Skiing and "The Bible says..."

David and Alex had a "mancation" last week. They went skiing at Perfect North. Alex was doing double black diamonds by the end of their time on the mountain. His words were..."We conquered the mountain!"





Tonight I popped popcorn for the little kids. They each had their own bowl at the table while Nemo was on TV. After she had all she wanted, Olivia decided to play. As she was playing "waitress" her bowl spilled. There was popcorn all over the floor. I, wanting to teach her responsibility, told her she had to clean it up. She first went upstairs to avoid it, I brought her back down. She then said she didn't do it, I corrected her. When she had exhausted her arsenal of arguments, she brought out the big gun. She sat down in the middle of the popcorn, picked up one piece then looked at me with a serious gaze. "You know" she said, "the Bible says we are to share all things and this is a thing and helping me is a thing." It took all of my "mommy motivation" to stare her down and explain that the Bible also says "children obey your parents" when I wanted to fall in the floor and laugh. If she has this kind of reasoning and thought processes at 4...what will 13 or 16 be like? Those may be difficult but can you imagine what she will do in God's kingdom?

Southern Women

I received an email from a friend (and also a hard copy for her husband) about southern women. It was so funny I had to share it. Hope you enjoy...

Southern women appreciate their natural assets:
Clean skin.
A winning smile.
That unforgettable Southern drawl.

Southern women know their manners:
'Yes, ma'am.'
'Yes, sir.'
'Why, no, Billy!'

Southern women have a distinct way with fond expressions :
'Y'all come back!'
'Well, bless your heart.'
'Drop by when you can.'
'How's your Momma?'


Southern women know their summer weather report:
Humidity
Humidity
Humidity

Southern women know their vacation spots:
The beach
The rivuh
The crick

Southern women know the joys of June, July, and August:
Colorful hi-heel sandals
Strapless sun dresses
Iced sweet tea with mint
Straw hats and big sunglasses


Southern women know everybody's first name:
Honey
Darlin'
Shugah

Southern women know the movies that speak to their hearts:
Fried Green Tomatoes
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Steel Magnolias (The single greatest movie EVER)
Gone With The Wind

Southern women know their religions:
Baptist
Methodist
Football


Southern women know their country breakfasts:
Red-eye gravy
Grits
Eggs
Country ham
Mouth-watering homemade biscuits with momma's homemade jelly

Southern women know their cities dripping with Southern charm:
Chawl'stn
S'vanah
Foat Wuth
N'awlins
Addlanna

Southern women know their elegant gentlemen:
Men in uniform.
Men in tuxedos
Rhett Butler

Southern girls know their prime real estate:
The Mall
The Country Club
The Beauty Salon

Southern girls know the 3 deadly sins:
Having bad hair and nails
Having bad manners
Cooking bad food



More Suthen-ism's:
Only a Southerner knows the difference between a hissie fit and a conniption fit, and that you don't 'HAVE' them, you 'PITCH' them.
_____

Only a Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, turnip greens, peas, beans, etc., make up 'a mess.'
_____

Only a Southerner can show or point out to you the general direction of 'yonder.'
_____

Only a Southerner knows exactly how long 'directly' is, . as in: 'Going to town, be back directly.'
_____

Even Southern babies know that 'Gimme some sugar' is not a request for the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in the middle of the table.
_____

All Southerners know exactly when 'by and by' is. They might not use the term, but they know the concept well.
_____

Only a Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who's got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad. If the neighbor's trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a large banana puddin!
_____

Only Southerners grow up knowing the difference between 'right near' and 'a right far piece.' They also know that 'just down the road' can be 1 mile or 20.

_____

No true Southerner would ever assume that the car with the flashing turn signal is actually going to make a turn.
_____

A Southerner knows that 'fixin' can be used as a noun, a verb, or an adverb.
_____

Only Southerners make friends while standing in lines, ... and when we're 'in line,' .. we talk to everybody!
_____

Put 100 Southerners in a room and half of them will discover they're related, even if only by marriage.
_____

In the South, y'all is singular, all y'all is plural.
_____

Southerners know grits come from corn and how to eat them.
_____

Every Southerner knows tomatoes with eggs, bacon, grits, and coffee are perfectly wonderful; that red eye gravy is also a breakfast food; and that fried green tomatoes are not a breakfast food.
_____

When you hear someone say, 'Well, I caught myself lookin',' you know you are in the presence of a genuine Southerner!
_____

Only true Southerners say 'sweet tea,' 'sweet milk,' and 'light bread' Sweet tea indicates the need for sugar and lots of it -- we do not like our tea unsweetened. 'Sweet milk' means you don't want buttermilk. And 'Light br ead' is white bread.
_____

And a true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 MPH on the freeway. You just say,'Bless her heart' .. and go your own way.

To those of you who are still a little embarrassed by your Southerness: Take two tent revivals a nd a dose of sausage gravy and call me in the morning. Bless your heart!
_____
And to those of you who are still having a hard time understanding all this Southern stuff, ... bless your hearts, I hear they are fixin' to have classes on Southernness as a second language!
_____

And for those that are not from the South but have lived here for a long time, all y'all need a sign to hang on y'alls front porch that reads 'I ain't from the South, but I got here as fast as I could.'

Southern girls know men may come and go, but friends are fahevah !


If you're a Northern transplant, Bless your little heart, fake it!
We know you got here as fast as you could.

B-Ball and Op Ed

Saturday was Alex's first basketball game. He is playing in the Y league...a far cry from the overly intense league he played in before we moved. It was a great morning for everyone involved. The score didn't end as we would have liked it but Alex played like a champion. We are so proud!



Now to the OpEd portion of this entry...

This morning before taking the babies to preschool, I caught a bit of President Bush's news conference. I am neither blind nor deaf to how he has been portrayed in the media. I am an intelligent woman who can see through liberal agendas. Am I saying I do not see mistakes in his administration? No, absolutely not. No president has ever been without mistakes or scandal. He is no exception to that. I am saying that he has been attacked by the media and the liberals who fanned their flames.

This morning as I watched my President give his final press conference from the White House, I marveled at this man. Here he stood in a room full of wolves, so to speak. In front of him was the select group known as the White House press corp. These men and women traveled with him on Air Force One and met with his staff daily. According to a book written by a former secret service agent, Bush unlike his predecessor, treated the press with kindness and generosity. Even though they turned on him with every story and publication he still respected and honored the job they had to do. Today in that room, their facade of respect was poorly disguised as they poked and jabbed their loaded questions to "Mr. President". He answered with honesty and spirit, defending himself and his administration to the jaded group.

As I watched him, it struck me just how tired and weary he appeared. I wept as I watched a strong, intelligent, driven man being second guessed and seemingly backed into corners. I wept, he did not. He answered the questions and never backed down to the overt liberalness that was in that room. He defended his decisions and left the rest to "history" to decide. Though I wept, I knew he was not weeping. I wept first for him and then I realized, he was fine. He had governed better than anyone else could have. He had remained true to himself and his God. As he said, when he gets home to Texas and looks in the mirror he will know he did what was right. He followed his convictions and most of all his Savior. He led this country as a Christan man. So why, in the end, was I weeping? For this country. This United States of America, the greatest country on earth. A country founded on Christianity, now governed by men and women who do not even pretend to know or honor God. And how did this happen? It happened because Christians followed not God and His Word but their own wallets.

I am proud to have voted for George W. Bush. In fact, I would vote for him again...not because he is perfect but because he sought God and did his best to be faithful to Him. And, I believe in what he did for our country.

One last thought...I have heard everyone from celebrities to commoners touting the "change" that is coming. Change is coming but our godly president is leaving Washington in 9 days, so what will change are we really looking at? My prayer is that the "change" that comes will be in the form of a revival in this country. A revival that sweeps everyone from President Obama to illegal aliens. May our new president find Jesus and follow Him...not Oprah.

Music!

I just figured out how to add music to my blog (thanks Lindsey!) Hope you enjoy!

Divine intervention and protection

Living 5 hours from "home" means traveling a lot. We have driven I-40 so many times we can both number and name most of the exits. I can also identify where to stop for safe potty breaks when traveling alone with 4 kids. We know which McD's have play grounds and where the cheapest gas can be found. The 5 hour journey has become routine and therefore gets little worry or thought put into it. We always pray before leaving our garage and then travel on.
On Sunday we left after our morning church service. We had to be at David's parents' house by 6:30. After a very hurried departure (lots of kids, luggage and gifts to get packed) we headed out. The trip was quite ordinary, gas in Lebanon ($1.39...wahoo), lunch at White Castle and Ice Age on the dvd. As we were getting into Knoxville, Alex and Olivia had to go to the bathroom. I could tell David was a little frustrated at having to stop again, he has a thing with being on time and we were just going to make it as it was. I went in with the kids and he stayed in the van with the twins. After a quick visit to the, well, you know, everyone was back in the van. David hurried across the highway and into the entrance lane for the interstate. I thought he was going too fast and as he turned onto the on ramp the tires scraped the curb. "The seconds you save by driving this fast will not matter." He thought I was silly and we both laughed it off. If you have traveled through K-town lately you know that I-40 is closed. All traffic is diverted onto I-640 for several miles. On this Sunday afternoon the interstate was packed, buzzing along at 70-80 mph, but packed none the less. As I watched from my reclined passenger side seat I noticed drivers who were obviously in a hurry and not happy to be sharing the road. So many cars were weaving in and out, jockeying for position. There were semi trucks, mini coopers and everything in between. I didn't feel a sense of danger, more a sense of pressure and anxiety. My thoughts were of the people around me...where they angry? did they know peace from Jesus? what where they hauling in those trucks? One truck was a pickup pulling a trailer packed full of furniture. I wondered how long he had to drive with that load? (my own little stream of curiosity running in my head) All along I was watching the road and trying to guess David's next lane change. David pulled into the far left lane and I wondered what he was doing, the middle lane was completely empty. A semi truck soon pulled into the middle lane and I was glad we were out of his way. Just as we passed him, I looked out my window to see the pickup truck with the furniture making a turn into the path of the semi. Within feet of our van I witnessed the trailer of furniture strike another car and then be hurled into the semi. The loudness of the impact was so jarring that I screamed. David never faltered. He picked up speed and kept us out of the impact zone. As I turned to see what happened behind us, I was horrified. The semi crushed the trailer and then jack-knifed. The car immediately behind us was powdered with furniture remnants and forced into the center wall. We were the only car to escape. Every other car was part of the crash, covered with debris or trapped behind the now closed interstate. After the seconds of fright, we had to take a deep breath and recuperate. There were no other cars around us, we were alone on what had just been a crowded 6 lane interstate. David said he had been told to go into the far lane. I looked at him, knowing he does not exaggerate. He had planned on staying in the middle lane, Divine intervention chose the lane of safety for our family. Then I remembered my words from the potty break...that extra second made all the difference in the world. It meant our lives, the lives of our children were saved. He tells us in his word that He will protect us, that He is always present. On this Sunday was present and protecting us. Thank you God!

"You are Way,
You are the Truth,
You are alive in me,
Jesus you are...LIFE and BREATH to me"

Christmas morning

A happy family, everyone in new jammies.

Pure Excitement!!

Christmas card

Merry Christmas from all of us. May your holiday be filled with the peace and joy that comes only from our Lord Jesus Christ!