If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

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Friday, October 30, 2009

Strange Feelings

Can you believe it?

This sweet little 5 year old is now

this beautiful 18 year old!

It feels kind of weird being the parent to an adult? How did this happen? I mean it was just yesterday she was 5 and heading off to pre-school! Where did my little girl go? And what in the world am I supposed to do with this adult that is now in her place?

What do I do now? How do I let her be an "adult"? I mean, sometimes I'm not even sure I know how to be an adult! lol It's a little tough letting them grow up and make their own decisions and learn their own lessons. But if she can do it, then I guess I can learn new things too and let her go, at least a little bit.


Last night her dad and I took Kelli and her boyfriend, Brian and Kerri too, out to dinner at "Olive Garden." This was Kelli's choice. It's one of her favorite restaurants.

Kerri and Kelli

Kelli and Brian (Hey! I must be learning a little. At least we let her date now!)

Another picture of Brian and Kelli

Here they are in Kroger trying to pick out a cake. (Do you know how hard it was for me not to tell him to take his hand off her!?! I mean, you that's my little girl there mister! lol)

Here she is with her cake. I know it's not a very good picture of the cake, but it's good of Kelli.

So here are Happy Birthday Wishes to our beautiful 18 year old!! We love you Kelli!!!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

SkyWatch Friday

Here are some photos of the skies from my area recently. Click on the button above and check out skies from other parts of the world and/or add some photos of your own.
An area farm

We've had a lot of hot air balloons in the area recently

This was a couple of weeks ago as you can see, the leaves hadn't started changing much yet. They are so beautiful around here right now. I need to get some more pictures of them.
Happy SkyWatch Friday everyone!

The "Love Ya" Award

I won this "Love Ya" Award from my Bloggy Friend, Trish at "Me & My Boys...our life,one story at a time". Trish and I have just recently become Bloggy Friends and I am totally enjoying getting to know her more and more. Thank you Trish!

So here are the rules...

"The "Love Ya" Award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.

Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

So with out further ado.....here are my 8 lucky winners. Blogs that I love to read and their owners have become my friends!!!

Erica @ Scottsville (Erica I know Trish bestowed this award to you, but you definitely are my pick too. So now you have won it twice and no I don't expect you to have to pick 16 people. I just want you to know I count you as my friend and you deserve the Love Ya award!)

Fringegirl from the Domestic Fringe

Janna from Blondie's Bits

Linda at Mocha with Linda

Mimi from He & Me + 3

Tarah at Eyeglasses & Endzones

Sara at Make Music from Your Heart to the Lord

Beth at Playing with the Paulsens!

Some of you ladies I have been sharing with for almost the whole time I've been blogging and some of you it has just been a few months or weeks. I count each of you friends and I hope all my other bloggy friends know that I love you too, but the rules are for me to only pick 8. Please check out these 8 blogs, they really are awesome people. I hope each of you 8 ladies will enjoy passing this on to your friends old and new.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Walk Down Memory Lane

Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane

Come for a walk with me down Memory Lane!
And if you have a "Memory Lane" post, head on over to Scottsville to join in on the fun!


I didn't go too far back for my memory lane post today. I love my girls rockin' these 3-D glasses at Disney World last summer.


Sunday, October 25, 2009

I Believe, Help Thou My Unbelief

I BELIEVE, HELP THOU MY UNBELIEF

I believe
Help thou my unbelief
I take the finite risk of trusting like a child
I believe
Help Thou my unbelief
I walk into the unknown, trusting all the while

I long so much
To feel the warmth
That others seem to know
Should I never feel a thing
I claim Him, even so.

I believe
Help Thou my unbelief
I walk into the unknown, trusting all the while.

Words & Music by Bill & Gloria Gaither

I feel this song is my testimony. I've always wanted to have more feelings like other people, but I never really have. But whether I ever feel anything, I still claim Him as my Savior. I've learned in my life it's not feelings that tell me I'm a child of God, but it's believing Him and His Word that makes it so. Romans 10:9 says "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." That is what makes me a Christian. So if any of you sometimes feel the way I do and doubt your salvation, believe and claim Romans 10:9 and not your feelings. If you've done what this says and confessed the Lord with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead then you are saved.

Linda at Mocha with Linda had this song on her blog on Saturday for "Then Sings My Soul Saturday" I asked her if she minded if I posted it too. She was very gracious and said go ahead. I've known this song for many, many years, but I didn't have a copy of it and for some reason never thought about going to Youtube to get it. Anyway, here is a trio with Bill Gaither singing it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Thanks Linda for post it.



Friday, October 23, 2009

Kelli's Painting

Kelli is taking 2 different art classes this year and one of them is painting. She has always told me she couldn't paint, but I think she's awesome. So does her teacher. Anyway, she had a project due Friday, but she talked the teacher into letting her turn it in on Tuesday, because she had a little more she wanted to do to the picture.

Here she is working in her room

Here you can actually see her working on the painting. The top is a photo from the internet and the bottom is her painting. Here it is after it's finished showing both the picture and her painting.
Here's a close-up of the painting. If you click on the picture you can enlarge it to really see it better.

Now, I have no intention of asking if a mother can be proud, because this mother is very proud of her daughter and her awesome talent!


Thursday, October 22, 2009

SkyWatch Friday

Here are some photos of the skies from my area this morning. Click on the button above and check out skies from other parts of the world and/or add some photos of your own.




Hope you enjoyed these fall photos that were all taken this morning while taking my daughter to school.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Columbus Day Geo-Caching

We've been doing a little geo-caching again in the last couple weeks. It was an absolutely gorgeous fall day. Perfect weather. I love to get out this time of year, when things cool off a little, but still aren't too cold. And geo-caching is a perfect excuse. This is basically treasure hunting with a GPS. Here are some pictures we took on Columbus Day.
Here's the log that was in the first cache we found. You just put the date and your Geo-Cache name on it. Of course, ours is TCKK

This is one of the actual caches. Just a bunch of little trinkets. You can take something and then add something if you want. I think we added a penny that day to some of them we found. Sometimes we just sign the log.

Look at this worm that was on a tree. It must have been 3 inches long at least. The cache was hidden behind this tree. This is in an old pioneer cemetery.

Here's another cache we found that day. We tried to find this one last spring and weren't able to . We got it this time! Yeah!

Just a beautiful spot to be in on a beautiful day.

Here's another cache we found in another little cemetery by and old church!

This cow was in the field next door to the cemetery and it seemed interested in what we were doing....not.
Here's a picture across the cemetery and looking at the church.

The girls were both in school this day, so it was just Tracy and I and we had so much fun. If you think it looks like something you'd enjoy, you might want to check out www.geocaching.com

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Around the House

I got this idea from Sarah at Life in the Parsonage. She got it from someone else and I couldn't resist giving it a try too.

Around the House: October

Reading: Leaving Yesterday by Kathryn Cushman

Enjoying: Geocaching; the beautiful weather; and spending some time with my family when they aren't all busy somewhere else

Learning: About the Fruit of the Spirit

Watching: "Survivor" and "Stargate Universe" and "Extreme Home Makeover"

Anticipating: The holidays; Thanksgiving and Christmas are my 2 favorites. I posted "Mary Did You Know" for Then Sings My Soul Saturday and I can't get Christmas out of my mind now. Also, Wal-mart had 2 or 3 aisles of Christmas stuff out already. Of course, we had to walk through and see everything.

Realizing: God is so good and I am so blessed. So many friends and family and church members are going through hard things. When I see all this around me, I realize I really don't have any problems. Irritations, yes, problems, no.

Pondering: The love of God and why does He love me?

Studying: "Living Beyond Yourself" by Beth Moore. This on the Fruit of the Spirit and boy am I being stepped on all over the place. But I know it's what I need. The Spirit living in me is the only way to get through each day

Wondering: If I'll ever get to retire.

Remembering: Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world. (This was Sarah's answer, but I couldn't think of anything better and really what could be more true than this)

Praying: That our family stays healthy and close to the Lord and each other.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Beautiful Mess by Diamond Rio Book Review and Give Away

Beautiful Mess, The Story of Diamond Rio by Diamond Rio with Tom Roland

Book Description: Can a band comprised of six very talented but very different musicians make a difference with their music? What made it possible for Diamond Rio to weather the storms inherent in the fickle world of fame and fortune and go more than two decades without a single lineup change? Any reader in search of transparency and a behind-the-scenes look into the life of the band as a unit as well as the individual lives of the players and singers will be well satisfied. Can true loyalty exist within the competitive, seemingly unforgiving music industry? In A Beautiful Mess, Marty Roe, Dan Truman, Jimmy Olander, Brian Prout, Gene Johnson, and Dana Williams each has an entire chapter devoted to his personal and professional life. A Beautiful Mess is a wild ride from the edge of disaster and a little-known secret to an ongoing heart-warming revival. (this description came from the Thomas Nelson website.)

My Thoughts: I was interested in reading Beautiful Mess because Marty Roe the lead singer is from my town. In fact, my sister graduated in the same class as he did. Anyway, I’ve never met him but he’s a hometown boy. So when I got the opportunity to read the book, I grabbed it.
The book was very interesting. There is a chapter about each of the six guys in the band that tells a bit about their childhood and how they ended up becoming a part Diamond Rio. They each led very different lives but they all loved music. Diamond Rio has been together for 20-25 years without changing any members and evidently, this is very rare. They seem to have a genuine love and respect for the Lord and for each other. They also feel that it’s important to help others and the book tells of their involvement with Big Brothers and Sisters. If you’re a fan of Diamond Rio, there are tons of pictures in the book too. So, if you enjoy biographies and you want to read a book of hope and encouragement to reach for your dreams, I would recommend this book.
I review for Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers

If you would like to read this book, just leave a comment. I'll have someone pick a winner next Monday and I'll give the winner my copy.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Choice

This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 NLT

Sometimes we can't change the things that are happening to us. You know with each day's circumstances, we can either rejoice and be glad in it or we can be angry and defiant and irritated. Though we can't always change our circumstances, we can always change how we react to them. It all comes down to a choice doesn't it? I can choose to be angry and in a bad mood or I can choose to be joyful and praise the Lord. As one of my good friends in the Lord always says, "I choose joy!" She makes a conscious choice to be joyful. And you know what? So am I. Today I choose joy! I will rejoice and be glad in this day!

What about you? What's your choice?

Saturday, October 17, 2009

TSMSS-Mary Did You Know


Click the button above to join Amy and others for Then Sings My Soul Saturdays

I love to think of Mary having the privilege to kiss the very face of God. And some day, we'll see him face to face! Wow!! Part of me wants to stay here but I have to say part of me can't wait to be there!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

SkyWatch Friday

Here's a photo of the sky from my area of the world. Click on the button above and check out skies from other parts of the world and/or add some photos of your own.

Sunset picture I took sometime in the last couple weeks. To be honest, I can't remember where I was when I took it. I think it was after church one night.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Memory Lane

Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane

Come for a walk with me down Memory Lane!
And if you have a "Memory Lane" post, head on over to Scottsville to join in on the fun!


The girls and I modeling our new T-shirts to wear to Disney World in the summer of 2008. Can you tell from my blog that we just absolutely love Disney in this house? lol