Blessings !!

Storms may come and storms may go . I wonder just how many storms it takes until I finally see ,You're Here Always !!! Those are a few lines from an old Amy Grant song that I loved dearly. I beliveve it was the first non choir solo I did as a kid.

Recently we had several dangerous storms come through the Huntsville area. One particular storm left a tree on my roof, a hole in my roof, bedroom ceiling, and tore the liner to our pool. Fortunatley we were out of town when it hit.

We have never had to make a claim on our homeowners insurance before now. WE have been so blessed by everyone from our agent, adjuster, and all the contractors we are using. God has shown himself over and over. Neal and I marvel in his precision! God always takes care of us . I often say that I live under God's umbrella of protection. It is where I want to be. Safe in his "Arms of Love".

Oh yeah, I was blessed by my blog fairy who hooked me up with this awesome layout !!! Go visit her blog too ! Thanks Valerie !!

Here we go again !!

Can you believe school is out? I think I am more excited than my kids. today they got to sign each others yearbooks. Watching them took me right back to my youth and I almost cried. Today our children live such a fast paced, technology driven life that they don't get to experience the simple pleasures of life that we are used to. I know I must sound like an elderly woman, but signing yearbooks is something that we actually can identify with. I enjoyed watching the song and dance children play while interacting with each other. It is so predictable, but yet so enjoyable. We choose a " character " that we identify with and watch as life is played out. Summer is one of the few times in our kids lives when they can slow down and be a kid. I want my children to experience all summer has to offer. Whether it is a well planned vacation, or spontaneous fun, I want them to enjoy simple pleasures. THis summer I am going to try to keep things simple , feeding ducks, skipping rocks, playing outside all day, and loving them more and more.

Graduation Day !!

Yesterday was Jackson's Kindergarten Graduation. Here is a picture of him with his honey, Anna Beth. I believe she is overwhelmed by his affections. He brought her flowers and a poem that MaryEsther wrote for him to give her. My older children LOVE encouraging him with his love life. Madison, the stud who is without companion feels the need to help his little brother out. Today was really sweet, Jackson and I went to the gym together, the mall ( He held my hand), and had snuggle time together. These days are fast fleeting. I am so blessed with my family.

Mother's Day ( who thought of that one anyway?)

Well, I hope all you Mother's out there in blogging land received blessings and honor on your Mother's Day. Let me tell you just how special mine was. We began our day at the Best Western in Palatka, FL where we were staying for a wedding. You know how scrumptious the hotel breakfasts can be, enough said. After packing, loading , and arguing the children decided they had not eaten enough so we made the mistake of getting in the Dunkin Donuts drove thru line. After 15 minutes of not moving and allowing all 3 children to go in and pee we left. The line begin moving after we left, I think it was a conspiracy, they saw the out of town plate or something. So then we had to stop at McDonalds ( for those of you who know me you know how I feel about that one). More time wasted in order to fill their guts with smut. We did finally begin our journey home . After listening to arguing for far too long I decided to take matters into my own hands and treat their mouths. I won't tell you how, just use your imaginations. That worked long enough to get us to Tallahassee where the lunch time drama began. Now remember it was Mother's Day and my husband drove us to Hungry Howie's for lunch, I was not happy, at all. He thought I could go next store and get a smoothie or a wrap at the other restaurant. I wanted hot food, healthy food, not gut smut, ( the wraps were fine, just cold and processed ). Being the mature one in our family I allowed him to drive me to BK where I got a side salad . i had no intentions of eating it, just wanted to be difficult, it was my day remember? So I gave the salad to out 2 new pet lizards who we acquired on our journey. Then we had to go to McDonalds again because our youngest didn't want Pizza. I went hungry, sulking, constantly applying to lip gloss to get some kind of flavor satisfaction. We drove some more, made it to Dothan and Neal decided he would run in Dillards to check and see of they had some shoes that I liked and they didn't. While inside I managed to scarf down an Apple Pie that Mcdonald's had given us for messing up our order during lunch. I didn't want him to know just how hungry I was. Just think we were only like half way home !! If I continue to rehash this glorious day I may go postal. Needless to say, my day went unrecognized, yet very eventful. Hope yours was better. To date, I have not received any gifts, I did however get 2 precious cards from my youngest children. I guess it just goes to show you that we do what we do for our families because we want to and love them unconditionally.

A Day in the Life of a Real Desperate Housewife

4:30 a.m. Wake- up
5:00 a.m. Boot Camp
6:30 a.m. Train Client at the gym
8:00 a.m. Return home to eat a quick bite
9:00 a.m. Work-out
10:00 tan ( I know it is bad for my skin)
10:30 Wal-Mart
11:30 Put Away Groceries
Noon Train client
1:15 p.m. Housework
2:30 Leave to Pick-up Kids
4:00 p.m. cook supper
5:30 p.m. Train client
7:00 Pick up child from ball practice
7:15 Quick Dinner ( needed to go to Madison's game but Jackson was too exhausted and so was I )
8:30 p.m. my 9:30 p.m. client rescheduled, so I went to bed.

It is a glamorous job, being a housewife, full of relaxing moments and luxuries !!
7:15

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Wow, did you ever think that you could be an addict? Walking down the isles of your local discount store you are beckoned to the candy isle. Instantaneously your mouth begins to water, you begin wandering which lucky bag of candy is going to be yours. Then you look around to see if anyone you know is around, you must set a good example. The coast is clear, but you can't even wait to check out, at once you rip open the cellophane and begin consumption. Your fingers can hardly push the buggy and open the wrappers, this does take some skills, ones that I have perfected. You wish your kids were with you to blame the candy on them. You could say you were a secret shopper doing some research, or fess up and tell them you are an addict. I haven't heard of too many people who confess to this HFCS addiction. If there is anyone out there who feels my pain, let me know how you have replaced this terrible addiction.