Jello Casserole

We had a snow day today which was fun and interesting. As much as Reese loves being outside he does not like the cold. at all. All four of us rode the 4-wheeler around the neighborhood, which I'm sure, has pegged us as the rednecks of Creekside Cove. Bailey and I made a sled out of a large rubbermaid lid afterwards which may or may not have helped the redneck stereotype :)

So after being inside ALL day and following a weekend where Reese was sick, that boy had a LOT of energy! He tormented Bailey and was non stop the entire day.

Bailey and I decided to play Contract Rummy which is really a whole new story of its own......Anywho, Reese was being fairly good while we played (which was a relief) so I didn't pay much attention to what he was doing.

That may have been a mistake because when I did look to see what he was doing this is the first thing I saw. Empty Jello containers. This can not be good.


He had pulled out pots, pans, crock pots, tupperware, forks, spoons, and I think I even found a hair brush IN the stove.

And a potato peeler to stir the jello casserole as he called it.

He even mixed some Lucky Charms with the jello. And it is on the oven door. Kinda reminds me of the jello mold Aunt Bethany brought to Christmas dinner on Christmas Vacation.

So after he got bored with the jello, he accidentally dumped the rest of the Lucky Charms on the floor. ACCIDENTALLY mind you but a mess none the less!

This picture shows a glimpse of the mess. And this is all because I wanted to beat a 9 yr old at cards!

I guess making Jello casserole will wear you out because 30 minutes later this is how I found him. Looking at that precious face you would never think he could be so destructive! Oh, and I did win the card game so maybe it was worth it :)

Doubt and Fear PEACE!

Wow, it has been a REALLY long time since I have written. I have been lacking motivation and just overwhelmed with life.

The last few months have been particularly trying. We are being affected by this lovely economy as are tons of people. Really, we have held on for 3 years now which is absolutely amazing. The way God has provided and that can only be contributed to Him. He has kept us going. Even with me knowing that, I allowed fear and doubt to creep in. God, where will we live? How long will it take us to get back on our feet? Will we sell everything? How will we explain having to move to the kids?

I have cried, literally cried out to God to guide our steps and tell our hearts if we need to go in another direction business wise. It's easy to say I trust God but when He is all I have, can I really trust and be ok?

You know, God doesn't owe me an explanation or have to tell me what His plans our for our future. I started to realize that God isn't concerned with us being comfortable. We have tried to sell our house to no avail. I thought maybe this will be God's way of getting rid of the "things" in our life. ......and I'm OK with that. I have come to terms that God is still God, still in control and regardless of what happens to our business WE WILL BE OK!! Our happiness is not based on where we live, or what we have. To be honest here, in the last year I've really felt guilty about what we do have when there are so many people that need help. What can we sell and then who can we help? I read the book "Radical" by David Platt which is A-Mazing! A gentlemen in the book said that he thought maybe he was crazy for giving so much money away and then he realized that when he died and stood before God he would not hear him say "You should have kept more for yourself". Wow! Really puts things in perspective.

So, over the last 2 months God has calmed my fears with a couple of different verses. During this time I had been seeing feathers in the kitchen, living room, Denson's office, playroom, and in my car. After awhile I started to wonder why and if that meant something. I tried to look up meaning or significance of feathers. I didn't find anything biblical so I just dismissed it. Well, I came across a picture that had Psalms 91:4 on it. THIS is what it says:
Psalms 91:4
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

I could hardly contain the excitement! I needed to read that and probably would not have thought much about it had I not seen all of those feathers. God is just awesome like that!

The other verse I wrote down and have in my kitchen so I can see it multiple times a day. It is:
Psalms 62:5-6 I find rest in God; only he gives me hope. He is my rock and my salvation. He is my defender; I will not be defeated.

All the doubt and fear were taken away and I have peace. AND God is still providing our every need! Christmas time is such a magical time of year. To think about the Saviour of the world being born and all the miraculous things surrounding His life make me beyond grateful that He saved me!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

NEVER a dull moment

Since I haven't written in a while, I thought I would share some Reese stories. Because I'm never short on a Reese story.

One evening he told us his name was no longer Reese but Jim. He was a painter, and drove a red truck. Anytime I said Reese he quickly corrected me. Not only did his name change but he referred to himself in third person. He yelled from the potty, "Momma, come wipe Jim". I asked him "Reese, are you tired?" "Yeah, Jim is tired".

The next morning we thought for sure he had forgotten about it but no, he was still Jim. We get to daycare and everyone that said "Hey Reese!" he told them he was Jim. Later in the day and little girl hit him and this is what he said to the teacher "Mary (name changed to protect the not so innocent) hit Jim". The last funny bit was when one of his friends said "Bye Reese" and "Jim" looked at the mom and said "He doesn't know my name is Jim now". After about a day and a half he went back to Reese :)

This next story still has me baffled. Monday morning Denson walks into to the living room to see Reese going potty in between the cushions on the couch!! Bailey chimes in that the couch was wet the night before and thought someone had just spilled something. We asked Reese about it and it was pee pee!! We were livid and grossed out. That afternoon we steamed cleaned the couch and decided we better find out if there were any more "marking of the territory". The answer was yes, and the following were steam cleaned, or washed: behind his bed, side of his bed, IN THE TOY BOX, and the dining room rug!

We told him that if we caught him doing this again we would throw his big boy underwear away and he would have to wear diapers from now on. He didn't like that at all so HOPEFULLY I won't have another story like it.

Stay tuned for the next Reese story in the making I'm sure!

I'm Not Who I Was

I just love this song! I can relate because sometimes I wish I could tell people from my past how much I've changed. Some of the mistakes I've made, people I've hurt and even people I learned things from......I wish they could see me now. I would love to explain why, and how I changed.

I am so thankful God did not give up on me and I am so thankful He made me a new person. There is no other explanation!

Hair by Reese

My sweet little baby boy could easily be called "Dennis the Menace". I can't even begin to tell you all things this boy gets into on a DAILY basis. He has a great imagination. I really need to start taking pictures of the things he makes. As I'm writing this, he has lined up the chairs in the kitchen. He says it is a train. His tiger is riding the train and he has him "buckled up" with the power cord for my swiffer vacuum. And the witch won't leave him alone so he is driving the train to get away from her. Alrighty then.

The whole reason for this post is about 2 months old and yes, my name is Sheila and I am a procrastinator.

One Saturday morning, I was cooking pancakes and Reese walks into the kitchen with a pair of scissors........on his head. He was quite proud of himself and told me he had cut his hair. He led me to the spot where all I saw was a pile of blond hair. Again, he was very proud of himself while I began tearing up. Yes, I know it's just hair and it will grow back but he cut it so short the only way to fix it is to shave the rest of his hair almost completely off!

No lie, the boy had only been up for 30 minutes. Maybe he dreamed of being a barber, I don't know but that is what he decided to do when he woke up. I got over being upset and he still looks just as cute with his little shaved head :)

"Are you wearing a back brace?"

Lately I have had to come to terms that I am getting older. I can't believe Bailey will be going into the 4th grade this fall. I can remember being in 4th grade myself so am I old enough to have my very own 4th grader?!?! After the last week I can sadly say yes :(

Starting off, I have become an embarrassment to my daughter. Twice, yes twice, I have asked who I thought was an employee of the store a question to find out that they were not an employee of that store. First time it happened I justified it but the second time I asked a man in Fred's wearing a Target shirt for assistance. I may just be losing it........and Bailey was mortified!

Bailey and I were having a girl day and we saw a store we had never gone into called "Wet Seal". We thought we would take a peak. If any of you are familiar with this store I'm sure you are laughing right now. As soon, and I mean as soon as we hit the door I realized that everyone in the store was in shock that we had walked in. I have never seen such short shorts, skirts or tiny, tiny bikinis EVER! We played it cool, well Bailey did and we looked around. Bailey actually found a cute shirt and believe it or not I did too........ a vest with a belt attached. I thought it was pretty cute and maybe, just maybe I was cool enough to wear it.

I decided I would wear the vest to work and I didn't think it was too bad and Bailey actually liked it. Denson did make a few jokes about me looking like a "black belt" karate person, but hey, what does he know about fashion?

However, the moment I knew this vest was a mistake was when someone I know said, "Hey, are you wearing a back brace?" I immediately started laughing and said no. At that point I knew I would never wear the vest again. I have posted a picture below so you can see that it really is cute...............................I'm just not cool enough to rock a vest with a belt :)

F.R.E.E.D.O.M

I have had the best weekend! A group of girls and I went to the EWomen's Conference and it was PHENOMENAL!!!! All of the speakers were great as well as the music. I would encourage anyone that is thinking about going to this conference to go (Like there are thousands of people that will actually be reading this).

The theme of the conference was "Embracing Powerful Peace". I don't know about you but I could use some peace these days. I thought I would share with you a few things I learned. Sheri Rose Shepherd spoke and gave an acronym for FREEDOM......

F - Fight the good fight. We are in a constant spiritual battle. Keep the faith!
R - Run to God!
E - Enter into praise & prayer.
E - Eliminate the things that exhaust you, stress you out, etc.
D - Do what God wants you to do.
O - Operate in your appointed position.
M - Move On! Isaiah 43:18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past."

Think of the freedom we will experience if we put these things into practice! At times it is hard to know what God wants us to do. However, if we stay in the word, pray, and keep those things away from our life that don't bear fruit we will be able to know when God is speaking. We also, need to understand that we may not always get the answer or response we are wanting. Deuteronomy 20:5 - "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God........" The idols of our day are different from the idols the Israelites looked to. Anything that keeps us away from God and His purpose for our lives is an idol. If God tells us "no" to something we have been in prayer for, then it could just be that we are looking to "that" to make us happy, and we are to turn to God for that happiness.

The above verse is obviously something God is speaking to me about. I have heard and read this verse numerous times over the past couple of days. That my friend, is one of the ways God "speaks" to me, through scripture!

Lastly, I will leave you with scriptures from the weekend that in my opinion, are powerful and will help get you through those rough times we are either facing, faced, or will be facing.

1 Thessolonians 5:16-17 Be joyful always, pray continually.

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance. Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Psalms 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Lamentations 3:23-24 - They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "the LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."