Vacation

Today was our first day of vacation. It was a nice and relaxing day. I got up fairly early (7:30ish) to write out my Christmas cards. I know, I know - it's awfully late to be sending them out but that's just the way it has to be this year. I feel lucky to have gotten them out at all. I just can't believe how busy we have been. There has been something every single day. But it's done. The cards are in the mail.

Of course Jay slept late. That's his favorite thing to do. The kids played, read, and just relaxed. It was all good. Lorena came over around 6pm. We were expecting her at 4:30 but Uncle DoDo was on Bolivian time. So by the time she came and DoDo left, we still had to have dinner. We ended up leaving here at 7:45 - we were heading out to Lake Lanier to see the lights. Needless to say, we didn't make it. We got there and the line was so long to get into the park that we turned around and headed back home. We didn't think we'd make it before the park closed. We drove all that way for nothing! But we will not give up...we will try again tomorrow.

Last night was the kids' Christmas program at church. The kids all did a great job! I am always amazed at how the program just comes together. There were kids aged 2 all the way up to 18 in this program!

This first picture is of Alex participating in the Angel Choir during the regular service. The kids dressed like angels - it was very cute.

The next picture is later that night. As you know, Mary has never cared to participate on stage. She chooses not to speak, sing, or in anyway follow directions. This year was different. She did it all ! She was awesome!

So she sang two songs w/ her friends. I like the star sunglasses they wore while singing "Jump for Joy". She actually jumped! Here's a video:

Then she had to come out and say her lines in a poem. Each child had several lines and together they made up a poem. Mary's lines were "Don't be afraid, the angel said, I bring a happy story. Then all around the shone the light of heaven's greatest glory". Just listen to this!

Isn't that fabulous? But let's not forget the boy. He was the most reluctant participant this year. Not sure why but it didn't matter - he did great anyway. He sang first...

Then he said his lines....




Wonderful!

Now, onto our other girl. She did double duty - she was in the elementary program...

and also in the Youth program (middle and high school).

She sang the cutest song!

And then changed clothes to be an angel in the finale of the play.

We were blessed to have Mimi and PapaJohn make the long drive out to see the kids. It meant a lot to the kiddos. Mimi said that John took over 200 pictures! I can't even imagine! Of course he has a very fancy camera....

That was the excitement for this weekend. And with the big performance, all of our obligations are finally completed. No more parties, brunches, recitals, pageants, programs, ornament exchanges, cookie swaps, ensemble singing, belt ceremonies....it's all finished! We are coasting into Christmas now. Now, I just have to find some "alone" time to wrap all the gifts. Hopefully, Jay will be able to help w/ this soon - maybe he can take the kids somewhere.

Saturday

Jay left early this morning to head to the Men's Prayer Breakfast at church. being a deacon means you have to do these things! Actually he did them before (a little) so it wasn't a big deal. The kids and I treated ourselves to the breakfast buffet at Golden Corral. Later, I treated myself to an emergency trip to the bathroom at Wal Mart. But I digress.

The kids and I headed to church because a group of us were getting together to start painting the Nativity scenes. We painted the tomb, Mary's house, and Ceasar's Palace. Just the base coat, mind you. All shading and accentying still needs to be done. It was COLD and windy. At one point, the wind was blowing so hard, it kept knocking our work over. It was at this point that we decided to call it a day. The kids played in the sandbox and on the playground but soon headed up to the Student Cafe to chill and get warm. It was a productive day.

The rest of the day we just chilled. I felt like I never got warm and it was almost 7pm before I came out from under the covers. I had to feed the kids because if I don't, no one else will. Right Jay?

It was a good day.

We have just gotten home from a loooong day at church. It was my turn to provide dinner for the Youth Group (did I already mention that?) and so I decided to make it at the church. After worship, we went out to lunch with a bunch of people - tried a new restaurant and it was pretty good. After that, we went back to church because I had choir practice. The kids stayed in the Youth Room and played. They have all kinds of video games and Alex loves to hang out there. I made Hobo Stew and it turned out great. Wendy helped me by bringing salad and bread. We have a crock pot full left over so we have lunch and dinner for a few days. Yuuuummmmm!

I am glad that today was a busy day and that I had lots to be thankful for. Tonight I am thankful for my family, I am thankful for my church family, I am thankful for the many opportunities to serve. I am thankful for all the people that care for me and about me. Thank you Lord for your provision, even today, and for always knowing exactly what I need and when I need it. Today I am thankful for the season of grief that you gave me so that I could clearly see how you carried me when I was too weak to stand on my own. I am thankful for the way and the timing in which you revealed yourself to me. You gave me a new song to sing and I am grateful!

Congratulations to Jay for being nominated and voted a Deacon in our church! Wow, I am married to Deacon Jay!

Busy Sunday

Today was a great day - lots going on, lots to be thankful for.

I ended up making about 4 dozen little tarts and I don't know how many sausage pinwheels to take for breakfast. They ended up looking fabulous on my Pampered Chef Chillzanne platter after I put some bright red strawberries in the center. What a shock when I got to my Sunday School class and not only did we have a guest teacher but about 10 extra people! It was almost standing room only! It was a very interesting talk - about the history of the New Testament Church and the Independent Christian Church. After that we went upstairs to hear Carlos preach a great sermon on Mat 6:25. You could tell he was very nervous at first but he settled down and really did a great job. I was able to sit with Sue Cates since Jay went to help Bobby cook down at the pavillion. We had a cookout after worship, hosted by Bobby's shepherding group (we are in his group) and the Women's Leadership Team was invited to attend as well. I grabbed a plate and followed the other ladies back to the Fellowship Hall for our meeting. I was on the Nominating Committee to help find replacements for certain positions that have become vacant. It was an arduous task to find someone to fill the President's position and I worried and stressed about it for days. After talking to Sue, I stopped worrying because all the worry wasn't helping me find an answer and I became convicted that the correct person or persons would be revealed to us at the right time. And they were. Sue and Wendy have promised to prayerfully consider being co-presidents. That would be a wonderful combination!

Alex went to play at his friends house this afternoon. He is currently grounded from watching tv, playing on the computer and from playing the GameCube. He has not been diligent with his school responsibilities. He completes his homework each day just as he is supposed to but he is not careful to actually turn the papers in when they are due. He did this (or didn't do this) two weeks in a row. So we are going to try to shift his focus away from the menial to the important by revoking certain privilages. He sure has been reading a lot!

Mary had her friend Ashlyn come over today. They played outside for a long time and then came in to work on a puzzle. I was able to tackle the dining room. It has become a war zone! We have gotten used to dumping our junk in there and leaving it because we can't see it from anywhere else in the house. It has gotten bad. I had Jay buy me a bookshelf so each kid could have a shelf to keep their school work on. This will also help Alex keep up with his homework each week. I sorted all the tons and tons of papers that we have. I need to buy baskets to keep these papers in so they remain organized. Jay also promised to hang the mirror that I've had leaning against the wall for a solid year now. It is huge, black, and beautiful and I can't wait until it is up. It may even happen tomorrow!!!! I asked Joel if he was up to helping out with it and he said yes. If I get my dining room in order I just may have to have a dinner party to celebrate!

Tomorrow is Monday - and you know I love my Mondays! Wendy has invited me to have lunch with her and I am really looking forward to it because we are going to Red Lobster. Yum!!!! I also have Tuesday off of work since it is election day. My school and the kids' school are closed. I hope I manage to make the time to vote. I don't know how I'll do it w/ all three kids home with me and Jay at work.

I didn't think I'd have anything to say on day #2 of NaBloPoMo but it has turned out to be a long post! Good for me!

This and That

It's been a long time.

Who has time to blog anyway? There aren't enought hours in the day to do the things I have to do. Then at night I must surf for porn. I have to. It's an addiction and I must do it. Okay - not really! I realize that I occasionally get guest readers on here and they may read that and think I'm a big perv. For the record - I do not surf for porn! I own most of my porn. No, no, just kidding again!

So, I've been having a lot of trouble keeping my house clean. Well, it's never been clean to begin with so it's not hard keeping it in a state that it was never in. There's nothing like expecting a bunch of church ladies to come over to kick my behind into high gear and make me clean. That and finally buying a new vacuum cleaner. I love my little vacuum cleaner. It is so cute and small and light and it works! I'm still going to buy a mac daddy vacuum but this one will do for now. So last week, I cleaned most of the downstairs windows. Nasty. I hung curtains. Okay - Jay hung the curtains. But I picked them out! So last week, on Thursday, about 15 ladies from my Unity group came all the way out to Loganville to visit. It was fabulous. Sharon was our guest speaker and she did a great job!!! I didn't know she was such a good speaker. We really enjoyed having her. So, the food was good, the fellowship even better. It was all good.

Yesterday was the Women's Retreat. It was held at Lorna Cook's home and we had a great turnout. We watched a dvd series of Joni Erakson Tada. It was okay. I have to admit, I didn't love it. But it was okay. We had break out sessions and we actually had to work. We had our lunch catered by Jason's Deli. I was in charge of games. Why am I always in charge of games? I came up with four games and I think the ladies had a good time playing. The first was people bingo. The second was a game where they each had a line from a song and they had to find the other ladies that had their same song, put the lyrics in order, and then sing the song. It was a favorite. Another game was Animal Scramble. Each lady received a card w/ an animal name on it. They had to find all the other like animals in the room to make up their pack but they couldn't talk - they could only make the animal sound. I loved that one! They had so much fun being silly. The last one was Bible Trivia. I had lots of great prizes from Expressions by CK. Katherine gave me a great discount since it was for church. I think the Retreat turned out great and I hope everyone was pleased.

I came home and Mary was at Megan's bday party. I went to relieve Jay since he had to figure out how to bring Alex home from my dad's. Long story. I ended up staying a while because the girls were having a great time.

Today Mary is sick. All three have had the sore throat thing but in different weeks. She had a 102 degree fever this morning. She and I stayed home from church. She took some Motrin and seems fine but I can't ignore the fever from this morning. This means she will miss Ally's bday party this afternoon. I hate that! She was looking forward to it - and so was I!

The geese are here!

There are geese at Mount Carmel that make a nest every single year. The nest is always in the same place, across from the front entrance of the school just beyond the portico. We had come out of Sunday School yesterday and just happened to look outside. We saw the Mama Goose leading her little goslings (is that right?) across the street back to their nest. It was truly a sight.

Walking back up the hill to her nest.

Settling into the nest. Cute!

Hanging by the gym.