It's a God thing

Monday - sign papers to put house on the market
Wednesday - show house to first lookers (stayed about 45 min.)
Thursday - they made an offer
Friday - we counter offered and they accepted
I dont think it was the price that sold it so quickly, or that it was spotless, or the location. I think it was a God thing, ya know?!
In addition to selling our house, someone has offered us a house to stay in till we officially leave in July. The house we will be staying in had been on the market for five months and is yet to be sold. It is a cute, old, small house with lots of charm. Check it out....

Old kitchen sink

I love this door and the windows!


original hardware and the key still works:)

this tub is going to be quite an adventure!

I might just hang my sheets out to dry

There is even an old stove that still works and a swinging door from kitchen to dining room. I also love the built in shelves around the fire place. It will be a fun place to stay. A place I will admire but be glad it is only temporary. God is good...now if only he would reveal to us where we will land in New Orleans!!!

House For Sale

Thats right Folks! Step right up. Come one, come all. Who would'nt want such a lovely home in the mountains of Tennessee?? Big yard, big garage, new roof, new a/c unit, 3 bed/21/2 bath, etc. Who will start the bidding?!

We have truly enjoyed our home in the mountains of Tennessee. We are grateful for the 6+years that we have lived here. God has challenged and stretched us, he has put people in our life that have touched us deeply, but it is time to move on.

What better people to minister to New Orleans then true New Orleanians, right? And what better way to minister then with longtime, dear, godly friends - the Daspits.

Like I said, we are grateful for our time here. God has shown Alf some gifts he didnt know he had and Alf has learned over the years how God has wired him. He has been searching for other ministry opportunities for some time and nothing ever felt right. We said we would NEVER move back to New Orleans but God has changed our hearts and shown us otherwise. We dont look at the place so much as a customer anymore but as a mission. I think it is beautiful on the flip side that God has been teaching Doug so much about himself and how he is wired. And now together, they have an opportunity to start something that we anticipate will give God the glory, touching people lives with the gospel.

Where I stand right now?? The process of selling a house, having to say good-bye, blah, blah really sucks - theres honesty for you! BUT, I do feel God's grace on me. He knows my needs and what I can and cannot handle. He knows the time I need to grieve what I will be leaving and the time needed to prepare for what is to come. As much as I am sad, I am also excited. I look forward to what God has for us and what he will show us. My faith and trust and hope in Him will grow stronger. I will abide in HIM!

I covet your prayers for us and the Daspits at this time. Thank you!

These are a few of my favorite things....

I absolutely LOVE spring. This weekend we had gorgeous weather so I went out and cleaned my perennial garden and found this under the leaves. I also saw that my daylilies and iris are starting to show. New life is what this is - new life!














Another something I love is this collage that Athan made. He has a break between basketball and baseball and wanted me to put him back in an art class that I had him in last fall. I told him that if he let me know what kind of art work he wanted to do then I would get the supplies and we could do it at home. He told me collage. I went to the library and found two great books to help us in this activity. I had lots of supplies at home and encouraged him to use alot of different tectures. He and a friend had a great time doing there collage! I love how helpful the library was in educating us about all the diff collages you can make and that P. Picasso was who really started the idea.

Easy Mexican Casserole - YUMMY!

Is a scrumptious meal that I found on allrecipe.com

It is so easy and so yummy and if it is mexican then my kids will eat it. You can also change it up in so many ways. I love to read the comments and get ideas from that.

Tami flu - Yes or No???

What a winter it has been! Athan has already had strep twice this winter and now the flu. It is pretty safe to assume that he got it from his dad, who had it last week. Alf started having symptoms on a saturday over a week ago. He goes into a walk-in clinic
(b/c both of us are horrible about going for regular check ups so we would be considered new pt. at our currant doctors)
on wednesday and comes out with a prescription for tami flu and something for a cough he had. Later, I find out that tami flu is no good if you dont start taking it in the first 48 hrs. What??!! Why did that doctor prescribe it to Alf then? It is an $80 drug!
Well, Athan gets off the bus last friday (dad is still in recovery mode - mind you, I have never seen my husband so sick in all my life) and I could tell right away something was not right. I could tell in his eyes, and his cheeks were flushed. I take him to the doctor Saturday morning. He tested positive for the flu. The boy's doctor, who we saw, is a great doctor. We know him personally. I talk to him about tami flu and what happened to Alf, ask him why that happened to Alf, and ask him his opinion about tami flu.

Listen up for those that dont know this!!!

Some Doctors (particulary those you dont have a prior relationship with) will sometimes prescribe you something vs. explain why not to prescribe you something. They dont want to look like an uncaring, incompetent doctor.

Now, Athan was in the time zone to take tami flu but after an extensive conversation with his doctor I chose not to fill the prescription. There is no guarantee of how much it will shorten the flu and Im not a big fan of taking lots of drugs....and it was $80.

Well, Athan has missed school ALL week. It has been an enjoyable, relaxing week believe it or not but still a missed week of school is not great.

Aiden now has fever. I have a friend call me up and says her daughter had the flu and started taking tami flu on the same day Athan was at the doctor and was back at school on Tuesday! Did I make a bad call? That friend had a whole bottle of tami flu that she was willing to give me for Aiden but I just needed to get the proper dosage. A pharmacist that I spoke with warned me that the drug, tami flu, is not a guarantee to shorten the flu - especially this years flu. Well, well, well.

Where do I go from here?? I give Aiden the free tami flu b/c -at this point- I like the sound of my isolation shortened if at all possible...and it is free. Also, Alf and I are going to find a doctor that we can both go to ...that we will see regularly...and have a relationship with...that wont blow smoke at us!

What is your view? I'd love to know!

Athan and His List

On our way home from basketball practice, we were having a 'lovey dovey' conversation about who loves who. As I was talking to Aiden about who all loves him, Athan decides to tell us (in order) who he loves. I think to myself, this will be interesting!

1. God

2. Jesus

3. Aiden

4. Dad

5. Mom!

6. cousins

7. Aunt

8. Uncle

9. Paw - Paw

Well, I have to say that I was not disappointed with 1-3, being that my two biggest prayers for my boys is to love and serve God and that the boys would have a close bond. BUT, I make five and dad makes four! What is up with that? Im am so over it:)

By the way, sorry paw-paw. It does not make sense since you are the one that shows love to them more then any family member - lol - sooooooo funny!

What if....

My Aiden loves to play the what if... game, especially when they are funny. We mostly play in the car but on occasion we will play at the dinner table where dad and Athan get to participate. Aiden thinks of what if's that are so off the wall and I will start off in funny mode then flip to dreamy mode. Kind of like this...

What if cows gave us orange juice (that is gross Aiden - not funny!)
What if we all were the color purple and had cone shaped heads (that was good mommy)
What if roads were train tracks and train tracks were roads (there would be alot more trains, Aiden)
What if we could fly like birds and sleep on clouds (aw, yeah!)
What if I was a pirate and you only had one arm (thanks Aiden)
What if we had no responsibilities and could go anywhere anytime (uh - huh)

You get the idea?? It is fun to dream - about funny off the wall stuff, and just about life. It is a gift from God to dream - to desire.

News, News, News

I cant get out!!!!
I wake up yesterday and look outside to see that snow had fallen since I could not see my driveway or the street (very similar to the way it looked the day before - with the result of school being closed for the day.) I was apprehensive to school being closed again since it was going to get up in the thirties vs. staying in the teens. You would think we would have at least a two hour delay - Oh, but noooooooooooo! As I was watching the news in hopes of seeing a two hour delay, the high school bus drove by, I thought 'you have got to be kidding me!'
I normally carpool with our neighbors...neighbors that do not have a long steep driveway but a rather short flat driveway. I called to tell them not to try and come down my driveway that to go ahead and I would try to take Athan to school myself.
We are in the van - pulling out of the garage - trying - no go! I remembered how a couple of weeks ago Alf attempted the same thing and used IceMelt to get out. I tried to relive the moment. I sprinkled IceMelt - got back in the car - trying again - no go! Then....
I look out my rear view mirror and there he was, my neighbor posse! Having jumped a creek and crossed two yards in the snow, he put Athan on his back and walked back to his van to take my child to school for me. Gotta love em'
I'm always thankful for my neighbor/friends. I feel that I have some of the best in the world. Yesterday I was bubbling over with gratitude!
My dad has red eyes and is 14 yrs. old, what??!!
My sweet four year old filled out something at church regarding his dad, you know the kind -
My dad has blank hair, etc. Well, he told the teacher that Alf had red eyes and that he was 14 yrs. old. He was pretty accurate when he told the teacher that Alf had brown hair and that he likes to drink coffee. When we questioned him about the red eyes, his response was 'yeah', like 'duh.' Then we questioned him about the age.
Let me go back in time, if you will. Alf's b'day was in December and our good neighbor, you know the one (read the first section), came by on Alf's b'day this year with a little b'day jingle he made up for Alf. It went to the song from the movie Aristocats - TaRaRaBoomDeeYay....
After questioning Aiden he began to sing - TaRaRaBoomDeeYay your fourteen today. LOL! It is - your thirty four today. Well, he got the four right but just took away about twenty years of Alf's life. What a fun child!
A sweet letter that I will keep forever.
My oldest son was being tucked in bed by the babysitter for the second night in a row and expressed that he missed me. While the babysitter was reading to my youngest, my oldest decided to write a letter to Alf and I. (I will keep this forever)
Good night mom and dad. I had a lot of fun. We tide football. We finisht kung fu panda. We statd on Monday and we finisht today. Aiden and Jessica reded why I did this (heart) Love, Athan.
So he has to work on his spelling a little - He is only in the first grade:) What a sweet and tender child!
Misc.
I have squeezed EVERY drop of toothpaste out of the tube and will be going to get a new tube of toothpaste today. To get more out, I would have to cut it open!
I am hoping we can fix our vacuum cleaner so that I can stop borrowing from our fabulous neighbors (you know the ones.) And I better not get a new one for my b'day or Alf will be going in the dog house and will eat quiche and drink chai lattes every night (have you seen the youtube?!)
Being 'trapped' in your house on a snow day when the high is only 10 degrees allows you to organize and document home videos. The children loved watching themselves all day - so much that my youngest wants to be three again b/c it is a lot more fun. Love me some organization!
I am so blessed and...
I really have to get going...now.
Peace out!