A new home....

I've had some issues with this blog and getting signed in, etc., so I have created a new blog home.  Please join me for Life on a Dirt Road over at WordPress.

Find me here.  I hope to see you soon.

Just a few more days...

….until the 4th annual Marvin Newton Classic!

When the Newton family began this journey 4 years ago, our goal was to provide scholarships for student athletes who participated in the classic.  The first year was a little discouraging, and honestly, I was ready to quit.  We were exhausted, and didn't make as much money as we had hoped, but we decided to give it another year.  Oh, and the best part, we were able to award 4 $500 scholarships.

The second year was better, we knew a little more about what we were doing and were able to pick up a few sponsors to help offset the cost of concession stand food and t-shirt printing.  We also had more money at the end and presented 6 $500 scholarships.  We felt much better about things, too, and felt like we were honoring Dad's memory.

Last year was awesome!  We had a great guy named Scott volunteer his day and his vocal chords to do all the announcing of teams and sponsors throughout the day.  We had more teams, lots more fans, and ended up with enough for 9, yes N-I-N-E $500 scholarships!

This year promises to be even better.  We have 7 games, and cool new t-shirt in the works, and we're excited to get this thing going.   I'm anxious to see how many scholarships we will have this year.

So, come on out to the Viola High School gym on Friday, November 28th (Black Friday), and enjoy a day of some great high school basketball!  Here's the schedule:

11:00 am  - Viola  vs.  Salem  - Boys

12:25 pm  - ICC  vs.  Cedar Ridge  -Boys

1: 30 pm  - ICC vs.  Gainesville, MO - Girls

2:45 pm   - Valley Springs vs. Gainesville, MO - Boys

4:00 pm   - Flippin vs. Salem  - Girls

5:15 pm   - Flippin  vs. Rose Bud  - Boys

6:30 pm   - Viola vs. Bakersfield  - Girls

Today my baby is 10 years old...

Time has whooshed by at an astonishing speed.  He's in double digits now! (he's so happy, too.)

photo by my sis-in-law, Carla Jennings

As you can imagine, the week has been filled with the discussion of birthday gifts.  His recurrent theme is anything St. Louis Cardinals related, and was thrilled to find his uncles, Gary & Lance, and Aunt Lisa had sent Amazon gift codes…which he promptly redeemed for St Louis Cardinals memorabilia and a Matt Holliday (Cardinals left fielder & Logan's favorite player) bobble-head.  

Maybe I'm just feeling old, or tired, or just….blah.  But on my way home from the in-service (where I spent my day learning how to integrate Common Core into the Art classroom) today, I was thinking about the best gift I could give him….me.

I've spent so much time thinking of the things he would love most for his birthday,  but what joy would he get without me?  (yes, he's a mamma's boy, deal with it).  

For some time I've been saying I need to get off my rear and get back into better health.  This week I've really been hard on myself.  I don't want to be the fat mom…the one who has no energy because she's too heavy to move.  There was a time when I was in pretty good shape.  I was somewhat athletic and really enjoyed physical activities.  

Now I can't hang.  

It's time to stop talking and start doing.  (sounds suspiciously like a Lowe's or Home Depot commercial)  

It's time to get the extra weight off and get back to a more active life.  I'm 47… and I'm not getting any younger!

So here's the plan.  I ordered this little gizmo.  The FitBit.  It's supposed to help me track my fitness (or lack thereof), and give some encouragement to stay on track. (trust me, I need all the help I can get!)  It's also supposed to track sleep (or lack thereof), and maybe, just maybe, my sleep patterns will improve.  I'm willing to try.

FitBit is not assisting or providing any compensation whatsoever.  In fact, the FitBit people know I exist only because I created a free profile to set up this little gadget.  All opinions will be my own…and if I'm nursing sore muscles,  my opinion may be less rosy than other times.

So, I'm off again on another fitness plan.  I have changed our diet and I do try to incorporate more fresh produce and lean protein….and less sweet and gooey stuff.  (okay, confessions are good for the soul…I just polished off a bowl of ice cream with caramel sauce, but it was kind of like the last hurrah before I really get serious)

Pray for me.  I'm going to need it.  It is my desire to be a better, more involved mom…a healthy mom.  Someone who isn't tired all the time and has energy to work in the church, and give of myself.  (more on that later)

My alarm is set for early in the morning.  I'm planning to get up and walk, just to get moving.  Morning is the most beautiful time of day here on the farm, and it's always amazing to see God's handiwork bathed in warm, yellow light.  

I would try to jog a little, but I'm afraid this would be me…..I'm not kidding.  I'm about as fast as the little slug dude from Monsters University…..you've got to watch this little clip Running Slug, I really think I look like this when I try to run….at least he doesn't give up.

When you're feeling like you aren't important….

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  -Luke 12:27

All 3 of these photos I took in our yard.  I love lilies, and have several plants that have yet to bloom.  

I love lilies, so much so, they were one of the flowers we used in our wedding. I don't know what draws me to them. They aren't fussy, the color is so vibrant, and they open themselves completely to soak in the sun and rain.  Maybe we should strive to be more like lilies, don't fuss about adding adornments, live life so vibrant that we shine from within, and open ourselves so that we may soak in the living water and light of Jesus.  

Each time I look at lilies I smile because I remember His words in the New Testament, both in Luke and in Matthew, and am reminded that God gives us something as beautiful as lilies, yet we are so much more beautiful and important to him.  Thank you, Lord, for such beautiful reminders.

 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;  and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? - Matthew 6:28-30

Don't be fooled...

….things aren't always as they seem.

Like this little clip.  Have you seen this?

John Deere Commercial

Especially the guy who says, "That yellow seat is my favorite chair."  Yeah, right!  If that's the truth this guy is nuts!

I'm a big fan of John Deere.  I love The Beast (I wrote about it a couple of years ago) of a mower we have, but "perfectly level fresh cut grass" is not something achievable in our yard, probably because we don't have a "perfectly level" yard!  I managed to master the art of our zero-turn John Deere mower and can use it really well….if you don't count the sacrifice of 2 baby oak trees and a couple of lawnmower blades.

I may be one of those weirdos who really does enjoy mowing. (not kidding)  The hubs works really hard, and often long hours, so I thought it would be very considerate of me to mow the yard. (now I'm thinking homemade cinnamon rolls would have been a better idea!)

I started this chore 2 days ago.  It was hot, it was dusty, but I was determined.  Our "yard" is only about 4 acres.  We live in north central Arkansas.  We have a bumper crop of rocks…and dirt.  We live in grow zone 7, which means weeds flourish. (ragweed, fescue, Johnson grass, lespedeza (sp?), crab grass, orchard grass, rye grass, along with several allergen laden green things (those are really more weeds than grass), and the sprinkling of Bermuda grass we are desperately trying to encourage.

I have almost decided there are tiny creatures living in the grass who do not want their homes disturbed so they are sabotaging all my attempts at "perfectly level fresh cut grass".  I mowed the front yard with minimal trouble (if you don't count rocks, mole hills, tree roots, and ruts that came from somewhere unbeknownst to me)….then I ran out of gas. (Thankfully, the oldest boy had filled the gas can so that was only a minor setback.)  

half the front yard

looking to the side

Mower refilled, and I was once again rocking along listening to my iPod to drown out the sounds of rocks and mower blades colliding, then it happened….a terrible noise heard above the music in my ears.  In the split second it took to hear the sound, I also realized the ratchet strap which had been on the mower deck at my feet was no longer there.  Yep, it had bounced off and was now thouroughly entwined around the mower blades.   

Being the problem solver I am, I stopped the blades, turned the mower toward the house, parked it in the garage, and came in to take a shower.  Hubs wasn't really thrilled with me when he got home, but he calmly cut the strap (which he uses (used) to hold the sprayer tank onto the four wheeler), and, I'm sure, silently thanked God I hadn't really torn the thing up.  

The majority of the yard, however, remained uncut.

Today, since school is out and I'm a stay-home-mom for the summer, I decided to finish.  I probably should have prayed for rain.  

My first problem was the sneezing fit which occurred approximately 8 minutes (or 2 iPod songs) into my chore.  (It's difficult to sing along with Little Big Town while you're sneezing!)  As if the sneezes weren't enough, the problem was compounded by the fact that I am 47, have given birth to 3 children, and had a hysterectomy (some of you ladies will understand…things happen when you sneeze, cough, or laugh vigorously.  (TMI?)   A short bathroom break followed.

Once again enthroned on the yellow seat, I began the rough terrain of the side yard.  There is one particular area with ruts deep enough it might be a safer alternative to a tornado shelter than the basement. (okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but a tractor did get stuck there last year)  Still sneezing, and bouncing, and doing my best to avoid the dead briars, still clinging to the fence like the guardian hedge in Sleeping Beauty, I continued….for a couple of minutes.  Yep, the mower ran out of gas, again, but this time, the big gas can had less than a pint in it, just enough to get the Beast started and moved to the garage.  The only explanation I have for running out of gas this quickly is, either someone has been joyriding on the lawn mower, or grass fairies (who don't want their homes disturbed) are siphoning gas from the mower as we sleep. (I'm leaning toward #2).

 

I could make a trip into town, fill the gas can, and continue the job, but my itchy, watery eyes don't want to, and after 2 Benedryl caplets and a shower, I've decided a nap sounds much better.  

Oh, that just for the record, that yellow seat in the NOT my favorite chair….the soft club chair (with the matching ottoman) in which the posterior end of my anatomy currently rests in my favorite chair.  

Sorry John Deere!

It's over….

…School, that is.  Friday, May 23rd wrapped up the 2013-2014 school year.  I'm ready for summer break.  I need some rest.

My plan was to have everything "summerized" by Friday afternoon, but it didn't happen.

Plans change sometimes, and this was my desk/classroom just before I left earlier than intended, so another day next week and I'll be good….I can get more finished when I'm by myself, anyway.

It's been a tough year.  I'm exhausted.  The last semester has been filled with more frustration that I've experienced in a long time.  It's very difficult for me to deal with people (kids) who have no respect for property or people.  I have to remind myself they are just kids, they are immature, and who knows what other issues they're dealing with at home.

This summer I will pray for them.  I will pray they are blessed, and happy, and healthy.  I will pray that, in spite of myself and my sometimes really cruddy attitude, that I will go into the new school year with God's light inside me.  I pray that I will be an example to show Him.

How about a praise?

A few weeks ago I blogged about a sweet girl from our church, Charolete, who was battling cancer.

Wish I could be this gorgeous with no hair!  

Please note that I said WAS battling cancer.  Though I'm 2 or 3 weeks behind posting in on here, Charolete finally got the news that she has, once again, kicked cancer's tail.  Her last doctor visit shows that she is now CANCER FREE!  (can I get an amen?!!)  Throughout her ordeal, she always had that smile on her face, even on days you knew she probably didn't feel like smiling.  She is such an example of faithfulness.

Now, I ask you to pray for another friend, Racheal.  She, too, is currently in the same fight, but her faith has never wavered (at least not that we can see).  I truly believe that God is going to heal her body and remove this hateful disease so Racheal can enjoy her family.  She is an inspiration, though she would probably try to disagree.  I admire Racheal and the faith she and husband, Jamie, exhibit.  Ever faithful.
Please join me in praying for victory over cancer for Racheal.

"For we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28

I swiped this from Racheal's Facebook….I hope she doesn't care! 

I believe that God is still in the business of miracles.  We won't always see them, but He knows all things.  I also believe all things…even the bad stuff…happens for a purpose and He can use our trials and valleys in a great and mighty way.

I know this.  I have seen it in my own life and in the lives of friends.  (maybe sharing their stories is something I should consider)   He will never leave us or forsake us.  He promised.  He NEVER breaks a promise.

On days when you wonder if the sun will ever shine again, don't give up.  Hope in the Lord is a gift from heaven…a gift from Him.  Cling tightly to hope no matter the circumstance.