Snow day, glorious snow day!

Maybe I've been secretly wishing for snow, but last night when I went to bed I would have sworn the weather guy was nuts. In fact, when I woke up at 4:15 (not by choice) there wasn't a thing on the ground. When the school secretary called at 5:45 and told Chris we weren't having school I just thought we were jumping the gun a little. Around 7:00 am it started snowing just a little, but I didn't get too concerned and told Casey to drive her car on to work, just be careful, had I only known! Shortly after 8:30 it really started snowing, then Chris called to tell me he needed something from the lock box at the bank. I thought, "no problem", I'll just load the boys up now and go get our business taken care of then get home before it gets too bad. WRONG! It was already bad, I just didn't know it until I was already on the road. I'm not one to take chances (anymore) on snow, so I had 4WD engaged on our dirt road. I just knew when I hit Highway 62 I wouldn't need it anymore. Wrong again! At 9:30 this morning there had been nothing done to 62 and it was a mess! After going a few hundred feet I decided I'd go back into 4WD, which was just God looking out for me, because I asked Him to take care of us before we ever left the driveway. I was headed up a hill going into Salem and the truck got sideways in the road. Austin, the 11 year old, said, "Mom, why did you do that?" I assured him it wasn't my idea, and Logan was yelling, "Do it again, do it again!" Never listen to a 3 year old. We slid into the bank, took care of our business, made a side trip to Sonic (mainly so Logan would be quiet on the way home and I could concentrate on the roads), then creeped home.

Now, with all this said, one thing you should know about me is that my camera goes with me almost everywhere, so I did manage to get a few pictures of the lovely weather we're having. I took the one from Sonic "hop thru", and Austin took the one on the dirt road. The one of the boys just shows the excitement on their faces at finally having enough snow to throw snowballs at each other. I guess it has been a pretty good day.

A new challenge

Today at the ladies luncheon at church I recieved a new challenge. We were discussing the importance of leaving your legacy, your life, how you came to know Christ, your thoughts on marriage, birth of your children, etc. I told Sandy, our pastor's wife, that I had started working on a journal/scrapbook about leaving my legacy, so she asked me if I'd like to lead a class of women in doing that. I was a little surprised, but I feel like this is something I am supposed to do. I have a soft spot for women's ministry and am excited about stepping out in that direction.

I was inspired by a speaker at a women's conference who lost her mother to breast cancer. The girl was only 7 and doesn't have that many memories of her mother. She knows her mother was a Christian, but has no idea how she came to know Christ. She doesn't even know what her mother's handwriting looked like. Little things that we sometimes take for granted are things she never had.

The more I thought about it, the more determined I became to write down these stories for my children, and grandchildren (some day....in a few years). I want them to know who I was, what was important to me, and what my hopes and dreams for them were. It's important to leave a legacy, and what could be better than a legacy of faith?

Are you leaving a legacy? You should. If you don't know where to begin just call me or email me and I'll help you get started. It's important. You never know when your story might just reach someone and bring them into the God's Kingdom.

Ladies Luncheon

Tomorrow is the quarterly Ladies Luncheon at church. This will be my first one and I'm really excited about it. The last luncheon was the end of September and I just wasn't up to that one. I am so thankful that we have found a church with so many opportunities for fellowship for the whole family. Chris even goes to the "Brotherhood" days, which require the use of power tools and carpentry/construction skills. The first one he went to they built the stage in the youth aditorium, the November meeting, he helped build sets for the outdoor drama. I think they changed lightbulbs (no easy task in the fellowship hall/gym area) and built new pantry shelves the last time.

Tomorrow we will start discussing the Women's Conference hosted by our church. This will be the last Saturday of September and will be even better than the last. We had a wonderful speaker last fall, and ended up with ladies from 16 different churches attend. I'm anxious to see what happens this year, it really lifts my spirits and gets me fired up again. Y'all come, everyone is invited.

Of course I'm taking my camera with me tomorrow, so maybe I'll have some pictures of our luncheon and the ladies of my church. I've been asked to bring some of my pretty Southern Living at HOME dishes....and they didn't even have to twist my arm to make me do it. I love pretty dishes!

I've been tagged

Four jobs I've had:
1. Ranger Boats (sportswear dept)
2. American Freightways (accts. rec. clerk)
3. Assistant director at a daycare in Conway
4. Teacher (Art, Speech, Drama, & English)

Four places I lived:
1. Flippin, AR
2. Harrison, AR
3. Conway, AR
4. Viola, AR

Four movies I've watched over and over:
1. Gone With The Winds
2. Miss Congenality
3. Gone In 60 Seconds
4. Cars (yes, it's Logan's favorite)

Four shows I watch:
1. CSI
2. HGTV...lots of shows on HGTV
3. Biggest Loser
4. Food Network...lots of shows on FN

Four places I've been:
1. California
2. Destin, FL
3. Ouray, CO (loved it!)
4. Washington, DC (and we're going back in June)

Four people who e-mail me regularly:
1. Heather B.
2. Carla
3. Gena
4. Lindsay

Four favorite thing to eat:
1. Mexican...just about anything
2. Cheesecake
3. Beans, cornbread, & fried potatoes
4. Seafood

Four places I'd rather be:
1. I like to be home
2. Colorado
3. On a beach somewhere
4. In a cabin in the woods

Four things I look forward to this new year:
1. Our trip to Chattanooga over spring break
2. Our trip to DC in June (It's just Austin & me)
3. VBS at our new church
4. Summer break so I can be home and dig in the yard!

Four people to tag:
1. I have absolutely no idea who has a blog, so whomever reads this consider yourself tagged. (then tell me who you are)

I HAD to post this, read it and you'll see why.

My parents told me about Common Sense early in my life and told me I would do well to call on her when making decisions. It seems she was always around in my early years but less and less as time passed by. Today I read her obituary. Please join me in a moment of silence in remembrance, for Common Sense had served us all so well for so many generations.

Obituary: Common Sense
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old she was since her birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
She will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children are in charge).
Her health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened her condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin, sun lotion or a sticky plaster to a student, but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot She spilled a little in her lap, and was awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by her parents, Truth and Trust; her husband, Discretion; her daughter, Responsibility; and her son, Reason . She is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know my Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm a Victim.
Not many attended her funeral because so few realized she was gone. If you still remember her, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Author unknown

There is a lot of truth to this. We all see it every day in just about every place we go.

Squirrel proof?

I'm finding the bright side of everything, so here's today's. I was home from school, again, for the second day in a row, not because of the stomach flu like yesterday, but because I now have pink eye. Anyway, I looked outside at my "squirrel proof" bird feeder to find this fat fellow hanging upside down, stuffing his jaws with sunflower seeds. What you can't see in this picture is the Blue Jay who did not appreciate fluffy eating his afternoon snack! This was supposed to be a feeder that squirrels can't get to, yeah, right!

The family photo

This is the picture I took for our Christmas card photo. It was the first shot I took, by the time I got a few more I was ready to toss all 3 of my miracles into the pond behind them! These big rocks are usually under water, but because of the dry summer they were the ideal photo spot. The week after this was taken we got 6+ inches of rain, now they are back in the middle of the pond, the only part of the rock showing above water is the big one in the far right corner, and all you can see is the tip of that one. I think this is one of the best ones I've ever gotten of all 3 kids together. The first remark Casey made was, "Eww, that makes me look fat!" (she would have been the first one tossed in.)