Monday, September 29, 2008

Busy weekend...the recap

We survived the weekend! Friday night the kids and I went to Dawn's to celebrate Heather's birthday. Brian had to work. It was a fun and relaxed time and I enjoyed spending time with Dawn, her step dad Bob, Catherine, Steve, Dave and the kids. Saturday, the kids and I got up and finished the grocery list, straightened the house, went grocery shopping, came home and made a cake and took showers. By then Brian was getting home and Cory's guests were arriving. I lucked out, since we miscounted and realized we would have to take 2 vehicles! Brian volunteered to drive the van, with all 5 boys and Jessie and I took the car!! Wow, teenage boys can eat a lot of pizza and dessert from a buffet! I don't think we could have fed them any other way! When we got home, Brian and the boys settled into movies and video games and Jessie and I hid ourselves away upstairs playing the High School musical DVD game. I won... Only 2 of the boys spent the night. Sunday morning, I woke up way too early, around 5 am, just in time to hear Brian tell Cory he had to go to bed! Brian was getting ready to go to church. When you meet in a gymnasium, the set up guys have to get there really early to set up the stage, lights, sound system, chairs, Sunday school areas, nursery etc. I went back to bed and then overslept till 8:20!! I was supposed to teach Sunday school at 9:30! I had planned ahead as far as getting a bunch of sleepy boys up, so I put the bacon in the microwave and set to waking them up. They did very well, especially since none of them went to bed before 4 am! I hope Stephen didn't end up with a migraine because of it. We got to church around 9:40 and thanks to my friend Carol setting up the DVD player with her copy of the DVD, I was ready when the kids were dismissed from worship! We had a GREAT lesson. The kids and I are really getting into this Spy series. They are learning about prophets and the things God told people through the prophets. Look for some pics next week. Several of the girls have really gotten into our main song and they are so cute doing to motions! As long as it is ok with their parents, I will have their pics up next week. After church, we went to Rock Group. It was good to see (almost) everyone, even if it was just for a little while. We missed the Hathcocks, but hope John Riley did well in the tournament. We left rock group and went to help unload pumpkins. We almost missed it. The truck is always late, and it always takes hours to unload...but not this time. The truck was on time and we probably had triple the number of people we usually have. It was great to see so many people there and to realize that our church has grown to a size that I didn't even recognize all of the people who showed up. There was a time when I knew everyone in the church by name!! We came home, showered, ate and went to bed. Whew!! While I am glad not every weekend is quite that busy, it was fun!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Darrell and Wilma

Joyous news...Darrell and Wilma are both home and on the mend. Thanks to all who prayed for them. I can't wait to hug their necks!!

Busy weekend coming up!

This is going to be a really busy weekend. Tonight the kids and I will go to celebrate Heather's birthday. Tomorrow morning, we will go grocery shopping. Then I will make a birthday cake for Cory. Around 4:30 a few, very few as they are getting much bigger! ;), of Cory's friends will come over. When Brian gets home from work we will go to CiCi's for pizza. Then we will come home and the boys will watch movies and play video games. They plan to stay up all night. That is fine with me, as long as they don't wake the rest of us up. Brian will get up at the crack of dawn and go set up for church and the rest of us will get up and be at church by 9:00 so I can teach Sunday school at the 9:30 service. Then it is on to rock group for lunch and much needed catch-up time. At around 4:30 the pumpkins should be delivered to the church land, so we will be there to help unload the truck. After that, it is home, supper, showers, bed and back at the weekly schedule again. Doesn't make you tired just to think about it? I am looking forward to it though!!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Prayer for Darrell and Wilma

We have some friends at church that need prayer today. Darrell had a heart attack yesterday and had a stent put in to unblock a 100% blockage. His sweet wife, Wilma, was hospitalized sometime last night or early this morning. They are doing tests on her. Darrell is doing better and due to the quickness of his medical treatment, the doctors don't expect him to have lasting damage to his heart. Darrell and Wilma's kids and grandkids need your prayers too. Darrell and Wilma: We love you very much and you are in our thoughts and prayers.

Friendships

I am so thankful and grateful for my friends. Last week I was really down. Not normal down, but really down. When my friends found out, they have been so great this week, calling and e-mailing me to let me know that they are thinking of/praying for me. I am thankful too, that even though my heart was sad last week, I still had joy. Happiness is situational. It comes and goes. Joy, however, is from the Lord, and it does not come and go based on our circumstances. One of the ways God brings me joy is through my dear friends. Thanks Karen, Shannon and Missy. Ya'll Rock!!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Happy Birthday to Cory Part 2











Happy Birthday to Cory



Tonight, we will have Cheesy Hashbrown Hamburger Helper and green beans. Cory's favorite and then this weekend he is having a few friends over. Here is a picture of Cory taken today and a picture of the rock Brian painted for him at CC Griffin. Also a picture of Cory and Jessie blackberry picking this summer, Cory and Snack several years ago, before his hair grew long. The other picture is of Cory as a newborn. Yea Cory! I am so glad you are my son!! I can hardly believe that you will be a teenager next year!!



Happy Birthday Cory!!!


Happy Birthday to my sweet boy! He is 12 today. Here is a pic from when he was 1. I will put up more later. Got to get to work!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Friendships

Do you ever wonder how strong your friendships are? Will they stand the test of time and of the difficult things that sometimes must be said between friends? To be honest, I have VERY FEW relationships in my life that I feel could withstand much pressure. I don't just mean friendships either. I have a hard time figuring out when to speak my mind and when to keep my big mouth shut. History has shown me that keeping my big mouth shut is best, selfish sometimes, but best for me. I am at a place in my life where I have to evaluate this practice and figure out what to do next. I am so thankful for Brian. My relationship with him has stood the test of time, 16 years total, 13 of them married. It has also withstood many pressures from within and without. Without him, I would be lost. Any feedback is welcome.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Busy weekend etc...

We had a pretty busy weekend. The kids and I had thought we would get up, do some chores, go grocery shopping and then go to Discount Furniture and hang out and listen to the band. My Daddy manages the furniture store and they were having a 20th anniversary sale. The man that owns the store is in a band, and they were playing in the afternoon. As it turned out, Daddy needed someone to help out with serving the hot dogs that they were giving away to the customers. The kids and I were glad to help, and it was super nice that they decided to pay us for the time. It did make our day a bit busier than planned, since our time there was longer than expected, but it was really fun. I was proud of the kids, as I told them to get paid, they had to actually help, not run around a play. They did a really good job and got lots of compliments on their customer service skills and their manners. Both pleased me immensely. By the time we finished, then listened to the band and rode back from Kannapolis....then went grocery shopping, it was nearly 8 o'clock. I still had to plan my Sunday school lesson! Fortunately, once we get into a series, it doesn't take so much prep on my part. Today was a great day at church, and this afternoon I even had time for a little nap before fixing supper and taking Cory and his friend back to church tonight. Thanks goodness Brian was so sweet to wash my uniforms for work tomorrow, since I didn't really think about it till late today!

Friday, September 19, 2008

My heart is sad


Sometimes it is so hard to be an adult. Although I know God forgives us when we ask, this does not mean that the consequences for bad choices and decisions are erased. Usually I have an easier time dealing with this stuff, but not this week. I don't know why except my heart is tired right now.


My heart hurts when my friends hurt too. My dearest friend is hurting, and I wish I could make her pain go away. I am praying that her heart would not hurt and that she will have joy always.


I had a good day at work today. I work with great people who pay attention to how I am doing, and respond. Today, I wasn't up for a lot of stress and I didn't have to deal with any. I got to make box lunches and catering orders and restock coolers and other non stressful stuff. Millie makes my heart happy. Brian makes my heart happiest. He came by work today just to say Hey. He didn't come to eat, he didn't need to tell me anything, he just came to check on me and say Hey. Millie said "he really loves you"and I said "I know." God blessed my life when He sent Brian into it.
I am going outside to pull weeds and cut dead flowers. I hope this will give me peace and let me relax. It usually does.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Cool weather makes my heart happy

I like North Carolina. I like the seasons. Just when I think I am sick to death of whatever season we are in, it starts to change. I know we aren't finished with hot days, but at least we are starting to have some cool ones mixed in. I love wearing shorts and a sweatshirt. Brian thinks that it is a goofy thing to do. I don't see any difference in the short/sweatshirt combo than wearing long pants and a short sleeve shirt.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Anniversary



Today is our 13 year wedding anniversary. This picture was taken 5 years ago, but I just love this picture, so I used it. Brian, thanks for being my honey! I love you!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Great Day at church

We had a great day at church today. The kids really like this new series, "Spy Chase". Today that learned about not being afraid because God is always with them. Weird because Jimmy of talked about the same thing to the adults in his lesson also. The music rocked. I really needed lively music to worship with today, and the band truly delivered that today. Back to Jimmy's lesson, I think I have been living afraid lately. I have to figure out what to do about it. I believe that God gives us a brain to think through problems, but the challenge is to leave your own will out of your plans and be open to what God wants to do. I want to be open to the leading of the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Disappointment and joy

The little house I fell in love with in Kannapolis has been sold. I am sad. I know that if it sold, then that isn't where God wanted my family to be, but that doesn't make it any easier to accept. It should really, but right now I am just sad. It is so hard to trust God sometimes. Especially when you think you are doing everything you can to try to figure out what God wants you to do and nothing seems to be working out.

On a happy note BRIAN COMES HOME TODAY, so I am off to make the house look happy and get my Sunday school lesson planned.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Today we should remember


This is a happy picture of my kids one year on July 4th. We get to celebrate our country because of all of the people who are willing to risk their lives to protect it, both inside and outside our borders. 7 years ago, many who didn't volunteer for it, died in an act of war against our country.
Today is the kind of day that we all remember exactly where we were when tragedy struck our country. To all the people who think this war is unnecessary: What did you feel when you watched the towers crash and burn? What did you feel when you realized the Pentagon had been hit? When you found out that innocent people had been on all of the planes that were used as weapons to kill more innocent people? Do you really think that the average Iraqi person is evil? Or do you think they want their kids to grow up without the threat of war each and every day? The terrorists hate you. They don't care what your politics or religion is. They don't care how "liberal", "open-minded" or "politically correct" you are. They care that you are not like them. There is nothing you can do to be like them. They just want you dead. Period. So get off your high horse and reach back in your mind and in your heart and remember how you felt that day, when the greatest nation on the planet was under attack. Remember that you can go or not go to church if you so choose. Remember that you can rant and rave about how much you hate our government without being afraid of being killed. Remember you can pretty much do whatever you want, because there are people who put on a uniform and miss birthdays, Christmas, and their babies first words or steps to make you safe and keep the evil at bay, and out of your back yard. USA! USA! USA!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

As Jimmy says...Mind dump

  • Today is my bestest (Catherine) friend's birthday. I was going to call her after I walked Jessie to class, but God had me pass her in the car rider line at CC Griffin. I just felt like I should call her right then instead of waiting. I am so glad I did. She had a staff meeting and I would have missed her. I would have called her later, but I wanted her to know that I was starting my day thankful she was born and is part of my life.
  • Cory gets his braces off in 6 weeks. Within 2 months he has to have his top 2 baby canine teeth pulled. About a year later, he will get braces again, top and bottom this time. But for now, he is planning and dreaming of popcorn and bubble gum. He is is grateful he doesn't have to call his 2 front teeth by their names any longer. (Buck and Back!)
  • I love my job. I have the most godly sweet manager and the most wonderful coworkers in the world. Chick-fil-a at Concord Mills rocks out loud!
  • Brian is going on a men's retreat to the beach. The guys are supposed to play golf and fish. Brian doesn't really do either, but he is overdue for some time to hang out with his friends. I know they will do some good Bible study, which he will enjoy. They will also be silly and rude and in general: be guys. As well they should and I wouldn't want them to be any other way. Brian underestimates what a great guy he really is and how much fun he is to be around. He will pick on you unmercifully...unless he finds out it really hurts your feelings. He is hilarious. If he decides to be your friend, he is loyal to the end, no matter what. okay...if I don't change the subject, I will go on all night. Love my husband, nuff said.
  • While I will miss him, I am going to the library to check out a bunch of books!
  • You can say hard things to people, if you are truly speaking out of love and respect for God and the other person.
  • My daughter wishes for more homework.
  • My son wishes homework was against the law.
  • I like rain. (not flooding rain, just regular rain)
  • Loyalty is underrated.
  • Snack is a great dog.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Pumpkin Patch


Our church, Rocky River Community Church, has a Pumpkin Patch from the end of September to the end of October every year. It is on the land that will one day have our church sitting on it, at the corner of Roberta and Pitts School Roads. One of my favorite things all year is the unloading of the pumpkin truck when it comes. For some reason I can't recall, I missed it last year. I don't know why I like it so much. I get filthy dirty and I am always dog tired by the time we are done. My favorite part is being in the back of that big old truck passing the pumpkins down an assembly line out to the people on the ground to place the pumpkins on the pallets to be sold. It is the biggest fundraiser our church does. It would not happen at all if the Bagley Family didn't give up the month of October to work the patch. Other people volunteer, but the Bagley's make the patch happen. There have been times when their family stayed there day AND night, sleeping in a camper and basically having a month long camp out. (I am sure this is great for a while, but it has to get old!) This year the pumpkins are scheduled to come on September 28, after church. I can't wait!!!

Second win on the supper front

Tonight I made homemade vegetable soup and sandwiches. I cheated and used a bag of frozen veggies specifically for soup. I just had to pick out the okra...gross! I added a pint of canned tomato juice (that Jessie helped make at Ms. Jennifer's), a can of 99% fat free beef broth, water, frozen corn, water and some beef bouillon. Everyone like it but Jessie. At least she had a fairly healthy sandwich of turkey, lettuce and onions. Now I just need to try to make it as flavorful without quite as much sodium. Brian's blood pressure stays fairly high, even on 2 bp meds, so I try to watch that too! Tomorrow I will do the grilled chicken salad, which I know will be a big hit all the way around.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Great Day at church

Today was a great day at church. My church, Rocky River Community Church, had a baptism service today. It always makes me happy and makes me cry at the same time. I am so proud of Carol, Sherry, Donnie, Amy, Jody, Haley, Nick, Megan, Nicole K., Nicole F. and everyone else who publicly professed their faith in Jesus Christ today.

The band rocked it out. These guys are so awesome. With the exception of our worship pastor, all of the guys in the band are volunteers who give of their time and energy to God, for our church to have the most awesome praise and worship time every Sunday. They play their hearts out on Sundays, but I know there is a lot more to it than that. They obviously practice their hearts out too, and Brandon makes a huge effort to pick songs that are relevant. He does a really good job of picking out music we know , mix in new songs and have the music go along with the message that Jimmy is teaching each week. Jimmy's message was really great and I can't wait to read the rest of it on his blog, since he didn't have time to do the whole thing in one service.

I had a blast in Sunday school too. We started a new series of lessons called Spy Chase. I really hope the kids liked it, because I had a blast. Today we compared apples to limes. We talked about how you can call the lime an apple and call the apple a lime, but that doesn't make it so. It is the same thing with other beliefs and religions. Other people can say that their belief system is just as good as believing in the one true God and that there are other ways to get to heaven besides Jesus Christ, but that doesn't make it so either! It is a fine line to walk to teach kids to be "tolerant" ie: not cruel etc. to people who believe differently than what we know to be true, without allowing the tolerance to lead them away from the Lord and a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Sesame Teriyaki Noodle supper

Yea! It was a big hit! Who knew? Jessie didn't even have to have hers separated!
I am thrilled to have another dish on the list that my whole family will eat!

Food for thought

While the kids were in school today....yes today is Sat and the kids had a 1/2 day school to make up for the flood day we had a week or so ago, I went to the grocery stores. I say stores because I go to aldi and walmart. I only go to walmart for the things I just can't get at aldi. I love aldi...walmart is the necessary evil in my life. We are in an eating rut at our house. My kids are very picky eaters and Brian has to eat a low fat diet. He is fighting hard to not develop diabetes and has done well by losing over 20lbs. The challenge for me is to feed to picky kids and a husband I want to stay healthy and alive with me for a very long time to come. His mom died an early death at 64 due to complications, in part, from uncontrolled diabetes. We have a rule in my house that mommy doesn't cook "weird" food and therefore you have to eat what mommy cooks. It is a good rule, but it doesn't do for me to push it too much. If they just refuse to eat and I send them to bed hungry, I worry and they feel like crap. It is very much a challenge to do all this on a budget!

I hope I score big this week. Tonight we are having Sesame teriyaki. The kids love stir fry, so I hope the Asian theme will go over well. It is a box dinner with noodles with sesame teriyaki sauce and toasted sesame seed topping. I will add fresh chicken, broccoli and carrots to the noodles for a one bowl kind of supper. If it goes well, I will try to find a way to make something similar without using the box dinner. It is low in fat, but high in sodium. I am also going to try homemade vegetable soup and sandwiches. My kids don't eat tomato based sauces ie: no spaghetti, lasagna, etc. They eat very little pizza, usually with no tomato sauce on it. It is hard to make vegetable soup without tomatoes, so this will be one of the "mommy doesn't cook weird foods, so you have to eat it" nights. I figure home canned tomatoes isn't the same as spaghetti pizza sauce, and I will have sandwiches as well, so they won't go hungry. I am also making beef stew, which they have learned to eat. Jessie doesn't like her foods mixed together, so we just put hers on a plate and separate the items on her plate and she does ok. I bought "super trim beef" so it is better for Brian...more expensive, but healthier. We are also having a big salad with grilled chicken..Brian's idea. Bless his heart, he eats so much salad now I know he feels like a rabbit sometimes!! Well, wish me and my family luck this week as we try to get out of our food rut!

Friday, September 5, 2008

Water Day Rocked

Thanks to Carol and Kim for planning and pulling off a very great water day for the kids at RRCC. The kids had a ball. Thanks also to Nikki, Lonnie, Travis, Mike, and Jimmy for playing in the cold water with the kids while wimps like me stayed inside! Special thanks to Carol, since you did not intend on getting wet, and you were soaked to the skin and it was not hot outside!! Jessie said it was AWESOME and she loved the Gutter Sundae as well! She especially loved it when her friend Brianna T. dumped ice cream on her. Jessie likes to follow the rules, but when she gets to completely let loose and go crazy, she really enjoys that too!!!

Mother of the year

Someone looked at our house last night. (fyi, it is on the market) We did the usual run around like crazy, vacuuming, straightening and sitting around from 4:30 to 6 pm not messing anything up. This of course includes not fixing supper, lest we be sitting down to eat and the people show up. Well, they never showed up or called. We ate cold cereal for supper. Around 7 Nikki got here so we could go meet Shannon and Karen for coffee. I called Brian, who said he was 10 to 15 min. away. No biggie, Cory is almost 12, so I left, reminding him to not let anyone in the house. As I was about to sit down with my coffee, Brian called and said when he got home their were people, STRANGERS, in our home looking at the house. Apparently the agent had radiator problems.
The agent knocked on the door and Cory answered through it, asking who he was etc. Well, since the guy said he was supposed to have shown the house between 4:30 and 6, which Cory knew to be true....wait for it.... He let a stranger into the house when nobody was home but him and Jessie! Now, I know the guy could have come in with his realtor key thing, but it is computerized so at least we would have had a record of who entered the house. Cory could have said, "my Dad will be here in a couple of minutes, would you mind waiting?", the people were over an hour late. But no...he let strangers into the house while no adults were home. Mother of the year I tell you......
BTW, received feedback today from the agent who showed the house. The people liked it, but not the lot, so they are going with something else. woo-hoo....
Also btw, Cory is not ready to be left home alone yet...ya think?

Cory's cool teacher

A couple of years ago I bought a book called Magyk by Angie Sage to read as a bedtime story to Cory, since he was reading Harry Potter for AR points so we couldn't read them at bedtime. Well, we really liked it and then I found the second book, Flyte, which we also enjoyed very much. I have been on the lookout for the next books in the series at wally world and the book fair at school and haven't seen it. Cory came home from the first day of school so excited because his social studies teacher, Ms. Sherman, had the next books in her classroom library. She lets the kids check out the books for several days at a time, so we were figuring out when Cory could check them out for him and then for me! She only allows the student one book at a time. After he read Physik, he returned it and was explaining to Ms. Sherman about me wanting to read the book also. She let him bring me the book, without checking it out. I was so excited. I really appreciate Ms. Sherman's generosity and kindness.

Poor Cory

Well, Cory and I are stuck at home because he is not feeling well today. He tried to eat toast this morning, but said his stomach hurt too much. He finally was able to eat some grits a few minutes ago, so I hope he starts feeling better. Although I hate to miss work, it is such a blessing to work at a place, Chick-fil-a at Concord Mills, that doesn't penalize me for doing what I am supposed to do and for having my priorities in the right order. When I called in today they said, "don't worry, we gotcha covered".

Monday, September 1, 2008

Disaster/Flood Relief

Cory, Jessie and I went again today with our church to help out with flood relief. It was really heartbreaking to carry out family pictures in albums and frames all water logged with flood waters, as well as clothes that the mom was saving from the oldest son to give to the younger one. I didn't feel very helpful today. Most of the stuff people still needed doing involved heavy lifting and such, but I know that everything we did was something the families we helped didn't have to do. I pray for these families and hope that they know that God did not cause their homes to be ruined, but that He can turn this mess into something good. I am deeply thankful for our church and the people in it who have hearts to show the practical love of Jesus.