Local Field Trip Day

Hannah has spent the week in Tennessee with my mom, visiting my Aunt Janice. They've had a really good time. They were able to visit Brother Tony Hutson's church, Middle Tennessee Baptist, Wednesday night. My Aunt loved it and is looking forward to visiting again on Sunday with mom and Hannah. They've decided to stay a couple of extra days and won't be home until sometime Monday evening. I'll be glad to see my baby girl again.

Harrison and I decided to take a field trip today to our local museum. We didn't know what the exhibit was until we got there. It was the Girl Scouts from the year they started to present date. It was interesting to see how the badges and uniforms have changed over the years. They had a table set up where you could make a paper pocket knife so we did that. I told Harrison it gave a whole new meaning to a paper cut.

Next we stopped at the Library. For some reason, both Harrison and I were not in the system and we ended up having to get new library cards. Which was fine. Harrison finally checked out two books he's been dying to get for months. Everytime we go, the entire series is checked out. So he was glad there were two there and has enjoyed reading them today.

After the library we met Bruce at Love's Fish Box for lunch. Love's is the BEST fish camp in our area, in our opinion. We had a great lunch together and then home for a little rest before Bruce had to leave for work.

A friend came over for a visit this afternoon and it was so nice to sit and chat for a while. I enjoyed it very much!

Now we're just waiting on Justin to get back from practicing with one of the groups at church. I know he'll be exhausted when he gets here. He's been up a long time today and I'm sure he'll be ready to hit the sack when he gets home.

I'm outta here. Y'all have a good night/morning/evening.... whatever. :D

Just Bubbling With Excitement!!

I turn the BIG 40 today. Someone asked me this morning how it felt to be forty. Well, about the same as it felt yesterday when I was thirty-nine. LOL
I've always loved my birthdays and this year is no different. I am too blessed to be stressed over age!! God has been good to me and if He allows me another forty years, I'll be praising Him still.
I wrote a little poem last night just for the day. Here it is:
I'll be forty today, 'tis no lie. Like some I could sit and boo hoo and cry
but instead I think I'll take the day, and yell, "YEE HAW, I got something' to say!
I am not feeble, I am not old, 'You look so young' I'm often told.
So please no sympathy for me, I like my birthday, if fills me with glee.
Yeah, I'm forty and feelin' real great, a lot of it's due to my special mate.
I'm looking forward to another great year, 'cause forty-one is nothing to fear."
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Justin will be here soon. He and Jeremy should be pulling in anytime. I know they've had a great week at camp and I can't wait to hear about it. I've been overly excited just thinking about it. He'll be home all next week before returning for the summer. So I'm looking forward to having my boy home a few days. His phone isn't working and, of course, they don't have Internet access where he's at. So we don't get to communicate. That would explain why I'm so excited to see him, I guess. I've missed him. Our whole family has.
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Our church is having dinner on the grounds this Sunday after the morning worship service. This will be our first churchwide event since the new building has been completed. We're looking forward to that and I'm sure I'll have pictures to share with you later.
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Then Monday we'll be going toward Lake Lure to spend the day at my Uncle's home. My mom's brothers and sisters will be there, with my cousins and their families. Some of them I've only met through facebook and some of them I've seen once in thirty years. I am so looking forward to it. It will be so nice seeing everyone.
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I hope your fourth of July weekend is as exceptional as mine is going to be. Our country has taken some different paths and I feel we are losing touch.....no.....lost touch.....with the God that it was founded upon. But we still live in the greatest country ever. I am thankful to be an American. I am thankful to be a child of God.
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“It can not be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!”
~*~Patrick Henry~*~

Junior Campers

Ashley and I took the juniors to camp yesterday. This is the same camp where Justin and Jeremy are working for the summer.

It was good to see my boy. He said his first week of camp with juniors was excellent. The Lord blessed and thirteen got saved. I believe he said two of those, the Lord let him lead to Christ. He's looking forward to the next few weeks and what God has in store for him and the campers.

I got our girls settled in. They were a little nervous, but very excited about the upcoming week at camp.

I was able to make sure the boys got settled into their cabin also. They were really happy to find out that they were in the same cabin and that Justin would be their counselor.

It made the girls a little more comfortable, too, knowing Justin would be around to look out for them.

As we were leaving, we saw Justin and his crew heading to the church for evening service.

Praying they have a fun, safe week and that the Lord does good things for them while they're there.

And One More Busy Weekend...

I've been spending some time at my mom's house, helping her do some things, which I was able to complete today. I primed and painted her hearth for her. That was a JOB, let me tell ya!! But it's finished and it looks so much better.

I also painted a mirror and sconce set she already had. I think the black looks so much prettier. I like it a lot better than when it was white.

I had a lot of fun doing these projects. I have some touch up work I need to get to for her on her walls. Lord willing, I can get to those before next week.
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Of course yesterday was Father's Day. We had two wonderful services at church. One young man was saved Sunday night and then Pastor baptized a lady Sunday night also. Praise the Lord!
We celebrated with Bruce by having one of his favorite meals for dinner. Justin had to go back to the camp and wasn't going to be able to come home with us after church so he opened his gifts before the morning service. He just died laughing at the card from the kids. They bought him a parental translator of what kids say to what they mean. It was really funny and I just loved how he got cracked up.


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Saturday was Justin's 19th birthday. He got home from the camp around 5:00 and we celebrated with his grandmothers.

He wanted pizza, so of course Pizza Hut was on the menu.

And since we're a Tar Heel family, he got the white and Carolina Blue with banners birthday cake! :P

We got into a little icing fight. I would have won, but he overtook me in the end. Oh well... maybe next time.

His cake and ice cream.... ugh, I get sick just looking at it.

He wanted a video camera to take to camp so this is the one we got him, only the one we got him is red. It's really nice. I think he'll get some good stuff on it.

We had a good evening with him.

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Friday night, Brother Johnathan, Mrs. Jennifer, and myself, took the youth group bowling. It was so much fun. This bowling alley is pretty far away, but it is very family oriented and had a good atmosphere. Great place to take the youth. It was so fun bowling with them and watching them bowl was hilarious.

Brother Johnathan being his nutty, turkey-self. lol

And this was the final score. Brother Johnathan had 46 pts, I was in second with 64, and Mrs. Jennifer was in first place with 150. Great job, Mrs. Jennifer!!!!

After bowling we took the youth to McDonald's. They really know how to eat!

Some of the crazy girls on the van! lol

You can't go through Gastonia without stopping at Krispy Kreme! And when the red light is on...well...you know what THAT means!

Poor Mrs. Jennifer never gets out of Shelby. Needless to say she was really excited about getting to go to Krispy Kreme. :P

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It was a terrific last few days. Looking forward to some much needed time this weekend with my family our two extra daughters that stay with us from time to time. Celine and Carissa will be with us. Love those girls!

Happy Birthday, Justin!!

Happy Birthday to my eldest son, Justin. I love ya, son!

This is one of my favorite pictures of him. He was goofing off one night and dressed up as Mr. Monopoly. He's so silly sometimes. Much like his daddy! :)

Justin has always been a mild mannered young man, with a tender heart. He is a lot like his dad in that he is straight up and honest with you. I have to say he is much more patient than I am. He seems to keep his cool when I seem to blow my top. Sometimes I'll get riled about something and he'll pat me on the shoulder and say, "It's ok. God's got this!" LOL And he never seems to worry that much. When certain needs arise, I worry for him and he always says, "Ahh, I'm not worried about it. God will provide." And he's right. God always does provide. It's a blessing to see him rest in knowing God will take care of things and he doesn't have to wring his hands and worry.

The Lord opened some doors for Justin to work at a Christian camp over the summer. He left this past Wednesday to go for his counselor training. He'll be back Saturday night and we'll be celebrating his birthday with his grandmothers.

Lord willing he'll be home most every weekend over the summer. So it'll be good to have him home, but I'll miss him through the week. Whatever will we do with all the supper leftovers from him not being here??? LOL Just kidding, Justin!

Justin was born over seas while Bruce was in the military. We came back stateside and back to our hometown when he was just about to turn one. I'm really thankful that he had the opportunity to grow up around his grandparents and grow up in our former church and the church we're at now. I could not ask for better friends and better influences that God has placed in his life.

Please pray for him as he and his friend, Jeremy, are working at the camp this summer, that the Lord will bless their time there, that He will speak to their hearts and help them as they deal with the campers.

Justin, I'm proud of you. You're a wonderful son and your dad and I are so fortunate that the Lord saw fit to lend you to us. We love you! Happy Birthday.

III John 1:4 "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."

Of Busy Weekends and EMT Pinnings

It's going to be a busy weekend!
The children are at mom's house today. Harrison is going to hang out with her while Justin takes Hannah on some errands. I'm doing laundry and getting ready to run to the post office to mail tests and other things.
Oh yes, tests....Hannah and Harrison finished their testing and so we now have a high school junior and a sixth grader. AHhhhh
Tomorrow, I will, most likely, be helping set up for the SIGMA Banquet, which is this Saturday, then a trip to Clover with my friend, Rebecca, and then a graduation in Blacksburg, which I totally forgot about until I was typing this. Shhh, don't tell her. It's going to be a run-run day tomorrow!! lol
Friday is packed with my usual Friday things. Groceries, gassing up the car, running errands.... And then Saturday we'll be cleaning house and getting ready for the banquet.
On Sunday, we will be attending the homecoming at our former church, Liberty. We're looking forward to seeing the people there and having a time of fellowship with them. Then Sunday night is our graduation service. We take time to honor our graduates before the preaching. It's always a great service. And then we'll have a reception for the high school graduates with the youth group.
Congratulations, Raven, Clayton, and James. We look forward to seeing what you do next!
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Justin was pinned last night for his EMT. I didn't get to go. But someone took pictures, so here's a few.

Good job, Justin! Keep up the hard work. :)
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It looks like some doors are opening for him to do something for the Lord this summer. We're praying about it with him. He's been praying about it for a year or so now. He "laid out his fleece" for June 6th. So keep him in your prayers and we'll see what happens.

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Judges 6:37-40, "Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if
the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then
shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. And it
was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and
wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto
God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let
me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only
upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that
night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the
ground."

Quick Post...

Justin has been doing some fishing with his friends lately and it's become one of his favorite hobbies, I think. When he called today to say that they were going to be at a lake just up the road, Bruce and I decided to drive up and snap some pictures of them fishing. When we got there he was pulling this "little" carp out of the water.

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It's been a good Saturday. Been busy with laundry, making a dinner to take to a friend who just had surgery, walking around the lake with Bruce, enjoying the ducks and the birds and wild flowers, and then later we'll be attending a Graduation party for a young man in our church. Looking forward to that.

Hope y'all have had a great Saturday and are looking forward to a day in the Lord's house tomorrow.

It's Official...He's a Firefighter

Congratulations, Justin. We are so proud of you!

II Timothy 4:7 "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith."

He Passed and How 'Bout Some Music?

I went to a birthday lunch for a friend of mine today. We ate at the Olive Garden, then back to the church for some cake. But this cake wasn't it! When I got home from the birthday lunch, Hannah told me Chip called and said Justin told him to call and tell us to have the cake ready, he passed his EMT state exam. He is now certified as emergency medical technician. So after church tonight mom and Hannah stopped for cake and ice cream and we had a little celebration for him. I think he'll probably go for the next level when he gets out of the fire academy. I'm not sure, but I have a feeling he's thinking about it. Anyway, the cake was so good. There was German chocolate, coconut, red velvet, and yellow with chocolate icing.


He had received a certificate in the mail yesterday but we were confused because they said the results wouldn't even be posted until Tuesday or later. But it was confirmed today. So he was on cloud nine when he got home.


While I was cutting the cake for everyone, Bruce was being a dork. LOL I love my goofy hubster.


He bought a classical guitar last night and played a little something for us. It has a beautiful sound!

I told Hannah last week that he was exhibiting all the signs of wanting a new guitar. So when he asked me last night if I'd be ok if he brought one home, Hannah and I just looked at each other and laughed.

So yay for Bruce's new guitar. And yay for Justin passing his exam.

James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

Ladders, Giggles, and Demonstrations

And there she is! Our pink helmet-wearin' firefighter. She has a great smile and seemed to be a very nice girl.

The other female in the group might have to drop out because of a severe case of bronchitis. I hope she recovers quickly. Bronchitis can be so bad for some people.
ETS: This IS the female that was sick with bronchitis. For some reason I thought there were two girls in the academy, but when Justin read this post he said no, it was just the girl above. So obviously she is feeling better. That's good.

Justin called me today and said to come take pics. I told him I'd be there if I could, but was doing pictures for a little cutie pie, on top of school work. Fortunately everything was completed by a little after 3:00 and I was able to get to the academy just as they were getting ready to do the ladders.

I didn't mind it at first, but when my little boy started climbing up...and up...and up...I just aimed the camera and closed my eyes to shoot. I couldn't watch. Ok, not really. I watched. Of course I watched! They would climb one ladder and enter a window, walk the floor, then climb out another window onto another ladder. Now, the climbing up and into a window wasn't so bad. It was watching him climb out of the window onto the ladder that gave me the heebie geebies!




This is the part that got me. Ugh! He seemed to like it. Even though he's never been one for heights. I was proud of him.



Did I already say Ugh?



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This is the little girl I took pictures of today. Isn't she adorable? She was so cute. I've only got to see her a couple of times and I really enjoyed having her here. She's a sweetheart.




We got so cracked up at this picture below. There was a neighbor's dog that came into the yard and she thought he was hilarious. She would hold her hand over her face and giggle. It was just so cute!






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Justin has his state test for his EMT tomorrow. Which if you remember from an earlier post, we were praying they would let him go from the academy in time to make it for the test. They did! His papers were signed and he'll be able to go. Praise the Lord! So now, please pray he'll do a good job and pass. He made it home just in time to shower, eat, and head out to his study group.



Bruce is working a lot of overtime. The company that bought the company he works for wants production tripled, if not more. Which, if you live around here, you most likely need a job. So I'm thankful that he has steady work and even overtime coming in and it would be great if some people in the area were hired to fill some positions. Right now they have a freeze on hiring. Maybe when things settle from handing the business over to the new company, they'll lift the freeze. I don't know about right now, but I know that at one point our county had the highest unemployment rate in the state. I'm eager to see how this new company handles things.



I'm a little nervous about Saturday. I'll be giving a demonstration for a publishing company to a group of people from local churches in the area on the publishing companies VBS curriculum. I like the curriculum I'm demonstrating. It's fun, it's cute, it's exciting, it has some awesome craft ideas with it, and best of all, it is a clear presentation in giving the gospel to children. So I'm a little nervous but I'm ready. I think it'll be fun.

Give Me TWENTY!

I'm assuming they're using the torch here.

I went to the fire academy to take some pics. They were all out on the back of the property. I saw sparks and fire. Later Justin told me that they had learned how to use a torch. So I'm going to assume that's what they were doing here.

This is what he looked like when I left the academy.

He looked way different when he got home. Poor guy. He was whooped. Apparently there was a lot of trash talk and a lack of teamwork among the students during the day. So before they were released for the evening, the instructor decided to give them a lesson that would help them remember to leave the trash talk at home and bring more teamwork to the academy.

He had them do twenty push ups, slowly, then a ten second break. Followed by more push ups, a break, more push ups, break, etc. After the last set they had to run sprints. Justin said they ran so many sprints he doesn't know how many they ran. They were all exhausted on the last sprint and ready to fall down. But nope. The instructor wanted more push ups. By the time they were finished they had done about 250 in total.

Justin said after that they all huddled together and vowed to be nicer to one another and work together. I guess the instructor got his point across.

Bless his heart. Every muscle in his arms and legs were throbbing. I gave him three ibuprofen, told him to take a hot shower, and had him use some icy/hot before he went to bed.

Hopefully today will be a much better day in the life of my cadet.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.