HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

I want to wish my mother a very happy birthday! I know that I am blessed to be her daughter. Mom is a devout Christian that loves life to the fullest. She celebrates her 65th birthday this year and constantly surprises me with her enthusiasm about trying new things. She loves adventure, and her excitement is contagious.

Mom showed me that a good marriage is a valuable treasure. She and my dad were so much in love. She always had time to sit on a porch swing, drink a glass of tea, and discuss any problem I might have. I realize now how many values were transferred during these chats. She loves to laugh, and is the life of the party. She enjoys decorating and even changes her kitchen curtains to match the season. She is a good seamstress, sewing more things than I could count--this includes all of the bridesmaid dresses for my sisters and me when we got married. (We three sisters got married within 10 months time.) Because Mom always wanted to oil paint, she took classes and learned how. I have a beautiful picture in my house that reminds me to develop my God-given talents. She is currently taking college classes working on a degree. I have so many good memories of my mom and continue to make them on a daily basis. Although we are miles apart, we talk almost every day on the phone. Mom is also a wonderful mamaw to my children; our kids always look forward to seeing her.

I have watched Mom go through many difficult struggles, including the death of my father. Years after my dad's death, God allowed Mom to love again by bringing another godly man into her life. I have come to believe that she is one strong woman. Mom, I want to say, "I love you, and thank God that He allowed you to be my mother."

Band Benefit Yard Sale

For the last several years Doyle has had a band yard sale to raise funds for a
variety of things. This event has helped buy uniforms, instruments, and new chairs. I need to tell you that this is not a thrown-together sale. When you ask this community to contribute, the response is incredible. Doyle is not content to have just a yard sale--he throws all kinds of activities in on the same day. This year we had our mega sale, car wash, bake sale, hot coffee to sip while you shop, grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, chips, and drinks, and to top it off, he added a jumping house for the kids. This takes an unbelievable amount of work to organize and make happen. He has different teams in charge of various activities. Needless to say, we are all worn out when the day is done. The clean up is the hardest part. It would not happen without so many faithful workers. He makes sure the kids are rewarded with a pizza party.

The big concern this year was the possibility of rain. We had already rescheduled once and really needed to get our stuff out of the Tabernacle. It is stored here until the sale. Because it had rained all day Friday, we did some serious praying about Saturday. Would you believe that it did not rain a drop all day? It continued to rain on Sunday.

I believe that God cares about things like yard sales and kids that are trying to raise money for their band. We are all glad it is behind us and we can move on to November's events.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Saturday morning found us rising at 4:30 a.m. to get ready to leave for our zoo trip. We had been wanting to have this adventure for a long time and decided that this was the day to make it happen. We drove to West Palm to catch the Tri-rail train. This train took us to yet another train, which took us to a bus, which took us to the Miami Metro Zoo. We spent a lot of time in transit, but we made great memories. Doyle thought that I should feel privileged to see both the sunrise and sunset by train. I'm not sure "privileged" is the word that came to my mind. When the kids woke up in the morning, they put the clothes on that we had laid out for them. Lydia made us laugh by putting on her hat and sunglasses. I mentioned that she could wait until the sun came up to use the glasses. I have to mention that everything we were going to use for the day had to fit in a backpack. For those that know my packing style, you know that this is a great accomplishment for me. I was quite proud of myself. We had so much fun being together. Although I took about 200 pictures, I will show you only a few of our memories.

Hat Day

This is what my crew looked like when they left for school this morning. Today is Hat Day and we had fun putting together these silly ideas. I'm not sure if the teachers are productive in their teaching efforts on days like these. They probably just sit and laugh at each other. I know the kids enjoy this fun activity.

Julianna had a spaghetti theme. We even put real noodles on the top.


Samuel is a golfer. I sewed a plastic golf ball on the top. Doyle printed the words, "Hole in One" and we made a green for the golf ball.


Lydia is a Deputy. This hat makes me laugh. When I first saw it for a real cheap price, I knew I had to get it for my boys' cowboy theme bedroom. We personalized it for Lydia.


Joseph was not to be outdone. He came up with his own idea for hat day. We cracked up when he came into the room dressed like this. I am not sure what he is supposed to be--maybe a clown that had been swimming and decided to go to bed. He said that he was a cool dude.

Growing and Learning

We know that growth is gradual, but there are times when change seems to happen right in front of our eyes. This was the case with Lydia on Monday. She had lost another tooth over the weekend, she learned to ride her bike without training wheels, she fell in love with reading, and she started grasping math concepts in a new way.
Doyle had helped her on Saturday with her bike and she had made a lot of progress. I didn't realize how much until she asked me to help her. I said "sure" and proceeded out the front door with house shoes on. She took off and I was trying to catch her. Doyle had told her to pedal real fast. What he did not teach her was how to stop. Teaching her to slow down and stop was my job. I must have been a sight, scooting down the road with my slippers flopping. I caught up with her and stopped her until I could get my tennis shoes on. I could tell this was going to be aerobic exercise for me. It was neat to see her so excited about learning how to do something she has been wanting to do for awhile. She started whistling and beeping her horn.

Lydia also found reading a joy. She has never complained about doing her homework, but she has discovered just how rewarding reading can be. She was reading to me and she asked, "How do you think the story will end"? I said that she will just have to read and find out. She got this big smile on her face and said the words that this mom and former first grade teacher wanted to hear, "I love reading!" While we were later working on math drills, the things I had been trying to say seemed to "click." I went to bed declaring that it had been a good day.

Lydia reading to Joseph

A Boy and his Frog

I know this picture will make some of your stomachs' turn, but I couldn't resist showing you this funny photo. Joseph was delighted when Julianna found him a frog. He carried the poor critter around while he played outside. Several times I thought that the amphibian had gone on to his reward, but he survived being squeezed by a toddler. When the frog got all dirty, I suggested that he probably needed water. No problem; Samuel got a bucket of water for him and Joseph just dunked the frog every once in a while. I watched him run around with this dripping frog, and I just had to laugh. We talked him into returning him to the back yard so we could eat supper. He said, "The frog needed to go back so he could see his sister." He also thought that his mom and dad had been run over by a lawn mower. I just love kids. Oh, by the way, Joseph is not really touching the frog with his tongue--it just looks that way. I do like frog legs, but prefer mine cooked.

Fall Fever

Doyle and I had our engagement pictures taken in the fall of '94. I wanted to include this photo in my blog.
Some people get spring fever. I tend to get fall fever--this disease makes me do all sorts of strange things.
This is the time of year when I miss the north very much. All of the memories of my childhood come flooding back into my mind: the beautiful leaves, the hay rides, picking apples, going to the pumpkin patch, and wearing sweaters in fall colors. Well, I am very happy in Florida and I have decided to make the best of it when it comes to enjoying the autumn "southern style." I decorate, add fall colors to my wardrobe, cook up some pumpkin recipes and enjoy my life in the south. A couple of years ago, my aunt Erma pressed leaves that she had gathered on her walks. She sent them to me with a fall care package. It was such a thoughtful thing to do. I still use the leaves in my shadow box end tables every year. It helps bring a little of Kentucky to Florida.

I also take this time to go through my house and deep clean. My family gets a little scared when I do this annual activity because they know how goal oriented I can be. I do try to be flexible. I have decided to post some pictures of my master bath. This is the first room to be tackled by my fever. If I had taken before and after pictures, you might not have seen a difference, but I know that the drawers, closet, curtains and everything from top to bottom got a good wipe. Isn't that appropriate talk after cleaning the bathroom. I hesitated to post pictures like this, but my fellow bloggers seem to enjoy peeking into each others' houses. Posting these pictures will make me accountable to go to the next room and do the same.