A little piece of advice

Always leave 10 minutes earlier than your scheduled departed time . . .

because you might just run late to your little sister's baby shower (which only the hubby could come because she's on bed rest) . . . that you're helping to give . . .

Although while there you will get to see your great aunt Betty, whom you love dearly and your childhood holds many fond memories of . . .

Your girls will get to play with Uncle Jonathan. . .

And even prepare him for his own little girl putting hair bows in his hair. . .

The girls might get to spend the night with Nanna. . .

On your way home. . . you might remember that you really needed gas. . .

But, because you were already running late to the shower, you told yourself, 'you'd get it later.'

Which. . . you might just run out of gas on the side of the road. . .

and possibly drown in your own pool of sweat. . . because its 95 degrees outside. . .

You might just be giddy and silly and laugh like crazy because you can't believe you actually didn't "beat the tank" this time. . .

Thankfully, Mama wasn't too far ahead of me and got me some gas. . .

The kindness of strangers stopping to help us fill it with gas to get me to moving. . .

And, . . . all that hard work to put on makeup and fix your hair to look pretty. . . must just be flushed down the drain. . .

because your makeup has sweated off and your hair is drenched in sweat. . .

Lovely! Just plain lovely!!! Thank goodness that bleaching of my teeth didn't sweat off :)

The Dress-Up Trunk

When Alec and Ashley were little I had them a trunk full of dress-up clothes. In fact, we still have it. . . they've just outgrown everything.

I remember the days they'd dress up and role play for hours.

Well, Hanna. . . she has access to the same dress-up trunk.

But, instead of wanting to pretend she is a princess . . .

or a mermaid . . .

or a ballerina . . .

or a storm trooper . . .

She likes to get out her laptop and head to HER dress-up trunk . . .

which just happens to be . . .

MY closet!!!

Hanna likes to pretend she is her Mama . . .

Her Mama in high heels!

She has quite the eye for accessorizing outfits, don't 'cha think?

Saddle Ridge Ranch . . .

Last week our church had VBS. I always, always love VBS. . . so full of so much energy and excitement. . . just makes me want to hoot and holler.


I had one of the funnest jobs I think possible. . . recreation. . . And. . . to boot. . . Alec helped me out.

I also got to "meet" a sweet girl at church who reads my blog. I knew who she was, but we'd just never had a face-to-face conversation. She is just a delight to be around. I am sooooo looking forward to getting to know her (in real person) better :)

This is my friend, Angela. Isn't she A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E?!? I just love her painted on freckles.

We had a great time with all of our games. . . This was a relay race called "Big Ole Boots". The kids had to dress up like a cowboy, carry an egg to the other side and change out their cowboy clothes and give them to the next person. . . SO!MUCH!FUN!

I just have so many kiddos I love here!!!

This crazy guy decided he was going to dress up as Alec. .. See the hair? Had me in stitches I tell ya!

The kids especially loved the water games. . . so did us grownups. It was dreadfully hot. See the picture up above with me and Jessica? See how wet my shirt was? That was sweat. . . good, ole, GA sun sweat!

Alec was such a tremendous help. He really enjoyed it too. In fact, we didn't have rec on Friday. I came home to pack for our trip to the beach. Alec stayed and helped Angela out in crafts. He really enjoyed serving. . . which really just blesses my heart. . .

He did get some time with his buddies. He'd have snack with them.

Lisa and Faith did preschool music together. We all got a chance to gab in the teachers lounge while we ate cream-filled donuts, grits made with Rotel tomatoes, pastries, even homemade egg rolls. They really treat their VBS teachers right!!! I drank a soft drink EVERY.SINGLE.DAY (which I NEVER do. . . not daily like that anyway!!!)

My very favorite day of VBS was Thursday. In rec, we had a water balloon toss, then we surprised the kids with a water balloon fight!!! We had a little balloon drama. We had nearly 700 balloons to fill up. We had a group of older boys use all the sinks in the men's restroom and we did the same in the ladies bathroom. We were on quite a roll until Mr. Larry (the maintenance guy) informed us we would have to go outside . . . which meant only 1 water hose versus the 8 sinks we had going. We ALL felt a little like this . . .


Talk about PRESSURE!!! My friend, Trish, worked her charm and got us permission to go back to the bathrooms. We were like an assembly line in a factory filling up those balloons. Y'all we laughed so much!!! And. . . I just love laughin'!!!

I was able to catch this picture of Hanna during her balloon toss.

This is our VBS rec crew after getting soaked with water balloons. You take a couple of goofy adults and teenagers . . . add in a whole slew of kids . . . then about 700 water balloons. . . you get a whole mess of fun!!!

YEE-HAW for a wonderful week of VBS!

All He Wanted was My Pillow

So, here we are at the beach with some friends of ours. I had the bring ye old computer, because I needed to work this morning. 5:00 AM my cell phone alarm goes off. I think to myself, "Oh, but the bed feels so good." Off and on throughout the night I've heard Jon breathe with a nasal breathe like he has a stopped up nose. . . so my sleep has been a wee bit interrupted.

Last night, we weren't sure if the sheets had been changed on our bed or not. Now, before you go and start thinkin' Jon and I are a bunch of clean-freak, gotta have everything Pine-Soled and Cloroxed for us . . . DON'T even allow your brain to go there . . . 'cause we're not. Quite honestly I don't remember the last time I changed our sheets. . . probably around the time of Jon's 40th b-day because my sister and her family slept on our bed. But the thing is our nasty is OUR nasty. . . not somebody else's nasty. . . they are 2 entirely different nasties; therefore, we like to have clean sheets when we are away from home.

Anyhoo. . . so the sheets didn't looked like they'd been changed. Jon found a blanket that we slept on top of. He threw both pillows on the floor. I'm one of those who always brings my pillow from home with me. . . so I was well prepared.

I told Jon to take my pillow. . . I can sleep anywhere and really without a pillow if I need to. . . He said, "No, you have to work in the morning." Okay, didn't take much convincing me. I agreed, so I slept with my pillow.

Bless his heart, he must've been waiting all night for my alarm to go off and me to jump out of bed. . . As soon as it started dinging I all of the sudden feel something extraordinarily close to me. . . awww, my sweet hubby wants to give me some good morning cuddle love before I head downstairs to work. . .

Not quite so, my friends. The reason he was so close to me was because he wanted my pillow. I BUSTED out in quiet laughter. He knew what he was doing. He said, "I just wanna share your pillow."

Poor thing, I just went up there to put on my running clothes. That man is sleeping like a baby. I don't even hear his nasal gargling.

Music to My Ears

Yesterday something happened that I honestly thought would never happen again.

I've haven't heard this sound in a very long while and wasn't sure if that part of his brain could any longer perform in this way. . .

On Tuesdays the kiddos and I spend part of our day with Jon's Dad. I've been pretty vague on here about his health condition. . . partly because we don't really have a definitive diagnosis . . . the other part because he is a well-respected, well thought of man in our community. . . and Jon's mom was trying to keep it on the down-low for as long as she could. . . so, I certainly didn't want to blab anything on the blog that someone might read. . .

Anyhoo. . . let's just say he can't remember things like he used to and he's not able to do things he used to. Jon's Daddy is a brilliant man. . . sweet, heart of gold. . . he's the real deal.

Many, many years ago for Christmas one year GiGi surprised Granddaddy with a baby grand piano. . . it's beautiful, I tell you.

For a long time I haven't heard Granddaddy play the piano. I think we all thought that was something he could not longer do. . . that this disease that plagues him had stripped his memory of. . .

Well. . . yesterday, the kiddos and I were over there after VBS. Sometimes we take him out to lunch, but GiGi made lunch for us yesterday. As I was warming it up, I hear this catchy tune played on the piano . . . a tune that took my memory back to their old house. . .

Granddaddy was playing the piano. I was so excited!!!! I started dancing and encouraged the kids to dance with me. This was great! I couldn't wait to get home and tell Jon!! Little glimpses like this give me hope that maybe, just maybe, his health condition is for a season and it won't turn into or become what it is predicted to do . . . prayfully hoping . . .

Helping Your Parents Move to "Little House on the Prairie"

Before you go and help your parents move to their new log cabin . .. a place that after I walked into for the first time that I felt like Caroline and Charles Ingalls were going to meet me at the door. . .

Make sure . . . you head to Chick-fil-A and meet Alvin and the Chipmunks. . .that way you will know time travel does not exist. . .

Grab a bite to eat while you're there. . .

Then, head to the Little House on the Prairie. . .

You'll need LOTS of muscle to move into this house. . .

And a good window washer is always good to keep handy. . .

You'll need to text your sister, "Mama doesn't even have furniture in here, but has all of her what-knots up already". . .

Thank you Hallmark, Freds and Dollar General for adding to my mother's love for knick-nacks and what-knots.

When you are at the "Little House on the Prairie" you can even sweep with a smile on your face. .

Or. . . sleep in a bin because you're so tired from your last soccer game. . .

You can also take down a gazillon blinds. . .

Or, put your head through a window pane that the window washer pushed out . . . Oops!

You can also rip hideous carpet off of beautiful hardwood floored stairs . . . and sneeze a ga-gillion times. . .

Even the wee ones can sweep under tables. . .

Even Ma Kettle knows how to use a broom.

Laugh. . . just 'cause I love laughin' and laughin' is always some of the best medicine. . . especially if Doc Baker is no where to be found. . .


Pa Kettle may have a visitor of his favorite kind. . . or try 4. . . deer in his backyard, coming to welcome him to the neighborhood. . .

More muscle to move. . . this prairie house has electricity and running water and a refrigerator

Even the hard wooden floors sleep good when your tired

A ham sandwich tastes great when you've moved as much furniture as these prairie men have. . . especially 2 leather sofas that weigh half a ton. . . which wouldn't go through the door. . . so a pane of glass had to be taken out of a window and the sofas had to be moved into the house through the window. . .quite a mess I tell you!!! Caroline and Charles Ingalls just had a picnic table they sat at. . . sure would've been a lot easier getting in the cabin. . .

Fluff those pillows and make those beds 'cause sleeping is going to feel mighty nice after moving all day and getting the sofas in the house drama. . .

Whirlwind

is probably the best way to describe how our week has gone. I'm a wordy girl, so I'm just cuttin' straight to the chase on this one.

Jon has applied from anywhere to 50-100 jobs in GA. On a whim, he saw a job in Jacksonville, FL (hey Nancy!!!) that peeked his interest. No one in GA has called, but the 1 stinkin' job he applied for in FL. . . you guessed it . . . called!!!

He just had a phone interview, so I was cool with that. After he told me he thought he totally bombed the interview and it was the worst and hardest interview he'd ever had, I felt a little relieved. However, as our conversation continued he told me they wanted him to come to interview in person on Thursday.

Okay, okay, I'm good with that. However, I sent an APB out for prayer like you wouldn't believe. News travels fast in a small town, and I really don't think we've ever had quite so many people praying for us. . . people telling us they'd be heartbroken if we left, that we just can't leave, that this was a tough prayer request for them to pray (joking, of course).

Jon said alot of his decision would be based on his Mom's reaction. After he told her I asked him what her response was. He said, "Nothing. She didn't say anything." What? Is this the same GiGi we're talking about?

Later that afternoon they came over to the house. She said, "I have never been depressed in my life. Today I have been depressed ALL day." Then, Jon's Daddy started crying. I hugged him and told him he was acting like my Mama (who'd started crying when I told her we were going down for an interview) . . . and not to worry, nothing has happened yet. His parents assured us they could help us financially until Jon got a job. I told GiGi I didn't think it was fair that they've worked their whole lives to build what they have. It isn't fair for them to have to help support us. She said something to me I don't think I'll ever forget, "Michele, all of it is no good if we can't share it." We're so blessed!!! Later that night they came back to the house and told us they would never want to stand in the way of a blessing. . . they'd released us and would be praying all day.

Thursday morning we head out for Jacksonville, FL (about 5-6 hours away). I drove b/c Jon had been up early and I knew he needed rest. As we were leaving G-town, it really hit me how really real this is . . . I started to cry.

The whole way down we are getting phone calls and texts from so many people . . . letting them know we are be prayed over. Jon's friend, Doug, is calling telling him he literally has him a job at Chick-fil-A . . . just to carry us over until he finds something more permanent. My friend, Faith, is calling telling me her hubby emailed someone this morning about a job for Jon. . . and she told me about 2 more openings for teacher positions. Jon and I felt so very loved on. . . so you know what I did? Cried. Yep, just the start of the tears for the day.

We get to the company. I see how big this place is and how big the parking lot is. I told Jon, "Babe, I'm nervous for you." We pray as a family. He goes in. I text Doug and tell him I just dropped him off. Doug texts back and says, "I love y'all and I selfishly want y'all here. There will be a big void in my life without you guys here. Ultimately I want the Lord Jesus to be glorified, so I am praying for His will. With that said, I hope my smear campaign worked (earlier he texted Jon and said he'd called every mortgage company in Duvall County and smeared his reputation) and they will send y'all straight home to G-town."

Meanwhile, the kids and I drive to the beach . . . which just happens to be one of my very favorite places on earth EVER!!! Our children's pastor calls me for a phone number she needed. She and I are friends but not the kind of friend you bare your soul to. She asked me one simple question, "Is this a bad time for you?" Oh me, Oh my. . . I just start dumping everything on the poor woman. . . tears and everything.

Here the kids and I are at the beach, fully clothed, and I start bawling like a baby. . . you know, ugly cry. Melissa calls. I just lose it!! Why was I crying so hard? Because I'm very scared. I could actually see us living down there.

I then start throwing a major pity party. "Only God is in G-town, only at our church. There are only good precious friends like ours here where we live. G-town has the best homeschoolers. Who will do my hair (yes I did think that)?" Y'all I was P-I-T-I-F-U-L!!!! Jacksonville is such a big city. . . I'm not used to big cities. I'm a small town, "Sweet Home Alabama", kind of girl. I'll have to drive big highways, and I'm not use to that.

I go get Jon. He has a pep in his step and a hop in his pop. Here I am moping around like Eeyore. He said the interview went well. He felt really good about them offering him a job. We should know something in a week or so. I think it made Jon feel really good to know he still has it. He's still able to walk into a professional and corporate environment and handle himself really well. He said he'd never felt so calm in an interview in all his life (he gets really, really nervous with things like this). We know it was all the people praying.

It is a really GREAT career move. Never has he had this good of an opportunity in the corporate environment since he graduated college!!! I would be able to quit my job. The company is a family-oriented company. He told me if this job was in Atlanta, he would be wanting it BAD!!!

However, with all that said, I feel like as close to perfect as life gets on this earth, we have it here. Our family is here. Jon's Dad is in poor health, and his parents really need us. My parents are 45 minutes away. We have dear, precious, like-minded friends here. Jon has really close Godly men in his life. Those things just don't happen to everyone. We have a precious pastor, who we have the honor of calling friend. Our church is wonderful. Other than our financial situation, life is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

Unfortunately, you need a job to live . . . and no one here in GA has called in the last year Jon has been searching for a job.

As we were leaving Jacksonville I start crying again!!! We were going to spend the night in St. Simons, but when Jon told me he was fine to drive home. I wanted him to put the pedal to the metal and get me home as quick as possible. I teased him and said, "I don't even want to vacation there." It really is a very nice town (much, much, much nicer than where we live now). I'm just so afraid of change, of moving there, of leaving everything I hold near and dear to my heart . .. here, in G-town.

On the way home, dear, precious friends and family are texting and calling, checking to see how it went. I'm so moved at how very loved we are. Some people live their whole entire lives and never have what we have. . . can we really leave all of that????

Jon shared with me this morning a few weeks back he prayed, "Lord, if we are not supposed to be here, please move us out." Is this a move of God? or a test? I don't know.

Thankfully, I am not the one who is in charge here.. . nor the one who is in control. God is . . and I trust Him no matter if we stay or if we go . . . and I love Him. . . no matter if we stay or if we go . . . and I depend on Him no matter if we stay or if we go. . .

So, here's to hoping . . . I feel so very confident we can't miss God on this one. . . too many people are praying. I'm praying mostly He and He alone will be glorifed in all of this.

Just Thinking Outloud

**Is it a criteria that a librarian has NO personality whatsoever? Here at our library, out of all the people who work there, only about 2 have a personality. One is downright mean (and she's actually the one who works with the children for story time). Seriously, I really think on the job requirements it is listed out MUST HAVE NO PERSONALITY WHATSOEVER!!!

**Why in the world is the link for my job listed in my "favorites" on my computer? 'Cause it sure isn't my favorite thing to do?

**I've had this ear pain/pressure/fullness in my right ear for about 6 months now. Unfortunately, google is not giving me a clear cut answer. Looks like I'm going to have to break down and take myself to the doctor.

**When leaving for the beach last weekend I left the house in an absolute mess. I had to spend my time cleaning up our car (a lady was going to look at it before we left). Now, I have a plague of fruit flies in my kitchen. DRIVING ME NUTS!!!

**The kids had so much friend time last week I ended up doing some of their chores. Maybe this week I can read and knit and sew and they can do MY chores? Wishful thinking!

**Is it better for a friend to be honest and hurt your feelings or tell a half-truth (just not the whole truth) to spare your feelings? Either way is love. Honesty is really just always the best policy . . . even for a girl who hates with all her being to hurt someone's feelings.

**I can't wait to start getting the kids curriculum for next year organized!!! I'm hoping to get started sometime this week. I just ordered all our books for unit 1 for Tapestry of Grace.

**My long run with Angela was really tough this morning. Normally I'm on top of my running game. For the last few weeks I've been super slow. . . and, quite frankly, I've been running more for the pleasure of running and to clear my head than to get in distance and/or faster times.

**It is better to ALWAYS go the extra mile for people . . . even if you wonder if it matters. . . or if you're tired and would rather stay home. . . the things you do for people (both little and big) really do make a difference!!!