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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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Hectic

Things are rather hectic and busy around here right now. VBS started last night! We had so much fun and I love it. But between work and VBS it doesn't leave much time for Blogging. I'll check in when I can and hopefully get caught back up soon.

Have a blessed week everyone!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Friday, June 25, 2010

Flashback Friday

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Below is Linda's prompt for Flashback Friday.  Click here to play along.
A house is made of bricks and stone,
but a home is made of love alone
Where did you live when you were growing up? In a house or an apartment? A mobile home or a duplex? Did your parents rent or own? Was it big or small? In a city, small town, or rural area? In the USA or another country? Did you have your own room or share with siblings? Did you have a say in how your room was painted/decorated? Did your folks update/redecorate periodically or was your house "stuck" in a certain decade? Did you have a yard? A swingset or other play areas? What was your neighborhood like? Were there lots of kids to play with? Did your family stay in one place or did you move? If so, how many times did you move by the time you graduated from high school? Did you like moving or long to stay in one place? Are your parents still in the home you grew up in (or at least the one you lived in when you graduated from high school) or did they move and you haven't lived with them in their latest house? Does it feel like home? What were your favorite and least favorite things about your physical home? How similar or different is it to where you live now?

MY FLASHBACK:

We moved several different times when I was growing up and I loved getting to do that.  Sometimes it was hard when I had to move schools, but we always stayed close enough that I got to attend the same church.  It was always fun to get to move into a new bedroom.  Now I never had my own room until I moved out with my sister when I was about 25-26 years old.  In fact, I was in high school (probably a junior or senior) before I had my own bed.  In all the house we had (except the one where I was born) we had 3 bedrooms and 7 people.  Mom & Dad had a room, the 2 boys had a room and the 3 girls shared a room.

House 1 was a small farmhouse.  We moved from there when I was only 3.  This was the house mom and dad bought a few months after they were married.  The 3 oldest of us lived in this house.  It originally had 1 bedroom and a path (no bathroom).  Dad added a room and a bath after mom went to the outhouse and there was a great big black snake in the rafter.  She said she'd never use that again. haha!  So dad built her a bathroom.  Thankfully that happened before I was born.

House 2 was a brick ranch that my dad built.  We lived here from about the time I was 3 until I finished 2nd grade.  It had 3 bedrooms and the 2 youngest of us was born here.  I loved this place.  The back patio had a split rail fence around it and always had red climbing roses growing on it.  We had a big garden across the back of the lot and their was a big soybean field right behind us.  We used to go back there and play army and throw clods of dirt at each for for grenades.  My brother and sister used to catch grasshoppers in the summer and feed the golden garden spiders that lived in the bushes.  Those things would get humongous!  I just looked, I never liked bugs or spiders except for lightening bugs & lady bugs!

House 3 was a 2 story white house in the town where I work now.  So I was a city dweller for awhile.  We lived here from 3rd grade through 5th grade.  Loved this place too.  It had a really big upstairs bathroom.  I mean really really big and it had a clawfoot bathtub.  Wish I had one of those today.

House 4  was another brick ranch with a full basement that my dad built.  We were here from 6th grade through half my freshman year.  Again it was 3 bedroom, but the girls room was really big.  We had 2 full size beds and still plenty of room.  My older sister had a bed to herself and my younger sister and I shared the other one.  The basement had a full kitchen in it (where we would butcher pigs sometimes (they were alread dead before they were brought here).  We also had shuffleboard in the floor and a ping pong table.  This was a kids dream basement.  We also had an above ground pool in the back yard and we'd spend our whole summer out there.

House 5 was a 100 year old farmhouse that my dad had always dreamed of owning.  We used to call this Dream Acres instead of Green Acres like the TV show.  When I was about a junior or so dad built onto this house and for the first time my older sister had a room of her own and my younger sister and I shared a room and eventually got twin beds and had our own bed!!!  We had a big barn (and raised some farm animals such as sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys & even had a horse or 2)  Mom and Dad lived here about 19 years.  I think that's the longest they ever lived in any house.

Since I moved out Mom and Dad sold the farm and have built 3 other houses and then remodeled one to live in and they now live in a condo.  My mom's sight isn't real good anymore and she has a nerve disease and needed a smaller place to take care of.  So I've learned that I really don't need to get a bigger place, because eventually I'll probably have to downsize too, so why not just be happy with what I have.

Besides I love my home because my daddy built it and at 82 I doubt he'll ever build another one.  Although, you just never know with my dad (see the post below). haha

Thanks for this Flashback Friday Linda.  It was fun revisiting all the homes I grew up in.




Thursday, June 24, 2010

Thankful Thursday

I'm joining Iris at Grace Alone for my second week of playing along with Thankful Thursday. Click here if you'd like to play along too.

God has blessed me with wonderful parents and I'm so thankful for them.  Earlier this month my parents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary and my dad turned 82 and my mom turned 77 and all three things are on the same day.  They are both in relatively good health (my dad still lays carpet for friends and mom can still out-work me on any day of the week).  They are such kind and giving people and are just a lot of fun to be around.  I can't imagine this world without them and hopefully I won't have to for a long time yet.  They raised us with good Christian values and taught us about serving the Lord.  But they didn't only just teach us that, they have always lived it daily in front of us.  Thank you God for such wonderful parents.  I certainly didn't deserve them but will be forever grateful for them.
I love you Mom and Dad!



Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Pledge of Allegiance

Since Independence Day is coming soon, I've been thinking about this video of the Pledge of Allegiance as told by Red Skelton. I saw this a couple of years ago and I think it is so awesome. So now I'm sharing it with you. If you've never seen this I don't think you'll regret taking a couple of minutes to watch it. Very powerful! Be sure to listen all the way to the end.



Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Rayovac Powers Your Summer Contest

5 Minutes for Mom and Rayovac have a promotion going. The first 99 bloggers to promote the Rayovac Powers Your Summer Promotion win a prize package from Rayovac."
Go to the above Rayovac link and find out how you can play along.

Join Rayovac and 5MinutesForMom for a Twitter Event to support the exciting Rayovac Powers Your Summer Promotion. The Twitter Event will feature more than 20 fun giveaways from Rayovac ranging from a summer supply of Rayovac Batteries to $50 Target Gift Cards.




Rayovac Powers Your Vacation Summer Promotion Twitter Event

Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Time: 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. CST

Location: #rayovac

Follow: @Rayovac_Battery, @5minutesformom, @CirclePRMary

I was one of the first 99 to participate and I won the price package.  Woo Hoo!  The other part of the contest is still going on daily.  Click on the link above to play along.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Destination Disney

This is my 3rd week to participate in the Disney Destination Meme hosted by Heidi at Reviews & Reflections

Here's this week's prompt:  

With Toy Story 3 opening in theaters this past Friday, I’ve got Toy Story and Disney-Pixar on the  brain.  So, I thought we’d throw in an unplanned topic for this week ---
What is your favorite Disney-Pixar film?
Have you had opportunity to meet any of your favorite Disney-Pixar characters at a Disney park? (If so, we hope you’ll share pictures, as well as where you lucked into the character meet & greet.)

I went Friday night (opening night) to see Toy Story 3.  It was incredible!  I totally loved it!!  Now as to my favorite Disney-Pixar film I'd have to say it's probably Toy Story 3, Cars and Nemo.  Yes, I realize that's 3 movies, but it's my blog and that's my answer.  lol

Here are some pictures of some Pixar characters we saw or visited on our 2006 trip.  There are pictures of the girls with Mr. and Mrs. Incredible and Frozone from "The Incredibles" and also Kerri with Mater and Lightning McQueen from "Cars" and both girls with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head from "Toy Story 1, 2, & 3".  The Incredibles and Mater were at Disney Hollywood Studios at the Animation Studios and Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head were at Pop Century.



Friday, June 18, 2010

Flashback Friday

Linda at Mocha with Linda says:  
We've talked about families, so it seems only natural that we should talk about the friends we had when we were growing up!
Who was your first friend? Did you have lots of friends when you were growing up or just one or two close friends? Share memories from your childhood friends. For women, were "mean girls" an issue when you were growing up? Or were you a "mean girl"?! How did your friends shape who you are today, for good or not-so-good? Do you still keep up with your childhood friends today?
So why not join us and click here to play along with Flashback Friday.

Cheryl was probably my closest friend in all our growing up years.  We are cousins and we are only 5 months apart in age (of course I always remind her that she's the oldest. lol)  We always went to church together until she got married.  I used to go home with her on Sundays after church sometimes.  Then for about 3 1/2 years we lived on the same street and went swimming together almost the whole summer.  As adults we haven't seen each other as much as we used to, but just in the last year or so, her and her husband have started to attend our church and it's so great to be together again.  Below are a couple of pictures of the 2 of us that she put on FB recently.  I had never seen them before.  I'm the one with the short straight hair and the big mouth opened in a smile.  Almost all my pictures of when I was young are like this.

Me - Cheryl
Cheryl - Me
Here we are with another one of our many cousins.  Colleen is about 2 years younger than the 2 of us.  I love it when we all get together, which we don't do often enough.  But when we do we always have a blast.
Colleen - Cheryl - Me


Thursday, June 17, 2010

Thankful Thursday - Beautiful Blue Skies - Updated

I'm joining Iris at Grace Alone for Thankful ThursdayThis is my first time ever to participate.  But I love the idea of taking a moment to be thankful for something.  You can click here if you want to join in too.  
I'm thankful today for beautiful blue skies with big white fluffy clouds.  The last couple of days the skies have been absolutely beautiful arond here.  I love it that God created these skies and they are constantly changing and He did it for our enjoyment!  God you are so awesome and so are your beautiful skies.  Thank you!

I'm on lunch break at work right now so I don't have access to my pictures.  I do have my camera but I have to download it at home.  So anyway here is a picture I have on my computer here at work.  The skies are beautiful in this picture, just like today.
 
This is where I work.  The window second from the right is my office.
Okay...here are some pictures I took of today's skies.



God you really do such awesome work!


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

It's Only the World I'm Living In

I love this song by Mandisa and just wanted to share it with you.  It kinda goes with how I've been feeling lately.  Hope it encourages you.


Been a hard one
Been a bad one
Been a tough one
Been a sad one
It's been just one of those days
That keeps chipping away at my heart
Nothin' new here
It's what I do here
It's a stereotypical day in the life
I'm surrounded by all of the pain and the strife
But I know it's alright

'Cause it's only the world I'm living in
It's only today I've been given
There ain't no way I'm giving in
'Cause it's only the world
I know the best is still yet to come
'Cause even when my days in the world are done
There's gonna be so much more than only the world for me

Anybody, can you hear me?
Do you feel me?
I mean do you feel me?
I know I'm not the only one wearing the weight of this world
We got problems, said it's alright
Just remember, yeah it's alright
Take a good look around
We're just stuck on the ground for a little while
Don't it make you smile

Heaven is a place
Where the tears on every face will be wiped away
Oh and I can't wait to go
But for now, it's enough to know
This is only temporary

Monday, June 14, 2010

Destination Disney

This is my 2nd week to participate in Destination Disney. If you love Disney, why not join in on the fun. You can go here or here to join in.  Here is this weeks question:
What is your favorite summertime treat at Disney?

A Mickey Bar, which is wonderful.  
Here is a picture of me with my very first Mickey Bar on our last trip.  I can't believe I'd never eaten one before. This was our last night in the park on this trip.  You can believe I won't wait that long to have one on our next trip.  lol


Friday, June 11, 2010

Flashback Friday

Click HERE to join in.
Tell about any grandparents, cousins, or other extended family that was special to you growing up. Did they live near you or some distance away? Do you have any particular childhood memories (good OR bad!) of times spent with your grandparents? With your cousins? Did you spend holidays with them? At whose house did you generally gather? Do you still keep up with cousins, aunts & uncles, etc.? Did your paternal relatives and maternal relatives know and get along with each other?  Remember, the questions are just to spur your memories; you don't have to specifically address them, although you are welcome to!
I love my family and God has definitely blessed me with a wonderful family.  The church I grew up in was started by both sets of my grandparents.  That would be my mom's parents and my dad's parents that decided little town USA needed a church and they started the work in a theatre and then eventually built a church and that's where I attended until about the age of 26 or 27.  The church is still there and I have 1 aunt that still attends there.  There were all kinds of cousins and aunts and uncles that attended there when we were kids, so there was always someone to play with or sit with during church.  That was fun!
Then as I grew up my dad's parents always went to Safety Harbor, FL for the winter.  They had a winter home there and so lots of times during the Christmas break we would go there and visit.  I loved (and still do) love going to Florida.  Anyway, they had fruit trees in their yard so we'd always get fresh fruit and I remember one year, Grandma bought Fruit Loops Cereal and we had that for breakfast.  It was the first time I'd ever eaten Fruit Loops.  And to this day, I still love that cereal and every time I open a box I think of my grandparents and the times we had in Florida with them.


This is my mom's dad & mom


This is dad's mom and dad


And this is me and my brother's & sisters.  I'm in the middle in the striped shirt


Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Summer Recipe Carnival

The DomesticFringe has asked for some summer recipes. Now, I am not much of a cook, but I want to play along, so here goes.

Pasta Salad

Cook Spaghetti and then drain and let cool.  Chop up some broccoli, green, red and/or yellow peppers, and add some cherry tomatoes.  You can also add any other veggies you want.  Put these items in a bowl and toss and then add Italian Dressing (if I'm mking a large bowl for guests or a picnic, I use a whole bottle of dressing.  I like mine really drowned in dressing) and grated parmesian cheese. Then chill. This makes an awesome cold pasta salad and it's really pretty too with all the different colors of peppers, tomatoes and seasonings in the Italian Dressing. You can make as little or as much as you want. So easy and so good.

Here's and easy relatively low-fat dessert.

Take two chocolate graham crackers and put a big dollop of fat-free Cool Whip between them (like a sandwich). Wrap in cellophane and put in the freezer. Very good. Kinda like a ice cream sandwich.

So that's about it for me. If it ain't easy I don't do it!! Go visit the Domestic Fringe and join in on the fun of the Summer Recipe Carnival.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Destination Disney

Destination Disney is starting back up this week   The topic for this week is a two-fold topic ---  Click here to link up.
What was your favorite Summer experience at Disney?
Do you have a favorite summer event that Disney sponsors?

In August 2008 we went to Disney for a 10 day trip.  We stayed onsite at Pop Century and had a blast.  I loved everything about that trip.  It was very, very hot, but we loved it.  I met some other Disney Lovers on a website called the DISboards.  One couple was from Canada and a brother a sister were from Florida.  Anyway, they were in Disney the same time we were and we met in person at the Pirates of the Caribean and had a great time talking to each other and then we took a ride on the Pirates.  There was another lady from Tennessee that we had met on the boards too.  She wasn't at Disney at this time, but since we had all "met" her we called her and talked to her on the phone.  We had so much fun!  Here's a picture of all of us.

I'm on the left then my 2 daughters, then the brother and sister from Florida and the couple from Canada.  The girl in the middle is holding the cell phone that we used to talk to our friend from Tennessee.  It was a great DISmeet.

As far as a favorite summer event at Disney.  I don't really have one, although we have been there a couple of times during the Star War events.  As far as I'm concerned, anytime I'm at Disney it's a favorite event!!!

I believe I am going to really enjoy participating in this Meme and I hope the rest of you Disney Lovers will join in.  Click on the link above to participate.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Verse 2

I found this video through a tweet on Twitter and I want more people to see it. Awesome!



Friday, June 4, 2010

Flashback Friday

Linda at Mocha with Linda hosts Flashback Friday each week.  Why not click here and join in on the fun.

Here's the prompt for this week.
Do you have siblings? (If not, keep reading - I'll get to you.) How many and are they boys or girls? Where do you fall in the birth order? How did you view your "spot" in the family compared with the others? If you are the oldest, did you resent the things the youngest got to do that you didn't? If the youngest, what did you want to do like the older ones? And if you are more of a middle child, how did that impact you? How do you think your birth order shaped your personality? Did you and your siblings like each other growing up or did you fight all the time? Are you close now? Or at least friends with each other?! What memories stand out about you and your siblings?

If you are an only child, how did you like that? Were you glad to have all the attention or did you want to have a brother or sister? What advantages were there to being an only child? What disadvantages? Which side of the fence is greener?!

For everyone, did your sibling experiences (or lack thereof!) affect your decision to have kids or to have a certain number?
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There were 5 of us growing up and I was the dreaded middle child.  Our birth order was:  Brother L who is 6 years older than me.  Then Sister B who is 5 years older than me.  Then me and then Sister K who is 3 years younger than me and then Brother J who is 5 years younger than me.  So the oldest and youngest are boys (The oldest started college the year the youngest started 1st grade) and the three middle ones are girls.

I think I was a typical middle kid.  I was too young to hang with Sister B and her friends and I was too old to play with the little ones (or at least I thought so).  We got along pretty well most of the time, but we had our share of fights too.  My 2 brothers and I liked to wrestle alot.  I remember we'd watch TV and then on the commercial we would wrestle and then when the show came back on we'd immediately stop.  It was a lot of fun.  Sister B always acted like my mother just like my oldest does with her sister.  We get along pretty well most of the time. 

Actually all of us get along really well now.  We don't always see eye to eye on things, but we're always there to help each other out if needed.  I personally thing I part of one of the best families in the world.  Great parents and great siblings!  My parents sort of have an open house every Saturday night.  They are almost always home on Saturday evening and any one of us or all of us may pop in.  We have so much fun talking about growing up together and just being together.  Of course our spouses and children come too.  It's such a special time. I wouldn't trade those Saturday evenings we're all together for anything.

I've always loved being part of a big family, but when hubby and I decided to have children we always knew we only wanted to have 2 kids.  We just never wanted to be outnumbered.  lol   And that's worked well for us.

Thanks Linda.  This was a fun one to write about.


Thursday, June 3, 2010

Giveaway at Shout a Joyful Noise

Click here to go to Wylie's site "Shout a Joyful Noise" to enter to win one of the monogrammed polka dot mugs.  No,wait a minute, never mind, don't go, cause I want to win.  No, really, go ahead and enter cause I want Wylie to get lots and lots of entries.  She's definitely worth a read...so while you're there, check out her site.

Dust

I received this in an e-mail from a friend and just wanted to pass it on.

Remember...a layer of dust protects the Wood beneath it.


A house becomes a home when you can write 'I love you' on the furniture.


I used to spend at least 8 hours every weekend making sure things were just perfect - in case someone came over.
Finally I realized one day that no one came over; they were all out living life and having fun! NOW, when people visit,
I don't have to explain the 'condition' of my home. They are more interested in hearing about the things I've been doing while I was away living life and having fun. If you haven't figured this out yet, please heed this advice.


Life is short. Enjoy it!
Dust if you must .......
but wouldn't it be better to paint a picture or write a letter, bake cookies or a cake and lick the spoon
or plant a seed,
ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there's not much time ........
with rivers to swim and mountains to climb, music to hear and books to read, friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must,
but the world's out there
with the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair,
a flutter of snow,
a shower of rain.
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must , but bear in mind, old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go - and go you must - you, yourself will make more dust!

It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.



Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Summer Vacation

We probably won't take a regular vacation, but we're hoping we can add a couple days on when we take our oldest to college in Florida!   Maybe we can sneak a day or two at the "Happiest Place on Earth" (at least to me), Disney World!!  I hope, I hope.  I'm having withdrawal.  I haven't been to Disney since 2008 and I really really need to go back! lol  I just really want to see this guy!

So friends...What about you?  Are you taking a summer vacation this year? If so, where are you going?