Happy Thanksgiving

We had a GREAT praise service tonight and didn't get out until around 10:00. The Robbie Mullinax family showed up and they were such a blessing! I have some videos and when I get around to downloading them I'll share them with you.

I'm killing time right now, here at 1:50 in the morning. My cheesecake is in the setting process now. I'll pull it out of the oven in about 15 more minutes and let it cool completely on the table. Tomorrow morning I'll get up and mix my crock pot mac and cheese mixture and carry it to my mother in laws to cook before heading to my parent's home for milkshakes. By the time we make it back to my mother in law's it will be finished.

It's a good thing I had a good nap today. Looks like it's going to be a short night of sleep. LOL But I'm thankful that we'll be able to spend the day with our families.

I wish you ALL a Happy Thanksgiving!!

A Little Pet Peeve on Driving

So I'm on my way to the store this morning and I needed to turn left across the highway. A truck facing the opposite direction also needed to turn left, which meant crossing over each other. We're both at the median and I zipped up to where I was suppose to be, right there where his lane stops and he should have pulled up where my lane stops. In other words, as we both crossed intersections, we would be pulling behind the other one. Not facing each other as we turned. Do you get it? This is simple driving deduction. The first rule of the road is always stay to the right. If you're having to turn to left, you pull all the way up to do that. Mainly, because if you don't, how will you and the other driver see around each other. It makes it very difficult. This really gets under my skin. Especially since I'm in a smaller car and taller vehicles most definitely make it difficult for me to see around them when they don't follow the rules of the road. You would be surprised how many people do NOT understand this simple driving rule.

Another pet peeve while driving are people that drive in the passing lane. Listen closely. The right lane is the driving lane. The left lane is the passing lane. When you drive the speed limit, or worse, five miles under the speed limit in the left lane, you're setting yourself up for someone's road rage. Trust me. It will probably be mine. Again, this would fall under the stay to the right rule of the road. Simple, simple...so you'd think. Now, when my husband reads this he'll be looking at me like I'm crazy because this is HIS biggest pet peeve, even over and above it being mine. I'll admit that I tend to stay in the left lane a little longer than I should, but I do get back over to the right when I have the all clear.

*sigh* Wow, I feel better getting that off my chest!

Here's a pic of Bruce holding the cheesecake I made yesterday. It turned out so good!!

Early Thanksgiving

We are very blessed to have our family living here just a few minutes from us in each direction. All, except of course, Mitch and Angie, who are currently living in another state while he is serving in the military. We miss them around the holidays and wish they were here.
Mitch and Angie, If y'all read this, we love you guys and hope to see you soon!

Having family close by has its rewards, no doubt! After our Wednesday Night Praise service, the children will go home with their grandparents and then Bruce and I will go over Thursday morning for a traditional breakfast feast of milkshakes! That's right...milkshakes! The milkshakes will cover your three basic flavors, but also branch out into creativity. Which is always fun. Daddy will make the mess of making the milkshakes, while mom pretends to be upset because we're in her way in the kitchen.

After milkshakes and a few Ooooos and Ahhhhs of the Thanksgiving parades on TV, we will gather up our little belongings and head over to Bruce's mother's house for Thanksgiving dinner where a veritable feast will ensue of Turkey, dressing, and all the trimmings. Followed by the rubbing of tummies and regrets of having that last portion of dressing and potato salad. However, the regrets will not stop us from just a sliver of pie or a pinch of special brownies.

Since we do spend a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with family, I have always tried to have a Thanksgiving dinner here at our house for my family, with just us five, making memories and traditions. I know that when my children are grown, there is a possibility that they will scatter to the four winds. Or in this case, three winds. :D So doing things like this is important to me. It doesn't matter that it's not on the actual day. Just so long as we have the time together. For all too soon, they will be gone, living their own lives, with their own families.

So anyway, our Thanksgiving Day is today. My cheesecake is in the oven. We'll not discuss the cheesecake. Judging from what I see through the oven window, and the fact that there is thirty-one minutes left on the timer, we may not be eating it. LOL ETS: The cheesecake came out lovely. It is nice and firm and looks like it will be delicious!

Tom is in the fridge. I'm getting ready to pull him out and dress him before popping him into the oven. He's so big I'm figuring on him cooking for quite some time. We'll have rice, green beans, dressing and gravy, corn, crock pot mac and cheese, potato salad, deviled eggs, rolls, and mom's punch. I don't know about you, but I'm already hungry!

Bruce had to work first shift this week and Justin is taking tonight from school. So we'll all be home this evening. I'm looking forward to this. With our busy schedules (especially Bruce's and Justin's) it will be nice to all be home together and enjoy the evening.

I Chronicles 16:34 "O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good; for His
mercy endureth forever."

Sunday Happenings

Hannah spent the night with Kelsey last night so it was just me and my guys on the way to church this morning.
I have no idea what he's thinking here, but doesn't he look mischievous?


Harry-boy...every time I say his name like that, I think of Veggie Tales. I guess because of Larry Boy.


Justin was wearing his suave smile this morning.


This is Christopher. Christopher is a very special young man at our church and we love him so much! He will be having surgery next Monday to replace his pacemaker. Please put him on your prayer list.

It was GREAT seeing Tyler at church today. We've missed seeing him each week. He is currently a cadet at the Citadel. We're proud of him. Look at Crystal. She's obviously proud of him too. LOL

This is babygirl and her mama, our associate pastor's wife. I can't really go into detail, but they need prayer also. Babygirl is also very special to our church!!

Hiding and Milkshakes

Harrison has a touch of asthma and sometimes has a night of bad coughing. When he does have a bad night he'll move into the living room. It's usually cooler in the living room and that seems to help him, I think. Anyway, when I came through Friday morning, this is what I found. He was sound asleep and covered completely. At first I thought it was just his blanket and figured he had been in there but went back to bed, leaving his blanket and John Deere pillow on the couch. But nope. He was there. I saw his feet!


We had dinner at Fatz Friday night and then went to Chick fil A for a milkshake. Bruce had the strawberry and I had the peppermint Chocolate Chip. YUM! Just another reason to love Christmas.

Yes, I Really Did Burp

OK, so I left this out of the previous post, but here it is 1:30 in the morning and I'm laying in bed laughing hysterically and had to come back to share this story.

As most of you know, I do not allow the passing of gas in any way, shape, or form in my presence. It is not something I overlook in my children's behavior, this most definitely includes burping. Oh, I think that is one of the rudest things to do in public. It shows just how uncivilized a person is.

Anyway, I am still not feeling my best since having had the stomach flu last week and therefore, I have been sipping on a lot of coke. Today was no different.

I had just finished a rather large glass of coke when I got up to go to the kitchen to check on supper. I peeked in at the meatballs simmering in one crock pot and turned to peek at the mac and cheese in the other crock pot when all of the sudden there it was. The most obscene, deep, and growling sound came rumbling out from between my lips. I quickly thrust my hand over my mouth and stood very still. All the while thinking, Was that me? When reality settled in, I realized that it was me, and began to giggle.

Bruce, who was reading quietly on the couch, asked, "What are you giggling at?"

"Did you not hear that?"

"Yeah, I heard it. What was it?"

"That was ME! I burped!"

"You burped? I thought you were dragging something across the counter top."

His statement tore me out of the frame laughing.

So, yeah, I really did burp. I guess I'm human.

Just for Laughs

My friend, Jennie in Texas, sent me an email that had some Christian one liners in it. Most all of them I had heard before, but there was one on there I had not heard and it totally cracked me up. It said, "Why do some people feel the need to change churches? What difference does it make which one they stay home from?" Thanks, Jennie. That was funny!!

My friend, Lucy, also sent me an email. It was a story of a man and woman coming home from a weekend trip. The traffic was moving slowly and the man noticed a bumper sticker on another car that read Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8. The man's Bible was on the dash so he picked it up to find the passage. That verse reads, "Let his days be few; and let another take his office." ha! I love it. I want one of those bumper stickers!!

I was watching Ace of Cakes on Food Network this evening. Do you watch that? They make some amazing cakes. Blows my mind! Anyway, one of the cake decorators was going through the company's email orders and a young woman wrote to say she would like to order a wedding cake from them. Her email said, "This is my first wedding. I want it to be special." Her FIRST wedding? I wonder what kind of cake she'll want for her NEXT wedding.
:D

After the depression we've felt this week, the laughter was nice. Thank you, my friends, for the giggles.

We had planned on going to the funeral home for the Sanney and Henderson family today and I'm glad we went.

The family was taking their loss as well as could be expected. I know we hear those words a lot in times like these, but you could see the peace and love of God on them.

Bruce and I both feel this is just the saddest thing. Two young people, head over hills in love with each other, serving God together, and only nine days into their marriage, the life they've planned and hoped for becomes something they never expected. My heart really does hurt for them.

God is good though. We will continue to pray and God will continue to heal these broken hearts.
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I've been dealing with a migraine today. At 2:00 this morning I was hurting so bad I was near tears. My scalp is sore where it was throbbing. It eased up this afternoon and I'm thankful I made it to the funeral home and then on to church. The headache is trying to rear its ugly head again and I am feeling a little nauseated. Oh, I wish I knew what brought these on. I'm thinking today it is the weather. Lord willing, it will be a memory come morning!!
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Justin is trying to get on with the fire department. He's been gathering some information and has some paperwork to fill out for a local squad. He's pretty sure this is what the Lord wants. So if it is the Lord's will, all those doors will open. I'm eager to see what happens for him.
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Hannah is baking cookies and making peanut butter candy and fudge to sell. Cookies include: Sugar cookies (iced or plain), Cinnamon Pinwheels, Peanut Butter Blossoms (with Hershey Kisses in the middle), classic chocolate chips, and mint. The cookies are $3 a dz, except for the PB Blossoms. They're $5. And the PB Candy and Fudge is $8 a pan (9x13). So if you live close and you're interested in some homemade desserts for the holidays, let her know!
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Harrison is excited about Christmas Eve. Paw Paw asked if he would read the Christmas story this year. He just smiled from ear to ear. I think that's sweet.
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Bruce has been working a little bit of overtime. Which is a blessing. Things were slowing down considerably and they were going to make them take the whole week of Thanksgiving and Christmas off. Which was fine with me. It would be nice to have him home. But it would also mean no pay for those days. LOL But things have picked up a bit and now he's getting some overtime and they changed the schedule back to a regular Thanksgiving week schedule. As wonderful as it would be to have him home, we prayed for work to pick up so we're not going to complain. :D
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I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Sweet dreams to you and to me both!

God Will Make This Trial A Blessing

Bruce works with a man whose son-in-law was killed in a motorcycle accident yesterday. The newlyweds have only been married a week.

As this weekend approaches, the family of this young man and the families of the two teens that drowned Sunday will have many prayers lifted up on their behalf.

My heart has hurt deeply for these families as they bury their children just a few days before Thanksgiving. Each of these three young men were someone to somebody. They were sons, grandchildren, nephews, a husband, a son-in-law, a friend. Thankfully, they all have testimonies of knowing the Lord.

I was going through my videos today and found this one of Missy singing God Will Make This Trial A Blessing. God WILL make these trials a blessing. I don't know how. I don't know when. But He will. In His time and in His way, He will make a blessing out of all of this.

Always Something

On our way to church last night we were a couple of miles from the church when we ran into several policemen, firetrucks, ambulances, and a lot of people. When we got to the church we found out they were looking for two teenage boys. Sadly, they did find the boys, drowned in a pond during some Sunday afternoon fishing.

By their own testimony and the accounts of their Youth Pastor, both boys had accepted Christ and met their Savior yesterday afternoon.

All of the details are not sorted, but they know their boat flipped over. One boy was found by the boat. The other near the bank. The water in this pond has dried up considerably, however all the rain we've had recently stirred up mud and everything else in the pond, making it nearly impossible to find one boy. The boys were cousins and neither of them could swim.

Today for our family devotions I wanted to do something about giving thanks. I'd like to do that between now and Thanksgiving. So my verses today were from I Thessalonians 5: 16-18, "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

I have grieved for the families of these two boys all day long. So thankful that when I got up out of bed this morning I was able to kiss my son goodbye and tell him I love him before he left for school. Thankful that my other two children were in the house, sitting at the table, doing their schoolwork. I want to find the mothers of these two boys and just hold them and cry with them. The pain and suffering I know they must be feeling right now.

As I read over these verses I realized that even though these families are walking through the darkest and loneliest valley they have been in, they have a reason to rejoice evermore. By their son's testimonies, they are with the Lord today in Heaven. Even in times like these, there is a reason to rejoice.

I am sure that during this time, they are praying and leaning on their Heavenly Father to get them through this time.

I am also sure that they will find a reason to give thanks. We can not see into the future. God may use the deaths of these two young men for His glory to bring others to know Him also. Maybe there was something God was sparing them from in the future. We'll never know what His reasons were for taking these young men, but we can give thanks that He is God and He is in control of all things and this was His will for their lives.

There is always something to rejoice in. There is always something to pray for. There is always something to give thanks for.

Pray for these families, that God will move in their lives and that He will show Himself clearly to them in these dark hours.

God is good...all the time...even in times like these.

I'm Ready! Are You Ready?

I'm ready for the Christmas season to get started. I don't know why. Usually I am all about getting through each individual holiday. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving, but I am so ready for all the pretties of Christmas. The lights, the decorations, the atmosphere. I have been so tempted to start pulling out my nativities.

Harrison thought Christmas came early this week when mom and dad gave him daddy's iPod Nano. Daddy doesn't use it anymore so they gave it to Harrison. Justin and Hannah have the iPod Classic and Harrison is happy to have the Nano now. I loaded all of his favorite songs on there and he's one happy kid!


There's a house here in our hometown that has their own light show every year. They, alone, are becoming as famous as McAdenville's Christmas Town USA. Bruce and I usually always make plans to drive through McAdenville and stop at Krispy Kreme for doughnut and chocolate milk, but since this one house is just five minutes from us, we do always drive through and every year they have something new. It's a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to Dec 1 when all these lights are officially turned on and the Christmas season gets underway.

I got tickled when I got this picture in an email because it kind of reminded me of the house up the road from us. I love the house next to it. LOL


School is going good. Everyone is on schedule. Which is odd for this time of year. We're usually well ahead of schedule so we can take a long Christmas break. I guess I'll have to light the fire and do some night schooling or doubling up if we're going to do that this year. I enjoy taking the extra time off school to enjoy the holiday season.

The month of December is usually filled with parties and get-togethers, and all kinds of fun things. I'm hoping this year will be a little different for us and not so busy. My husband would like it if I would just say no to some things. So this year I plan on saying no to things. *sigh* It is so not in my character to say no because I'm somewhat of a social butterfly, but I know it will make him happy.

I'll be digging through our Christmas videos and DVD's and hopefully we will have watched every single one of them between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I plan on taking the kids to each of their grandparent's homes and spending a day with them just watching Christmas movies, drinking hot chocolate, and enjoying the season.

I'm ready! Are you ready??

God Will Send a Moses

Here's Pure Harmony from church singing, God Will Send A Moses.

Trip to Valle Cruisis

A couple of friends, along with Hannah and myself, went to Valle Cruisis, near Boone, for the weekend. We had a good time together.

Before picking up Mander's sister, we stopped to see her daddy. He is just the sweetest man. It was good seeing him again.


When we got to the house in VC, Janet started preparing supper. She fixed her Italian grilled chicken and pasta. MMMMmmm!


We had stopped at McDonald's for lunch on the way up. Mrs. Janet just had a drink and ketchup for lunch.

Wow...I have no idea who she is.

Mander-girl. :D

Sweet Kaylyn

Hannah spent pretty much the entire weekend in this bed reading that book and another one. Celine was talking to Hannah and Carissa was playing with some game cards. Skip-Bo, I think?

I gave Carissa and Celine a makeover. This is Carissa's before picture.

And this is her after picture.

Celine before....

Celine after...

They were playing on the steps and stopped long enough to take some pictures for me.

The view out the window from the top of the steps.

I colored Kaylyn's hair while we were there. I'd never done that before. It was fun. I wanted to highlight Kendra's, but Janet said no. MOTHERS!

Hannah and Kendra were playing Speed, Hannah's new favorite game to play. She can be so mean when she wins. LOL

We spent the weekend, literally, laying around in our jammers, eating chocolate covered marshmallows that Janet made, and reading, watching movies, and talking. It was nice.

When we left Saturday afternoon, we stopped at the Mast Store Candy Barrel. They had all sorts of yummy candies in there. There were little bushel baskets for you to shop with. I overheard Mander tell Celine, "Honey, we're not getting one of everything, put some of that back." Well, duh, Mander!! We're in a CANDY STORE!!! LOL

While the others shopped for sweets, Hannah, Kendra, and I went to scope out the old church.

As we drove on out of town, you could see the house from the road. It is so pretty up there!

We dropped Kaylyn off at her house on the way back down the mountain. I know Mander wishes her sissy lived closer.

Janet wanted BBQ for lunch. We looked and looked for a BBQ place and drove right past this one. How in the world we missed this GIANT pink building, I'll never know. After turning around and missing the entrance, and turning around again to turn around again, we finally made it there and boy was it good! I had the Memphis chicken. YUM!

At first I thought Celine's daddy had joined us. But no, it's just her in a mask.

We had a good time taking Kaylyn with us. She needed the fellowship of her family and friends. We love her and pray for her!!

You can see the rest of our trip pictures by clicking HERE if you want.

Bus Ministry Fall Festival

Harvest Party and Fall Festivals

Saturday night we went to my friend's house for a Harvest party. She made all kinds of yummy soups, all homemade. Cream of broccoli, chicken noodle, taco,....mmmm, mmmm! They were so good!!

Carissa showed up to the harvest party dressed as a pumpkin. Have you ever seen a cuter one?

The guys sat in the den and chit chatted while us gals cackled in the kitchen.

Tammy and Mander...

Angelic Angie...

Beautiful Brenda...

Joyous Janet...

Loco Logan...no really, he is one crazy kid! LOL

We had a great time of fellowship and went home full as a tick. Fun, fun!! Thanks, Greg and Janet, for a fun evening. Love y'all!!

We knew Sunday morning was going to be extra good when we saw the E family walk in with that wonderfully sweet, Marigrace!!! We've prayed so hard for her and her family these last few weeks. What a great sight to see that little smile pass across her face when Pastor called her name from the pulpit. Sweet, sweet!!

Sunday afternoon we had the church's fall festival. Tigger showed up and made his way from game to game, earning his little treats.

I also found him in the ice chest...

AND! He found the candy stash!!

Here's Carissa singing us a song at the Harvest Party.

Things Aren't Always As They Seem

Sometimes our problems in life seem big at first glance.

It all depends on how we look at them.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28