Minute to Win It Family Edition

When we were all home for Christmas at Mom and James', Kristen and Jonathan had a great idea. . . we all played a family version of "Minute to Win It". It was so much fun. First though we had to decide our teams. . . We decided to do birth older. First borns versus second borns versus the baaaabbbbiiieeessss. First game. . .we had to get the red dot on our nose. James went first for the First-Born team.

He's SOOOOO silly!!!!!!!!!!

Ash went first for the Middle-Child team

She's SOOOOO silly!

Kristen went first for the babbbbiiiiesssss. . .

Next, we had ornaments in a box and had to shakey, shakey, shakey to get them all out.

Alec went this time for the First-Born team

They are highly entertained. . . can't you tell?????

James is entertaining them with this doll.

Melissa went for the Middle-Children. (she's going to KILL me if she ever reads this post)

Hanna went for the babbbiiiessss.

Next game, I went first for the first-borns. We had to get 3 candy canes on this hook. It's harder than it looks.

Ash sure was given this little first-born in her family some lovins.

Mama went for the middle team

Jon went for the babbbiiiesss. . .

This was such a fun idea! It might just have to become a tradition! Thanks Kris and Jonathan for getting it all together. We all laughed so very much!

PJ and Pancakes Party

Trish had such a wonderful idea. . . a PJ party with pancakes. It was such a fun party. I'm so very grateful for all of our wonderful friends. I don't take these things for granted, for I know each and every one of them is a very special gift.

The idea literally was to pop out of bed, put a bra on (for the moms), and head over to Trish's.

As you can tell, we were all compliant. . .

I thought I was going to have to knock someone out of my way when I saw Lisa bringing this in! She is a WONDERFUL cook! (No pun intended, Lis, since your maiden name is Cook)

P.S. Remember ladies, my blog is private now, so only like 2 people read it. . . otherwise, I wouldn't have posted all these pictures of us with naked faces . . . Ha!Ha!

A Surprise Hunt . . .

Friends who feel like you've known them your whole life are certainly a priceless treasure. Although it was a little over a year ago when we first met Angela and Doug, we all quickly became friends and feel as though we've known one another our whole lives. They were so very sweet and took Jon and I out for a surprise night on the town. The only 2 things I knew were. . . . A) I could wear jeans. B) Not to expect to be home before midnight . . . GASP. C) We were staying in G-town. Sorry, that makes 3. . . That's it. . . then my mind began to wonder. . . what in the heckadoodle could we do in G-town for 6 hours? I didn't have a clue what was coming. We get in their van and are given this. It's a clue. . . a rhyming one at that, and very catchy as well. . . Based on the clue we had to tell them where to drive. . . It was the church where Fox Fever took place. . . next clue. . .

Next stop was our church.

Then, off to Longhorn for dinner. . .

Great food, but even BETTER fellowship!!!!!!!!!!

The waitress handed us our next clue . . .

Next stop. . . Truitts.

This, my friends, is what is known as "Yummy Goodness".

Next stop. . . bowling. . .

Doug was so very sweet. . . he let me borrow his socks. This is gross, but I hate socks and always wear my boots without socks. Again, he was so very sweet to let his feet be in the dirty bowling shoes and let me have his socks.

After bowling we were given ANOTHER clue. . .

Next stop. . . Movies!!!!!!!!!! I love going to the movies, but they are so expensive, so we very rarely go. . .

And, it was to see "Voyage of the Dawn Treader". . . . these are some of my favorite movies. What a wonderful night. I loved every minute of it especially the scavenger hunt. I've done these several times for my kids, but no one has ever done anything like this for me. . . so I just felt so very special. . . the time, effort, thought, and creativity that went into the whole night just blew me away. We are so blessed so have such amazing friends!!!!!!!!!! They are both PRICELESS!

I saw . . .

Today. .

I saw a father, unable to breathe on his own, with oxygen strapped underneath his nose, wheeled down the aisle of a church to take one last look at his beloved daughter.

I saw a young woman who laid down her life for the sake of her mother. . . who gave up everything to be beside her mom. . . to care for her and take care of her. . . clothed with strength and dignity. I saw this young woman peer down to her grandfather with her face shining as if lighted up by the brightest light. Her face was radiant. Her smile was tender and loving and caring. She stopped down to pick up and help her grandfather's frail, fragile body out of his wheelchair so that he may sit in the pew beside her. I saw this same young woman rub the back of her beloved grandfather as he grieved for the loss of his daughter and her mother. I saw this young woman be strong for her brothers, sister, dad, and grandfather.

I wonder, as this elderly man, listened to the kind things being spoken of his daughter. . . if he thought back to the day he buried his wife and her mother of the same dreaded disease. . . breast cancer. I wonder if he thought, "This isn't right. Parents aren't supposed to bury their children."

I saw a little girl draped over her older sister's shoulder. . . sleeping. . . Here is a day that will change her life forever and she probably won't have any recollection of it. She felt peaceful enough to sleep. . . knowing her Mommy is now with Jesus. I saw this precious child wake up, put her feet on the pew in front of her. . . so free from all the grief and worry and fear an event such as the death of your mother would bring. This little one then skipped to her father's lap. His face lit up when she came up to him to be coddled in his arms. His smile was precious. . . as I know he sees his bride, his sweetheart in the face of this little one. I think he held her extra tight this day. My heart hurts for this little one. . . as she will not know her mother. . . she probably will not remember her. . . she will only know those things that people tell her about this wonderful woman. However, more so than knowing her mother and as heartbreaking as that it is. . . it is much, much more important for this little one to know Christ.

I saw the oldest of the 11 put her head on her husband's shoulder. . . knowing how weak and frail she must feel on the inside. . . . ready to break at any given moment. Yet, a little later she turns back and looks to her siblings on the rows behind her. I know the heart of the oldest (for I am one). . . making sure everyone else is okay. Being strong for her sisters, her brothers, and her Dad. . .yet, when it is safe, she will crumble. . . crumble into the arms of her husband and to her Lord.

I saw a father, a husband, stroke the head of his youngest son. Then, as the choir sang, he would lift that same hand and praise his Lord. . . and then that same hand would return to stroke his youngest son's head. . Absolutely precious . . . so.very.tender.

I saw a son close his eyes in worship, yet barely able to muster the words from his lips. Praising the One who gives and takes away. . .

I saw a daughter, bobbing her head to the beat of the music, singing songs of worship, praising the Lord, with such a look of peace through such a time of suffering in the life of she and her family.

I saw a couple of the children with faces so hard, unmovable, afraid that if they blinked an eye a tear would fall, and then they'd crumble . . . crumble into a million pieces. . . not knowing how they would ever pick themselves up again. May it be only their faces that are hard and not their hearts.

Diana Davis has touched more than just the lives of her 11 children and her husband. She's made a mark on all of our lives. She was an inspiration and a shining example of a Godly woman. She will be missed . . . for her seat is now empty. . .

My Funny Valentine

I'm not a big Valentine's day girl. Thinking back I don't know that I ever really have been. Maybe it's because I go from Christmas to Anniversary to my birthday . .. maybe I get "celebrated out"????

Anyhoo. . . we did get to spend the day with our friends. We made valentine cards for the elderly and our friend, Diana, who has cancer. . .

Alec led the devotion. He totally did this thing on his own. He read 1 Corinthians 13 and talked about what love was and was not, based on what Scripture says. Alec has had a crush on Shelby for quite awhile now and it really is no secret to no one. During one part of Alec talking about love, Cooper blurts out, "I can't believe you like Shelby". I about wet my pants I had to keep from laughing so hard. I did feel a tad bit bad for him b/c I was afraid he was embarrassed, but those things happen, and it was really.funny.

What we made . . .

Then, my funny Valentine came home from work. Know what he got me? A snack from HER. . . the snack machine. . . yes, he brought me home some pretzel Flips from THE snack machine. Honestly, I was quite honored :) Then he gave me a card.

He loves these cards with the little boy and little girl on them. . . I actaully am quite fond of them myself. . .

This is what it read on the inside. . .

He bought a birthday card! And, he's right since he found me his life hasn't been the same. I've rubbed off on the poor guy. . . I don't care though. Earlier that morning he sent me a sweet text that said, "I don't need some made-up holiday to tell you I love you. . . I love you". He really does show me how much he loves me every day. . . I'm just a blessed girl to have him! Plus, he's super cute and makes me laugh like crazy!

The Other Lady

Here I am getting it out in the open. . . the other lady. . .

She's at Jon's work. He visits her I know at least once a day. . . sometimes as much as 3 . . . or maybe more when he feels too ashamed to confess. . .

You would think I'd be jealous. But, thankfully, I'm not threatened by her at all. She's pretty boxy. I think she's pretty predictable. She doesn't wear a stitch of make-up, fix her hair, or put on her best outfit, and, yet, I think she literally makes Jon's mouth water. She can offer Jon things I can not. She certainly isn't moody or emotional, and I know she puts a smile on his face. I really do think if I ever get to meet her that we would be friends.

His mom even tried to curb this relationship. She bought Jon some things to keep with him by his desk that would keep him from being tempted to go and see her.

I asked Jon yesterday how it was going? If we was tempted to visit her? I know he must be missing her. He says, in a melancholy voice, "It's just not the same." Poor thing.

I know I have peaked your curiosity and you are dying to know her name?!? Her name. . . .

Snack machine.

Yes, my hubby loves the snack machine. He's like a little kid with that thing. He tries to leave his change at home so he doesn't go and grab a candy bar and then go again to get some chips. . . you know because he has to have something salty to get rid of the sweet taste. It has become such a laugh around here. . . . he and that dang snack machine :)

So, there you have it. Poor Jon. . .I actually understand. It is his way him mom loves on us all. . . through food. She's always bringing us snacks, cookies, breads. She cooks the best meals, etc., etc. He's bound to love food in the family he grew up in. . . .

Dear Booher

Dear Booher,

I promised you this post would be out by the end of this week. . . and, although I really am at heart a "wait to the last minute", here I am.

First let me say how your facebook post on my wall made me smile from ear-to-ear. I'm still a tried-and-true blogger, although from the lack 0f my posts it doesn't appear to be that way :) (**wink, wink** Lisa) However, I did browse around and found you have been quite the blogger. I'm so proud of you, my friend. Before Monday morning I hope to sit down and read your posts and see what has been going on with YOU!!!! You are so sweet to want to know what is going on with me and the fam. . . so here it goes.

Well, first of all you know the disease I have . . . "can't blog without a picture". Well, I have TONS of pictures, and I really just need to do a big 'ole slide show, but not today. . . coming soon though, pinky promise. I also am so anal I feel that I can't blog in the here and now. . . like last night we went over to the Cecils' office and ate pizza, hung out with friends, and the women got a beatdown in "Bible Outburst". . . sorry, I digress. . . I feel that I can't blog until I get all caught up on here. . . which may just take nothing short of a tiny decade. . . . so, I guess I'll have to get over myself and my analniss and start back on the "here and now" bloggy bandwagon!!! I'll go through a quick (well, as quick as this wordy girl can be) "catch-up" list.

**Hung out at the Cecils' farm one day and went on what my kids refer to "THE BEST HAYRIDE EVER". However, I refer to it as "THE DAY I ALMOST LOST MY LIFE". Seriously, the thing was so rough I literally texted Jon "Take out a life insurance policy on me NOW. Going on a hayride with John Cecil" I survived and we have great stories to tell from it. I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Cecils. This deserves a post of its own.

**We celebrated Christmas with a bang. . . including a family game of "Minute to Win It". FUN, FUN, FUN. This, too, deserves a post of its own.

**I got to have lunch with my very favorite 19-year-old. She's precious, and you would just absolutely LOVE her!!! God is doing some really amazing things in her life. I'm just so honored she wanted to share them with me and have me praying over her. And, I've been going to the throne of God on her behalf. I served her my baked potato soup. We talked for 4-5 hours, but it seemed like only 30 minutes. It was a day of joy and delight and I hated for it to end. Oh, wait, you already know about that 'cause it was YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, I'm so looking forward to our next lunch date!

**Some friends of ours took us for a night out on the town with a Scavenger Hunt. It was so much fun and we made so many memories. . . more to come. . . you guessed it . . . deserves a post on its own.

**And, did you know about Shelby and Brian? They are now being homeschooled. They are doing a virtual academy online, but are coming here 3 days a week. It really has been good. Talk about true discipleship . . . life-on-life. . .The way this all came about was totally of the Lord and . . . everyone say it with me now . . . "deserves a post on its own".

**Oh, have you seen my really bad haircut? I saw you at a distance the other day. It is forever in the perpetual pony tail because I absolutely HATE it. When it is all down I look like Joan Jett. Don't worry, you don't know her. You were probably in the womb or maybe not even born when I was rocking out to her songs. Needless to say, in the 80s, it looked great on Joan Jett. Here, in January/February of 2011. . . it looks horrid on "Mama in High Heels". I've been dousing and dousing it with horse shampoo. Don't worry, it's not Natalie's fault, she did what I asked her to. My sister says I'm having a hair midlife crisis.

**Speaking of midlife. . . well, I hope it isn't midlife for me. . . but I've been celebrating my birthday. Normally I take a whole week to do this. However, this year, I actually just took the whole month of January. Now, before you go and start thinking I'm a narcissist and all. . . . hold your horses. . . there's a mighty fine reason for this. . . but, yep, "it deserves a post on its own."

**I also gave up on Trinitarianism. It got to the point where it made me cry. . . seriously. So confusing and philosophical. . . so I bailed out for several Wednesday nights and came home and worked. However, a new class is gearing up and I'm super excited.. . . Man and Sin. Now, THAT is something I can understand. :)

**Oh, I got another job too. . . transcription still. My company was losing work and it was such a blessing to get another job in a "dying field". The LORD has been so good to us. That is one reason why I haven't been blogging. It just takes a while to get used to working on a new platform. Hopefully I'm there now though.

**As far as running, well. . . if this weather doesn't stop acting up, my legs are going to forget how to run. That's all I'm sayin' about that!

**I've also been taking the kids to Spivey Hall to watch some plays. . . "All Around the World in Music" and "Twosome Seussical". We met the neatest woman there. Mother of 7, husband was in construction (which basically meant no work), ran up a lot of dept (unfortunately sounds so familiar I could choke J/K), sold their house, lives in a camper (yes, with 7 children), works from 1:30-10:30 at Chick-fil-A, and HOMESCHOOLS!!!! Now, if I ever go to feelin' sorry for myself because I'm a working and homeschooling mother, somebody SHUT ME UP QUICKLY!!! This woman was absolutely precious. I really wish she wasn't so busy because I want her to be my friend. Her story was inspiring and such a blessing.

**Oh yeah, I've also been showing my sister houses. We've put in a couple of offers, but nothing has worked out so far. Hopefully soon, very soon. I'm excited at the thought of them living nearby.

**Oh, and the Lord has been working on me about being honest in love. You know how I love for everyone to like me, even 14 and 15 year olds. I had to call one of the girls in my discipleship group out in some sin I was seeing in her life. Yikes, hated it. . had to do it. . .was so afraid she'd never enter the doors of my home again because she would hate me. . .but as her mentor and sister in Christ it had to be addressed. You know what? She still loves me. . . I think even more now, and she's still coming, and she wasn't angry, but very remorseful to first and foremost the LORD.

**We finished up 1,2, and 3 John in Sunday School. I have never learned so much in my LIFE!!! God is really teaching me so very much. And those girls. . . those 14 and 15 and 16 year old girls. . . seriously hold pieces of my heart. I'm praying they are taking hold of the truth that is being taught them. We're about to dive into 1 Peter. . .SO.VERY.EXCITED!!!!!!!!!! With that, I have to to tell you, one day a couple of weeks back I was talking to them about how we are always being watched. People are always looking up to us, watching how our walk with the Lord is, how we act, treat others, etc., etc. So, before I led into talking about THEM being watched, I asked them, "Tell me someone you look up to that you are watching. I don't care if you tell me Jennifer Lopez. Just be honest with me, and tell me who it is you are watching." Do you know that 3, yes, I said 3 different girls said, Booher? Yep, that's right. You are making a difference for the kingdom my sweet friend!

I love you, Booher! I'm so proud of you. I'm honored I get to pray for you and share in this life with you. God's fingerprints are ALL over you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, when are you coming over for lunch? Just mark your whole day off 'cause you know we'll get to chattin' and what seems like 30 minutes will go by and it will be almost 5:00 again :)

Because I love to laugh

I have not fallen off the face of the earth. . . just busy, all with very good things. I've got so much to blog about it may take me a whole day to get caught up . . .

Meanwhile. . . because I love to laugh I wanted to share some funny things the kiddos have said lately.

**They were at my moms a few weeks back. It was early in the morning and mom was sitting with Hanna on the sofa while drinking her coffee. Which means . . . morning breath + coffee breath = DRAGON breath. Hanna LOVES all things that smell nice and girly. Mom put some lotion on her hands.

Nanna: "See, that lotion makes your hands smell good."

Hanna: "You need to put some in your mouth."

**We are going through "The Truth Project". We were just going to do this as a family, but my friend and running partner invited us to do it with their Sunday night group. Thing is, we are the youngest ones in there. Although I feel like Angela is my age, she really could almost be my mom (a young mom, but yet a mom). We are the only ones there with kids still at home. Most everyone there is my parents age or older. . . . which means NO OTHER KIDS to hang out with.

Alec and Ash participated. Hanna was quite bored. She told us that night at dinner.

"I counted everyone in that room that had on glasses. . . . There were 11."

I wish you could just hear the way she said it. . . CRACKS ME UP!

**My sister and her family are now back in GA, which means we get to spend so much more time together. I love it! With my little nephew growing up in Texas for bascially the life he can remember, he's not used to trees. . . Texas is so bare of trees. However, our yard is full of beautiful oak trees. One day they pulled up in our driveway and JS said to Melissa, "Mama, does Aunt Michele live in the jungle?" Sweet.little.thing.