Monday Madness

HI. I'm back from a short sabbatical in which I have been otherwise preoccupied. In other words, I've been watching a TV series called "Murder, She Wrote" and if I start a continuing series, I can't hardly stop. It's like reading Janette Okes "Love Comes Softly." Once I start, I have to finish and everything else has to wait. Sounds crazy I know, but I'm having a great time solving all the mysteries with J.B. Fletcher. :):)

There really isn't a lot going on here. We are in the middle of summer and every thing's pretty slow. The girls have been playing in the water trying to stay cool. We've been indoors a lot playing games and watching movies. Tricia is really into Candy Land. She loves to play and tries her best to beat me. She also has Don't Break The Ice. That one is her favorite. Katie and I are on one team (otherwise Katie knocks all of the cubes out with one blow) and Tricia is her own team. Katie laughs every time a block of ice falls. She is such a funny little girl.

Tom just returned this past Saturday night from Cape Canaveral. He was there for six days this time. He got in around two a.m. He was really exhausted. He is going back up tonight and then he will be done for the week. His vacation starts on Wednesday. When he came home he brought both of the girls a new toy. Katie's is this barn that plays music and has magnetic animals that she places on the barn door. Each animal says it's name and sound and then sings a little song. What's so cute is you can mismatch the animals and then hear both sounds and then a cute little song about two different animals. Tricia got a hand held game called V-Smile. Tom bought the Dora one and we can switch out the games. She is having a blast playing the adventure games. I think she played all day on Sunday...between church services and dinner. I finally had her go and lay on my bed with it because I was getting a headache from Dora singing and chanting Spanish. Dora is not my favorite character.

I haven't been in the choir here since before Katie was born and I have really missed it. Last night we had a Patriotic service and I was able to sing in the choir. Tricia sang in the kids choir with us. She was so proud to be able to go up there and sing. My mom said she sang her heart out. I couldn't see here from where I was standing, but I'm sure she was singing well. We had a guest appearance by Betsy Ross and her niece Susan as well as Abraham Lincoln. I really enjoyed singing with the choir again and I hope to sing some more.

I started back into Jr. Church. Sunday was my second service with the kids. We had 18 children with about half of them being bus children. I had forgotten how much I like to teach them. They have so much fun in the class. The age of my group is 3-5 and sometimes it is hard to find just the right story or craft for both age groups. The Lord is really helping me with them. Tiffany Peter's is my helper and she plays the piano. The kids sing their hearts out when they have music to sing to. I am rotating with another lady and her sister. That way I can get into some of the morning services too.

Well, as I said things are a little slow right now. I have pictures to show but I will post them another time. I don't like how Blogspot does their pictures. I always end up with gaps and the pictures are not in the spot where I want them. Anyone know an easier way to download the pictures?? Let me know.

Thanks for stopping by. God bless.

~Gale~

Father's Day

No pictures to show. No big fancy stories to tell. Just a quiet Father's Day with our girls. Tom asked for a pork roast and I added mashed potatoes, corn in a wonderful butter sauce and a scrumptious blackberry cobbler. Tom was so full of dinner he had to wait until after nap time for his cobbler. We relaxed throughout the day and even napped a little. It was really nice to be just usn's.

I do want to note that I have a wonderful husband who is a wonderful father. This past week Tom had to be gone for four days working and we sure missed him. When he came home he went straight for his girls. They wrestled and played for a long time. His girls adore him. He is such a good Daddy. Sometimes correction is necessary but he never fails to sit down with them and talk about why they had to be corrected and hug and kiss them. Tricia of course more than Katie. He is a hard worker and never shirks from any job that needs to be done. Sometimes when he has worked so hard all week not getting home until late at night, he will get up on Saturday and work just as hard on the yard or cars or what ever needs doing.

Sunday morning was a wonderful message (which I didn't get to hear as I was teaching Jr. Church) and Tom was really thrilled with it. He received a nice gift from the church but alas, he didn't get anything from me. We had a mix-communication problem and so what he wanted I failed to get. We have it all straightened out now and I will make the dreaded trip shopping to get his gift.

I love you Tom and really miss you when your gone. Tricia and Katie ask about you all the time and we wait anxiously for your return. We would be so much less without you. I'm so glad you had a fantastic Father's Day.

Gale

Did you say blonde??

Ok. Talk about having a "blonde" moment...I had mine last night-er-this morning. I went to bed around 11:30 last night and I was sooooo tired. I went into the bathroom to get ready for bed and I remember getting my glasses off the shelf and washing them. What I didn't remember was taking out my contacts. I went to bed and after some restless tossing finally fell asleep and the last thing on my mind was my contacts. I woke up around 2:00 a.m. thinking that I still had my contacts in. I told myself "You can't sleep all night with your contacts in. You have to go and get them out or they will be stuck to your eyeballs come morning."

So I got up and...yes people...I put my glasses on so I could see, and went to the bathroom. I remember opening up the contact case and seeing water in it so I poured it down the drain...not a good thing to do. I took my glasses off and then started trying to get the contacts out of my eyes. There were no contacts just eyeballs and it stung!!

"Oh no!!" My feeble brain at 2:00 in the morning could not understand where in the world those contacts could be. I panicked for just a small moment. I just knew they were floating somewhere behind my eyeballs and I would never get them out...heeheeheehee!! I know you are laughing at me.

I put my glasses back on so I could see (I am very near-sighted) and went back to bed. When I got up this morning I went back into the bathroom and tried to figure out what in the world happened to my contacts. The only solution I could come up with is that I was so tired last night, I didn't remember putting them in the contact case. When I got up at 2:00 and went back into the bathroom to take the "not-in-my-eyes" contacts out, they were already in the contact case and I poured them down the drain. Thank God that I had a box of each contact and could replace them without an eye doctor appointment. I opened up a new pair and all is well.

Now is that a blonde moment or what??

The shining light

Last week my best friend from Ohio flew in to see me. She was here for a week and we sure had a nice time. We had so much catching up to do that we hardly had time for running around to see much. Judy spent a lot of time just sitting at the beach. She said she came to see me and to sit at the beach. And that's just what she did. We had such a good time while she was here.

One of the things that Judy said she wanted to do was visit the lighthouse. She had never been in a lighthouse (and neither had I so it was a first for both of us) and had always wanted to see one. So we took a trip to Jupiter to the lighthouse and from there on to Juno Beach to see the sea turtles at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center. Boy was it a hot day. We sweated so much I think you could have wrung out our clothes and filled a bucket. But, the trip was worth every drop of sweat. After going to see the lighthouse I went home and began to ponder some questions. What kind of person would be the keeper of a lighthouse? Is it a lonely job climbing all those stairs to the top to watch for the ships that come into the harbor? There were 105 steps to the top of this lighthouse. How my legs ached for days after going up and down all of those stairs. I wonder what kinds of things the keeper would have seen in all the nights that he sat up there and watched. How many ships he safely helped into the harbor by keeping the light shining in the big dome at the top of the lighthouse. This also led me on another train of thought...

Where would I be if it hadn't been for the lighthouse that directed my weary, sin-sick soul to Jesus? If He hadn't shone the light of His love on the pathway of my life, where would this ship have ended up? I am so thankful for the guiding light of my Saviour and that he was willing to climb that awful hill called "Golgotha" so that He could shine the light for me and for the world and safely guide me into the harbor of salvation. I don't have to be shipwrecked somewhere lost in the sea of sin. I don't have to beached on some forgotten island of despair. I just stay in the light that my Lord shines on the sea of my life and I know that he will safely guide me home. Sometimes the hurricanes and storms of life threaten me and sometimes I want to jump overboard when the burdens get too heavy but He gently reminds me to just follow in the path of the light and He will lead me to safety.

This song says it all...

The lighthouse

There's a lighthouse on a hillside

that overlooks life's sea.

When I'm tossed He sends out a light,

a light that I might see.

And the light that shines in darkness now

Will safely lead me on

If it wasn't for the lighthouse

This ship would sail no more.

Oh I thank God for the lighthouse

I owe my life to Him

King Jesus is the lighthouse

Upon the rocks of sin

He has shone a light around me

That I could clearly see

If it wasn't for the lighthouse

Then where would this ship be.

Everybody that lives around us

says tear the lighthouse down

You know the big ships

they don't sail by this way no more

so what's the use of it standing 'round?

Ahh, but then my mind goes way on back

to that stormy night,

when just in time, oh thank God I saw the light

T'was the light from that old lighthouse

that still stands up there on a hill.

Oh I thank God for the lighthouse

I owe my life to Him

King Jesus is the lighthouse

Upon the rocks of sin

He has shone a light around me

That I could clearly see

If it wasn't for the lighthouse

Then where would this ship be.
Oh, If it wasn't for the lighthouse

Then where would this ship be.

Here are some pictures I took while at the lighthouse...

If you read the sign you will see that for a period of time during the War Between the States, the lighthouse was dark. Aren't you thankful that the Light of Jesus never has to go dark?

This is the first set of steps leading up to the lighthouse. 34 steps to be exact.

Going up...Going down...

105 steps...WOW!! We were sore for a few days.

The view from the top...

We had such a wonderful time looking out at all of the beauty God has made from such a high "perch". Tricia loved it at the top. Kind of scary since she is such a daredevil...lol.

Hope you will keep in mind that Jesus is our lighthouse and stay in the light. He will always guide us to our destination and we never have to worry.

Gale

A boy and his toys!!

I believe the old saying that boys and their toys soon grow into men and who still play with toys. They don't stop buying toys they just get bigger and more expensive. Tom was looking to buy a truck. He had his heart set on finally owning his own truck when he found this. That's definitely not a truck.

I keep ribbing him and telling him that this jalopy is a "hunk of junk." :):) He told me the other night that he was really offended by my calling his car this and would I please stop. He thought I was serious. I quickly informed him that if I thought his car was a "hunk of junk" then I wouldn't be putting these pictures on my blog. He soon calmed down when he found out I was going to let everyone see his toy. It really is a beautiful car. Too noisy for my taste. When he was ready to pick it up I had to go and get it and pay for it. On the way back home with the car, Patricia, who was sitting in the back of the car yelled up to me that "it sure was loud back here" to which I had to agree. That is one loud car. It sits so close to the ground and everything just rumbles. It has a corvette motor and that means lots of power. So far I haven't had the opportunity to see how fast it will go but Tom has had it up to 120mph. I really think he should double his life insurance...:):) That way I can afford to buy a black dress when he kills himself...lol.

Here are some more pictures of the car...

If you like it let me know. If you have a sports car that goes fast, please let me know how fast. Send me a picture if you want to so we can see it. And if you are ever in our area and see a streak of red with lots of noise zoom by, you can bet it's Tom (or me...heeheehee)

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