Oh Boy...

Well, readers, it has been a very bad Monday and Tuesday. I apologize for being unavailable the past two days. I have been *very* ill. On Monday morning, I awoke at my usual 5:15AM to get started on my day and felt very sick to my stomach. I got up, thought to myself, "I'll splash some water in my face and then I'll feel better". This did not work. I stayed in bed very late and around 8:30AM began to be very sick. I have had a high fever and everything else that goes with a stomach virus. Praise the Lord for a husband who has a flexible schedule, and who is willing to pinch hit when necessary. What a blessing!
I now feel so much better, but am very weak. This hit me completely out of the blue. None of my kids have been ill, and I pray they don't start now! I don't know anyone who has been this sick.
Oh, well, and Oh boy...what a way to start the week!
Please keep me and my family in your prayers. I hope this starts and stops with me!

Our Easter Photos ~

Here are our Easter photos. I'm getting lots of mileage out of the matching dresses I bought the girls for Christmas! Laci's is the only one that is too small, and it's only in the sleeves. They come above her wrist now, but hey, she's only a year old. Who's gonna notice?? Sorry about the ugly background in these first few photos. We were cleaning up some of the debris from our remodeling and had it piled on the back porch. It has since been hauled away, so next Easter, I won't have this problem! ;o)

This last one is the dress Laci wore Sunday night. I thought the collar on it was so pretty, but she wouldn't keep her hands down so we could see it! Oh well. I guess you can use your imagination...it's cute. It has a very "old fashioned" look to it.

Today, I plan on enjoying my last day of Spring break. (sigh) Yes, all good things must come to an end. Terry has nursing home services and a funeral to attend, so I'll be enjoying my day here at home with the kiddos. We purchased them a trampoline (complete with enclosure) and so they've been having a big time! I'll try to post photos of that soon.

Have a happy Friday!! :o)

Turning 30, Spring Fever, and A Few Other Things...

These are the beautiful flowers that my Mom sent me. The card said "From someone who is praying for you", but was unsigned. I knew who had sent them. She is so thoughtful. They were delivered to our church during our Bible Study. It started my 30th year off in a wonderful way, and it only got better!

To all of you wonderful people who e-mailed me, sent me a card or commented here to wish me a happy birthday, I want to say thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! You all are the best friends a girl could ask for. I do not deserve or merit your friendship in any way. I hope you all know how much I love and appreciate each of you.
My husband gave me quite a happy surprise by posting on my blog.We have no secrets, therefore, he knows my username and password to get on here.However, I was still shocked that he did what he did! He posted while I was down at church for our Ladies Bible Study. When I arrived home, he couldn't wait to say "You should go read your blog." I was so touched. I don't deserve him either!

If you are wondering about his reference to "Strunk" in his post, please see the section on this blog entitled "Books I've Read This Year". Recently, he was teasing me about reading an English grammar book before bed. He said "How weird and how boring." Well, maybe. But if you get The Elements of Style from your local library, you will not be weird or bored. For a book on English grammar and writing style, it is one good read. Mr. Strunk and Mr. White are hilarious. You will love it. And, at only 85 pages long, it's a quick read. I enjoyed it, but then again, maybe I am weird.

The best birthday gift I've received is having a week off from home schooling! You home school Moms will understand. Sometimes you just gotta have a break!Spring fever definitely took a hold of me. Once I started working I couldn't stop. I began on Friday (no, I don't waste time, well I try not to waste time) by cleaning out my closet. The shelf in my closet used to have my shoes and exercise equipment on it. I had decided to create my own "book nook" to keep my two marauders, Leslie and Laci, out of my dear books. They could reach them when they were on the old shelf and they would bend and tear them. This bothered me. So, I emptied the shelf in my living room and moved them to my bedroom closet:

Valerie's Book Nook! I'm so proud of it! The little stuffed animal is the Shamu that my Dad bought me when we all visited Sea World together in April of '04. That was three months before he went home to Heaven.

I put my I Love Lucy and Andy Griffith DVD collections in a safe place too!

Here is the shelf where the books used to be.

I moved it into our school room (Terry screwed it to the wall for me because it was a little unsteady) and filled it with the books from our home school closet. Doing that led me to go ahead and clean it out too! Organizing is definitely a domino effect! :o)

TADA! I'm so proud of this, too! It's amazing how during the school day, things tend to naturally go toward chaos. I don't have a "before" photo, but take my word for it, it was cluttered! Leslie and Laci, aka the un-masked marauders, also loved ransacking my jewelry box. I moved it into a cabinet in my bathroom (which I also organized) and Terry made me this handy-dandy necklace hanger! My necklaces no longer get tangled and will never be jumbled my the grubby (but still sweet) little hands of the Marauders! Yay!Once things were in their rightful places, I began to clean!! (I LOVE to clean and organize!) I bought myself an early birthday gift. It's the Swiffer duster. It's great. It has an extendable handle and these disposable cloths that hold on to the dust.

The handle extends out, and then the brush end bends to either side and out straight.Isn't this great? Aren't we having fun!! It even reaches my ceiling fan with no chair!! I have FIVE ceiling fans to clean. I was having to get a bucket of soapy water, a chair and stand (precariously, I might add) to clean them. I always feared losing my balance and breaking my left arm. No more!! By the way, I like my left arm. I'm left-handed!YUCK!!!

I also organized my other utensil drawer in the kitchen. I have a divider for my main silverware drawer, but this one had everything just thrown in. I love doing this...

Two Mops Are Better Than One...

While I was doing all of this cleaning and organizing, I noticed a huge puddle of water on the kitchen floor. My dishwasher had leaked! Terry was out soul winning, so I was alone. I'm so glad I had two mops! I used them both! I'm also thankful that my little marauders were asleep during this. They would have had a hay-day in all that water. I would have had a bad hair day trying to keep them out.When Terry got home, he looked at our faithful little kitchen helper and said it was gone. We all had a moment of silence for our dearly departed dishwasher...and then I got online to see how much a new one would cost. We had the new one installed that evening. Praise the Lord for tax refunds, and a very handy hubby! (I do not know where that gift wrap bow came from. Must be part of the fall out from my cleaning rampage.)

On Monday we (okay, Terry did it all, I just cheered him on!) got busy on another little nagging project. The photos below are of my bedroom. My closet is to the left, the master bath is to the right. In between them is this little, I don't know, retreat or alcove, something. When we moved in 2 1/2 years ago, there was no carpeting here. We found some carpet scraps that almost fit, but we never tacked them down or anything.They just lay there, scooting around periodically and thereby having to be tugged back into position. We bought some sticky tile for our bathroom about a year ago and then decided to choose another pattern. The problem was that we couldn't return the first tiles we selected because they were special ordered. So, for a year we've had this tile lying around. Finally, (DUH!) we realized we could put it on the bare spot in our bedroom and closet! (I know, at times we amaze even ourselves with our stupidity.)

Before...

After...

I love this, and so does Terry. He's so happy that I nagged him into doing this! ;o)

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!

I am illegally posting this on Val's blog. Regular readers, beware.

Today is my wife's 30th birthday. For 30 years the world has been blessed to have her, here. She is an incredible woman. I have been living with her for 10 years and she is the real thing.

I am inspired by her, challenged by here and better because of her. She is a genius, her mind is quick, sharp and "forgetless" (she never forgets). (Don't tell Strunk about my suffix adding ways!)

I have watched as she has been able to forge a home out of whatever sorry place I've dragged her in pursuit of my dreams. She has kept us alive on very little money for a long time. She has taught my kids to read, write and how to behave. (We won't mention what I taught them.)

Now I feel led to quote a country and western song I heard when I was 18 or so:

She's everything in life i'll ever need - She is life When I want to live - She's everything to me in lifeThat life can give - She's my water - When i need a drink - She's the first thought in my mind - Each time I try to think - She's my fingers When I want to feel - She's the only thing in life To me that's really, real. - She is love - She's all the love I know - She could kiss the ground in the winter time, And make a flower grow -

I love you Valerie.

God's Love is like the Moon

On Friday evening, I was amazed by the beautiful full moon that was rising from the horizon. It started out somewhat yellow, and then as it rose higher and higher it became white and bright! It was gorgeous! I ran for my camera and snapped several images. It wasn't until I downloaded them to my computer that I realized just what I had photographed. It was no ordinary moon. Take a look at this first one:

You can see in the moonlight a silhouette of a power line, but it appears to be a cross! Isn't that amazing! Here we are, celebrating Resurrection Sunday, and I snap a photo that reminds me even more of the sacrifice our dear Lord made at Calvary so long ago. What a blessing the Lord gave me!

Here are some more photos:

If someday I should write a book of memories, I will not forget the moon. As a child, I spent many balmy, summer nights in Hot Springs lying on my Dad's bed - after a good wresting (tickling) match- talking. He would tell stories about his childhood and I would lie next to him listening with rapt attention. The window above the bed would be open, I would be freshly bathed and ready for bed, and the wind would be gently blowing the curtains. The crickets would be singing their merry song by moonlight, and the moon? Oh, it would be bright and beautiful! For a while we would be able to see it through the leaves of the large tree that stood behind the house. Dad would sing this little song, rather softly:

I see the moon, the moon sees me. Down through the leaves of the old Oak tree,

Please let the light that shines on me,Shine on the one I love.

Nothing made me feel more relaxed and ready for bed than the coziness of that moment. I had not a care in the world. Dad and Mom were in their places. Melanie was there to share a room with me so that I need not fear the dark! (Kevin was away at Hyles-Anderson.) I was safe within the walls of our modest home on Sunset Bay Drive. Life was, in my opinion, perfect. I would feel the glow of the moonlight shining upon those I loved. It still shines today upon my family as we live hundreds of miles apart from one another. My loved ones are far away, but the moon reaches them everywhere, as does God's love.

God's love is like the moon. It reaches all, but not all see it, notice it or enjoy it. Some know it is there, but take it for granted. I'm so thankful for God's love. I am thankful for my parents' love. I am very rich indeed, rich in love!

Today, Dad has a view of the moon unlike any other. He sees it from the Other Shore. I don't know whether or not he can see the moon from Heaven. I do not have a Bible verse for that, but I would like to believe that he can. I would also like to believe that the moon shines brightly on him still today, for he is still one I love.

I Have Hope

Joshua 5:11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day.12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
The Israelites have finally made it into Canaan. How wonderful for them to breathe the sweet, clean air of the land God had given them! To plant their feet upon the soil that was their homeland must have been glorious! Up to this point, the Israelites have survived so very much: Pharoah's army, the rebellion of Korah, the fiery serpents, the punishment for lusting at Kibrothhattaavah, 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, eating only manna for many years and the crossing of the Jordan. Now, they will start to drive out their enemies so that they can live in peace. We see in Joshua 5:11-12, that they no longer eat manna! They can now live off the "milk and honey" of the promised land. That must have been a wonderful day in their lives. A day of rejoicing indeed!
This gives me hope. The trials that I am facing will not be forever. I will one day be eating the fruit, or enjoying the rewards, of a life lived for Christ. It may not be until Heaven, but then, I may be in Heaven today! I have the hope that the Lord will allow me to enjoy some fruit now! I have already eaten of some of His blessings, but I long for more. Just as I enjoy eating not one bite of dessert, but two - or twenty - I long for not one blessing, but multiple blessings.
I have hope today that if I keep pressing forward, I surely will see, and even eat of, the fruit of God's rewards.

Fun in the Sun

Happy Spring, EVERYBODY! Yes, we made it! Today is the "official" first day of spring! I realize, however, that it may or may not feel like it, depending upon your location! Here, we are enjoying cold nights with *glorious* daytime temps. Right now, it's 70 degrees, zero humidity, and oh, so lovely!
I love the spring so much! It's a time of new growth, and new births. It is a time of a fresh start. I love New Year's day for that same reason! I love starting over. Everyday I fail my Heavenly Father, and everyday that He allows me to "start over" is such a gift. It is another day to strive to do better.
I am so thankful for the changing seasons of climate, and of life. Each season of the year brings new things, as does each new season of our lives: new beginnings, new challenges, and even new battles. I am equally thankful for things that never change: God and His Word. With each new season of climate, and of life, I can lean upon His everlasting arms to see me safely through the many changes that surely await me.

Here are some photos of our family enjoying the sunny - and warm - days in the Texas hill country...

The girls enjoying the swing set on a sunny afternoon.
Mitch in our homemade tree swingLaci in her swing

Heeeeere's Leslie!

I LOVE the sunshine!! :o)

Terry removing dead branches from one of our pecan trees.

Leslie wants a turn in Laci's swing!

Mitchell and Laci share a hug