Move over Gerber baby...

...well, I think she's just beautiful. Turns out, I'm not the only one! A month or so ago I got a postcard in the mail from the hospital where Lilah was born. They wanted parents of 0-6 month old babies born at that hospital to send in a candid photo for a chance to win a session with a professional photographer. Also, one of the portraits from that session will be displayed in the hospital as "art" in the mother/baby wing.

Well, I sent in the photo above, taken one day on our couch.....and received a call a week or so ago that Lilah had been chosen as a winner! Isn't that cool?! Her portrait session is this Saturday and I'm looking forward to seeing what the photographer has in mind for my little cutie.

The downside is that the photographer is in Ooletewah, TN which is about an hour and a half away.....which means mucho dinero for gaso! I may try to plan a visit with a sweet couple from church who recently moved there though.....one of Mrs. Lou's awesome hugs should be plenty to ease the pain in my pocketbook!

Now, back to the garage! My skillsaw and drills are a'callin my name! I've been constructin' up a storm...I promise to show pics when I have the finished product(s)!

It was Tuesday...

...I was getting ready for work. Brushing my teeth to be exact. Listening to the television from the bathroom and as I heard this:

"We understand that there has been a plane crash at the southern tip of Manhattan," Bryant Gumbel says. While he knows it has penetrated One WTC, he is uncharacteristically mystified. "We don't know if it's a commercial aircraft. We don't know if it's a private aircraft," he says. About eleven minutes later, an eyewitness describing the fearsome scene by phone gasps, "Oh, there's another one! Another plane just hit!...That definitely looks like it was on purpose." Gumbel, who must have looked away from his TV monitors, could not believe his ears. "Why do you say that was definitely on purpose?" he asks the caller. After technicians rewind the tape, Gumbel's skepticism evaporates. "There we see the explosion," he says."

...as I was hearing those very words, I was hurrying to the TV to watch. I can still hear that woman's words. The woman on the phone with Bryant. I sat on my coffee table watching in disbelief. Then, driving to work listening to the radio as the 3rd plane hit the Pentagon. Then another in Pennsylvania. Talking to my husband on my cell as I drove I remember being afraid. What is going on?? Where would they hit next? Is it over? Now what?

I remember that morning so vividly right down to the clothes I was wearing. VZW was at our old location. We moved our TV that we watched training videos on from the back to the front and borrowed a coat hanger from the dry cleaner across the street and covered it with tin foil to see if we could pick up the local news channels. There were barely any customers that day. The few that came in sat with us and watched as we watched the scene replayed over and over on the news the entire day......

....now it's Thursday, it's been 7 years. I still can not begin to imagine how scared the people in those buildings and on those planes must have been that day. I know that my God was the same God that day, in those buildings and in those planes that He is today....that He's always been. I know that He was a comforter to those who were there who knew Him. I can't imagine the fear of those who didn't.

Tell your loved ones,...tell everyone about Jesus. Tell them that He died for them. Tell them about Salvation. Tell them that in my Jesus lies their only hope. TELL THEM!

Because we don't know what today brings, or tomorrow. But I know that my God will be the same then......and forever.

Do you remember where you were that day?

p.s...I'm also over here today, but I just couldn't let today pass without acknowledgement. There's a link in my post there for MrDealfinder, if you haven't ever checked it out, you should! You won't be sorry!

The moment....

...you've all been waiting for!!




The winner from the Mule Day/I Love Fall Giveaway was selected via the Integer Generator @ Random.org. I mainly used this because I was tickled to be able to say "random integer generator"... and I also got a very reminiscent feeling when I visited the website. Just look at this:

Part 1: The Integers
Generate random integers (maximum 10,000).
Each integer should have a value between and (both inclusive; limits ±1,000,000,000).
Format in column(s).

Doesn't that just scream high school math class, freshly sharpened pencils, and the aroma of that (beloved) OCD math teacher who polished the beautiful wood floor of his classroom himself daily with Orange Glow and a dustmop?

It Soooo does!

Okay, so where was I?...Ohhhh yeah, the winner!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

5	

Timestamp: 2008-09-10 01:03:30 UTC

....and the lucky commenter who was number 5 is:

Carrie @ A New Heart!

Congratulations! Now, you must all go over and visit Laurel to check out the winners from all of the other giveaways and check out her fabulous new blog design which she did herself!! As someone who's technologically challenged (to say the least!) I'm so totally impressed! Go over and show her some comment love on her new design and for the great idea (not to mention all her hard work!) of the I love Fall Giveaway!

Thank you for allowing me to participate Laurel! It's been so much fun and I'm enjoying getting around to all the blogs and meeting all the new people who participated!

Carrie...I'll be emailing you!

800-462-0800

...put that number up somewhere. The pediatrician recommended that I put it up on the fridge......about a year and a half ago. Did I?

No.

What is that number, you ask?

The one for Poison Control.

I came out of the bathroom a few days ago to find Carter holding a bottle of teething tablets. Not only was he holding them, there was a white trail of them coming out of the side of his mouth.

I grabbed the bottle and asked him how many he ate. "A bunch", he said.

Great.

I proceeded to try to count to see how many were missing, because I've had to call PC before (the time I found him happily munching on Tums while watching Dora on the couch), and I knew they would ask.

37 were missing.

Then Carter says, "I give Lilah medicine, Mom."

Oh dear Lord, I almost passed out right then and there.

"How many did you give her, Carter?"

"A bunch!" , he said, smiling. (real proud, like he was helping!)

The PC lady put me on hold. During the hold time I was:

1. Sure she was calling DHR and they would be arriving at any moment.

2. Listening to various safety tips(as if I needed to feel worse!) on the hold line.

The nice lady came back to tell me that a toddler of Carter's weight (28lbs) would need to eat 250 teething tablets to do any harm, and Lilah would need to be seen by her pediatrician ASAP for observation.

After a visit to Dr Jeanie, Lilah was determined to be just fine!

"Teething tablets are a fantastic "homeopathic remedy" for teething, just keep them out of reach of the little ones" she told me.

Duh!

They were out of reach! Unfortunately I forgot that Rambo can scale the fridge in a matter of seconds giving him access to the top cabinets.

Today I am going to purchase a heavy duty fire safe (one of the BIG ones) to store our medications, firearms, and cigarette lighters (for candles, we don't smoke) in.

Maybe that will work.

Maybe.

p.s...I tried to find the post about the Tums to link to ('cause I'm sure I blogged about it) but I couldn't find it, so FYI...a toddler can eat 17 Tums before you should worry.

disclaimer: As I have said before, we DO watch him...mostly!

Okay, I have to go now, he has found my scrap booking stash by way of standing in Lilah's pack'n'play holding his fishing pole and "fishing" the container off a bookcase shelf, and is currently surrounded by a proverbial scissor buffet! (not kidding) I guess my scrap booking supplies will be stored in the fire safe from this day forward.

For Christmas, please...PLEASE (aunts, uncles, & grandparents) buy him books. Short (as in not tall) ones.

I'm totally begging.

Rambo

Five Months

Dear Lilah,

I can barely believe that a couple of days ago you turned five months old! It seems like just yesterday we were anxiously awaiting your arrival.

I continue to be amazed at how sweet and pleasant you are! All the time! As long as you're fed you never fuss in the slightest. Unless your brother bites you on the belly in the bathtub like he did tonight. Even then, you didn't cry much at all. Though you did get even with him. You pee'd in the water while wearing your biggest grin, which sent him screaming from the tub. That's my girl!

Even when you had your ears pierced earlier this month, you didn't shed a single tear! I decided to go ahead and get that done because even attempting to clean your big brothers ears can get very dramatic, so I wanted to avoid a big production later. I'm glad I did! It's been 4 or 5 weeks now and you haven't fussed with them once. Carter says that your "earrums" look pretty! I think so too!

When we went to the pediatrician when you were only a few days old, we didn't get to see Dr. Jeannie, we saw Dr. McClain and she went on and on about how spunky you were. I thought she was nuts! You just laid there looking around, she should have saw Carter at 3 or 4 days old if she wanted to see spunky! I didn't know babies came as good as you! I am now seeing what that wise doctor saw then. You kick those feet constantly and jabber and coo as long as you're awake.

Carter gets a big kick out of your continuous "talking". He always wants to know, "What's Lilah saying, Mom?" I started out saying, "I don't know" but I figured out pretty fast that wasn't going to work. He just kept asking and asking until I told him what he wanted to hear. Now when he asks I tell him something like, "She said, Carter, you should really pick up your tractors so Mom doesn't have to." or "She said, Carter your hair looks so good when you let Mom brush it." or "She said, Carter I'll be so glad when I'm big like you and I get to brush my teeth!" It seems to tickle him, but he might think you're a little bossy. Sorry about that! (but I'm not stopping! HA!)

You have rolled over a few times now and are sitting up pretty well "tripod style". I don't think it will be long before you can sit unassisted! You are starting to drool and chew on anything you can get into your mouth so I don't think it will be long before you get some teeth. Everything you do is so animated, it's hilarious to watch you try to get things into your mouth! You use both hands and both feet! So cute!

Your favorite person in the world, except of course your mom, is your big brother. You watch his every move with absolute and complete delight! Even when he climbs right up on top of you and says "what you doin', doll?" I know that can't be comfortable for you, but you smile your biggest smile for him! You both love bath time! Mom loves it too now that you're big enough to get in the tub with Carter. You both giggle and chatter the whole time.

One of my favorite things you are doing right now is when I am holding you and I kiss you (which I do a time or thousand a day!) you grab on and attempt to "kiss" back. I love it! (I do realize that you are probably just trying to get anything into your mouth that feels good on your gums, but it still warms my heart!)

I am so blessed to be your mom. I thank God daily for trusting me with caring for you. I look so forward to watching you grow and learn and play!

I love you so much, Lilah!

Love,

Mom

.....p.s. you can still enter the Mule Day Giveaway through September 9!

Deedra has left the farm!

...so today I'm on a break from the Farm. Check out my digs for today!

Please come back and give me some feedback?


Thank you!

...but while I'm away, you can still register for my Mule Day Giveaway (through Sept 9) and check out my Mule Day pics!

Hillbilly Holiday!

...so, I know I left you guys hangin' yesterday for my pics of Mule Day. Right? I mean, you spent your entire day just waiting for me to get home and post them? Ha!

Well, I ended up with 67 pics from the day and wanted to share as many of the hillbilly colorful attractions as possible, so I decided to go with a PhotoShow.

You'll notice a couple of "heads" in some of my photos. One of them stepped directly...DIRECTLY (as in I could taste the Aqua Net!) in front of me when she saw Teddy Gentry (of the country music supergroup Alabama) who was the Grand Marshal of the parade.

Lady, I don't know where you're from, but if you want to see Teddy up close and personal, just head on down to the Walmart(k). He buys birdseed by the buggyfull there all the time. Quite the nature lover that Teddy. Or head over to Verizon, he was one of my regular customers when I ran the place worked there. They all were!

Kelly, Randy's wife, once sent me flowers for being such an awesome Verizon Wireless employee. Well, I was an awesome employee, but I guess she forgot about the time she dog cussed me when I worked at Walmart in high school. The new(looooong time ago!) check reader ate a big fat hole in her check.......She. Was. Mad. I guess she couldn't afford to waste another check. haha!

Where was I?...lol! Chasing a mule?

The other "head" in the picture is of this woman who stood by us, on top of us, in front of us, and literally STOPPED THE PARADE at one point to snap a pic of the horseless stagecoach with her cell phone. She was a hoot!

If you don't have your volume on, turn it on. It's actually on the page, not the Photoshow, and takes a few seconds to load. The music adds to the mood! This is actual music played on the stage yesterday! (kidding!..lol)

...and don't forget, you can still enter the Mule Day Giveaway through September 9!

Mule Day Giveaway!

.....(or as those of you not from Itty Bitty, Alabama might call it.) The Labor Day kickoff of the I love Fall Giveaway, hosted by Laurel Wreath!

But if you were to live in my town, you'd know that today is Mule Day! Mule Day is the annual Labor Day celebration we host here each year where thousands (seriously, thousands!) of people descend on us here in Itty Bitty for a day of draft horse pulls, mule competitions, car shows, pony rides, ect, and it's all kicked off by a parade down the main highway ('cause we don't have streets here!)...oh, and most importantly the FOOD!

I promise to delight you with photos from the day's festivities once I return, but in the meantime, lets get to the giveaways!

In honor of my Mule Day/I love Fall Giveaway, I present to you my giveaway for today, I like to call it BBQ Dreams!:

This lovely prize package includes the following:

Sugar & Grits: A book about four strong women with a dash of sweetness.....and a heart for God!

Our Daily Bread, The Joy of New Life!: A Special edition of ODB designed for new parents. A fantastic devotional to help encourage and inspire parents of young children in their daily walk with God. (2 copies, 1 to keep, 1 to give away!)

Now, if you live anywhere in Alabama, Mississippi, or Tennessee you have no doubt heard of and love these next two items. If not, you can get it here and simply must try it! No self respecting southerner would dare attempt a BBQ without it!

Big Bob Gibson Championship Red Sauce (1 bottle) (this is awesome in hamburgers!)

Big Bob Gibson Original White Sauce (1 bottle)

....and a few other things to enhance your holiday BBQ experience!

Grill It Quick Cookbook, The Pampered Chef

Grilling Planks, The Pampered Chef

Microfiber Dishtowel, The Pampered Chef

Large Serving Spatula, The Pampered Chef (just plain perfect for removing burgers from the grill!)

Chillzanne Rectangular Server, The Pampered Chef (for keeping those cold items @ your BBQ perfectly chilled!)


....did ya'll notice that every single thing in my prize packet had something to do with food?...and did I mention I'm a Pampered Chef a time or twenty?

Now, all you have to do to enter is to leave a comment! (be sure to leave me an email addy so I can contact you if you win!) I will be picking a number at random and announcing the winner on September 10, along with all the other winner's of Laurel's fabulous I love Fall Giveaways. You can enter to win until 6 PM CST September 9. Giveaway open to U.S. and Canada only.

Remember, you don't have to have a blog to enter! Just be sure to leave me your email address so I can contact you! ...and if you haven't already, be sure to visit Laurel, she just might have a little surprise for ya over at her place!

Happy Mule Day!

Update: Mule Day Pics are up! Check them out!

URGENT!! Please Pray!

Colby

Colby (left) & Max (right)

Please remember Billy & Roxanne when you pray. Their little boy, Colby 7 years, died tonight as a result of injuries he recieved in a 4 wheeler accident. They also have a little girl who is 3. I can not begin to imagine the pain they are feeling tonight. I pray that God will surround them with his mercy and love to help them through this horrific time.

The picture above was taken at my nephew Max's birthday party a few months ago. My heart is broken for Max as well as for Colby's other friends and family. What a horrible thing to experience at any age, much less this young! Please remember them and the parents who must explain this to them, as well as the other family and friends who will be lifting up Colby's family during this time.

Photo courtesy of sis Dana's blog.

You Go Girl!

Want more info on McCain's choice for VP candidate, Sarah Palin? Go here.

I love the fact that she hunts moose and is a member of the NRA! She sooooo has my dad's vote!

I also love that she is pro-life, supports creationism being taught in schools, opposes same sex marriage, and increased taxes on oil company profits.

Perhaps one of my favorite facts is the part where she blew the whistle on her own party for ethics violation, then ran against and defeated the very ones she blew the whistle on....

Go Girl!

...this should be interesting to say the least!

Thankful Thursday

I haven't done a Thankful Thursday in a while, but I just couldn't let this week pass by without joining in!

I have had a bit of a "monkey" on my back for some time now. I knew that there was something I was supposed to be doing for God, but I just for the life of me, couldn't figure out what He wanted me to be doing.

I started to give up my Kindergarten/first grade Awanas class this year because I felt like maybe He wanted someone else in there. Through a series of events I discovered that, no,....He wants me there.

After many nights of tossing and turning, after much conversation with God, He allowed His wishes for me at this time to hit me square in the face last Sunday morning.

The pastor started off with a few announcements, as usual, then said there were a few positions left open for the upcoming year, he named them told us who to see if we were interested, then continued on with the service. He taught from Philippians 1. To live is Christ, to die is gain.

This is something that I am "running in to" in several ways right now.

We're doing the No Other God's Bible Study by Kelly Minter right now. Something that continues to speak to me through this study is that our sole purpose....THE reason we are here is to serve Him. Everything else is in vain if serving God isn't my sole priority.

This is certainly not to say that I neglect my children or my husband or any other responsibilities by making service to Him my sole reason for being. Absolutely not. In fact, how can I be a better mother, wife, friend, sister, daughter, etc, than by living a life of total and complete service to God?

To live IS Christ!

So, back to Sunday morning. There is one particular class that I adore being a part of. I taught this class for several years at the church we used to attend. I have had the opportunity to get involved with this age group during VBS, but never on a routine basis.

Until now.

I had half heartedly listened to Luke as he named off the positions that needed to be filled this year. All were teaching positions. I already have Awanas to prepare for each week, I have 2 babies to care for, I can't possibly take on another class.

Until HE said, "Yes you can." or "Yes you better". I'm not sure of His exact wording when the conviction began, but I'm sure it began.

After the service I went to pick Carter up from the nursery and on to find the person Luke told us to see about filling those positions. I probably wouldn't have even remembered who he said to see were it not for the fact that she is my sister in law.

When I told her she said she'd started to ask me about it because she knew I'd taught that age before, but that she'd decided to wait.

I'm glad she did, because if she had asked me before that morning I would have told her no.

So! I'm thankful that God worked it out for me to be with the Sunday School class that I LOVE to be with. The 4 & 5 year olds. I love it! They are old enough to ask great questions, and learn so much! I pray that God will use me to further His will in their lives in the upcoming years!

For more Thankful Thursday, visit Iris @ Sting My Heart!

...Back to you, Ted.

"Well, that about sums it up, don't ya think?" Thanks, Ted, now back over to the news desk while I hurry over to make sure my good buddy Rita has seen this video!

...and completely unrelated to any of the above, go check out what Tonja is doing at her place.....AWESOME idea!!

Merle & Maxie.....and Merle

...you may remember a few weeks ago when I told you about the
new puppies that recently arrived at our house after our dear old
friends departed. Well, it seems that our dog drama knows no end!

We finally settled on the names Maxie & Merle. These are the names of two dear, (and incredibly funny) elderly sisters who live in our community. They live across the road ('cause we don't have streets here!) from each other and are always doing mischievous things to one another.

One in particular incident that stands out in my mind was when Maxie put a possum in Merle's garage one time to try and scare her. Well, it worked and it was ON then! There is never a bridal shower, baby shower, or wedding that is complete unless these two dear sisters are in attendance. They are guaranteed to liven up the festivities!

Now, with all that being said, the demeanor of our new puppies was so comical we just had to name them after these two dear sisters!

Then we discovered that one of them wasn't a sister but a brother. Now, before you go giving us life lessons......we DO know how to check that! The guy who gave us the puppies told us they were all girls so Kyle didn't bother to check. When we did finally discover this, we decided that this boy puppy would be Merle....you know, like Merle Haggard.

A week or so went by and Merle became ill and stopped eating. I immediately thought he must have parvo, but he'd gotten his shots and it rocked on for 4 or 5 days so I thought maybe he'd just gotten in to something that made him sick or he didn't like the brand of food I bought. I tried a few different foods, and finally resorted to force-feeding him Pedialyte to try getting him eating again. I called the vet and he told me to give him some more wormer and continue the Pedialyte.

I woke up Sunday morning to find poor Merle laying there in the grass lifeless and Maxie sitting there looking so very pitiful beside him.

Dadgummit!

Of course Carter was right on my heels.

DadGUMMIT!

I convinced Carter that maybe Merle was just asleep and got Maxie to follow him to the other end of the porch to draw his attention away while I put Merle in a plastic bag and whisked him around the side of the house.

I didn't say anything else about Merle, but Carter must have seen me with that bag because later he asked me if I'd taken Merle to the Doctor because he was sick. I later realized that he was with me the day the vet put Lexie down and had seen the vet bring her out in a plastic bag like that.

So. Today I scoured the online classifieds to try to find a replacement puppy. Cold, I know, but I just really couldn't stand the thought of having to try to explain loosing one more dog to that baby boy of mine! Could. Not. Do. IT.

I found an add and called the guy last tonight around 6. He said there was only one puppy left and someone was on their way to look at it. I told him my sad story and about my sad baby boy and gave him my number and told him if for some reason that person didn't take the puppy to call me.

He called at 7:05 and said that the guy didn't want to come tonight since the remnants of Fay have settled in our area and there are flash flood warnings and tornado watches, but that he'd told him that he couldn't hold the puppy since he had someone else who might want it..........

.....but I had to come tonight.

In the remnants of Fay, the torrential downpours, flash flood warnings, and tornado watches.

All it took to convince this "mom" to make that 30 mile (one way) trip, in the dark, down the mountain, over the bridge (that's under construction) in the middle of a tropical depression was one look at those big brown eyes.

All the way there Carter kept talking about how we were going to the doctor to get Merle......and was Merle going to "wake up" in the morning this time?

When the guy we'd never seen before opened the door Carter burst through the door and into the house, calling, "Meeeerrrrleeeeee?" "Meeeeerrrrrllleee?", then looked up at the guy (for the first time) "Dr, where's Merle?"

LOL!!!

So, we picked "Merle" up from the "doctor" and brought her "back" home with us. Back across the bridge and up the mountain,...pouring down rain all the way. "She feel better" according to Carter.....and so did that brown eyed little boy!

......and his Mom too!

Scrapbook

typing & thinking......brace yourself!

Yesterday I had the rare pleasure of dropping my babies off at my MIL's and heading off for a mani/pedi!

I didn't go to the place I usually do and wasn't really thrilled when I was assigned to this older Asian dude for my spa treatments. And right off the bat, I could tell he was gonna be a talker. GREAT! I don't want to talk while I get mani/pedi's. I want to veg out. Is that too much to ask?

Turns out, his conversation wasn't bad at all. He asked me about this and that, and then if I had children. We talked about that for a bit. Then he told me that he'd left his country because he was exiled 27 years ago and had never seen his parents again. He went to visit their graves when he visited his homeland. He went on to say that he'd married and had 3 children and 4 grandchildren which he rarely got to see because they were so busy and lived a few hours away.

The lady beside me talked to the person doing her pedicure about her granddaughter and the new great grand baby she was about to have. She said that she'd battled breast cancer 3 years ago and prayed that God allow her to live to see her granddaughters have babies.

Today I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of my 2nd cousin, Yolanda. She is such a beautiful young woman, and of course she made an incredibly beautiful bride! It was a lovely ceremony with a whopping 7 bridesmaids and 7 groomsmen! BIG wedding party! Beautiful reception!

Yolanda's dad, Lamar J., is my 1st cousin. We share a really cool bond. I was born on October 9th, 19??, Lamar's 13th birthday! He has always told me that I was the best present he ever got! I agree! HA!

Yolanda told me after the wedding that she almost cried all the way down the isle. Her dad said to her right before they entered the church "I'm not ready to give you away." How sweet is that??? I, as well as most everyone else at the wedding, almost gave way to tears when as the ceremony began, the minister said that there was love felt both present with us and in spirit.

Yolanda's sister, Jill, passed away just a few short months ago at the age of 30. Derek, the groom, lost both of his parents suddenly and tragically about a month apart just a year or so ago. They had a table set up with a picture of Jill, and of Derek's parents in memory of all of them. Jill's son, Alec, 12, was an usher. He did such a great job and looked incredibly dapper, I must say! His mom would have been so proud of him!

I watched the 10M Olympic Diving medal competition tonight. The guy from Australia finished with a perfect dive only to dash the hopes of the Chinese in sweeping the gold medal in the Diving competitions. As I watched that young Chinese athlete, whose hope of gold had just been crushed by that perfect dive, in the background of the Aussie who was in shock at his own perfect performance, I wondered what the consequences of this would be for the Chinese diver, as far as his Olympic team, his country for that matter.

I thought about the old man at the salon yesterday, about how much he must have missed his family both then, and now....

I thought about that great grandmother who this very Sunday will be attending a baby shower for her granddaughter who in a few short weeks will be having her second great grandbaby...

I thought about the hopes and dreams of every Olympian in Beijing these last weeks. How they spend their ENTIRE lives preparing for that one moment......to have their efforts rewarded with gold,....or dashed by the agony of defeat.

I thought about the wedding today. How the families of both the bride and groom must feel such happiness for the new union formed in the house of God, mixed with a bit of sorrow for those they've so recently lost.


"I have choices, every second of the day, to serve my Lord. To honor Him with my speech and with my thoughts, with the way I love those around me and the way I worship Him. Every moment, there is another opportunity, and I want to use as many of them as He will allow. In fact, Scripture tells me that one day I will stand before Him, and I will (symbolically) hand the King of all Kings a tattered scrapbook of my days. It is up to me to decide what the pages will reveal."

(This is from a blog I read often. Bring the Rain. From the post entitled "Blink" . Since I read this about a month ago, it has spoken so strongly to me. )

As I read it again now, I think of all the random scrapbook pages I talked about above.......then I think about my own personal "scrapbook" of my days. Will all the pages be full? Will there be some empty ones on which days I did nothing to honor Him?

I want my pages to be overflowing with entries of service to my Lord and Savior. Not for my glory, but for His......

I am so thankful for the blessings He has given me, and I am so humbled when I think of what an awesome God I serve.

"Hey Mom".....

...cause that's what he's calling me these days. "Mom". Which is totally understandable since he's, you know, grown. He IS a whopping 2 years and 2 months old after all.


Mom: "Yes, Carter?"


Carter: "I need medicine."


Mom: "You do? What's wrong with you?"


Carter: "I sick."


Mom: "Where are you sick, Carter?"


Carter: "The barn."


.............I'm not sure what kind of medicine would work for that, or where to put it!

AND

... yesterday I flipped over to see what was on the NBC channels as far as olympics go and there was an indoor volleyball game on.

Carter said, "They not take they clothes off, Mom?"

Darn that beach volleyball!! Could they not just wear a shirt? I mean, it would help keep the sand out, right?