We'll Work 'Til Jesus Comes

Last night I was lying in bed with Poptart before she fell asleep.  For some reason, she started trying to say the grades in order, like 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and so on.  Here's how the rest of the conversation went. 

"12th grade.....then what, Momma?"




"College!"




"What's after college?"




"WORK."




"Until you die?????"


And I said,

Yep, pretty much. 

This Time Of Year

Eighty degree days....perfect!  (For me anyway.)  The mornings and evenings have a little chill in the air but during the day it warms up quite nicely. 

This time of year is great......football games, trips to the pumpkin patch, homecoming parades, and it's all done without having to bundle up in coats, gloves, and hats. 

However, this time of year always brings a point of disagreement between my husband and me.  In the car or in the house, he still thinks it is AC-on kind of weather.  I think it is AC-off kind of weather.  So the battle goes on and on every day.  But since I'm here during the days and he's not, guess who gets to control the AC?  But as soon as he walks in the door, he turns it down and I start reaching for one of the dozen blankets the kids and I keep handy around the living room. 

My question to him is always this - why does your comfort supercede mine?  There's never a good answer to this question except him mumbling something about the fact that I'm always cold which, by the way, is not always true. 

I'd like to say that disagreeing on the temperature of our house is the most serious thing we have to disagree about, but I'd be oh-so-wrong.  There are many things my hubby and I disagree on, some serious issues, some not-so-serious issues, but when I'm cold, I tend to be more disagreeable.  So honey, it's in your best interest to keep me comfy and warm. 

A Nice Post About Puppy

  After watching "Because of Winn-Dixie" Poptart wanted me to get a pen and paper and write down her 10 favorite things about Puppy.  I thought I'd share them with you....
My 10 Favorite Things About Puppy
1.  He always loves me.
2.  He doesn't like thunderstorms. 
3.  He is always my friend. 
4.  He barks when we sing. 
5.  He always sleeps with me. 
6.  He is in all my pictures with me. 
7.  He likes to hide in the bathroom. 
8.  He smells good when we wash him. 
9.  He has one brown ear, one white ear, and a brown and white body. 
10. His tail is my favorite part to rub. 

Love Your Neighbor - But What About Their Dog?

The Bible is clear.  Love your neighbor.  But a question kept coming to my mind yesterday, do I have to love their dog?

We have lived in this neighborhood for around 9 years.  We've seen lots of people come and go.  Fortunately, the 4 houses on our side of the street have been occupied by the same people from the beginning.  That is pretty amazing!  However, across the street, down the street, and everywhere else, people typically stay for about 2 to 3 years. 

You know I love my neighborhood, but yesterday I was tested. 

Our backyard neighbor's house has a fence and we do not.  Our yard goes right up to their fence.  Behind this fence is 2 dogs.  They come to about your ankles, I'm not sure what kind they are, other than crazy-barking dogs. 

We happen to love being on our backporch.  The problem is this.  As much as we love being on our backporch, those 2 dogs hate us being on our backporch.  The minute they hear us talking, the barking begins.  And it doesn't stop.  I honestly did not know a dog could bark at that frequency and volume for that period of time. 

Yesterday was a Sunday, Poptart had invited D over from church, and I was enjoying some leisure time on the backporch swing while they played.  The barking ensued, and I fantasized about what I could do to those dogs.  I'm afraid D heard me yelling at the dogs and mumbling under my breath just what I would like to do to them.  I assured him that I would never actually hurt the dogs and I certainly do not yell at children that way, just those blamed barking dogs that wouldn't shut up! 

Even Gogurt came around the house asking what we could do about the dogs.  "I don't know, son.  But I know what I would like to do."  

Don't worry...I'm not actually going to harm these dogs.  But I am contemplating a conversation with their owner.  But that's alot like confrontation, and I'm so NOT a confrontational person. 

So for now, I guess I'll just be glad winter's coming and we won't be outside much anyway. 

If you have any advice on how to get a dog that doesn't belong to you to stop barking, I'd love to hear it!

A New Member of the Family

For the past couple of years at every concert or conference I attended, I would hear the same thing.  "Compassion International.  Sponsor a child." 


I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people who tend to turn the TV during a commercial with the sad-faced kids looking at you and then an adult asking for your money. 


But the more I learned about Compassion, the more I was tempted.  Then last Sunday night, at a concert with Selah, (excellent concert by the way), there it was again.  "Compassion International.  Sponsor a child." 


I had come so close to signing up at the last E-Women conference, but of course Brad wasn't with me, so I talked myself out of it.  But he was with me at the Selah concert, and we both agreed to do it. 


If you know us well at all, you know we live on a meager salary with not much leftover at the end of each  month.  But we could swing $38 a month.  And now that we've met our first child, I'm wondering if we could swing $76.......


His name is Titus.  He is 7 years old, and he lives in Haiti. 


(If I were a little more tech savvy, I would scan his picture for you to see, but maybe I can get Brad to do that later.  He's a cutie, and all 4 of us fell in love immediately....)


I think about him during the day, and we all pray for him at night.  I'm hoping that through letters shared, my children will realize that not playing the Wii for a week is not the worst thing that could happen to them. 

But I have a sneaky suspicion the children aren't the only ones who will learn something from this experience. 

No Words Needed - Our Day In Pictures

The Gift

My kids have it......









I'm sure your kids have it......









I wish I had it........









It's a gift..........









The gift of sleeping..........









No matter where you happen to be..........