"People are like stained glass windows............."

Bailey said something today that really made me proud...... and made me think. I had picked her up from school and she asked if we could play outside when we got home. I told her we could, we had a little while before the storms came through. This last week has just been a rainy one. She proceeded to tell me she thought it was a pretty day. Today would not be what most people would call a pretty day by no means. So, I said well, it's been a cloudy day for sure. She said "I know, that's what made it pretty, seeing the sky through the clouds." Wow, what could I say after that?

How much better could our lives be if we could see what's beyond the clouds of life? This made me think of a saying that I just love: "People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within." (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross) Awesome..........Really, our happiness shouldn't be based on our circumstances.

Pastor Chris preached a great sermon this past Sunday and he talked about being content. Being content is something you have to learn. This world tells you that you need more money, better car, bigger house, more, more, more. You can't take a darn thing with you when you leave this earth. When you die, there is nothing you have or can buy that will stop the one thing we will all do one day.....die. It's funny because Denson and I had just talked about contentment the week before. It is amazing how God speaks. Sometimes I wonder why I continue to use the word amazing, because God is awesome all the time and nothing He does should suprise me......but I'm still in AWE!!

Thank you for sun and rain, for what you give and take away........

I heard this song today while cleaning. It is a great upbeat song and it went along with some thoughts I've had recently. The economy is bad and the building business has been down for a while now.

BUT, there are some good things that have come along with the slow time. If things hadn't been slow Denson and I wouldn't have been able to go to counseling. Really, what we thought was marriage counseling turned into individual counseling that helped both of us a lot!! Denson got and is getting to see Reese grow up. He has really been able to be a part of the day to day things that he wouldn't have had the chance to see. Also, I had an issue with depression a few months ago, to the point where I just wanted to sleep ALL day. Luckily, Denson was right there to step in and be mommy and to gently coax me into realizing I was indeed depressed. The last thing we've both realized is that we should have done things differently with money. Denson did save (thank goodness) and paid some things off. However, we didn't think a whole lot about buying this or that. I went to the grocery store and would buy what ever not even looking at the price. When things turn around, and I know they will, we will be a lot more cautious. I think of the verse Luke 16:10 "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."

Our hope and happiness doesn't lie in what we have here on this earth. If God wants us to walk through the valley then that is what we'll do......he is in control. That leads me into another subject.........Reese and daycare.......

When I first quit my job, we put Reese in daycare a couple of days a week so that I could help Denson with payroll (no need for that now :) ) and to have time to clean, run errands, etc. I really struggled with being at home and glad that I had an oppurtunity to adjust over this last year. Over the last few months I have literally been broken after reading certain blogs that have dealt with the loss of a child. Here, I have a healthy little boy and I'm sending him to daycare????? One night I felt God telling me that it was time for Reese to be home everyday. I talked with Denson and at that time he wanted to wait. He wasn't sure that I could handle not having an "off" day. We are trying to get rid of any un-needed exspenses and that would help. But.....again, I tried to figure it out. I have been subbing at the daycare and thought that I could work enough to pay daycare. Well, yesterday I worked 9 hours!! That was a long day! So, I'm watching other kids to pay for mine to be in daycare??? That makes a whole lot of sense!

I didn't think I would say this but working at the daycare makes me appreciate my kids and gives me more patience. I think everything has a season but God is leading me in a different direction. God has equipped me to be a better mom and with His help I will be fine.
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On a much heavier not, please pray for baby Stellan. He is the son to a blog I read: www.mycharmingkids.net. He is having problems with his heart and things are not looking good. Check out her blog when you get a chance, but please pray for Stellan and his family.

Bath time boy is back!!

Reese has always liked getting a bath. He never wanted to get out and he would lay down in the bathtub after the water drained and I would have to pry him out of the bathtub kicking screaming.....that was until 2 months ago. He had an unfortunate accident that really scared him. He pooped in the tub! When he saw "it" he freaked out. Let me add that it wasn't just a little, but it was rather large. I know that is gross but I can see why the little fella may have been that scared. Anyway, he was trying to get away and the more he moved, the more it came after him. He was terrifed!

For a few weeks he would cry and would absolutely not sit down while I bathed him. He did get a little more comfortable and he stopped crying but still refused to sit down. Right after dinner, which is his usual bath time, he would start saying "Bath, no doo doo?" Every night, I would have to reassure him there was no doo doo in the bathtub. One night he passed gas, and the poor baby nearly jumped out of the bathtub. I couldn't help but laugh but he was really scared.

Finally, the last few nights, he has started sitting down again. And let me tell you, bath time boy, which is what I used to call him, is back in full effect!! We are back to the splashing so much I need a rain suit and I think it's safe to say he is easily drinking a gallon of water. I'm glad he is loving bathtime again!

Oh, and I forgot to tell this little story on my last post. I put a humidifier in his room every night to help keep him well. He loves playing with it so I have to be careful to put it in his room when I know he can't get to it. Well, the other night, he got to it and poured all the water out!! That is a lot of water! He didn't just pour it out, he was rolling around, jumping and sliding around in it. Not only was the floor soaked but he was too, and loving every minute of it. He got me again a few days later. When will I learn!!!!

Reese's creativity

The last 7 days have been quite eventful around our house. Reese has reached a new level of his..........let's just call it creativity. I really had NO IDEA how different little boys were from girls. I didn't have to put anything up from Bailey. Once I told her no, she stopped and that was that. Reese on the other hand. We have had to put everything up. We have 2 gates up, child proof things on the door knobs, covers in all electrical outlets and it still isn't enough. He can still open the doors so now we have to lock them. He can also pull the plug covers out. His latest venture is to drag anything he can stand on up to the kitchen counters and have a good ol' time.
Saturday morning we were getting ready to leave and I heard a noise in the kitchen.....not good! He was pouring a bag of cerael out. Ok, I can handle that, that is actually a daily occurrence. Then I notice the cerael is lumped up in one spot, and the rocking horse doesn't look quite right. HONEY, oh no, I didn't put the honey up after breakfast!!!!

Notice the honey bear is almost empty, and the lid is off, not just opened

Poor little rocking horse will never be the same. I was suprised that the honey came up better than I thought it would. It still wasn't fun getting it up!

This was a different day. Not sure how the cerael box got on the table. Usually when he is in his high chair I am free to do a few things and don't have to worry. Wrong on this day. I heard him say "I'm hungry", which is great since he isn't talking a whole lot.................I walk in and this is what I found.

I can't really get mad, I just laugh and document. When he gets older, and if for some strange reason his kids are calm, I will produce pictures and give them some ideas!

I have one more story. I'm sorry to say I didn't take pictures because The Bachelor was coming on and hey, my priorities are right where they are supposed to be! I thought Denson was watching Reese while I curled Bailey's hair to figure out how we would fix it for dance pictures Saturday. I had to lock him out of the bathroom because he likes to turn the water on the tub on and turn it so the water is pouring out on the floor instead of in the bathtub. Or, if he's not doing that he is playing in the toilet, or coloring whatever he can find with my mascara! Ok, back to the story. I'm curling Bailey's hair and hear some noises that don't sound so great, but Denson was watching him so I didn't worry. But when I kept hearing them, I realized maybe Denson wasn't with him. I walk in the kitchen and he had pulled up a kitchen chair to the counter. I had chili on the stove cooling off (yes, it had cooled off at this point), he had gotten a glass out of the cabinet and was scooping chili out of the pot and into my coffee pot!! He had already thrown the coffee grounds onto the floor. When he sees me he attempts to pour the chili out! I caught the pot before it could get any worse. As I'm cleaning up the mess, and missing The Bachelor he is eating the coffee grounds. Bedtime came a little early that night!

I love being a mom to a little boy!!

It's been awhile.....

I never know where to begin writing. Certain times during the day I say "Yeah, I need to write a blog about that.".......then I forget.........or I remember them all and feel like it would be too much info and just don't write anything.



I'll start with a funny. You know you are getting old when a guy (early to mid twenties) says "No mam" to you. Yep, I was at the gym at 5:00 am and asked this guy if he was using a piece of equipment before using it myself and he says, "no mam". I know I didn't have on make-up but come on! It doesn't help that Bailey thinks I'm old as dirt already. She asks me all the time if I grew up in the "old" days. I guess maybe to her I did grow up in the old days. My sister in law was babysitting a few weeks ago and she and Bailey got on the subject of birthdays. Bailey asked her how old she was.......when Leigh Ann told her she came back with "Wow, your older than my mom!". Isn't that great! But I am getting older everyday and that is just a fact of life.



Speaking of getting older, my Nanny has been sick. She had a stent put in and ended up having fluid around her heart and had to stay in the hospital a few more days. I stayed with her one night and we talked for hours. It was great but I was reminded that growing old is a part of life and that our bodies will wear out one day. But, we can be so thankful that this life here on earth is just temporary.



In honor of my Nanny I wanted to write a few words that make me think of her....Dippity Doo, hodge podge, sewing, home cooked food, vacation bible school, organ, clumsy, funny, loving, blessed, travel, and beauty parlor.



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Last night as I was picking up toys, I said to God, "We need a break through!" but I heard Him saying to me, "No, you don't need a break through, you just need Me." It really got me thinking and of course He is right. As long as God is first in our life, everything else will be ok. I read Psalm 118 and that really spoke to me. In particular verse 6-7 "The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies."



We do not need to be afraid..... sometimes that is easier said than done especially in the times we are having now. Fear is not a fruit of the spirit and we can't let fear rule our lives. Our hope and joy is in the Lord, not things or money.

You know something has gone wrong when you don't get the FREE desert!

Denson and I have been cursed with bad public experiences. Gosh, it's been 5 yrs now and thank goodness we finally find them comical. Well, let me correct that first sentence....Denson has been cursed with bad public experiences, I'm just along for the ride :)

I haven't laughed that hard in awhile and my stomach will never be the same.

Denson's mom was in town and watched Reese so that we could have a date night. Bailey had a birthday party, so we dropped her off and headed off to eat. I am really just embarrased for the place so I won't mention any names.

We get there and wait about 15 minutes, which really wasn't bad. We sit down, order an appetizer.........waited.......waited....and waited some more. We didn't mind, we were have good conversation, ate the bread which wasn't that great but we still ate over half of it, and had plenty of time. Our waiter...well, let me just say he was a very nice guy but not into saying things in a professional manner. Yeah, and I'm one to to be saying that, ha! Anyway, he comes to the table and tells us "When your appetizer (can't think of the name of it) was dropped it was burnt and I was like no you gonna cook another one, so it will be another minute." Bless his heart, I am glad he cared enough to not bring us burnt food. The manager even comes out and apologizes and tells us we wouldn't be charged for it.

Next came the salad. It was not great either, but the food addicts that we are, we still ate some of it. So, then came the entree. The food didn't look so hot but who knows, looks can be deceiving.....I hoped anyway. Denson had the flatest filet mignon I had ever seen! I had filet mignon medallions (whatever that is) and really it was just half a steak cut into 4 pieces. Sadly, the rice was the best part of the meal.

Now, as I said before, we are food addicts, so we generally will eat food that isn't up to par. After a few bites we both just looked at each other and said, man we can't even eat this. The poor waiter looked really embarrased when he brought the food and even more so when he came back to ask if everything was cooked ok. He KNEW it looked and tasted bad. I know he was thinking "if these people eat this stuff there is no telling what they eat at home, I ain't ever seen cooking this bad." Denson said he didn't know if he could say the food was good if asked, just to be polite. We did look around and there were alot of people with the same look of disgust on their faces.

As we were paying the waiter came back and asked if we wanted desert and that it would be free. We said no so fast and hit the door running! You know the food was bad if WE turned down FREE DESERT......who does that??? I don't think we will eat for a few days, my taste buds are traumatized!

Citizen of Heaven

I just got home from a bible study with my dear friend, Kona B. On Wednesdays, her church does an hour bible study and a lunch to take with you. When I say study, I mean study. I don't think I've ever been challenged to go this deep before, and I love it and need it. I will share some of what I learned.

Ephesians 2:19 - "Consequently you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone."

Once you become a christian you are a citizen of heaven, we are strangers to this world. Here is one of many anaolgies. Even if you leave the US and go to another country, you still have the benefits of being a US citizen although you are on foreign ground. I know heaven is an awesome place and I am a citizen there. But we can experience great joy and happiness here on earth. Romans 15:13 says "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit". Just like the Lord's prayers says "....your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Another scripture, John 10:10 " ...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." This if from the NIV and other's say "have it in abundance". None of those scriptures end in "when you get to heaven."

We are very blessed to live in the US. If my house were on fire I can call 911 and because I reside in Odenville, the Odenville FD will come to my house and put out the fire. Now, lets say my house was on fire and I ran out of the house and just waited on the FD? Well, I am a resident of Odenville but I do have to make the call. Or, what if I ran out of the burning house waited 10 minutes and then called 911? It would probably be too late. So, God's word is the fire department here. I have to read it and speak it for it to help me. Of course God knows what we need, but Matthew 7: 7 says "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

We have life's instruction book, the Bible, we just need to use. I know I am guilty of not picking mine up for days at a time. Life is busy and I know I need to make reading God's word a priority. How about you?