Momma says....

Playing with Kids

2007-09-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

Aren't we lucky that we got to play with kids all week??

The Bordo

2007-09-28T22:17:00.000-07:00

I wish we could have spent all week here and at the girls dentention center. So much need and so little time...

Faces at the Dentention Center

2007-09-28T08:50:00.000-07:00

Look at these sweet girls, aren't they beautiful? I wanted to bring them all home with me. Lydia (that I am standing with - 2nd picture) and I really bonded. We could not understand each other a lick, but communicated in our own way. I ate lunch with her, then braided her hair and prayed for her. She gave me some gum out of the candy we passed out to the girls, and as I was leaving, a stuffed beanie baby to take home. I was floored that she would give me something like that and didn't want to take her toy! She insisted, saying she had others. It was a little beaver and when I asked her its name she looked confused. I told her it had to have a name so I would know what to call it when I got home. She thought for awhile and said, "Terry!"

The girl at the top with Hannah was a doll baby also. I prayed for her and she wept and shook as God poured His healing love on her.

I can't even imagine some of the things these girls have been through. The whole time I was there I was thinking about my own beautiful teenage daughters and how awful it would be for them to live in a place like this.

Some of these girls have their own babies (below), in fact, our leader told us that it was wierd for these girls to see our group of girls come in and NOT have babies.

Party at the Girls Dentention Center

2007-09-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

This was by far my favorite day. I fell in love with these young girls at the dentention center. We had a party for them and brought in lunch and the cake you see. "Mi Padre Me Ama" means "My Father Loves Me." This girl is reading "The Father's Love Letter" in Spanish. We had presents for the girls and loved them the best we could. I saw God show up so beautifully! Later on, during ministry time, many of them asked Jesus in their hearts and wept as the presence of God touched them.

I am in Love with the Children of Honduras!

2007-09-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

Dedication of the Water Tank

2007-09-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

Here we are excitedly waiting to dedicate the new water tanks at the Bordo Church! That beautiful blonde is Candy, the missionary we worked with during the week. Candy and Wyly, her husband, birthed the vision of bringing clean water to the Bordo. Did you know that worldwide over 1.6 million children die from water borne illnesses every year? More than 1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water. Talk about taking something for granted. Furthermore, this tank only cost $2000.

Praying at Casa Hogar

2007-09-25T08:16:00.000-07:00

This sweet baby is Brenda, everytime Mary Leigh picked her up, the power of God would hit her. As soon as I held her in my arms, the Lord spoke to me and said He had picked her up out of a horrible pit and put a new song in her mouth. (Psalm 40:1-3) I found out later she had been living on the streets. It's a miracle she ended up at Casa Hogar instead of the state run orphanage.

Gatlinburg Gals, Last Summer

2007-09-24T04:50:00.000-07:00

So you can have a visual. These are the Ya-Ya's, except for Drenda, who is very much missed. See how off-center we are without her? Okay, that's just my fancy camera work. Me and my timer and the top of Caryn's car. I'm not a professional. The Ya-Ya's are (left to right) Caryn, Becky, Tina and me. Like my new cowboy hat? It was safer than the nose piercing I had planned on getting.

Finally, Honduras

2007-09-23T21:36:00.005-07:00

I'm so glad I can access my blog again! I have been wanting to share pictures of our incredible trip. Since a picture is worth 1000 words, I'm going to try and put as many on here as I can, so you can see the joy and peace on the many faces we encountered. God showed up in such a big way while we were there. I left Honduras feeling that God was SOOO big compared to me. He was faithful to minister to every single person we prayed for.

Just to recap the week, we spent Saturday and Sunday in the Bordo, the poorest area in Honduras. Four years ago, the Lord brought a man named Pastor Gustavo to this area and showed him the children running around with no clothes on, drinking water from the sewer. The Lord said, "Do something about that." Pastor Gustavo went back to his church and shared his vision, but was ridiculed. Throughout the years, this man has received only gas money from his church home, yet has been faithful to do what God asked of him as he built a church right on the perimeter of the Bordo. A beautiful group of people work right alongside him shining light into a very dark place. The Bordo is actually municipal property, nothing more than a trash dump. Housing is propped up, pieced together wood or metal with dirt floors. Of course, there is no running water and any electricity is from an illegally tapped line. Around one hundred thousand people live here.

Because of the Bordo church, the children receive a nutritious meal three times a week and, while we were there, fresh water flowed into the community. On Sunday morning, we went to children's church and participated in the wonderful service they have for the kids and afterwards helped serve food. Sunday night was a youth service and, as sweet and fun as children's church had been that morning, the youth service was vibrant, exciting and powerful. The speaker was a young man who mesmerized me with his energy even though I couldn't understand a bit of what he was saying! You'll see pictures of the dedication of the water tank. This was a 2 year vision of missionaries Wyly and Candy Gammon - the missionaries we worked with all week. It was just an unexpected blessing that we got to see clean, fresh water come into that community the week we were there. If you can believe it, such a life-changing thing only cost $2000 to set up.

In the Bordo, we passed out candy to the children, bags of rice and beans to families and hygiene products like washcloths, toothbrushes and soap. During that time, I had a man come up to me and ask for prayer. He said he wanted to be delivered from alcoholism! I was floored and knew it was a divine appointment for me early in the week. I believe God wanted to show me how powerful and beautiful He is early on because the week would only get more intense. The man asked Jesus into his heart and I watched as the power of God kept knocking him to his knees. He was trying so hard to stand up and couldn't. Candy was with me and she's a tiny little thing and he was clinging to her for dear life! The man had been drinking and after we prayed his eyes were completely clear! Praise God!

We spent one day at a juvenile detention center for young girls. Orphans of the state, mentally handicapped, prostitutes, run aways, homeless, you name it....any unwanted girl between the ages of 12 and 18 is placed here. Such a terrible place to be a teenager. We found out there is gang violence and prostitution going on in the facility. One of the gang leaders wouldn't allow her girls to talk to the "gringas." Every time we asked one of them a question, she would look at the leader to see if it was okay to speak. It was such a subtle dance of glancing and head nodding, you would have missed it if you weren't paying attention. God is bigger than all that though. We had a party for them and let them know how much Father God cherishes them. It was a beautiful thing to see girls so stone-faced and callous open up to such Love. During ministry time, these girls wept and asked for prayer. They wanted Jesus in their lives and to be set free. I believe God healed many hearts that day. I have prayed that what happened inside those girls would change the atmosphere in that horrible place. Of all the days in Honduras, this was the one that affected me the most. I know the Lord has called me to minister to women, but that day the Lord showed me the value of the whole female race. I ache for the girls who live close by me who are abandoned or abused. They live in America too, right? Even sleepy little Greenville, South Carolina.

The rest of the week was spent at the orphanages with the younger kids. We clowned one day, did crafts, skits, played, prayed. What a blessing for us! God also allowed me to minister to the Christian women in these facilities. Many of them have been abandoned by their husbands and are illiterate. They were strong on the outside, but broken-hearted on the inside. They wept as we prayed for them and told them how much God loves them. God told me to tell every single one how beautiful and precious they were to Him. Our God is so good.

Thank you all so much for your love, prayers and financial support during this trip. Hannah and I are forever changed by seeing the great love God has for the lost and hurting. I have dreamed the last few nights of being out and telling people how much God loves them. I know He placed an eternal treasure and desire in my heart to see people transformed by the love of God.

Blogging Again....

2007-09-23T21:36:00.001-07:00

Unbelievable. Somehow I could not get access to my blog these past months. A case of having the wrong password and whatnot. Nice Guy asked me again tonight if I had updated my blog with our missions trip pictures, so I decided ONE MORE TIME to see if I could get in. After resetting everything AGAIN, I'm back!

So I will update soon, promise. As it is, it's after midnight and I'm pooped. I have much to say about our trip and some other things going on.

Missions Trip Update

2007-06-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

To update everyone on our missions trip, I wanted to report that we raised every penny we needed and got a better deal on our plane tickets than we had expected. Hannah and I will be traveling to Atlanta tomorrow to meet with our team to discuss the who, what, when and where of our trip. We'll be working on skits and puppets and things like that. I think that we are going to do some clowning for the children in the orphanage which will be great fun. More details on that later.

For now, I do have a serious prayer request. Our passports have not come in. I've read so many horror stories on the internet in trying to figure out what to do about the situation that I'm trying very hard not to panic! The State Department is so overloaded that I've heard they are not issuing anything unless you are 2 weeks from your departure date. The place to go for an appointment? Washington, D.C.! Not Atlanta or Charlotte, but eight hours away! The good news is I will actually be in D.C. next week! Our first family vacation in about 4 years. What perfect timing! Who wants to go to the Smithsonian when you can sit in the passport office? All that said, I may not be able to get in. There's that 2 week window. So I contacted both Lindsay Graham and Bob Inglis to see if my Congressman can help me. Maybe they could just sashay over to the office, pull some strings and have my passport waiting on me when I get there?

If you are reading this, the Lord brought you here to pray for us and our passports! Please do.

Missions Update

2007-05-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

Well, just wanted to let everyone whose been asking me know that, yes, we are raising money for our trip. We've raised almost half of the money we need and so appreciate everyone who has blessed us financially. I can't even describe how it feels to know that people believe in the Kingdom of God planted in us and are willing to sow into that. Thanks to all of you who have generously given. We need to have most of our funds in by June 10th so we can purchase our tickets. In the meantime our van has died! My old faithful Pearl, I can hardly bear it. Nice Guy will be going and cleaning out the contents (because I can't! sniff!) and we'll be donating it to Goodwill this week. God is teaching me how to trust in Him! We had agreed not to have another car payment and well, by golly, we just don't have $10,000 sitting in the bank right now. Fortunately, we can get by on one car with Nice Guy's work schedule, so I've been driving the truck around, but it's just not the same...I'll miss you Pearl!

Also, we will be going to get shots in two weeks. Can you say typhoid? Please pray for us regarding this that we don't have any side effects from the shots!

Today I was so blessed! Something that's been on my heart for many, many years came to pass. I was able to go to a local women's shelter and love on, pray for and minister to the ladies there. My friend Hope taught a lesson on God the Father's plan to redeem mankind through Jesus from the "foundation of the world!" It was excellent! And then we prayed for the ladies. They were so thankful we came, thanking us over and over again until I wanted to say, "No! Thank you for letting ME come."

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

To See the Glory of God...

2007-04-12T07:11:00.000-07:00

I wrote this at the beginning of 2006 and never finished it....

Well, Happy New Year everyone. Seems I haven't had quite as much time to sit and write as I did when we were having our Christmas break.

I have spent alot of time thinking and praying. I'm wondering what this year will bring. And I've been reflecting on the past two years - horrible in one sense - magnificent in another. I lost one of my precious nephews. Despite living for only 7 weeks, he touched the lives of our whole family in a way some people never do - he pulled us all closer together - closer to the Lord. The loss, at the time, was overwhelming and beautiful too because God was beautiful TO us despite our sadness. And then my dad, only 59 and healthy as all get out, suddenly found out he had a vicious tumor growing in his leg, eating his bone and depositing cancer in his body. Despite removal of his leg, he only stayed with us 10 more months. I miss him soooo.....

But I'm beginning to understand as never before, that you need to come to the end of yourself to really find God. I've been a Christian for 18 years and tried to stay in control of any hardship or sorrow that came my way, but I was liberated and swept away by the love of God when I learned to let go and let Him hold me and hide me.

I'm reading an incredible book called More than Enough. It is the story of missionaries, Heidi and Rolland Baker whom the Lord called to start caring for the orphaned and abandoned children living in the dumps in Mozambique. They have absolutely nothing and they find God in such an incredible, powerful way. They experience the reality of God. Miracles are common, everyday events in their lives because they need Him SO much. In America, we just don't need Him enough.

I know I don't. Except now I don't have an earthly Father and I DO need my Heavenly Father to be my Father here and He's promised He will be a Father to the fatherless, but I'm talking about needing him and wanting him more than anything else this world has to offer. I look at myself and see so much of me and I want people to see God - not Me.

And now here I am...2007....

To see the glory of God and not ourselves. Isn't that our hearts cry? I know many people passionately pursuing the glory of God in their lives and it is so inspiring. I feel blessed to be surrounded by many. But isn't it necessary if we are going to make a difference in this world? We need to be different and separate, otherwise who will see God?

This summer Hannah and I have the opportunity to go to San Pedro, Honduras for our first missions trip. I'm excited for both of us, but mostly for Hannah who feels the Lord may be calling her to full-time missions work one day, especially with orphans. Recently she had a vision of Jesus with children of all races hiding behind his robe looking at her. They brought flowers and put them in her hair and sat on her lap. This is MY daughter at the age of 15 experiencing God more powerfully than I ever have. I am overwhelmed.

Yesterday, I was working on our support letter and explaining all we would be doing in Honduras. I was very excited while I was writing, I was thinking of Heidi Baker at the time. One of our outreaches will be in the Bordo, an area where 30,000 children live in a trash dump. We'll pass out food, candy and hygiene products, but also pray for the children, believing the Lord to heal and deliver many. It is beyond my imagining right now. I have never in my life seen poverty like that.

Yesterday afternoon it hit me. I was walking by a man that smelled like....well....urine. And it struck me that I will be holding children that are sick and filthy and smell horrible. Suddenly I was scared to death. I am afraid I won't be able to do anything but cry. I've heard that Heidi Baker holds her babies and cries over their sick, diseased and dying bodies for hours and the Lord heals them, so that may not be the worst thing. What if I can't hold them or love them because I'm too scared or repulsed? What if I want to turn my back on them, so I just don't have to see how horrible life is for these little children. What if I can't do it?

In fact, I realized suddenly that I couldn't.

You see that word up there? I. This is what I'm talking about. I can't do it. I know I can't, but I do know that God would not be sending me there if He did not think I was ready to let Him be sufficient for me. He doesn't even want me to have the strength to do this, because His Glory and Grace can't be compared to our own feeble attempts. When He loves and moves through me, I will be one step closer to my heart's cry of all of Him and none of me.

Sometimes prayers aren't answered like you'd hoped or God doesn't show up like you'd imagined. The worst thing I can think of would be to pray for an orphaned, sick child and not see God move. That's the other thought creeping around in the back of my head, but really, I know it's a lie. God doesn't hold out on us. At the very least, what God has done in my life this past year is I know His character and I trust that He is always good and loving and reaching out to us constantly pulling us towards Him. We take one small step of faith and He comes bounding toward us. Ephesians says, "I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great his power is to help those who believe him. It is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the place of honor at God's right hand in heaven...and God has put all things under his feet and made him the supreme Head of the church - which is his body, filled with Himself, the Author and Giver of everything everywhere." Amen!

One year later...

2007-04-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

Can it be?? It's been almost a whole year since I was here writing folks. Not that anyone is reading this probably. Mostly I just do it for my own amusement. I was thinking about what I said about Mr. and Mrs. Grump last year. I was thinking that I was too hard on them and not being a nice person and that I should delete my post, but it just cracks me up everytime I read it. (snort!) Mr. Grump did confirm the other day that we have very different gardening styles when he suggested I spraypaint my beautifully aged birthbath. He also told my husband that we needed to "do something" about the "overgrown" rosebush in that bed outside his garage. (in our yard though) It's a climber that has nothing to climb on and I've left it alone since we moved in and it's now a gorgeous spreading bush. In another month, it will be a waterfall of red blooms. He hates it.

I finally realized he may not like what I'm doing over here after all. I had this "you wait and see" attitude that he would eventually appreciate all the flowers, but maybe not. Maybe he'll see it as an overgrown weedy mess. This makes me thankful we finally got the ligustrum hedge planted in the backyard. In about 5 years, he won't see over here anymore and he'll have to find something else to criticize. You can talk about me, but don't talk about my flowers!

"In the spring at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."

2006-05-07T02:54:00.000-07:00

That's a quote from Margaret Atwood. A Canadian writer who looks very much like Barbra Streisand. I don't know anything about her, other than we would probably have alot to talk about based on such brillant insight about spring and dirt.

Yesterday I lied to you. I mentioned that I was about to do yardwork, but that's not entirely accurate because I don't actually DO yardwork. I garden.

Lest you think differently, let me assure you there is a huge difference. Gardening involves cooking large quantities of compost, bringing needed shovelfulls of the stuff to hungry plants, talking to and staring at the flowers, making sure everyone is happy where I planted them, warding off any unpleasantness (such as slugs or Japanese Beetles). I also search for new plants and then find places for them among the older ones, helping them to get established and get along with their neighbors. I find new homes for the ones that don't fit in. In this respect I guess I am more like a real estate agent or a mafia mob boss. (I CAN get kind of tough.) Yardwork is what my neighbors do. More about them in a minute.

As I've mentioned before, this is only our second summer in our house. Alright, technically it's the third, but the first was spent moving in and not gardening, so it's the second summer I've put concerted effort toward transforming my little slab of grass and foundation plantings into an English Cottage garden.

I've noticed I've spent quite a bit of time staring at and appreciating the area I worked in last year. Talk about delayed gratification. You spend hours getting compost ready, preparing the bed, planting, watering, fertilizing, and staring. The sweet little darling rose bush responds by sitting there for a year looking like a stick in the ground. Which is a good thing, because it's roots are getting strong and healthy so that one day it can support a mass of gorgeous floppy red flowers, so it's worth the wait. But I digress.

Last year I decided to start with the area between my driveway and the neighbors driveway. Our neighbors are a lovely retired couple from Long Island, New York, who talk very loudly and like to cuss you out when they are mad at you. Something I found out my third week in my new home. We'll call them Mr. and Mrs. Grump. The reason I selected this particular spot is because their garage is RIGHT THERE and they sit and watch us all the time. As I said, they are retired so I guess we're better than TV.

Nice Guy wanted to install a 10 foot fence, but I talked him into planting something that would turn into a beautiful hedge. We planted three skip laurels (Prunus laurocerasus 'Schipkaensis'), which have beautiful glossy evergreen leaves and will one day be a hedge about 8 feet tall and 20 feet long. Just the right size to cover up Mr. and Mrs. Grump's viewing area. Nice Guy pointed out that by the time the hedge is full grown, Mr. and Mrs. Grump will be dead, but I patiently explained we'd at least have a nice hedge. In front of the laurels, I planted three Rosa 'The Fairy' bushes. These sweet little innocent pale pink rose bushes are growing like mad. In another year, I'll probably have to start pruning them. I hope they behave. They certainly LOOK sweet. A true Southern rose bush if I ever met one.

Across from the rose bushes are about 5 hosta plants which came with the house. I planted pink lily bulbs a few weeks ago to grow in and around them. I moved a dark marroon Asiatic lily to that side, as well. In front of the very first Rosa 'The Fairy', I planted lavendar daylilies. The lily crew may need to get moved around later on, but for now I can't wait to see the show.

Now, if you were here with me, you'd be standing on the side of the house, so follow this neat little path of pavers I put down and notice the ground cover. Yeah, I'm not sure I like it either. It's chocolate chip ajuga. The least invasive ajuga, but it's looking kind of....wierd. But looky there, do you see the arbor we put in? Yeah, I know Mr. and Mrs. Grump have one too. Theirs is plastic. Mine is wood. Mine has my great-grandmother's climbing rose bush growing on it. Theirs has plastic pots of petunias dangling off the side. The Grumps like plastic. You can tell by the many plastic pots and plastic pavers and plastic trellises they have on their side of the house. Yeah, they like annuals too. And fertilizer. Yeah, I've never seen such a green lawn either. Yup, that's a riding lawn mower sitting in the garage. The quarter of an acre gets mowed faithfully by Mr. Grump every three days...well, he has to because of all the fertilizer, remember? Yes, they actually did plant golden euonymous bushes around their porch. Well, aren't you smart? Yes, they do get about 20 feet tall, but see how they have masterfully whacked them into round balls to keep them in check? Well, I know they look like a bunch of bleached blonde bimbos sitting there. It IS an ugly bush, but don't you think it looks interesting with the red salvia, multi-colored impatients and purple clematis? Well, at least it matches their personality quite nicely.

Anyway, back to my yard. If you look waaaay down here at the bottom of the trellis....right there, no right there. See it? Seeeee?????? Yeah, that. Those little itty bitty sprouts of green? Blue forget-me-nots....just sowed them a week ago. Aren't they precious??? Babies! Yeah, I know the irises are flopping over. I just put them in last week too....I had to get tough and move them and I'm not sure if I should whack off their legs....errrr....trim their green leaves. The frustrating part about irises is you have to plant them with the bulb showing or they won't bloom but that means they keep flopping over. I'll have to keep on eye on them. Might have to get tough.

Sigh....isn't it lovely? Couldn't you sit here for hours watching the flowers grow too? Thanks for stopping by. Come back later when the hydrangeas are blooming. And don't forget next year! You can tour the other side of my house and see the new vegetable garden and the perennial bed I'm working on right now. Ta-ta!

Saturday

2006-05-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

Well, folks.....it's a bright and sunny May Saturday morning which can only mean one thing for the thrifty minded: yard sales. Nice Guy won major brownie points by suggesting we go schlepping around other people's cast-offs this morning and this is what we came home with:

- A heavy-bottomed Oneida saucepan which I will use to make soap .25
- A nice guitar for my little man - something he's been wanting 10.00
- a tall, clear lemonade bottle with a stopper that a very nice lady gave me after I oogled some beer bottles with stoppers she had piled in a box FREE
- a CD case for the many CD's floating around in our van .50
- beautiful antique sterling salt and pepper shakers (to add to my collection of tarnished silver in the kitchen) 6.00
- many, many educational books 5.00
- new speakers for our computer which sound MUCH better than the old ones 3.00 (I would just like to point out I would have NEVER noticed these if Nice Guy had not been with me.)
- a few Christmas decorations .50
- a new blender because I chipped a tiny piece off the glass pitcher part of our brand new $40 Oster 5.00 (and because this one is also an Oster the pitcher fits the base on the old one, so now I have 2 bases. Anybody need one?)

I talked Nice Guy out of purchasing a Nordictrak, a massage pad thingy that goes in a chair, a lawn mower that was only 2 years old and still under warranty (we have a brand new one we just bought last year), and a laundry hamper (also have that, guess who doesn't use it).

I tried to purchase a skateboard ramp from a kid who positioned himself at the top of it when we walked into his yard. He wasn't budging. He had several, so I thought he could have parted with it, but he has obviously yet to learn the art of negotiation.

Saturdays in May are also all about the yardwork, so guess what I'm going to do now?

Easter

2006-04-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

A very happy Easter to all my friends....I pray you would understand more deeply the great sacrifice Jesus made for us.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you..."

2006-04-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

Cabinets with red primer.

2006-04-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

Boring oak cabinets...but check out the newly painted black window!

Funky Kitchen

2006-04-14T07:26:00.000-07:00

So take a look at the boring cabinets we got with the house. I had the idea to distress them but I had no clue how and I was petrified that I would ruin them. Enter my wonderful artist friend Sandra who heard my vision and is holding my hand through this process. I've learned so much and am having a blast making these things look as beat up as possible!

I had to clean and sand the cabinets first - time consuming. I had primer tinted this red color which was supposed to be darker, but I found out that primer can only get SO dark. This was the best barn red Sherwin Williams Ryan could give me.

So far, the kitchen cabinets are not finished, however I have done the laundry room cabinets, and I am ecstatic about them! Unfortunately, I can't get a good picture to show you here. The lighting in that room is terrible, so you'll just have to wait and see the real deal when I'm done! Also, I didn't want to purchase new hardware, so Sandra RUSTED my current hardware! It is the neatest look! I'll post pictures of that later. It inspired me to bring my grandmother's old white (and rusted) metal rocker into the kitchen. VERY cool.

2006-04-14T07:21:00.000-07:00

Here's part of the newly painted living room with a peek into the dining room.

The House We Built

2006-03-13T07:41:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we really didn't build our house. We moved out to suburbia 2 years ago and got a great deal on a cape cod that a relo company owned. We moved from a 1600 square foot cutie-pie into a sweeping farmhouse (my view of it anyway) with a gorgeous front and back porch, tile and hardwood floors, huge picture windows and a master bathroom that made me cry the first time I saw it. Later on after we moved in, I found a list of things I'd wanted in a house and the Lord had given me every single item on my list! I hadn't even realized it when we moved! In fact, I'd forgotten I'd made that list, but God never did. He knew that I wanted a nice house and a happy family and lots of friends to fill it more than anything else in the world. He gives us the desires of our heart.

So here we are, two years later and I'm trying to, as inexpensively as possible, make it mine. We've done some major painting the past 2 weeks. The house was loaded with dark oak dentil molding, oak doors, dark oak wooden blinds....lots of oak. Yuck. It needed to be set free, so we painted all the trim in the living and dining rooms white and put a vanilla color on the walls. It's actually a Behr paint called Cottage White. It's gorgeous! The whole downstairs is light and airy and beautiful. I can see the whole side of my yard now. No more blinds! See what I mean?

Valentines Update

2006-02-15T07:15:00.000-08:00

By the way, I never told you that Nice Guy cried when he read the card I'd made him. He cried. Sigh....

Happy Valentines Day

2006-02-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines from Momma. I love Valentines.....it's a fun, romantic holiday and I'm a romantic at heart. Of course, I also have a romantic husband so that makes it even more fun. I guess if I were single or if Nice Guy just didn't get it, not so much fun.

I made Nice Guy a homemade Valentine card, which I do alot - make homemade things, that is. I like making things because I'm cheap, but I'm also an artist at heart (although I'm not exactly trained or anything like that). I was inspired because my girls are taking an art class where they've been making these neat books with lots of cool paint techniques and collages. I got a book from the library called Altered Art and that inspired me too....so I printed up that e.e. cummings poem that Cameron Diaz read to her sister in the movie In Her Shoes because I LOVE that poem. (It's called "i carry your heart with me" if you want to look it up.) And I had these cute pictures I cut out and I have lots of scrapbooking supplies including very nice paper, so I was set to make the Most Romantic Card Ever.

I sewed (yes, with my sewing machine - pretty cool) some paper into a book and started gluing on the pictures and the poem and then I painted the whole thing. If you, too, are trying to create a last minute card because you don't have time to run to the store (say, you live in a high traffic area) but you DO have 4 hours to spare in the making of a homemade card) here's a few do's and don'ts I learned. Let's call it Cardmaking 101:

1. If you sew together your pages first and then try to paint, the paint that's meant for one page will end up on all the pages.

2. If you glue down all your pictures before painting, the paint will cover the pictures and you won't see them. This should be obvious but sometimes we just don't think of these things.

3. Dogs like to sniff paint that's sitting on the floor.

4. Puppies like to play in paint that's sitting on the floor.

5. If you have ANY animals in your house, they should be kept out of the crafting area.

6. Carpet absorbs paint.

7. Remind the recipient that it's the thought that counts.

8. If you need detailed directions in the actual making of your card, contact a professional.

Happy Valentines Day!

80's Teen, but 70's Child

2006-02-03T06:01:00.000-08:00

This morning, a friend I grew up with sent this to me....reminded me so much of our childhood together, I'm pretty sure she wrote it!

You were a little girl in the 70's if:

You wore a rainbow shirt that was half-sleeves, and the rainbow went up one sleeve, across your chest, and down the other.

You made baby chocolate cakes in your Easy Bake Oven and washed them down with snow cones from your Snoopy Snow Cone Machine.

You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it.

You learned to skate with actual skates (not roller blades) that had metal wheels.

You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute (umm, try Scott Baio).

You had either a "bowl cut" or "pixie," not to mention the "Dorothy Hamill" because your Mom was sick of braiding your hair. People sometimes thought you were a boy. (My poor sister, there's a picture of her with her Dorothy Hamill and me with the Shag cut on my naturally curly, frizzy hair. I look like a q-tip. Both of us look very, very strange.)

Your Holly Hobbie sleeping bag was your most prized possession.

You wore a poncho, gauchos, and knickers.... and later on legwarmers...in every color!

You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon.

You had the Donnie and Marie dolls with those pink and purple satiny shredded outfits.

You spent hours in your backyard on your metal swing set with the trapeze. The swing set tipped over at least once.

You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color.

You had a pair of Doctor Scholl's sandals (the ones with hard sole & the buckle).

You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; you wore that Little House on the Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffle shirt with the high neck in at least one school picture; and you despised Nellie Olson! (AND I had a Pioneer outfit my grandmother made me. I could also be Holly Hobbie in this outfit.)

You wanted your first kiss to be at the roller rink.

Your hairstyle was described as having "wings" or "feathers" and you kept it "pretty" with the comb you kept in your back pocket.

You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie.

You carried a Muppets lunch box to school and it was metal, not plastic. (Muppets in Space, thank you very much.)

You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend.

You and two of your best friends would play "Charlies Angels", And whomever was the blonde would automatically be Jill (Farrah Fawcett) and later on, her little sister, Kris (Cheryl Ladd); and whoever was a brunette would've to argue over being either Sabrina (Kate Jackson) or Kelly (Jaclyn Smith).

It was a big event in your household each year when the "Wizard of Oz"would come on TV. Your mom would break out the popcorn and sleeping bags! (AND everything stopped at 8:00 pm on Sunday evenings to watch the Wonderful World of Disney.)

You often asked your Magic-8 ball the question: "Who will I marry, Shaun Cassidy or Leif Garrett?"

You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack record album.

You tried to do lots of arts and crafts, like yarn and Popsicle-stick God's eyes or decoupage.

You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker.

You couldn't wait to get the free animal poster that came when you ordered books from the Weekly Reader book club. Double score if it was a teddy bear dressed in clothing.

You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues from Judy Blume books (Are you there God, It's me, Margaret.) (Absolutely - and unfortunately from the banned, Forever book as well!)

You thought Olivia Newton John's song "Physical" was about aerobics.

You wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer.

You had a Big Wheel with a brake on the side, and a Sit-n-Spin.

You drowned yourself in Love's Baby Soft - which was the first "real"perfume you ever owned. (And is truthfully, much less "intrusive" to the senses than Plumeria Body Spray from Bath and Body Works!)

Ice, Ice Baby

2005-12-15T06:38:00.000-08:00

It is nasty here this morning in South Carolina as I understand it is across most of the U.S. I'm thinking about my friends who have skedaddled down to New Orleans for some relief work and are staying in tents. TENTS! I hope they are okay and not freezing their hineys off.

Nice Guy works 3rd shift and went into work early last night, anticipating he'd be home by 2:00 a.m. or so. I woke at 5:00 with a start. He was not in bed with me, nor was he watching TV or reading the paper, or in fact, anywhere in the whole house. (Finally, duh!, I check the garage to see if the car is there. Nope.) I let my puppers out to go potty and it is icy on the deck. I panic and try to call his cell phone. No answer.

I keep thinking he surely would not have stayed at work. After one too many bad weather accidents we are very skittish when it ices like this. Finally, I turn on the news and hear the weather lady explain, yes, there is ice on certain surfaces like this car window here, but the roads are clear. She demonstrates by smacking the car window with a gloved hand and the road she's on with her boot. Back to you, Bob.

He must still be at work.....I'm assuming. I guess I should I mention right now that when he enters the security gate at work, it takes an act of Congress for me to get in touch with him. When my sister called me at 2:00 in the morning on September 28th and said, hurry, dad has taken a turn for the worse and we're not sure he's gonna make it. I had to beg a security guard to go find him because he didn't answer his cell. He actually took my NAME and NUMBER FOR HIS RECORDS while I'm crying on the phone begging him to please go to B Bay and get my husband.....My DAD is DYING! Looking back now I'm sure I was talking to a robot who only sounded human.

So now, this morning, I'm pacing, trying to pray, but why is that almost impossible when you're a nervous wreck? I continue to watch the news where they continue to assure me the roads are safe. I see livecams of roads near his place of employment and watch cars whizzing by. I start to relax a little. Finally, he calls at 7:00 to tell me he's on his way home. I have to yell at him a bit for not letting me know anything because that's what wives do. He promises to take it slow coming home and when I hear the garage door open I rush outside and see him at the bottom of the drive, barely able to get through the two crepe myrtles on either side because they are bent double under the ice. Once he's safe in the garage, I marvel at how beautiful it is outside and take a deep breath. He's home! Whew.

Now I'm sitting here thankful we have underground power lines. I'm sure if we still lived downtown we'd have no power right now. I hear limbs crashing outside and keep my fingers crossed that the 1/2" of ice will take down the pear trees I hate. The ones that are casting shade on the best spot in the yard to have a nice garden in the spring.

The kids are still sleeping....my fingers are cold. I think French toast and hot chocolate would be a good breakfast. And, definitely, it should be Pajama Day.

Ya-Ya!

2005-12-14T08:52:00.000-08:00

I am a pledge carrying, hat wearing, oath sworn, blood pricked member of the Ya-Ya's. I am a sustah. A sustah of the Divine Ya-Ya's.

And today, praise the Lord!, was our monthly girlfest where the 7 of us, all homeschooling moms, get together (17 children between us), eat (mostly desserts, today there were about 5), drink coffee and run our mouths for as long as possible. Normally we get together between 10 and 11 in the morning and leave at a respectable time - like when the husbands start coming home from work.

Some of our husbands have asked what the heck we do all day. Well....we don't know. Do we have to "do" something? Can't we just talk? One Ya-Ya husband, unfortunate man that he was, came home during one of our fests and later told his wife we sounded like a brood of cackling hens. We understand that they don't understand and we don't care. We talk until we are winded, laugh until our cheeks ache and eat until we're about to burst.

So here's to the sustahs! Sustah Dremi! Sustah C.! Sustah T1 and Sustah T2! Sustah Leesha! Sustah Beckster! Love you gals....thanks for the laughs....thanks for the love. Can't wait 'til next month.

2005-12-13T12:09:00.000-08:00

Well, I think it's obvious these pictures should be down there with my Keeping Big Momma post, but I'm still figuring out how to post pix on this thing. Anywho! Check us out! Even Nice Guy got in on the action with me. A little Sly and the Family Stone. Notice how WHITE my hand is. It had yet to receive the Dermablend treatment.

2005-12-13T12:06:00.000-08:00

Juanita!

Momma

2005-12-13T11:27:00.000-08:00

So in case you didn't notice, I changed the blog name. Why? Because I'm the Mom that's why!

What Smells?

2005-12-13T09:35:00.000-08:00

I'm currently testing this hypothesis: "The older girls get, the smellier they become."

Forget poopy diapers and spit up. Forget dried, mashed yams on their sweet little faces. You are from yesteryear. And you are nothing a little Lysol and soap can't fix.

Instead, let's take some very cherry shower gel, vanilla body lotion, freesia body splash, strawberry lip gloss, apple shampoo, pear conditioner, fresh ocean deodorant and combine it with hair gel, hair straightener, hair spray and hair serum. Apply to one tall, but tiny 14 year-old. Needless to say, I cope with this on a daily basis by staying a wee bit at a distance.

I have a dilemma when there's a spend-the-night party here, though, because we now have 7 or 8 other girls with similar combinations. Instead of just vanilla body lotion, we could also have cucumber melon, plumeria or juniper breeze. Instead of a simple pear splash, we might also have warm vanilla, black raspberry, or brown sugar. Multiple that by 7 (or 8). And then mutiply again by all the shampoos, lotions, hair tonics, splashes and conditioners one teenage girl has on her self at one time. It's an equation beyond my mathematical abilities but will help you see why a gas mask would be a good Christmas present for me. Currently I handle the situation by taking a deep breath, running into the playroom and throwing sodas and popcorn at them before I turn blue and pass out.

Thank you Bath and Body Works, at least I always know where she is. Even if we are in the middle of a crowded store weeks before Christmas and I've lost sight of her, I can tell she's close by. And although I can't get real close to her anymore, no boy will either. And, while I used to think you were an instrument of Satan, I'm starting to wonder if an enterprising mother created you in her kitchen just in time to unleash it on her adolescent child.

I'm Keeping Big Momma

2005-12-13T06:42:00.000-08:00

Only a jealous, catty woman keeps her beauty secrets to herself, so that is why I'm proud to share with you, right here, right now, my latest beauty product discoveries.

I would never have found these items unless I was trying to become a black woman. As fate would have it, this is exactly what I was doing this past weekend for our church Christmas play. Officially, I was an angel. A black angel. Without wings. (A 4 year-old pointed this out to me when the play was over.) In real-time I am a laid-back, pale, blonde woman, so it was going to take quite a bit to turn me into a dark-skinned sistah.

Having been in my share of mixed congregation Pentecostal churches, I already had the voice and attitude. Just to make sure, I watched Juanita Bynum on the internet Friday afternoon and added a last minute prop: a white hankie. The woman is loud, anointed AND beautiful. Her make-up is flawless, her nails perfect, her hair silky, her skin creamy. Inspired, I decided to scope out some appropriate beauty products. Products, I being a stay-at-home mom don't normally wear, but a jazzy black woman would.

As background information, you should know I had already purchased my wig: a black beehive. (For Halloween next year, I'm thinking I might be a Shirelle, as my wig looked just like the one pictured here, 2nd from the left.) I had also purchased a small jar of Dermablend make-up, chroma 6. So, I had the skin and the hair, but I needed darker make-up to show up on this new skin. Some dragon nails and false eyelashes would be a hoot too, I reasoned.

So, I happened to be at Target and decided to check out the cosmetics section. Well, looky there. Target has a line of make-up for black women called Milani. Gazing at me from the eyeshadow slot was a compact of Panther-colored eyeshadow called Atlantis. "Haa!" I yell in victory. I grab it like there's a mob of make-up hungry women behind me and shove it in my buggy. Before we progress, didya take a second to click on that Panther link right there? Because you have to grasp the color. It is bright, royal blue. BRIGHT! The sistahs are doing it now, I think.

Next, we come to eyelashes. Gosh. These look nice. 100% sterilized human hair. Hmmm...when did this happen? My memory of false eyelashes is playing with these plastic spider looking thingys my grandma had in her bathroom when I was little. I might could actually use these later. So I look for a pair that would be wearable in the future and snag some.

Nails. Dragon Nails. I know they make them, but I don't see any. Instead, on sale for a very good price, are some respectably long ones painted the exact same color as my toenails. In the buggy they go (this is how you can tell I'm from the South....not cart, buggy.)

So I get home and pull everything out. On goes the Dermablend. I try to make myself even darker than dress rehearsal night. Alright. Looking good. I pencil in BLACK eyebrows. Nice. A swath of frosty blue on each eyelid and then I pop open Atlantis. I begin painting my crease with this and step back. Hunh....that's......gosh.....that's pretty! What a pretty color! It looks nothing like it does sitting alone in the compact. I add more to make it darker. There. Hmm....will have to check that out later.

On go the lashes. Ouch. Okay, how do I get these to not stick to my tear duct? Not easy to get them on. Glue, press, wrong, peel off, restick....my hand is cramping, but finally, they are in place and at a level of irritation I can live with for the next few hours. I bat my eyes at myself. Nice Guy walks in and I bat my eyes at him. He chuckles. "You're darker than you were last night," he notices, "lookin' good!" Banana walks in, "Ohmigosh!! You do NOT look good as a black person!" I do a Juanita on her and she laughs. "That's pretty good," she says, "Ohmigosh, mom, you're going to be SO funny!" Lastly I stick on my nails. Glue, stick. Glue, stick. Easy and sooo pretty! Looks like I just had a manicure.

So....I look good. I go to church and do the play. Success. People don't know it's me. My pastor gushes that we need to do it again! Everyone was funny, not just me. It was a humorous look at the birth of Jesus, shall we say. The littlest kids are kind of in awe. I'm kissing them all on the cheek with my bright red lips and telling them not to wash off their "angel kisses." The older boys are running by and laughing and calling me Big Momma. I'm not insulted. I'm flattered.

And then it's over and I go home to my beauty products.

Next day, I try a little, bitty bit of the eyeshadow and it's gorgeous! Brings out my blue-green eyes. Normally, I wear eyeliner and mascara so this is a big improvement. And my beautiful long red nails are still stuck in place. It's been 3 days now and I've only had to reglue 2 of them. I think I'm gonna keep them. Yesterday I had to run by Walgreens and decided to take notice of what else is available. I'm thinking I'm going to try a shorter, French manicure next.

As for the eyelashes, well, they are still sitting there in the case. I'll probably use them when Nice Guy and I have our next date. I can bat my blue-painted, long-lashed eyes at him and run my fake nails lovingly and meaningfully up his arm.

So, who woulda thunk it? Fake nails, fake lashes and screamin' blue eyeshadow. Next time you feel like your beauty routine is stagnant, think ethnic....think Juanita!

Feeding Teenagers

2005-12-09T08:49:00.000-08:00

This is a good example of why our grocery bill went from less than $400 a month several years ago to about $600 now. I'm trying to cut it back down, but, well, I'll let you witness why this is difficult to do when my children eat several planned meals in one sitting.

Care Bare (who will be 13 in a matter of weeks and is probably about to hit her growth spurt as her older sister is now almost 6 feet tall): Moommmm.....can I make some eggs and bacon for breakfast?

Me (on the computer ignoring the fact that today is Muffin Day and would require my being downstairs and actually making said muffins): sure, sure.......but make sure you make some for everybody!

Daniel (whining): Ewwww....I don't like eggs!

Me: It's okay, you can have some cereal. We'll have bacon and eggs and cereal for breakfast.

Daniel: okay

Later on Caris, having finished her eggs, comes into the kitchen and starts pulling a bowl out of the cabinet.

Me: What are you doing?

Caris: Getting some cereal.

Me (exasperated): But you just had eggs and bacon!

Care: But you said we could have eggs and bacon and cereal for breakfast.

Me: Yeah, but I meant.....oh never mind.

I've learned to just shut up and feed them.

I'm an 80's Child

2005-12-09T05:30:00.000-08:00

Valley Girl
She's a Valley Girl
Valley Girl
She's a Valley Girl
Okay, fine
Fer sure, fer sure
She's a Valley Girl
In a clothing store
Okay, fine...Fer sure, fer sure
She's a Valley Girl
In a clothing store
Like, OH MY GOD! (Valley Girl)
Like - TOTALLY (Valley Girl)
Encino is like SO BITCHEN (Valley Girl)
There's like the Galleria (Valley Girl)
And like all these like really great shoe stores
I love going into like clothing stores and stuff
I like buy the neatest mini-skirts and stuff
It s like so BITCHEN cuz like everybody's like
Super-super nice

Hi Moon Unit. You were like totally my hero when I was in high school. I knew all the words to your song, but now I can barely remember the tune. Even living in South Carolina, I soooo totally, wanted to be a Valley Girl. It was much more fun than my prep phase. I wore headbands and leg warmers with my mini-skirts. I wore ruffles and lace and strange color combinations. It's the only time in my life I've ever worn flourescent pink. But now I'm 38 years-old and I have three children in a one-income family and so I shop at Goodwill. But thank you, Moon Unit for being a part of my childhood and teaching me Valspeak. My ability to interject non-sensical words into the middle of my speech and turn narrative sentences into questions was greatly increased because of you. It's unfortunate that I still like totally overuse the word like when I'm talking, though.

So, last night I watched Clueless - that Alicia Silverstone is such a Betty! Did you know that movie is from like 10 years ago? Ohmigod! Time flies.

So anyway, don't ask why I was actually watching that movie. I'll just say my daughter got it from the library and I'd had a long day and it was like 10:00 and I like wanted to watch some fluff before I went to bed.

I woke up wondering: is the Valley Girl still alive and shopping? Or has our current world situation finally knocked some sense into her silicone stuffed head? I decided to do some research. I'm happy to say my generation spawned THE original Vals. (Ohmigod! There's a Nicolas Cage movie from 1982 called Valley Girl. The chick is Deborah Foreman, don't know who she is. I've never seen that. What a riot! I might have to find that. Maybe watch it with my sister. Listen to some Valspeak and New Wave music again.) At any rate, when the famous Galleria Mall opened in the San Fernando Valley it was teen girl nirvana. Pac-man games! Boutiques! And the girls hanging out there somehow were bestowed with the name Valley Girl. And like any trend that comes and goes, it seems the Valley Girl has passed with time. So I don't know how, only 10 years ago, Alicia Silverstone ended up making a movie mocking this stereo-typical shallow gal that lives in the Valley. I'm sure teenage girls still live there. I guess they just shop somewhere else.

Pancake Breakfast

2005-12-09T05:06:00.000-08:00

Nothing promotes me to Super Mom status (see my picture) more than making my kids pancakes for breakfast. It is the only breakfast item left in our house that everyone likes. For some reason Banana has decided she hates cold cereal now (not that cold cereal fills anyone up for more than 30 minutes), Party Man thinks eggs are gross and Care Bear doesn't like toast. Wah, wah, wah....I get sick of listening to it. But pancakes! You should see the attention I get around here when I mention that magic word!

Now, from Mom's point of view.....who wants to make pancakes for breakfast? Even as a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom, this breakfast is a pain to make. You have to measure ingredients! And pull all the baking stuff out! And it makes a mess! Eggs, milk, baking powder, did I forget anything? My mom only made pancakes for dinner - smart. So anyway, I was so happy when I discovered this recipe for pancake mix! (You'll need to scroll down a bit to find it.) Leanne Ely you rock, girlfriend! AND biggest bonus of all, it contains several different types of grains other than white flour. It makes a very nice tasting pancake if I do say so myself.

2005-12-08T19:42:00.000-08:00

That's me. Supermom!

A Blog Birth

2005-12-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

First thought upon awakening, "I have a blog!" I was giddy - even after 4 hours of sleep. Sort of like childbirth. And then I started questioning THE NAME. Sway....what was I thinking? It's was 3:00 am when I thought of that. Surely there are better names for my baby. I am, as I will explain in a minute, all into names. Naming this blog is like naming a child. The pressure to get it right! This kid will have this name forever. You want to sum up their true essence - decipher who they will be - cast their future. Titles are popping around in my head like rice crispies.

Snippets. Cute. Setting a tone for my fondness towards the sarcastic turn of phrase and the rantings of a woman who homeschools three children and lists junking as a hobby.

Maniacal Prophet. Oooohhh, how interesting! Lotso fun there. This would be in honor of my kooky, deeply spiritual husband who inspires me daily.

Ricochet. A little nod to my growing hormone imbalance as I inch closer to 40.

My fondness for titles stems from my once upon a time life when I was a writer. People paid me to write catchy headings for their ads. You call that being a copywriter. People don't know what a copywriter is unless they are in "the business" (advertising). When people find out I write they invariably ask, "What have you published?"

I answer, "Well, I started as a journalist at a newspaper, but mostly I've worked as a copywriter."

"Oh?" they say, "What's that?"

"You know," I answer, "if you've ever gotten a catalog in the mail or an advertisement for say, toothpaste? The wording in that is called copy."

"You mean the junk mail I throw away?"

"Ummm....yeah." I say.

That's why Homeschool Mom is my profession of choice now, but I digress. The title I chose last night: Sway. I like that because it sums up the influence and force of God in my life. It also perfectly describes how I'd like to daily walk with God. Under the Holy Spirit's influence and sovereign power and, most importantly, swayed by His passion and love. So I think I'll keep that. But expect many Snippets along the way, the voice of the Maniacal Prophet and Ricocheting thoughts. Sometimes one name is not enough.

I'm here!

2005-12-08T00:23:00.000-08:00

I made it!!! I have a blog!!! It's like I scrapbooked my journal or something!!! It's so pretty and organized!!! Do you see how all the exclamation points are conveying my excitement at 3:00 in the morning? My friend Allison said it was easy to blog and she was right about the computer part....click, click, click, here we go. But my gosh, the pressure to find the right title for the page! To pick the right template! What about my web-address? My profile? What, oh what, will I say to convey the true essence of ME?