I know my hubby loves me.

My husband loves me. I have many ways that I know this but there is one in particular that cracks me up. I have an aversion to people touching my feet. I don't even go get pedicures because I just can't handle anyone touching my feet. Well, the last few months, I have been trying to get over some of my irrational fears so I asked him to rub lotion on my feet. He got excited and grabbed the lotion. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes. He did a good job but I am still not over my aversion. How many husbands would want to rub their wife's feet with lotion? I know of people who beg their husbands to do this and I am the one weirdo that begs her husband not to touch her feet. Maybe one day, I will get to a point where I will enjoy the procedure but for now....mmm, I don't think so. I love my husband for trying.

A Day Out With Aunt Wee

Sorry this is late in posting but we have had internet trouble. My nieces came to play with me a couple of weeks ago. The pictures actually loaded in reverse order but that's ok. My little girlies (nieces) got to come play with me. I took a ton of pictures and they are on my facebook picture file but I choose a couple of them for this blog. We started the morning shopping for new shoes. Every girl needs new shoes from time to time. Then we had lunch at Chick Fil A followed by a short trip to the park. It was too hot to stay long. This was all followed by rest time and Bambi.

Watch out cuz here I come!

First, let me say that this is a celebratory post. It is my 200th post!!! I never would have imagined I could blog that much. Cool! I know I already blogged today but I felt the need to post again. I have been looking at pictures of friends on facebook. Friends I went to college with mainly. One of the girls I went to school with is constantly happy. She was a clown then and appears to be a clown now. She looks like she totally enjoys life. She also looks like she enjoys her family. She is an ER nurse at Scott and White and I know that that is a hard job. Yet, it looks like nothing gets her down.
I want to be like that. Instead of hiding from the camera or scowling at the camera; I am going to start smiling more and hamming it up. I want to be known as a happy person. Not sour or depressed all the time. LB is an inspiration to me. She has fun with life and I am thinking that she has the right idea. Now I married a guy who is serious and who is matter of fact but that is him and not me. He knew that when he married me. I am going to find that person he married. She got lost along the way. I want to be more carefree and nutty and I want to enjoy life instead of just existing through it. Watch out world. You have no idea what is in store for you.

Memory Day

I had the pleasure of having lunch with my oldest and my youngest today. (My middle son was off hanging out with friends.) We discussed many things. Most of which were deep and really on a level that I could only hope for. We discussed drinking, drugs, girls, what they should and shouldn't be doing and when. What their dreams were. What they aspired to be. They asked questions of me as well and I answered them the best I could. It was one of those times that I will treasure. They are few these days with the kids going in different directions. It was one of those lunches that I will record into my memory forever. It was a great day.

My Experience

I wanted to post this and let everyone know about my experience. I went to Ennis to go to training. The training was good and I enjoyed it. I started home and realized there was a vibration in my car. I pulled over to the side of the road and thought that the right side looked low. I turned around and headed back into town. The first place I came to was the Kwik Kar oil change place. The guy there put air in my tires and helped me to locate the screw in my right rear tire. He then told me where the tire store was. After detouring through town because of a wreck, I found the tire store (Supreme Tire Co. in Ennis, Texas). I pulled in and was nervous because I noticed that there were a lot of men and no women but that is the way most tire stores are. As I walked up, all the men turned and looked at me and started staring...not at my face. I waited several minutes and finally a guy came over and asked what I needed. I told him I had a flat and showed him where. He told me it would be a "few minutes". 20 minutes later and them taken 5 trucks (with men driving them) ahead of me, I finally asked why they were taking all these other people ahead of me and I was told "they were ahead of me". I was getting mad and about that time, the head dude came out and told me to get my car. I drove it in and then waited while they changed my tire.
I left there and ended up at Walmart because I was still feeling a vibration and the warning light was still on. Norm at Walmart was wonderful!! He took my car into the bay and let some air out of the tires (they were over inflated) and checked the tire that they fixed. He told me it should be good to go.
I finally got home. The ordeal seemed to last forever and I now need a shower to get rid of the gross feeling of those guys staring at me. *Shudder* Eww. I so wished through this all that my hubby and/or my boys had been with me. I bet the service would have been quicker and without the staring. I know that other women have had similar experiences but I wanted people to know what happened to me in Ennis, Texas on Monday, July 19, 2010.

I am ready, bring it on!!!!

In my last post, I blew off some steam because I was frustrated. Let me say that even when my family frustrates me, they are still the bright spot in my life. We have talked since the last post and they understand now that they are going to have to give me some ideas rather than say, "I don't know" and then get upset with what I fix.
I know it is early, but there was a really good sale on...PENCILS!!!!! What does that mean? It means that I bought pencils. When I start buying things like that then it means that I am more than ready to get back to school. I really do like teaching school. I love getting the school supplies, putting up the bulletin boards, getting my room ready, prepping lesson plans for at least the first six weeks, etc. I am one of the strange people that would love to have school for 6 weeks at a time and then a week off then school for 6 weeks and a week off, etc. Otherwise known as year round school. I like working with the kids and helping them to understand things.
When my kids were younger, we made a whole day of going to get school supplies, a new outfit (shorts/jeans and a t-shirt), new shoes, and a new backpack for school. I think I actually liked doing this more than they did but they never complained (at least until they turned 1o). Back to school shopping means the start of something new again. I love it!
I am weird because a lot of wives at school get flowers on the first day of school but I would absolutely love it if I got a pencil bouquet or better yet!!!!!! A BOUQUET OF COLORED SHARPIES!!!!!!!!! Seriously!! I mean it!! Really!! I told you I was weird.
I have already started working on lessons for the start of school. Making vocabulary charts, arranging my room on paper, creating bulletin boards on paper, making a list of school supplies I want to have in my room, etc. I have lists running around my house right now that all pertain to school. My family is enduring this with sweetness. They turn their heads away from me to roll their eyes and grimace. I love them so!!
I still have to wait a month but I am gearing up and getting ready. Bring on the new school year cuz I am ready!!!!

Just blowin off steam

Okay. Normally, I would be upbeat but tonight I am frustrated. I ask my family every single day what they want to eat for supper. If I fix what I want they would never eat. I have a household of guys who are extremely picky eaters. The only veggies that they eat are green beans and corn and then those have to come from a can. Most of the time I fix stuff with chicken and ground meat. This is because that is what they will eat. On top of that I have about 10 recipes that they will actually eat. I have bought Rachel Ray's cookbooks and tried some of her recipes but they don't really like those either. Maybe, I ought to go back to processed foods, pizza, premade meals, etc. They are more expensive but that is what the family will eat. I have been trying hard to make them eat healthier but I feel like I am beating my head into the wall.
*Sigh* I just needed to vent a little. Thanks for listening.

Why am I doing this?

Lately, I have been trying really hard to be humorous on my facebook posts. Why? Because it seems that all I have been seeing are negative comments, people who talk about being depressed or down, people who really are going through tough times, and the list goes on. So, I decided that I was going to make it my mission to post something that might tickle a funny bone or at the very least, get a good groan.
It isn't easy to find things that are clean and funny. A lot of the things I have sorted through have had cuss words, inappropriate subject matter, etc. I did post one that I thought was funny but later I posted something else because I decided it probably wasn't one of the better choices.
I need the positive in my life. It is too easy to find the negative and way to easy to give into the negative. I experienced enough negative throughout this past year. I need, crave, desire the positive.
So, from time to time, I will post things here that are not so upbeat but boy am I trying hard!!! Maybe I even got a small smile out of you.

Watching What My Little Men Become

Today we sent our youngest off on his first mission trip. I was a little sad but at the same time, so excited for him. I wish I had been able to go with him and see the work that God is going to do in him this week. I know that there is a reason why I was able to go but I still wish I could have. I have seen him slowly changing over the past couple of weeks and it is so exciting because his digging deeper into God's word and is looking for more ways to be involved in ministry.
I watched my boys this morning during the worship service and noticed that they both worship with their whole heart. They don't go raising their hands or dancing or anything like that. You can just tell that they have blocked out all the extra stuff going on around them and they are totally in tune with God. They give the pastor their full attention. While others are passing notes, they are focused on what is being said. My heart was full today, realizing what godly men I have in my house. My oldest was sick so he wasn't there but I know that he has a heart for God and for ministry. I am like any other mom and I worry about my kids. If I could, I would have them close to me forever but that is not God's plan for their lives.
I look forward to seeing what God has in their future and what He does with them. It is exciting, scary, and really cool all at the same time to watch what happens.

Looking Back

First, let me say that my habit of keeping the house clean at now is going great. The getting up thing, we will see this next week.
I was looking at pictures of people I went to high school earlier this evening. The people that I always looked at and wanted to be like, well, let's just say...I no longer want to be like them anymore. Yes, I would like to lose weight. Yes, I would love to have thick luxurious hair. Yes, I would love to have a ton of money.
I wouldn't trade what I have for anything. You see, I have 3 boys who are Christians, sweeter than sugar, and huge hearts. I have a husband who loves me, desires me, and makes sure that we have what we need. When I was dreaming of the perfect guy in my life, I had some strong criteria. My husband met every single criteria that I had dreamed of. I have great in-laws. Fantastic nieces and nephews.
I see pictures of these people I held in high regard and wonder.... Some of them have had dream jobs (my opinion), some of them get to travel, and some of them have been friends for many, many years.
I have the job that God gave me, I don't travel...yet, and I am friends with many people. Those who are my true blue friends have been through the thick and the thin with me and they are still friends. I am glad I am not the same person I was in high school. I am glad that I am the person I have become.

Making New Habits

I heard or maybe I read one time that if you do something 21 times, it becomes a habit. So, I am working really hard to make an effort to keep the house clean, picked up, dishes done, and swept. I figure that if I can keep this up for the month of July, it will become a habit and I will just jump in there and do it. When school starts then, I will have developed this habit and it won't be an issue. The other habit I am wanting to work on instilling in my life is getting up earlier than I have in the past. You see for the last 2-3 years, during the school year, I get up at 630am and get the boys up. Then I go back to bed until 700am. I then get up, get ready, and walk out the door at 720am. I am in a dead run by this point. I am wanting to do better and actually get up and make my kids a real breakfast other than breakfast burritos to be warmed or cereal. I also want to have time to make my lunch and have a morning quiet time instead a middle of the day or nighttime quiet time. So, I am going to be getting up with my husband when his alarm goes off and making up the bed so that I cannot crawl back into bed.
I will post how I am doing on my two big goals as I go. I am determined to do this. I know I can if I just put my mind to it.

My Latest Read (Again)

I have a habit of saving up all my reading for the summer. The reason being that I am the kind of person that likes to read from start to finish without interruptions. During the school year, I have trouble with this because I kind of have to get up and go to work the next day, chores have to be done, my family thinks I need to cook and feed them, and the list goes on. So, I save up most of my reading for the summertime.
I finished reading All Cracked Up by Patsy Clairmont for the 3rd time. I love this book. Of course, if you know me, you know that I love Patsy's humor. She makes me need to invest in Depends. I laugh so hard, sometimes...well, let's just say I laugh really really really hard!
With the dark times that have occurred throughout this past year, this book has allowed me to see the lighter side of everything. Patsy has such a way with her words, thoughts, and such. She has experienced fear and darkness and yet has come out with her humor leading the way. What a gift God has blessed her with. One I wish beyond wish that I had.
Anyway, if you need an uplifting, this is a book I recommend. Enjoy it with a cold drink, a sugary snack, and really--seriously--a change of clothes. :D

I Love My House

I love the house my hubby designed for us. It is functional and welcomes people to come in and be themselves. Why do I know this? First, there is only bare concrete floors. We have a couple of throw rugs here and there but no carpet or "real" flooring. I love this for 3 reasons. The first is that before we moved in, the AC drain pipe was capped off and the water from the AC backed up into the laundry room, ran into the kitchen, my closet, and the garage. We also discovered that the sheet rockers had punctured the toilet pipes in our bedroom on the same night. If we had had any kind of flooring or carpeting, it would have been ruined and we might not have discovered it for a while. The second reason is because our dog at the time, chose our closet to give birth to 10 puppies. Again, flooring/carpeting would have been ruined. The best reason of all though and this is the one that I think helps people to relax is that a week after moving in the youth group met at our place. Within 20 minutes 3 Dr. Peppers were spilled on the floor and my response was "OK" and we mopped it up.
Another reason why I think that people relax at our house is the view out the front windows. It looks out onto the pasture and the hillside beyond. It is just a peaceful and wonderful view. People can come kick off their shoes, let their hair down, not worry about their kids ruining the carpeting, etc., etc. They can come and relax and breathe in clean, non-city, air.
The house itself is simple and completely us. My hubby drew up probably 30-40 plans before we decided on this particular one. When people come over and see it for the first time, they make the same comment that it fits us. We built this house so our kids would feel free to have their friends over and to house family things but most of all to just come in from work to a place where we can relax and unwind.
There are still several things we would love to add to the house but it isn't anything we can't live without. Contentment, comfort, and peace are words to describe my home. Come by sometime and see if you don't agree.

Our Sunday Adventures

Every Sunday is an adventure for us. We never know how many kids we will end up with for the day. Most of the time, we have at least 4-5 but today, we had 7 kids. Their ages ranged from 8-21. Luckily, we had borrowed the Excursion for a trip so we had the room. It was hysterical! They were all talking and joking around, laughing til they couldn't breathe. It was wonderful. I then realized that it would have been entirely possible for all these kids to actually been ours. If we had continued to have kids, this could have been our life. I loved it! I told my hubby that I was enjoying it and he totally agreed.
I know that God gave us three boys for a reason and stopped us when He did but He also knew that I was willing to have more. I originally wanted 5 kids. That was not to be. I just consider the kids that come over and hang out are my "other kids". I now have tons of "kids" of all ages. I feel blessed.
I look forward to our Sunday adventures every week.

From the Table

Today (Friday, which is technically yesterday now) was a challenge for me. I procrastinated beyond belief about cleaning the house for the reunion on July 3rd. Actually, I don't know that I procrastinated so much as I had little to no motivation to clean. I finally geared up and got going today. I worked on and off all day on this project. My nephew has been staying with us this week so there were times when we all had to stop and take a movie break with him. My middle son would stop periodically and take a rock band break with him as well.
For some reason at 11:00pm, I decided that my pantry had to be beyond clean. It had to be organized, cleaned, declutterized, and it had to be done right then. I don't know why I chose this particular time to do this but I went after it. If you know me then you know that when I stress, I cook or I clean. Tonight was a cleaning night. It felt good to get it all done but I really wished I had been motivated much sooner than late night.
I will admit that I have been struggling with staying positive. This past school year was rough and I finally finished teaching summer school this week. I think that with all that has happened, it finally crashed down upon me. My family can tell you that I have been pretty unmotivated to do much of anything except read and watch old romantic movies. Maybe now that I have cleaned most of the house, I will get going on the rest of it and get that project knocked out in the next couple of weeks. I always swear I am going to do that over the summer and then I never do. This summer I hope will be different.
I received an encouragement from someone I have never met but would absolutely love to meet. She spoke the sweetest words to me and it was God's timing that I read my blog responses when I did. God knew I needed those words.
I hope everyone has a great holiday and gets lots of rest.

An Answered Prayer

I have been reading this book from Lisa Whelchel called "The Facts of Life and Other Lessons My Father Taught Me". It is basically her testimony/autobiography. As I went through this book, I wrote down the scriptures she quoted so that I could put them to heart.
One thing she talked about was that when we pray and ask God to help us, etc. we tend to just say the words and then proceed to try to do it ourselves. That made an impact on me.
I have been really praying hard for my youngest lately. I have been praying that his heart would soften towards missions and mission trips. You see his grandpa goes every year and our middle son goes with him. Every time we have mentioned going on mission trip, the youngest has melted down. I knew that taking him on a mission trip with that attitude would be pointless.
Last night and this morning I was praying about his heart softening (really thinking more about him being willing to go with grandpa on mission trip). This afternoon I asked him if he had given any thought to going on mission trip with grandpa and he replied, "I really want to go with our church on mission trip but I think it's too late." (Bear with me on this next part.) My response at first was, *Big Sigh* in frustration. Then, I said, "I wish you had told us sooner. Oh my word." At that moment, I got a mental kick from God. A very, very, very large mental kick! It hit me. I had been praying for his heart to soften and here he was saying, "I want to go. I want to be a part." and I was acting like it was an issue! I immediately repented and told him I would check into it.
Our ministry team is awesome! The pastor and the youth pastor immediately said, "Yes!" to him going. I "told" my husband that I was going to pay for this and (another kick from God) my hubby said that it was not a yours and mine situation with the money but ours and there was more than enough in the savings for him to go.
Lisa spoke in her book about how she would get ahead of God and her husband and how she would try to be in control all the time. She also talked about how God got hold of her and changed her heart in this matter. God knows that I struggle with the same issues and today He proved that everything I read really does happen IF we would just let God do what He wants to do for us. He has a much bigger plan and a much better plan than I could ever imagine. I know that my prayers will be much different from now on.

A Story of a Girl

Once upon a time, there was a girl who dreamed of being anything that she wanted. She had no constraints, no limitations. She was intelligent, beautiful, and talented. She had goals that to some people were unobtainable but in her mind she knew she could achieve them.
As time went by, she began to work toward her goals and put a lot of effort into them. Every time she thought that she was getting closer, there was someone there to remind her that she would never be good enough to achieve these goals. There was always someone there to put limitations on her dreams and goals. There was always someone there to remind her how she didn't measure up.
Over time without her realizing it, these words that others had spoken had taken root into her heart, soul, and very being of who she was. Now, she began to have doubts. She questioned her goals and dreams and saw them now as lofty and silly. Eventually she pushed her goals and dreams deep down inside and was convinced that she was not able to fulfill them.
These same people were the same ones that told her how stupid, fat, and ugly she was. This too, took root into her soul and mind. She tried to be better but felt she could never measure up to the standards that these people had placed upon her.
She could never accept compliments and struggled constantly to be what she could. Unfortunately, there were no constraints and limitations placed upon her life. These were placed there by others but she had allowed them to root in her.
She felt no joy, no happiness, no worthiness. She didn't let on that this was inside her. What others saw was happy and jovialness. She would swallow deep down the feelings and thoughts that invaded her.
She knew that she wanted to make changes and become the person she dreamed of being. She knew that she had to work hard. It was going to be a long road but she knew that eventually she would get there and that someday she would be the person that she originally set out to be.