Going to the Murder Mystery

 

 

The kiddos on Halloween Night headed to the Murder Mystery! They actually enjoyed the dressing up. They will not do that when Mom and Dad want them to!

Happy Halloween---My Favorite Part!

I can't wait until G comes home with the candy tonight. I hopefully will get to choose those wonderful candy bars from his sack such as Butterfingers and Milkyways. Maybe I will see a long time favorite Sugar Baby sucker and surely those little boxes of Milk Duds will be hiding at the bottom somewhere. Pat will be searching for the Bit o Honey and Snicker Bars. G I hope you enjoy what is left! Oh, by the way, you know that candy from your kid's bag on Halloween night has no calories!

This Is What I Am Doing Until December 8th

The picture above is the annual Promises Community Christmas dinner. Four years ago I was asked to coordinate this event and the planning for 2007 has begun. Our church has a ministry called Promises Ministry. The development of this ministry happened all because our church cares and wants to communicate the love of God in a practical way. We recognize that there may be a wide variety of circumstances that bring individuals and families to our church whether it be clothing, food, financial assistance or prayer. The dinner is one huge Christmas party serving a turkey and dressing dinner prepared by our church members. We bring out the china, linens, and big smiles. Each child is given two presents which are chosen lovingly for each child by our church families. Each child receives a wrapped gift of clothing and toys. While attending the dinner, they are entertained with a Christmas program created for the children. This year the 515 invitations go out Thursday. This event takes a lot of planning and preparation, and all of us are so blessed to be a part of it. Pat and the kids help too and we look forward to this dinner every year as it is the best part of Christmas for us, as it is truly the reason of the season!

G the Gangsta

 

 

G went to a Halloween party last night and I wanted to share his picture. Believe me, he is not bored this year!

90 Minutes In Heaven

We went Thursday to a nearby church to hear Don Piper speak. What an amazing man. If you have not read his book, 90 Minutes in Heaven, you are missing a blessing. On his way home from a church conference in 1989, Don Piper’s Ford Escort was struck head-on by an 18-wheeler. He was killed instantly — pronounced dead by four sets of paramedics. But God worked a miracle and sent Don back to a broken body. To date, 34 surgical procedures have taken place. He walks only as a result of miraculous and in some cases medically unexplainable circumstances. During the time he was dead, Piper was granted the extreme privilege of glimpsing Heaven itself. He was in Heaven 90 minutes! To here him describe Heaven will bring tears to your eyes. If you miss your loved ones in Heaven, you will have such a peace when you read this.

There is a little personal connection with this book. Pat was reading it one night and called me into the living room and was so surprised. Here is what he read:

Once while I was still in the ICU, it seemed as if every time I opened my eyes and blinked, within seconds someone thrust a spoon filled with food about six inches from my mouth. "Just open up." One time it was a man's voice. I opened my eyes and stared. Holding the spoon was a burly man. He lifted my oxygen mask and gently poked the spoon into my mouth. "That's it, just take a bite." I obeyed and swallowed while my drugged mind tried to figure out what was going on. Slowly I realized that the voice belonged to Stan Maulden, head football coach and athletic director of the Alvin High School Yellow Jackets. Our daughter would live with Stan and Susan and their two children during my convalescence....That gentle act of sacrifice by a bear of a man was one of the most thoughtful acts I witnessed during my days of recovery. Stan epitomizes strength and tenderness combined in one exceptional person.

Stan Maulden is Pat's distant cousin. Isn't this such a small world?

A Project Finished

 

 

 

I am so excited! I have wanted to take all of our pictures, frame them in black and white, and put them up in my stairwell. My friend, Ann, came over Friday and helped me. Thanks Ann!

My Silpada jewelry party was a hit and I get $550.00 worth of free jewelry. I also got my house all clean from top to bottom. It was a lot of fun!

Bubba a DJ?

Don't touch that mike!

Bubba had a job-shadowing assignment from school and he chose to job-shadow at 99.5 the Wolf Radio Station and their morning show in Dallas. We left at 6:15 a.m. this morning. Missy, the morning show producer, gave us a tour and shared with us her job duties. Today was an important give-away for a trip to Atlanta to meet and have dinner with Trisha Yearwood. The winner would be the 99th caller. Missy let Bubba answer the calls, "Welcome to the Wolf, you are caller 32, welcome to the Wolf you are caller 33 .....welcome to the Wolf you are caller 97, you are caller 98 (he heard a squeal because the caller was one call away from winning the contest) and then the winner was the next caller. It made him nervous because he couldn't talk that fast! We had a great time! Sis job-shadowed four years ago at the same radio station so it was a second time visit for me.

I Need to Slow Down

As much as we complain about it, we are drawn to hurry. It makes us feel important. It keeps the adrenaline pumping. It means we don't have to look too closely at the heart or life.
--John Ortberg

This was the topic of our Home Bible Fellowship study last night. Many of us have "Hurry Sickness". Most of us lead hurried, harried lives. Ortberg describes the American lifestyle as being so rushed and preoccupied that we don't actually live life, we just skim over! Hurry disrupts our life-giving connection with God, so if we want to grow spiritually we must train ourselves to eliminate hurry.

I am so guilty of hurrying and not enjoying the moment. So often I am looking forward to checking off the items on my "to do list" or looking to far into the future and not enjoying my life moment by moment. I desire to change.

Welcome Fall

 

So glad to be able to decorate for fall and I am still waiting for that cooler weather. I am hosting a Silpada Jewelry party on Sunday, so this has put me in the decorating mood. You know how you need to get those things done but only a party will push you to do it. I am still waiting for Pat to pick up the bale of hay for me to put at the front door.

Memories

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

A Camera in the Woods

Camera in the Woods

Is modern technology used now in hunting? Pat received this camera from his buddy, Brian, and he is thoroughly enjoying taking his laptop out to the camera in the woods and seeing just what the camera's eye is photographing. We rode the four-wheeler to the camera and hooked up the laptop and viewed 19 pictures. Most of them, turkey, deer and cows, repeatedly. Who knows, there may be a surprise on there some day!