Happy 30th Birthday, David!

David's birthday party on Monday could not have turned out any better. We had Dave's parents, my parents, Gary & Jaime, Rick & Cherie & boys, and our neighbors, Bill and Vickie over for Steak and Cake! We grilled big, fat ribeye steaks (per David's request) and followed with authentic, rich Red Velvet cake (a southern must-have) with Cream Cheese Icing and chopped pecans (also at David's request). YUMMY! We had so much fun and welcomed David's thirties with the wonderful blessing of family!

Stay tuned for posts following the Rock Star party this weekend....

A Great Read...

Just finished reading It's All About Him by Denise Jackson, wife of country superstar Alan Jackson.

What a testimony to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, His gift of salvation, redemption and sanctification! I was most impacted by the real-ness with which Denise describes her struggles in the process of her finding her Saviour all over again. She endured a long road back to her first love, and once trusting in the Lord and giving Him full control in her life, He directed her paths to places far more fulfilling than anything she had previously experienced.

I could write much, much more on the significance of this book and its lessons for me in my relationship with the Lord. However, I would love for you to read it (it is very, very easy reading with nice, short chapters) and tell me how it impacts you.

I'm rattling off some random items tonight....


WINNIE THE WHO?
First, Andrew is now noticing Winnie the Pooh in a few things lying around (we don't have much Pooh stuff around because David does not care for that character). For an unknown reason, although we have one theory so far, Andrew refers to Winnie the Pooh as "Cubbie". We have asked him about this character for a few days in a row and he points to him and tells us, very-matter-of-fact-like, that is "Cubbie." If we ask Andrew where Cubbie is, he points to Winnie the Pooh. So, in our house, we have a new friend to keep Elmo, Birdie, Grover and Cookie company: Cubbie.

LIFE WITH LITTLE BOYS
I was warned many times by many people, and even in books, particularly Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson: be ready for the injuries that come along with having boys in the family. Well, we've had our share of little injuries here and there, but today I had my first real, true, oh-my-goodness-what-happened-to-my-baby moment. One of those how-did-we-go-from-having-such-a-good-time-to-having-a-screaming-in-pain-child-in-our-arms? David, Drew and I were in the living room playing and laughing. Andrew was indicating he wanted to go outside and play in the water, and was running back and forth to the front door, tagging it each time he reached it. On one of his return trips to the coffee table, he lost traction (I should have known running on tile with socks on at his age is not wise) and spun around by the chair, landing brow-bone first onto the tile floor with great speed. Crazy screams came out of nowhere- we both lept to pick him up and ran to the couch to examine and comfort. After several, several moments of soothing, kissing and a little Praise Baby music (he did NOT want ice on it), he was ready to go again. Just a bruise on his head over his left eye. Praise the Lord for His mercy and protection.

MY SOAPBOX FOR THE EVENING
How do you explain to our country as whole, and to individuals, that sometimes what is best for the country is not always best for each of us individually? I am so sickened by the laziness that seems to abound by so many who want a government to do everything for them, including provide for their personal needs. How did some of these people learn that laziness makes us prosperous, or that we are entitled to anything above organization, protection, liberty and freedom by our government?

NEW RADIO SHOW
While I sometimes listen to Sean Hannity, I don't agree with everything that he says. Hannity and Limbaugh are too sensationalized for my taste (and I get too wound up anyway when I listen to them). However, on my drives home from work late at night, I have discovered a show hosted by Dennis Prager (http://www.dennisprager.com/) that I sincerely enjoy. I don't know how long his show is, but I usually catch him sometime between 11 and 11:45. Check him out sometime if you have a chance on AM 1240/1270. I am not endorsing his show- I just found him to be a breath of fresh air in conservative talk radio.

Happy Father's Day

Three generations.... David, Drew and Papi.

Fort Myers Beach Sunset

Just love this photo, and I think the reasons are obvious.

Drew and Momma Make Banana Bread

On June 7th, Andrew and I had a very special 'first'. It was the first time we baked together. I chose a recipe for Banana Bread that I've used for several months because it is Drew-friendly (for anyone who doesn't know, he is allergic to all dairy items). This particular recipe is also one in which I sub Drew's favorite soy yogurt for eggs, so that is why he is able to safely lick the batter off the beaters.

I carefully measured each ingredient and let Andrew pour it into the bowl (more like dump it in). Then, we used the electric beater together. He instinctively knew to put his hand on mine when I turned the beater on.

When we were through, I handed him the beaters to lick! It was clear that this was a very special moment for both of us, and a special memory was made!

The Week in Review

I'm sure you all have better things to do than read about how we spent our week... but for those who don't, I give you the following summary of our activities:

Sunday: brunch at Bob Evans with Keith, Jennifer, Aiden and Evan; short trip to Target and then home to play.

Monday: lawn care day, as the lawn seems to have been resurrected to new life lately (needing to be mowed about every 4 to 5 days!). Fun playing in sprinklers and hoses, too!

Tuesday: Daddy got new tires for his truck; Mommy made solo trips to WalMart and Publix. Derek and Monica came over for tacos and homemade guacamole dip.

Wednesday: Joined Uncle Gary, Auntie J, and Nana at Gulf Coast Town Center to get computer thing (yes, that IS the technical term) at Best Buy (with a slight detour to the Rock Band Demo setup) and then lunch at Calistoga. Returned to Uncle Gary and Auntie J's house to visit and play Wii for a while. Off to church for Wed. night Bible study.

Thursday: 'normal' simple day at home. We inflated Andrew's island oasis water toy and set up the beach umbrella. He played in the water for about two hours while we sat and soaked our feet. Daddy also joined Drew in the water for a while.

Friday: Daddy's garage cleaning day- our garage is now spotless, and includes the used refrigerator/freezer we just bought. Boy, will that make life a little more organized.

Saturday: today's plan is simple- run to town for a few items at the craft store and return to visit with Auntie J at our house for a few hours. Then off to church tonight.

Big weekend plans: Sun thru Tues we will be at the beach for Papa's 68th Birthday Party.

Remember the news I gave up in March?

Turns out I'm not the only one who dealt with stress/fatigue associated with too much news in too many forms. Check out this link from FOX News today: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,361344,00.html

It discusses a study on 18-34 year olds and the fatigue/stress associated with great accessiblity to various forms of media discussing breaking and ongoing news topics.

Tell me what you think!

NOT the contest winners!

My friends and I did not win the MOPS Send us to Convention Contest for which we filmed our crazy mommy video. The convention is Oct. 2-4 in Dallas.

Now we have to decide if we can go... not sure how we are going to make it work, but I may be able to do some creative work for $ on the side... we shall see. Pray for us about making this decision; we will have to be 100% at peace about spending such a large amount of money (there is no issue of whether it is worth it- it is worth more than we would spend), but it is still a lot of money. We aren't taking a family vacation this summer, so that is a factor, but I will update once we've decided.