

Happy Mother's Day

This my 9th year of getting to enjoy being a mom. I know my oldest is not 9 yet but is was in March of 1998 that we got the wonderful news that I was going to mom. It was a day that my dear hubby and I could not believe had finally arrived, to get to hear the words, "you're pregnant!". The years leading up to that moment were very hard with many tears and prayers wondering if I would ever get to hear those words. It was very hard to enjoy Mother's Day wondering if i would ever be a mom.

Every year I say a pray for those women who want to be moms, but for some reason it has not happened. It is important to remember these women, because this day is hard for them. They may still have their mom and celebrate her, but in their heart they are longing for someone to call them "MOM".

I am so thankful I am a mom. I am thankful for 2 little girls who brought me breakfast in bed and like me being their mom. I just pray I will be the example to my girls my mom was to me - to love God with all your heart and trust Him for everything.

So, Happy Mother's Day to my mom and thank you for all you have done for me. I love you. Also Happy Mother's Day and thank you to Rita for raising a wonderful son who chose me.

Thank you Lord for allowing me to be a mom!

Enjoying breathing room

As I write this post I am sitting in our new living room with the marvelously painted bordeaux walls. This is the first night I am not packing, unpacking, or painting. Tomorrow we move the last of our stuff from the rent house (a big thanks to all who will help). We have been living in our new home since Monday, and working on getting everything out of the old into the new. Where did all of this stuff come from? Tonight we got to enjoy our first cooked meal at home. I was able to get some boxes unpacked to be able to see the counter and the table. There are so many boxes and I have no idea when they will get all unpacked. The girls keep asking me when I will paint their room, but I just keep telling them when I get to it. There is a thing called clothing that we need, and I am not sure if I can find them all.

The girls are excited about sleeping in their own rooms. Hannah is taking pride in her room and keeping it just so. I just pray this last a LONG time! Emily is a different story. This is the first time for the girls to have their own rooms. I am just excited not to have a share a bathroom with the girls, but I guess I do have to share with my dear hubby. We are just so thankful to God for allowing us to find and purchase this home.

The only down side of this week is that Emily and I have both been sick. She even had a trip to the doc. I think we just have a cold or our allergies have kicked in. So add being sick to being tired and sore from the moving, I am just ready to be done and get back to "normal".

We do hope to start having people over soon, but currently we are just enjoying having breathing room. Maybe I will try to post some pictures of our home soon.

Fun Contest

Fun contest to enjoy. 5 Minutes for Mom is having a contest where you can win this cool Philips digital photo frame. These are the neatest things!! This is a great way to show off all your digital pictures

Study: Religion is Good for Kids

I know some will think this is cheating, but I thought this was a very interesting article. I put it in my blog in case you did not get it in the email. I am also very tired to think of anything to write about.

By Melinda Wenner
>
Kids with religious parents are better behaved and adjusted than other children, according to a new study that is the first to look at the effects of religion on young child development.
The conflict that arises when parents regularly argue over their faith at home, however, has the opposite effect.
John Bartkowski, a Mississippi State University sociologist and his colleagues asked the parents and teachers of more than 16,000 kids, most of them first-graders, to rate how much self control they believed the kids had, how often they exhibited poor or unhappy behavior and how well they respected and worked with their peers.
The researchers compared these scores to how frequently the children’s parents said they attended worship services, talked about religion with their child and argued abut religion in the home.
The kids whose parents regularly attended religious services — especially when both parents did so frequently — and talked with their kids about religion were rated by both parents and teachers as having better self-control, social skills and approaches to learning than kids with non-religious parents.
But when parents argued frequently about religion, the children were more likely to have problems. “Religion can hurt if faith is a source of conflict or tension in the family,” Bartkowski noted.
Why so good?
Bartkowski thinks religion can be good for kids for three reasons. First, religious networks provide social support to parents, he said, and this can improve their parenting skills. Children who are brought into such networks and hear parental messages reinforced by other adults may also “take more to heart the messages that they get in the home,” he said.
Secondly, the types of values and norms that circulate in religious congregations tend to be self-sacrificing and pro-family, Bartkowski told LiveScience. These “could be very, very important in shaping how parents relate to their kids, and then how children develop in response,” he said.
Finally, religious organizations imbue parenting with sacred meaning and significance, he said.
University of Virginia sociologist W. Bradford Wilcox, who was not involved in the study, agrees. At least for the most religious parents, “getting their kids into heaven is more important than getting their kids into Harvard,” Wilcox said.
But as for why religious organizations might provide more of a boost to family life than secular organizations designed to do the same thing, that’s still somewhat of a mystery, said Annette Mahoney, a psychologist at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, also not involved in the research. Mahoney wondered: “Is there anything about religion and spirituality that sets it apart?”
Unanswered questions
Bartkowski points out that one limitation of his study, to be published in the journal Social Science Research, is that it did not compare how denominations differed with regards to their effects on kids.
“We really don’t know if conservative Protestant kids are behaving better than Catholic kids or behaving better than mainline Protestant kids or Jewish kids,” he said.
It’s also possible that the correlation between religion and child development is the other way around, he said. In other words, instead of religion having a positive effect on youth, maybe the parents of only the best behaved children feel comfortable in a religious congregation.
“There are certain expectations about children’s behavior within a religious context, particularly within religious worship services,” he said. These expectations might frustrate parents, he said, and make congregational worship “a less viable option if they feel their kids are really poorly behaved.”

Quick Update

WE ARE OFFICIAL HOMEOWNERS!!! Park Trails will never be the same when the Dears move to the neighborhood. Anyone for a painting/moving party?

We are just very excited and thankful that God has provided this new home for us, and we want to give Him praise for it. PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Happy Easter

I know I am late posting this, but with all the packing and school I am just behind on a few things. Yes, that is snow you see in the picture. I took this picture before we left for church. It was cold outside, so I told the girls to run out there real quick and I will take the picture before you get too cold. I wanted you to see their beautiful dresses before they had to put on their winter coats. Funny, I thought spring was to be warm.

Amazing Grace - My Chains are Gone!!

I decided to post this because I feel this is just the most powerful song. I know I had the link in an earlier post, but I was able to find this on youtube and post it directly on the blog. Everytime I hear this version, I just about cry. At this time of year, Amazing Grace should ring true with all Christians. It is true what Chris says in this song "my chains are gone, I've been set free". We should live like free people and not slave to what intangles us. This Easter we should be thankful for that "AMAZING GRACE" that was secured for us on the cross and in Christ's resurrection. HAPPY EASTER CHRISTIANS!!

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, Amazing grace

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, Amazing grace


The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine

You are forever mine

Pics of house

Here are a couple of more pictures of our new home. The second one as you see is of the back yard. I am standing in the location the swing set will go. You may notice the BIG deck on the back. We are fortunate to be one of the few houses that have a bigger deck on the back. As our friends in AL know how much we love our deck. If you need us this summer - that is where we will be be. Can't you see my dear hubby grilling and all the people waiting to see what he is cooking up? We are looking forward to having friends and family over. We are just so thankful to God that He has allowed us to find this house. This is house is a gift from God.

So, who is ready to paint?

Random Things

We are sitting here watching our weekly installment of American Idol. I always look forward to hearing Melinda Doolittle. She is my favorite. If you didn't see it tonight please watch the recap tomorrow night you must see Sanjaya's hair. Every week it is something different. Tonight was bad. We were all laughing out loud at the hair. Please America do not vote for him, we are tired of hearing the bad singer. I ran across an article about some of the contestants that is worth the read - http://bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=25254. I like know that people I am pulling for are Christians. This year to me has not been as good as last year. I think the top ones are Melinda, Lakisha and Jordin. I like Chris and Phil but they are just not in the same league as the girls.



This past Friday my dear hubby and I were able to go out on a date. Hannah asked me why we are still dating when we are married. I told her we enjoy being together. We went to see the Amazing Grace movie. It is VERY good. You get to the back story behind what had inspired the words the hymn. But the movie is about William Wilberforce and what passion he had to see the slave trade abolished. It is about someone willing to take a stand for what he believed and never wavering. He gave his life for this cause. The only thing I didn't like was that at the end they did not play the new Chris Tomlin version which he wrote for the movie. You can see it I believe on the movies website at http://www.amazinggracemovie.com/. You can see the video here - http://search.music.yahoo.com/search/?m=all&p=chris+tomlin.



I am sure most of you reading are wondering about the house. Our offer was finally accepted!! Yea. Praise the Lord!!!Once all the stuff was done we will hopefully have a closing date. We just pray everything else will go smoothly. Anyone in the mood to pack?



Here is it- Our future home

Prayer Request

We received news today about Noel's Grandmother having lymphoma and lung cancer. This is his mom's mom. They have given her a year. Also, his Uncle Tommy (his mom's brother) is close to the end and hopice has been called in. All of this has been tough on Noel's mom, with potentially losing her only brother and mom in the same year. She and Jim are traveling to TX to be with Tommy this weekend.

Please just keep the family in your prayers.
Mildred Ferguson - Noel's Grandmother
Tommy Nall - uncle
Rita Dunaway - Noel's mom

my how time flies

December 2001

My dear hubby finally found some pictures I have been missing. They have been on a hard drive that has been on his computer at work, but he has not been able to transfer them to the home computer. Now that he has his new laptop the pictures have returned home. I have enjoyed looking at them and remembering all the fun we have had. Most of the pictures were around Emily's first year of life, and various other events. The girls have enjoyed looking at themselves. I thought our friends in Ohio would enjoy seeing a picture of the girls when they were younger. It has also been fun to see pics of my dear hubby and I younger as well. So, enjoy. They also still enjoy dressing up.

Question: I have a picture of my dear hubby and his friends at a wedding from about 6 yrs ago, should I post it?

My dear hubby stole my thunder

If you don't know by now, we are looking for a new home. We have our financing and have made an offer on a house. We are praying that it is God's will for us to have this home. We call it a mansion compared to where we currently live. The toughest part is waiting on the bank, because this is a forclosure. If we are able to get it - we will let you know. More later....

I thought I would give you a little update. This is all for now 24 is on. We are hoping Jack will be able to stop the nuclear weapon and find out why Audrey died. He is not happy why no one told him about it. We may be in a nuclear war soon. GO JACK!!

Also - I AM TIRED OF BEING SICK!!! Does anyone have any antibiotics?

Not too much going on, yet.

I don't have any new info as of yet, but may have some soon. My mom and brother came into town yesterday. The girls are very excited to have grammy here. I like when she comes because Noel and I get to go out on a date.

We have a busy couple of months coming up, so I am not sure how often I will get to update. Maybe more than my dear hubby does?

Spring is in the Air?

How happy was I to see these in the store. They only come around one time a year, but when they do - IT'S ALMOST SPRING!! Everyone knows I LOVE chocolate, and I do prefer mine dark, but I cannot resist these. They are like M&M's on sterriods. If you have never tried them - DO. But I will warn you, you can't eat just one.

Emily's Tap Class

I thought everyone would enjoy.

Basketball is OVER!

This was an exciting year of Upward Basketball. This was Hannah's 4th year playing and Emily's 1st. My dear hubby coached both of the girls teams, while I was the "administrator" of their teams. Our Fridays and Saturdays were filled with games. It was exciting to see some kids learn the game of basketball and hopefully learn a little more about Jesus.

Emily was in the Kindergarten group with boys and girls. I just have one word for you "hearding cats". Everyone knows how bad dear hubby is with names. On his team we had 9 players with 2 Zacharys and 2 Nicholas'. You don't need to do that to him. I was sad for Emily though. She could make baskets during practice, but during the game she didn't make any. I don't think it bothered her. Oh well.

Hannah had a great year. She made baskets in most of her games, played great defense and offense, and was very concerned about all of her teammates making baskets. She would always ask her dad who needed to get shots and was willing to bring the ball down and pass it off to her teammates. I told dear hubby if they had the white star award for the season I think she would deserve it. She was always encouraging her team and handing out high 5's. She is looking forward to next year, because they get to steal the ball and keep score. It is exciting to see her improve each year.

We are excited to have our weekends back, but we will be excited when the next season rolls around. Enjoy the videos of the girls playing.

Our Backyard

Here is the our backyard after 6 inches at least of snow and accumulation of ice. You can no longer see the bottom of the step on the slide. The snow will be around because who nows when we will be above freezing. One exciting thing is we have never been in a level 2 snow emergency. Ooooo! Yes, my dear hubby is at work.

Last night we were suppose to go out, but due to weather we are had to postpone. :( I do not enjoy having to cancel due to weather. We are trying to go out tonight - any babysitters out there?

What a week - planes, no trains, and automobiles!!

It has been a crazy past few days. Last week my dh headed to different parts of the country, while our children stayed here with what I lovingly call their Ohio grandparents. In no way would I call us jetsetters, but we took our respective planes to Maryland and Alabama. I believe I have flown more in the past 2 yrs than almost my entire life. I did feel like a slob in my jeans though arriving at the airport with all the other business people heading off to important meetings, but I preferred to be comfortable since I still had to drive for 2 hrs after landing in AL to get to MS. Note for everyone flying out of CMH - they are strict about the little baggie rule. I had to surrender my half-filled Bath&Body Works travel size bottle of body wash or check my bag. I had one bag, and I wasn't going to check it since I was a little under the gun to get to my location. So, I gave it up for national security, because you never know what a sah mom my do with that soap. Maybe wash someones mouth out? I told the nice TSA lady who likes to talks loud, that I guess I will just have to use whatever my mom has to get clean. Oh well, I'm over that.

I did make it on time to my mom's retirement party, with time to spare. She was happy that I came even thought the girls were not able to. I did have pictures to show everyone though. She had a very nice reception. I was able to see people that I had also worked with in the past when I was in college. I did have a nice compliment from a women that has known me most of my life. She said that I have grown up so nicely and looked good. I was so glad I went. It is not very often I get to be with mom without the girls with me. It was nice hearing all the nice things people remember about my mom, and how helpful she was to everyone, and the Christian witness that was evident in her life. I am very proud of my mom, and I am so thankful she is getting to retire healthy and finally getting to do what she wants. I was also thankful for her service to the university because that allowed me to get half of my college tuition paid for! Now, does that carry over to grandchildren as well? As you see in the pics above, the first one is of mom recieving a Gail Pittman plate commissioned by the president's office for his office's use. I hope to get it in the will. The other, I just had to include one of my alma mater.

Being down south allowed me to get to enjoy one of my favorite foods - Fried Crawfish Tails! YUMMY!!! My dh had already been bragging that he was going to get to eat fresh crab cakes in MD, but I would choose my crawfish over crab most days. I was also able to come home with new MSU shirts for myself and the girls - pics will be up soon.

Another item I was able to secure from the Warm South was Mata's Pizza. As many of my readers know my dh bday was this past week. As I have posted before he is the master gifter. He had already purchased his big bday present, but I wanted to surprise him with something. I know pizza is a big deal in Ohio, with every kind of pizza place imaginable, but there is none like Mata's Pizza in Anniston, AL. Mata's is a mom and pop place that has been around for years. My dh and his friends have been frequenting there since at least high school or before. It was started by this Greek couple, and I don't think anything has changed since then. It is nothing to wait an hour on the weekends for a pizza and they are not open on Sunday ever! Oh, and they don't deliver. Needless to say the owner knows my dh on first name basis. He loves the place. We even ate there on our honeymoon. They are known not only for their pizza but their grinders and salads as well. Mata's was on speed dial at our home. Well, I called as friend of ours to inquire about having some pizzas shipped if possible. I found out, yes this is possible, but maybe pricey to ship and the logistics of doing it. Then it dawned on me since I was flying into Bham maybe we could work out something. Thankfully Delta accepts perishables and bags with dry ice. They should since I saw decedents being loaded onto my plane. So here was the plan - Jeff orders our pizzas - Rick realizes who they are for and fixes them just right, wraps them, and freezes them hard for the trip - Jeff purchases the dry ice, labels the bag correctly, gets the bag to Russ - Russ who now works in Bham meets me in the Bhm airport cellphone parking lot for the package drop - and thankfully the airline accepts the bag and it gets check and safely makes it to Ohio still frozen. I surprised my dh with Mata's pizza for supper, and a big cheer for the wife who delivers his favorite pizza from AL - Mata's Extra Special. I had told him I was cooking supper that night when I called him that morning before our respective flight to come home, and he just thought I was bringing bbq. Sorry to all who would like to try the pizza - he is not sharing. So, if you ever find yourself in Anniston/Oxford, AL you must eat at Mata's Greek Pizza and Grinders. I would also like to say a HUGE thanks to Jeff, Russ, and Rick for helping me make my dh bday happy with his favorite pizza!!! So, when we run out will you ship more?

I know I am getting long winded with this post, but the rest of the week consisted of sick kid, sick husband, and myself sick, and then to top it off FREEZING weather. I do not like my husband being out of town when it snows, b/c I have to shovel it. I did enough of that when I was in CA. I am thankful it was only a few inches and not feet of snow.

Oh, I almost forgot. On my 2nd leg of my flight home, I got to sit next to a demo from CA. Don't you know I had an interesting conversation, thankfully I don't think he is going to vote for Hillary. I thanked him for that. He is worried about globally warming, and I told him I was worried about all the unborn babies that will die every year. But the poor guy was seated between 2 Christians, but I am not so sure about the other who believes in doing work for the kingdom, but wonders why you have to join a church and doesn't really believe in denominations. It did make the hour and half flight not seem so long, but I was hoping to finish the new Beth Moore book. Also, my dh and I ended up with the same type of rental car at different airports and different companies - what are the odds of that!

My New Title

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Reverend Countess Donna the Inchoate of Waldenshire under Throcket Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I thought this would be a more exciting title for my self.

Here is my dear hubby's title as well

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Grand Duke Noel the Ineffable of Divine Intervention Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

SNOW DAY!!

Today was an exciting day at the Dear house. We finally got to have a snow day! We did have church this morning, but cancelled services for tonight because of the potential for ice. Our city after many false alarms and non-events was not exactly ready for the snow showers. So the roads were not exactly ready to drive on. We did do a little sliding into church this morning. I was just thankful the streets were not too busy. We arrived at church today with people busily salting and shoveling sidewalks, parking lots, and steps. I still think the kid in everyone of us gets excited to see snow sometimes, especially us who lived in the south most of their lives. My girls were wondering if they would get to play in it today since it was a Sunday. When I picked them up after church I told them they would get to play in it b/c we didn't have church tonight. Their eyes got so big, and they could not wait to get home.

After lunch the girls could not wait to get their snow clothes on. I think they beat the land speed record getting dressed. I was just thankful their boots still fit. My dear hubby put plastic bags on his feet in between 2 layers of socks. His mom would be so proud. We had fun pulling the girls on the sled, throwing snowballs, but the highlight was building the snowman. Of course you know me, I did take alot of pictures and video. This is the first time the girls have gotten to do that. Thanks to Ms. Angela we had a snowman kit, and he was the most fashionable snowman on the block. I also got to make snow ice cream for the family. We had put a bowl out a couple of days ago when it snowed in hopes of getting enough, but today was the day. In the south you just don't get to have this delicasy very often. If you want it you have to buy it is the freezer section at your local grocery store, it is called Mayfield's Snow Cream. But, the homemade was enjoyed by all!

I know many of our Ohio friends may make fun of us, but we were finally able to enjoy this day because no one had to go to work or school. To all my friend down south - YA'LL COME!

Why did Curtis have to die?

If you have read some of my previous post, you will know that my dear hubby and I have become fans of the show 24. We have been eagerly awaiting for the new season to start. It has been busy around the house so I am so thankful for our dvr or my new favorite word TiFaux. The first 4 hours have been pretty intense so far and it is not even lunch yet for Jack. Yesterday I was checking out various people's blogs, and I think most of the country is obsessed with 24 as we are. If only Jack Bauer was a real person, I believe he could fix most of the problems in the world - Iraq, Cuba, China, and Darfur. This should be an exciting season, especially trying to help my dear hubby remember who people are and what they did in the past seasons. I just do not like having to wait a week to see the next hour! So, if you need us on Mondays do not call when 24 is on (8-9 pm est). We need to know if Jack will save the world, and that we will be safe.

Will Jack try to hook up with Audrey? Will Kim need saving again? Will Jack get to eat a meal? Does my dear hubby really need and assistant like Chloe? Is Jeff B. really Jack Bauer - same initials? It makes you think.

College Football has Ended!!

College football has come to an end for the season, finally! It ended happy for some, sad for others, and for others just mercifully ended. I get my husband back on the weekends. Everything will not revolve around Auburn football. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching college football, but I am ready for it to be over by the end of the season. Now our weekends are filled with upwards basketball till the end of February. I am thankful that Noel does not follow basketball except for our girls playing. We will hopefully get things around the house done and maybe go places.

Thankfully the house is getting over our sicknesses. We have had some snow in which got the girls out of bed quicker. I have probably already taken close to 300 pics with my new camera. I know I am obsessive with it, but I really taking pictures. School is back in session. How do you explain that "am, is, are, was, and were" are verbs when they don't do anything? I have learned the English language can be confusing. How did we ever learn it, and why do we?

Also, I mentioned in my last posting about Noel getting a saxophone. Sadly to say there will be no public performances. It is for stress relief. Please no one put him under or cause him any stress! :)

All is Well

I am sitting here suffering from a cold. This is the third one in the past 2 months. I do not like feeling icky and surrounded by used tissues. Enough about me.

The Dears had a great Christmas. Mom and my brother are here. It is nice to have family during the holidays. The girls loved all their gifts. Hannah got the Smart Globe and is on her way to learning all her countries. One question, when did Oceania become a continent? I thought is was Australia. Emily got her first American Girl - Emily. She was so excited. The girl's girls are now good friends. Noel got me new camera which I absolutely love!! I will not tell you how many pictures I have taken. Noel got a saxophone. For those of you wondering he can play but will not play in public. We got several other things, but I not bore you with that. I can say thought I have the greatest husband. In my stocking this year, Noel got me several little treats I will get to get to enjoy in the coming year. It did not cost him much, but he gets the award for being the most creative this year. I have been trying every year to outdo him, but he is the master gifter, although he would agree when I got him the golf clubs for his bday was pretty exciting.

The girls are enjoying a break from school as am I, but I am trying to get psyched up for the new year.

Our family would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

FELIZ NAVIDAD

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Disney. I am being nice and not putting all the pictures. I took over 300 and I was able to reduce them down to 180 to scrapbook. For my birthday this year I receive stuff to do our Disney pictures - thanks girls, Noel, Rita, and Sherry. I am looking forward to doing the album.

FELIZ NAVIDAD from Mexico

MGM Studios

The girls meeting Cinderella at the Cinderella Breakfast.

Sleeping Beauty or Princess Aurora (Noel overheard 2 dad arguing which one she is) with the girls at the Princess Storybook Lunch at Norway.

Our family would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are looking forward to hopefully a white Christmas (not a blizzard) and Mom and Joey being here.

Hannah's Birthday Present

How do you like Hannah's new car? She loves it and can't wait till she can drive. - NOT!! Just thought you would enjoy another picture from Disney. (Sam I am 2 up on you)

"The Happiest Place on Earth"

I am sitting here thinking about all that happened on our vacation. I am so thankful we were able to take the girls to the "Happiest Place on Earth" - Disneyworld! We had a great time in sunny, warm Florida. We were keeping up with the weather here in Ohio, and just thankful where we were. For those of you wondering, Noel's ears did not bother him thanks to ear tubes he had put in before we left. We chose this time of year because the crowds are suppose to be lighter. If this is the low time I would hate to see peak visiting time. I was also thankful my children are no longer in need of strollers! They were everywhere!!! As well as the scooters for adults. If you ask the girls, it was the greatest vacation of their lives. We could not of asked for better weather, good flights, hotels, and food. Yes, Disney food is good.

We arrived in Disney last Friday and set off to the parks as soon as we checked in. MGM Studios was the first park we went to. I was saving Magic Kingdom for Hannah's Bday. Hannah was willing to ride anything, but Emily decided not to ride the Tower of Terror while in line and we had to do a parent switch. Emily had a chance to be one of the ride bellhop greeters but did not want to put the costume on because she thought it looked like a boy. Oh well. Hannah got to ride the Tower 2 times in a row, once with Noel and then once with me. I put Noel on it first just to find out how it was. This is a ride that drops you in an elevator multiple times, and you never know how many because it is different every time. It was fun. Our first day was fun, but it was a long day because we had been up since 4:30 that morning, and Emily fell asleep at dinner that night.



The next day we spent at Animal Kingdom and Epcot. At Animal Kingdom they have the coolest ride - Everest. We all rode it (although Emily did it with her eyes closed) and loved it! There is a show at AK that is called "It's Tough to be a Bug", that we went to. Emily who is terrified of bugs even wanted to go. It is one the new 3D movies with air blowing and smells. The creepiest part was at the end. I will not give it away, but it even freaked me out. That night we went to Epcot and got to ride Mission Space and Test Track. Both were very fun. I told Noel Test Track was like riding with him. Also, while at Epcot we went to Turtle Talk with Crush and he told Hannah Happy Birthday which was pretty cool.


Sunday was the most anticipated day - Hannah's Bday and Magic Kingdom. They were so excited to see the Castle and to see Cinderella. Six months ago I scheduled breakfast with the Princess' in the Castle. These are very sought after reservation. I probably could have sold them on ebay. The girls got to have their picture taken with Cinderella and during the meal Belle, Fairy Godmother, Jasmine, and Snow White came around for autographs and pictures. All VERY exciting. We got to ride all the rides, see shows, parades, and fireworks. We told Hannah we had it all arranged for her. (Don't tell her otherwise ;) ) Emily was excited during the fireworks because Tinkerbell flew overhead. We can say we shut down MK that night. We were there till 11 p.m.


I could go on about all we did, but I will not bore you. We rode just about every ride at every park. We ate around the world at Epcot World Showcase, saw Mario Lopez, had breakfast with Mickey Mouse, dinner with Goofy (no I do not mean Noel), rode in the tea cups with Alice in Wonderland, walked for it seemed like miles, and just had a great time. So many things happened, so it is hard to put them all down. I only took about 300 pictures so I will be working on the scrapbook album soon. If you get to go in the future I have one word for you FASTPASS. To sum it all up - memories to last a lifetime!

Will we ever get to sleep?

5 days and counting. Do you remember the commercial of the kids (and parents) who couldn't get to sleep because they were leaving for Disneyworld? I thought that was just a joke and you could possibly be that excited. I was wrong. I am not sure who is more excited in our family us or the girls. It is hard to believe that it is almost time to go. We thought this week would never get here. Several years ago we got one of those big water bottles, and we told the girls when they filled it up with change he would take them to DisneyWorld. Well we didn't get it exactly all filled up, but last year Noel and I decided that we would go. So this trip has been in planning and saving stages for about a year, and it is now here. YEA!!!

I am especially excited, since Christmas is my favorite time of the year, to get to see Disneyworld decorated for Christmas. We are currently watching on TV a special about all the decorations there. Giant gingerbread and houses and carousels made of chocolate. You just cannot get any better than that. Plus getting to see all the lights that are put up there. During Christmas I always say more lights the better.

OK EVERYONE - THUMBS UP FOR THE TIGERS!!

Fear the thumb no longer - it is here !! Hats off to the Auburn Tigers for winning the Iron Bowl for the last five years. WAR EAGLE!! All's well in the Dear House. I know my team lost, but they did have a good showing. We have our rivalry game - can you say EGG BOWL - next week to the other team in MS. Oh and congrats to my Ohio friends - way to go Bucks. Sorry Sean ;(

Thankful for Our Freedom

We have been studying Thomas Jefferson and decided to read the Declaration of Independence. I found this part of the Declaration to be very interesting. I think many people who are against this war and why we are fighting need to read this great document in from history. When there are governments out their trying to destroy ours it is our duty to abolish them. It says so in the Declaration! I know it is terrible when soldiers die, but those soldiers volunteered to uphold the freedoms we have here and that we should be thankful for. If you think back in the many wars we have been a part of we lost more in those than we have in this current one. We should be proud to be an American and not be afraid to do what it right and to help secure rights of others God has given them. Some may say this Declaration may be outdated, but it is what gave you your freedom to what you want and say what you want. Many people in other countries don't have this, and that is what our soldiers are out their doing. Helping them get their freedom. If was not for brave soldiers from our history, we would still be part of England.

excerpt from the "Declaration of Independence" by Thomas Jefferson

"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world"

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Sad day for Republicans. Hannah ask me this morning who won, and I had to tell her the other team did. And I quote from her, "Oh, no we are going to have to pay more taxes!"

Yesterday Emily said almost crying, "I'm a Republican, I don't want to be a democrat."

I believe we are raising our children correctly - godly young ladies wanting to change the world.


2Ch 7:14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

Mississippi State vs. Alabama

Miss. State 24 - Alabama 16

(click on logo)








GOOOOOO DAWWWWGGGGSSSSS!! (insert cow bell ringing!)

My Dawgs won!!!! For my Ohio friends Alabama is NOT Noel's team. He is celebrating with me on our victory over Auburn's top rival!!!

I'm so thankful for this opportunity. It's such a blessing for a person to grow up in this town, to go to school across the (railroad) tracks (at Central High), to get an education here at the University, and, now, to coach at Mississippi State. If you're looking for miracles, you're looking at one.''-- Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom.

``This is the best (win) we've had since I've been here, no question,'' Croom admitted after State's 24-16 victory.

Beggar's Night

Here are the girls at our church's Trunk-a-Treat in front of our princess table. We were hoping to have it outside, but just as crazy as Ohio weather is, it was raining. Thankfully we could have it in our church's FLC. The girls had fun yesterday painting their pumpkins as princess' of course and getting to decorate their buckets. But I think best of all was getting to be princesses. 29 days till Disneyworld. Sorry there is no picture of me. I was the queen mother, but due to the rain I chose to wear my casual crown, but I did wear my jewels.