MSU vs LSU - The One That Got Away

Okay, all you Bulldog fans out there say it together, "Noooooooooooooo!"

It was a painfully entertaining game, one that the Dawgs should have won (can we say two tries to move the ball 4 inches?)

Were you sitting in disbelief as we were when we came up short not once, but twice? We are still trying to get over it. We've been in mourning all day.

I'm proud of my Dawgs for being competitive with the number 7 team, but good, gosh-a-mighty, we shoulda won that game!

Does This Make Sense?

Looking back over some of Gogurt's math homework the other night, I came across something very funny. After one of the word problems, he was asked to explain why his answer made sense.

This is, word for word, what he said: "I subtracted 14 from 27. To me, and hopefully to you, this makes sense."

I cracked up when I read this. I do not believe he was trying to be funny. I think he was just stating that this answer made perfect sense to him, and he hoped it did to any of his readers, i.e. the teacher grading it. It is hard to explain why something makes sense to you. And sometimes the best way to do it is to just say what's on your mind and then hope for the best.

A Little Casting Crowns For Your Day

Watch the video or just listen to the words, but don't let the message escape you.....

When I'm Wrong, I Say I'm Wrong

A couple of posts ago I was lamenting how we were not going to see any SEC games on our networks because no one was carrying the games.

Well, I was wrong! And I'm so glad!

The SEC Network will be providing us with our weekend dose of SEC football.

And to make matters even better, guess who will be playing next Saturday on the SEC Network? You got it, Mississippi State! Go Dawgs!

Cycles

There are cycles in life - we all know that. Things come. Things go. People come. People go.


Money comes. Money goes.

And that's the cycle I hate most. I like the money coming part. I hate the money going part. If you know us, you know we are not extravagant people. I am not a shopper, and we do not have the best of everything. My kids do not have the latest brand-name clothes, gadgets, movies, video games, etc., and we all wear hand-me-downs. I am not ashamed of this, no, just the opposite. I want my kids to understand there are more important things in life than the things money can buy. I also want them to see two parents working hard for the few nice things we do have.

Another cycle is the bill cycle. You know, the monthly bills that arrive like clockwork every month. It is around this particular time of month that I feel rather, well, poor. Every month after writing out the check for our mortgage, I feel this way. If you are blessed enough to live in a house that is paid for, please never take it for granted. Oh, the things we could do if we didn't have a house note!

In my despair, I turned to the scripture. God and God alone is enough for me and my family. Why do I worry? Why do I worry about tomorrow? Why do I worry about next month or the next?

It ought to be enough for me to look back and see the goodness of God evidenced throughout my entire life and the lives of each one of my family members and never doubt God's sufficiency again. But, I'm not that strong. Or maybe I should say I'm not that faithful. And for that I am ashamed.

You know one of my favorite devotion books is "Strengthen My Spirit" by Charles Spurgeon. I will leave you with today's devotion which is once again ever so appropriate.

You are my portion, O Lord. Psalm 119:57

.........but what is gold compared with God? You could not live on it; your spiritual life could not be sustained by it. But you have God, and in Him you have more than gold or riches could ever buy. Some have their portion in that which most men love-applause and fame-but is not God more to you than that? There are griefs in life that wealth cannot alleviate, and there is the deep need of a dying hour for which no riches can provide. But when you have God for your portion, you have more than all else put together. In Him every want is met, whether in life or in death. With God for your portion you are rich indeed, for He will supply your need, comfort your heart, ease your grief, guide your steps, be with you in the dark valley, and then take you home to enjoy Him as your portion forever.

Charles Spurgeon

TV Shows

We pay $9.99 a month for cable. Needless to say, we do not get many channels, and it is this time of year (football season, for those who need a hint) that my husband begins his grumbling. How can we possibly survive without ESPN?

I can't say I'm that far behind him in his wishes. I love to sit down and watch a good football game. But, I don't feel less-than-human if I don't see highlights from every game played from Thursday through Saturday, I mean, Sunday. We do get the networks, and they do show games, but it is not necessarily SEC games.

We are in mourning over the loss of our SEC carrier (is that what you call it?) It used to be Jefferson-Pilot, then Lincoln Financial, now it's nobody. Nobody comes on CBS at 11:30a.m. anymore to show us our SEC football game. And it stinks. What can we do about it?

Nothing. We settle for Notre Dame vs. Michigan. I know this game was on ABC, but has anybody noticed how Notre Dame is on NBC every stinking weekend? I am aware Regis Philbin loves them, but who else (around here) cares? Please, please, please, bring us our SEC games back.

Other than football, there is very little we watch (other than PBS of course). You all know our liking of The Biggest Loser, and it premiered last night! We had a little dilemma though. The Biggest Loser came on at 7:00 and was on until 9:00. Shaq Vs. came on at 8:00. What to do?

We watched Shaq Vs. and during commercials flipped to see who was getting booted off Loser. (Please spare me your judgments of our TV-filled night. You know you've done it too.)

If you didn't catch Shaq Vs., I'm sorry. It was a good family-friendly show. There was absolutely, and I mean not one single, bleep heard in any of the episodes. I don't know Shaq personally, (really?), so as far as I know he may cuss like a sailor on and off the basketball court, but kudos to him for making a show that a family could sit down and watch without fear of what their kids would hear. Loser is okay with this aspect, although I wonder why must Jillian curse at the contestants to get them to go faster on the treadmill? I mean, really, just yelling at them would suffice. Why use expletives? It is not becoming of you Jillian.

My favorite Shaq Vs. was the one that aired last night. He swam against Michael Phelps. You can watch the episodes of Shaq Vs. here. It's really quite entertaining.

Other than The Biggest Loser, the only other show I want to "attempt" to watch is The Good Wife. Oh, it looks like it could be good. But, I will have to wait and see.

What are some shows you are going to be watching this fall?

Update

I've added a few more blogs I like to read to the sidebar. Check them out! If you have any blogs you read that you think I might enjoy, please let me know!

A few of you have e-mailed me asking how Brad's seminary classes are going. Well, first of all, thanks for asking!

He attends classes on Monday nights. He has ALOT of reading to do, but thankfully, somehow, he is able to read even with the noisiness of life going on around him. In fact, his favorite way to read is with music blaring through his headphones while he reads. This would personally drive me insane, not to mention give me a headache that would put me to bed.

I will just say that is his "learning style" and hope that come the first test, we don't have to adopt a new "learning style."

I am just so proud of him for finally being in school. As I've said so many times, I feel like the journey to get us to this point has been awesome-we don't know what God has in store for us, but we are ready to find out!

I have encouraged him to start his own blog about seminary, things he is reading, etc., but he doesn't think he would have time. Maybe he'll change his mind. If he does, you'll be the first to know.

Look At Her Grow!

Poptart asked for her training wheels to come off the other day. Her father and I had not considered doing this for her yet since she has never shown a great interest in her bicycle. But after asking for two days in a row, we said okay. The training wheels came off and the back-breaking work of running behind her as she tried to steady herself began.


Surprisingly she did very, very well! You can't really tell it from this picture.....it was taken the first attempt. But yesterday she was in the road riding without anyone behind her. I still help her get on and balanced and then I just give her a push. After that she's off to the races. Slow and steady.


Along with this milestone, Poptart also had her first "dance" class today (the teacher comes to our preschool and has a class there, how convenient is that?). And she goes to the dentist for the first time Monday morning!

Don't You Love Chick-Fil-A?

Tonight we ate for free. Yes, free. All four of us. If you do not have a Chick-Fil-A in your town, I apologize and warn you - you may not want to read the rest of this. You may get Chick-Fil-A envy.

Last night while watching football, (yahoo! football is back!!!!!), we saw a commercial about getting a free chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A. All we had to do was wear a team logo into the Chick-Fil-A and they would hand us a free chicken sandwich.

My family along with about 150 others were waiting in line at our local Chick-Fil-A (okay, maybe not that many). It was a game-like atmosphere, and I enjoyed looking around at all the different colleges and pro teams represented. Mostly in-state colleges, but I did see a Nebraska T-shirt. Go Cornhuskers.

I got my free sandwiches and headed home. And boy did we enjoy them....thanks Chick-Fil-A.....you're great to have in the neighborhood!

What We've Been Doing In Our Spare Time

What do you recommend using to clean my new floor?