T.M.I.

T.M.I. makes me laugh!

T.M.I. gross' us out! When your friend 'Sue' who lives across town says she can get away with not showering for three days, dont even get me started - I mean, she even works out sometimes in those three days! My hair would be so greasy (I have virgin hair), and other parts of my body would...yuk! With the runny nose I had recently, everytime I would put my 'mineral foundation' on, I would get a drip from my nose onto my brush and I would suddenly be feeling a wet drip being brushed along my face - hee, hee

T.M.I. encourages me - Sharing to much information helps us to see that we are all funny, weird, and complicated! Isnt that great!

T.M.I. discourages me - When your having a conversation with someone and you both get down to the 'meat and potatoes,' it discourages me to be answering questions such as "what are your dreams and passions when it comes to ministry?" To be honest, I answered it by saying "that big questions deserves big thoughts" and I still have not answered it. I struggle with those kind of questions. I think that I am a simple minded person, or maybe just dumb - hee, hee!

Funny Moments

We had just finished eating at Atlanta Bread Company. Aiden gets his free cookie that always comes with the kids meal. After eating the cookie, I handed him a wipe to clean his face and hands. As Aiden was cleaning, I was talking to Alf and my dad. We were taking a drive out to Bristol (a 30 min. drive) Before I know it - I hear snoring - with his face covered with a wet wipe!!

Lentil Soup - request granted

Lentil Soup

1 bag of dry lentils
10 cups of water
1 green pepper - chopped
1 onion - chopped
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 T dried sage
2 cloves garlic
1 pkg of fully cooked smoked sausage - cut into small pieces
Bring to a boil then simmer for 30-45 min. - until veggies are soft.

Other ingredients I like to add:
2 celery stalks - chopped
2-4 carrots - chopped
sometimes I add spinach, fresh or frozen
New Orleans seasoning

Other ingredients you can try:
potatoes
yellow pepper
add some chicken stock in place of some water and alleviate bouillon cubes.

A healthy soup that freezes well! Yeah - only Aiden and I eat this, not Alf or Athan.

New and Improved!

I do not want the word 'boat' on any comment made, do you hear me?!

R.I.P.

I bought these shoes....well, I cant even remember when. A long time ago. Did I buy them when I lived in Dallas or did I buy them in college?
I dont know how you will react to this post. Some may be appauled that I am getting rid of such fine shoes, some may laugh that I actually wore these shoes, and some may be indifferent and think that this is a stupid topic to blog about.
I am proud to say that I am relinguishing these shoes to some other world.
I have certainly gotten my moneys worth.
They sort of had two lives. When I first bought them I probably wore them for only a couple of years. I gave them a new life since I have lived here in Tenn.
The decision to have kept them for so long is somewhat an emotional attachment (I'll admit) and just simply being a frugile person.
I am happy to have replaced them with a fine set of shoes. Brown, comfortable (naturalizers), casual but not too casual.
That is all I got. What do you hold on to?

2 in 1

That is right. 2 in 1 today. I have alot I want to write - so here we go...

What does it take?

You know how there are things in life that you know that are good, and that you know you should do but you just dont. Now, this may all come to you as a surprise but I have not strongly encouraged scripture memory to my kids. I know, can you believe it? These poor 'pastor kids.' What does it take? - to get my butt in gear?

I memorized scripture as a child and I am grateful for it. I have always wanted my children at a young age to have the same experience. Have I shared that experience with them? NO!

I had a lady, who had four grown kids, share with me about how she taught alphabet scripture to them and how she had them illustrate the verses. So cool, right?! Did that motivate me when I heard the idea two years ago? NO!

What does it take? Here it is...

On our way out of church last sunday I noticed Athan with a treat bag. He told me the bag was for saying his memory verse. I thought it strange that he said his memory verse having no recollection of us working on the verse this last month. He admitted to me that he cheated by looking down at the paper. After giving him a confused and disappointed look his smirk turned to a very sad face. I took the treat bag and steered both boys to the car and told Athan that we would talk about this when we got home. In the two minutes it takes to get home - yes, we are literally two minutes away. We could walk if there were sidewalks - I was thinking about what I should do. My son, Athan, is a very tenderhearted child that usually does not need much discipline to get the point across. I wanted to be very careful in how I handled this. Think about it...he chose to cheat rather then just say I didnt memorize it. He is an achiever and strives to do good in just about everything he does. When he 'fails' it crushes him. We went in his room and had a good talk. A talk that involved him sobbing and me fighting back tears and trying to keep it emotionally together. In the conversation it dawned on me, not only did I want to teach my kid that honesty is the best policy BUT that scripture memory is one of the most important things you can do. I had him give up the bag, write an apology to his teacher at church, and had him REALLY memorize the verse. Not only did we memorize it sunday, we illustrated it today! (Athan loves to draw so it was really fun to see what he would come up with)

I share this with such true joy. It was a time to watch my son learn alot about doing the right thing and about being forgiven and forgiving himself. It was also a time for me to get a

kick in the pants!

Our L verse...

Let us run with perserverence the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

they are jumping over hurdles - get it! :-)

Im a Batman lover...

Can you not see why??

A day in the life of Batman Aiden. First he wakes up and usually gets his brother to get his b'fast(with a yummy vitamin to give him strong muscles, of course.) If anyone can just help him get his b'fast b/c he wakes up hungry.

Next, he rids himself of the wet pull-up and gets real clothes on (with the instruction from batmans mom, of course.)

Then, he has to prep himself for the day which means three short sprays of dads deoderant and a little bit of moms hairspray and teeth brushing (with batman toothpaste, of course.)

Through out the day, he fights crime and protects the good and fair citizens of the nation - the usual.

(Jumping on the trampoline, running errands with mom, wrestling with dad, playing wii, making something for his preschool teacher.)

At the end of the day, he is quite the helper in the kitchen. I love his company and sometimes he really does help:) And he compliments and gobbles up my dinner even when it consists of spinach and mushrooms!

Gosh, I love this kid. Arent four year olds great?! He has worn this costume non stop since friday (except for at church...of course!)