Memorial Day

We had a wonderful day on Monday. We woke up to no humidity and beautiful blue skies. I opened all of my windows and they stayed open until around three cuz that's when the sun moves to the west and we don't have any shade on that side of the house. It can heat up in here really fast.

We were able to have our dinner outside which was so wonderful cuz my house stayed clean. We grilled burgers and hotdogs. My mom brought bratworst. She likes to bake them in the oven so we didn't grill them. And then each family who came brought a salad or other dish to go along with the meat. It turned out so nice. We bought Patricia a pool and the kids had ablast swimming in it. We also bought a 16' water slide and the boys had so much fun sliding on it. Then the girls had their turn. Katie was in heaven. She loves water. We just had a lot of fun.

Now for some pictures. Enjoy!!

Fixing my favorite vegetable...Onions!! I learned not to cut off the end and my eyes won't burn.

Here is the Chef...He needs a bucket of water in case he starts a fire...lol.

I must have had something important to say. My mouth is open wide...lol.Some of the kiddos in the pool. They were just about to get into trouble for moving the slide into the pool.Katie in the swing soaking up the sunshine. It was such a gorgeous day.

I have a few more pictures but blogger is giving me trouble...GRRRRR!! I'll try to post some more later. Thanks for stopping by

Gale

Tid Bits

I really don't have enough to blog about these days. Just going to work and coming home. Staying tired alot from lack of sleep but other than that every things going well. Saturday was a beautiful day for me. I really didn't do a lot just relaxed. Tom put the door on the little closet we built on the porch and it was nice to get some of my dishes out of the pantry that I don't use very often. It freed up more room for groceries in the pantry. I don't have a lot of cabinet space in the kitchen so I have a tall pantry in the laundry room for groceries. We also were able to get our headlights/taillights on our bikes. The weather has been really warm here and where we live there are little tiny sand fleas that eat the fire out of you. They come out at dusk and when the sun is just starting to rise. They don't like the heat so they will bury themselves in the sand during the day and then come out as soon as it begins to get dark. They are often called "no-seeims" because you can barely see them. But when they are out you can get 30 at a time on you chewing and it is almost unbearable. Hence the headlights on the bikes. We usually ride after dark because the no-seeims are usually in bed...lol. And of course it is safer to have the lights in case someone can't see you after dark. I was able to get all of my laundry done which was a blessing. The floors got a good mopping and I cleaned one of my bathrooms. Saturday was just a day that I really enjoyed.

Sunday was a really nice day. I didn't go to service in the morning because once again I was up all night with Katie and I was so tired. Thank the Lord for my sister Bren who helped me get both of the girls ready and then took them to church. Tom went too but he wasn't quite ready when they girls left. I went straight to bed and was pretty well in lala land when Tom came in to kiss me goodbye. Mom brought a roast and potatoes with carrots for dinner. I added green beans and a salad. Dinner was really yummy!! I made it to church that night and then my sister Sue came over after church for some snacks.

Monday was back to the grind stone. Thank the Lord I only work until 2:00 so I'm home early to be with the girls. Tricia and I are counting down the days until I will be home everyday. She is so excited and is telling everyone that her mommy is going to be her babysitter. I just smile and thank God for my two special girls.

Tuesday evening we were invited to a friends house for the husbands birthday. We had cake and ice cream and the evening was so nice. It is so good to have such special friends. The Lord has been so good to us and we have so many friends that He has given to us.

Wednesday was another good day. We have been praying so hard for rain. Everything here is dying. Our yards look like short hay fields. It's all brown and dead. The Lord was so good and sent us a really big rain. It came down in sheets. You couldn't see anything for a little while. We were so thankful for the rain. I think that we have been about 6 weeks (except for a spitting of rain maybe twice for about 30 seconds) without rain. The rain was so refreshing.

Today was a beautiful day too. Do you see a pattern here?? :):) I'm so thankful that the Lord smiles on us and helps us to see the beauty in the days He gives us. Today was especially nice because it began to rain and storm around 2:30 in the afternoon and didn't stop until around 6:00. It was so refreshing. I made Tricia stay in the house and sometime during the storm she decided it was time to check it out. She slipped out of the house and I didn't know it. My sister went to find her because she (my sister) was already wet and didn't care if she got wet some more. Needless to say Tricia was a drowned rat. We got her in and changed her. I threatened her with bed if she left the house again. She doesn't like to go to bed even at bed time so she decided to stay put.

You remember in my previous post that I was really frustrated with the whole first year molar thing with Katie. She now has the two in on top and we are nervously waiting for the bottom two to start appearing. She has these big bulges where the teeth are going to come in but so far no sign of the teeth. Would you believe, as if Katie wasn't enough, Tricia decided that she needed to start getting her 6 yr molars. Help me Lord!!!! She isn't having too much pain with them but sure has been cranky. She just cries over everything. I'll be so thankful when the teeth in my life are finally here!! :):):)

Now for some pictures. Just a few to end this blog about nothing. Have a great weekend.

Look out Bill Gates. Here comes another great computer geek!!
Just relaxing on Mom's bed!!

Are you ready to Dose Do??

I think someone forgot the H2O!!

And last of all checking out all of the baby fashions.

Thanks for stopping by. God bless.

Gale

My sister sent this to me in an email and I wanted to share it with all of my friends. Whoever wrote this quote has truly seen herself. I hope this blesses you today and helps you to see the beauty in yourself as a WOMAN!!

We are special no matter if we are a housewife, lawyer, doctor, or great company executive. We are special because we have a WOMAN'S heart!!

"THE BEAUTY OF A WOMAN IS NOT IN THE CLOTHES SHE WEARS, THE FIGURE THAT SHE CARRIES,OR THE WAY SHE COMBS HER HAIR. THE BEAUTY OF A WOMAN MUST BE SEEN IN HER EYES, BECAUSE THAT IS THE DOORWAY TO HER HEART & SOUL....THE PLACE WHERE LOVE RESIDES."

Remeber, You are special!!

I did it!!

For those of you who know what my job has been like, I am happy to tell you that I will not longer be employed after May 29th. I turned in my resignation yesterday and it was accepted without too much complaining. I have been with this company since February and I have not liked the job since about the first day. We get our income from bids and quotes. My job was to be the assistant to the owner and to keep track of his work, appointments, quotes, etc. Each day I have been given more work not itemized in my job title and I have become so frustrated with it. I just can't handle the job anymore. I'm going to pull my hair out.

Not only is my job the problem, but my house is falling apart while babysitters are there. My girls cry after me and want to know when I will be "babysitting" them. It really does break my heart each time I hear them ask that question. I just want to cry all the way to work and then I'm stressed out while at the job and worrying about the girls at home.

Not only is the house falling apart, but Katie (bless her little heart) has decided that she needs all four 1st year molars at the same time instead of one at a time. I have not been able to sleep more than four hours a night for quite some time. Thus we are dealing with a baby who doesn't feel good and a very CRANKY mom!! Don't get me wrong. I am not complaining. I will take the molar cutting over not having Katie. She is such a sweet and pleasant child and we are having a blast with her. I just am staying so tired from no sleep.

So I turned in my resignation and I'm going to stay home with my girls for a while until Katie gets a little older and Tricia is in school. Then I will be on the hunt for something part time during school hours.

Now for the biggy!! Please pray for me that I will be able to soon get some sleep. And pray for my husband that he doesn't decide to knock me over the head for being so cranky. Oh and also, please pray for Katie that she can get those teeth in and will start feeling better soon.

Does anyone feel my frustration?? :):)

You always know when graduation gets here that things are going to be hectic. Being on a College Campus and having the students here all of the winter keeps all of us hopping. And when it is time for Baccalaureate you know everything's going to come to an end.

Tonight is the Baccalaureate service and so there won't be a regular prayer meeting. The Baccalaureate service is for the college graduates. The President of the college will either address the students or appoint the person who will. They usually talk to them about the commitments they have made and about going out and serving the Lord in whatever field they are called too. It is a very beautiful service and it is very special to the graduating class. There also my be awards and other things given out. I don't remember for sure. At any rate, I don't think I will attend this year.

Once school is out and the college kids are gone and everyone starts vacations and youth camps, things get pretty quiet here. We always look forward to the hustle and bustle of school days coming in the fall after the long summer.

One thing is for sure, we will have an exciting fall. Patricia starts school this year and we are so excited for her. We went to kindergarten open house and she was so shy. I couldn't hardly get her off of my hip. I'm sure that when she gets to going on a daily basis, she will lose that shyness. LOOK OUT Mrs. Deckard!! She has a lot of energy. The great thing is Mrs. D. will have all kinds of places to channel that energy!!

I just want to say "Congratulations" to all of the 2008 graduating seniors. My prayer is that you will be an effective Christian in the area that you are called. God bless each of you.

Mother's Day Memories

WOW!! This was last year at the Mother Daughter banquet. I posted this picture so you could see how big Katie has grown. Patricia was not with me last year but I made sure she was with me this year.We had a very nice banquet give or take a few problems. Tom was kind enough to come and take the girls home when the guest speaker got up to speak. I was able to listen without chasing kids. My mother could not go to the banquet because of work. She also missed Sunday. My baby sister Brenda went with me. She really wasn't sure that it was something she wanted to go to, but I think she had a nice time after all. Here she is in the picture with her favorite nieces.Something must have caught Patricia's eye in this picture. She was looking way off the other way.

This mother's day was a little difficult. I had about 2 hours of sleep on Saturday night because Katie had me up. She is cutting her 1st year molars and she has been so miserable. So I was one tired Momma. We went to my sister Sue's house for dinner. We took ham and mashed potatoes. It was nice not to have the mess at my house this year. We had a really nice time with family but I was so glad to get home and go to bed...lol. Katie went to sleep at Sue's house and when she woke up, Daddy kept her over there so I could rest. Thank you Sweetie. You're the best!! We ended up the day at church and then had friends in after church for snacks.

Last year I talked about my Mom so this year I didn't really post anything about her. I do want to say however, that I love my mom very much and I am so thankful for her. She is a godly example of what a Mother should be to her children. She has done so much for me and my family and the girls absolutely love her. She gives without reservation and doesn't complain about the money she spends. She is such a great Mom. I love you Mom!!

Who's shoes are you walking in????

How many times have we made a comment about someone else and the situation they are in without really realizing that we've never walked in their shoes. The other day Katie was playing around with her daddy's boots. Hence the picture. She looks cute in them.

But did you ever stop to think that we really don't know what it's like to walk in someone else's shoes? We criticize other's for something they may have done when we have never been there and we don't really know what they are going through. There was a lady in our church one time who had a little girl living with her. This little girl had been there for quite a long time but became so bad they were unable to care for her any longer. They had to find her another place to live so they could have some peace in their home. A lot of people criticized this family for the decision they made when none of them had lived in their home and knew nothing about the situation. That seems to be the case with most people who comment and gossip about others. They don't know what the real reason is behind what may or may not have been done.

When I saw Katie in her daddy's boots it was comical and cute. She looked adorable and yes I grabbed the camera and took this picture. But it set me on a train of thought that I could not get away from. Her daddy's boots were way too big of course and she just kept teetering one way and then another until she could no longer stand then she would fall. She would get up and try it again only to repeat the same thing. So many times we try to walk in someone else's shoes and we end up tripping up. Maybe the shoes are too small and we are "bigger" than the situation and could do better but won't try. Or the reverse may be the case. They are so big that we get lost in the situation that we should have never attempted to do in the first place. Sometimes we try to walk in others shoes because we are envious of what they may have or we want to be popular like they are. There are so many reasons why people try to wear other peoples "shoes."

I for one have been thinking hard about this and trying to understand within myself that I can't walk in someone else's shoes without having some very ugly results. At the same time, I can't criticize another for something they are going through when I have never been in their shoes. I believe as Christians we need to start holding up our brother's and sister's in the Lord and praying for them when we see them struggling with their "shoes" instead of gossiping and criticizing. And whatever we do, keep the "shoe size" that God has give us and we will be more effective Christians for Him. And when it is time, He will increase our size to suit our needs and to make us more pleasing to Him.

"Let the little children come unto Me..."

I guess the most honored time of my life is when I can dedicate my children to the Lord. There's nothing more precious than offering your children up to the Lord to be used in whatever way He needs them. To know that you have given them to Someone who will always take care of them and lead and guide them in every aspect of their little lives is the most precious feeling in the world.

This past Sunday was Katie's dedication. I know that she is a little older than the normal age for dedication, but we had planned to have her dedication in Ohio during Christmas and it just did not work out. Then we thought we would have it done while Tom's parents were here and they decided to come during camp and we felt it would be too much with everything already really swamped. So, I finally told Tom we had to get her dedicated or she would be standing at the podium as tall as the pastor if we didn't get ourselves on the ball. So we got with our Pastor and made the arrangements for her dedication.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny and very warm. We sat way, way, way, up front (which is very unusual for us I might add) and then our family joined us during the fellowship time so they could stand up front with us. Pastor Wolf was so eloquent in the dedication. Katie was really good. She didn't cry or fuss. I was a nervous wreck and when it was my turn to sing, I grabbed the mic and stayed turned with my back to the crowd. I could feel my knees knocking and my paper was shaking, but the Lord really helped me and I was able to get through the song. It must have been ok cuz I got a lot of comments on it. After I sang, Pastor addressed us as parents and then my mother read a poem she had written.

When Pastor was finished he asked to hold Katie and prayed the prayer of dedication. Katie was so cute. She gave him a big yawn right as he was saying "Amen" and he thought that was funny. So did a lot of other people who saw her.

It was a beautiful time for us and we are so thankful to have taken the time to dedicate Katie to Jesus. Our prayer is that He will be able to mold her and make her into the Christ-like christian she should be.

Here I am singing my song. My mother is behind me, my step-dad behind her and then my step-sister Sue. Behind me is my sister Brenda and Patricia (whom you can't see) and then Tom & Katie, Darell Wayne and Chasity who are Sue's children.
We had some pictures taken after the service at the front of the church. Pictured with us is my mother Bessie. We would have loved to have Tom's family with us, but they are in Ohio. Thanks to the internet they could be with us online. Not the same but at least they could see the dedication.

I had thought about a dress for Katie but I knew it would be hard to find something in white without paying a lot of money for it. I just think that it is a waste to buy $80.00 and $90.00 dresses for babies who will outgrow it in about 2 months. So I was so thrilled to find this little dress on sale at Wal-Mart for $7.00. It is mostly white with tulips embroidered around the hem. I was so happy and thankful for such a fantastic bargain and a lovely dress. Incidentally I bought it in a 24 months so she could wear it longer. I found that really helps the budget when you can buy children's clothes just a slight bit bigger. They are able to wear them longer.

We had dinner at our house after the service. Several people came to celebrate with Katie. This is the cake that my friend Tiffany made. She took the Wilton Cake classes and makes some fantastic cakes. This one was so good. If you live in the area and need a cake just let me know. I can set you up with a good baker.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in our special time. We were truly blessed and we hope that you will be too.

Gale

This and That

I don't know why it has taken so long for me to write a blog, unless you count working everyday, "babysitting" when I get home and all of the cleaning and laundry that has to be done each day as part of the reason. I guess in a nut shell, I've been really busy!! But the time has come to share with you, my devoted readers, a few happenings in our lives.

1. We have been having some warm weather here in the south with no rain. Things are so dry and the grass is just burning up. My back yard still looks pretty green, but the front looks awful. You can sprinkle all you want, the sun just beats it to death.
2. The girls have been wonderful. They are very busy little children. Tricia had strep throat which quarantined her to the house. Guess who was quarantined with her?? You guessed it. Mommy. Thank God Katie did not take it. The doctor was very concerned about Katie being so young. It must have devastating results on babies. I did find out that babies have their mommy's immune system until they develop their own which is around the age of 2.
3. My sister Brenda moved back here from Ohio. She has been staying with us and sharing the girls room. They have a bunk bed with a full bed on the bottom so Bren has a place to sleep. All of her things are in her car so she really needs prayer for a place to live.
4. Tom and I went away for a short trip on our anniversary. We ended up in Ft. Lauderdale at the Bass Pro Shop (his choice not mine) and the next day we went to the Sawgrass Mall. This mall is about 2 miles long my feet were feeling every step by the time we were ready to come home. I was so glad to get in the car and take off my shoes to stretch my feet.
5. My cat Mitsi had 5 babies in my laundry room almost 4 weeks ago. She lost two of them but the other three are thriving. They are so cute. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I will before I send them on to happy homes. Tom forbids me to keep one. They are so cute.
6. The company Tom works for had a pig roast and we went. We had a wonderful time. There was a bounce house slide with water on it. Patricia really had a blast on that. They also had a horse for the kids to ride. That was the highlight of the night for Tricia. I took Katie home before the party ended. She was all tuckered out.
7. That night we went to a Monster Truck show. It was my first time to see the show and I must say I enjoyed it. Tricia had so much fun. This was her first time too. She held her ears when they would "gun" the motors. She does not like loud noises. For the longest time she would run screaming to the house if an airplane or helicopter came over head. I think she was really frightened when we took her to a local air show and it was too loud for her. Ever since then she has not liked any loud noise.
8. A couple of days ago Tricia was playing by the canal. She knows she is not allowed to get very close to the water, but her friends were playing by the water and so she had to be there too. One of the boys must have been mad at her because he pushed her and she went into the edge of the canal. Her skirt was soaked and part of her shirt. This canal can get 8-10 feet deep when the tide is in and Tricia can't swim very well. I threatened her life if she went back down by the water. Thank the Lord she was ok.
9. My sister has a three wheeled bike and we mounted a child bike seat to the basket in the back. Katie loves to go for a bike ride. All you have to do is mention "bike ride" to her and she runs for the door saying "side, side." It is so cute. She loves to be out side and is so tan I'm jealous...lol!!
10. Today we had Katie dedicated. I'm not going to say much about it except that if you would like to see it you can go to http://hobesoundbiblechurch.com/ and view the archive for May 4, 2008. I sang a song and my mom read a poem she had written. It turned out so nice. I have pictures but their not downloaded to the computer yet. I will post pictures later. It's too late for it tonight. When I post pictures I will tell you all about it.

Well, it's late and I must go. I guess this will about catch you up on what's been going on here in our little lives. We are still serving Jesus and trusting Him with all our hearts. He is the best FRIEND to us and we love Him supremely.

Thanks for stopping by. May God bless you.

Gale