Something New...

Ok, so this blog title has double meaning. I clicked on Blogger to write up a new post and WHAM! A totally new format is before my eyes. I am not sure about it yet. I like new, but I am also always on a schedule and this kinda rocks it a little bit.


Speaking of rocking a schedule. This week was not our typical week. Tim heads back from Atlanta from being gone the week, the two big girls headed to Mobile, Alabama, for a two day field trip, and Miss Elizabeth got into some Poison Ivy on Saturday that caused us to hang low and not venture to our normal activities.


With that being said.....I decided my living room, that has acted like a storage unit for the last two weeks was going to have to be cleaned and organized!


For those of you just tuning in. We live in a 1930's home, which we love, but the storage is....well, there really is none.


The attic needs to be floored, which is on the "to do" list this Saturday for the hubs. Nothing like flooring the attic in 90 degree weather. Sometimes we just react, not plan.....






So, being the good wife I am; NEEDED to go through the whole house to give him "things" to put in the attic. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of items up there. They are just, shall we say, balancing on beams.... And since I would like to avoid the possible party favor hard hat and things like this......












it is TIME to get it floored.





So, when going through items in the home, my mind started spinning. I have always wanted to do something like this......






Pic from Pottery Barn-






And so, I pulled out the awful framed prints I got at an antique store for $6.00 (was planning on using just the frame and mat, for something else) from under my bed. The trio white plaque's I had stored from my consultant days with Southern Living at Home, a old platter, my new tag art from my SIL store, some framed water colors I had, and an old piece of art my cousin gave us at our wedding.

Then I headed down to Hobby Lobby, because their frames were 50% Off and decided to FINALLY frame the water colors we purchased on our trip to Ireland. Whew!

Sounds like a lot, but it really only took about an hour, and you can hardly even notice that the $6 bargains are so hideous. 

Enough talking, here we go....waaaaaalaaaaaa.....

Then I got bored with our hallway and decided it needed a face lift. I told myself that I would NOT buy the paint until I had measured and taped all the stripes.......

So guess what??? I will be buying paint and striping the hall this Saturday while the hubs is in the attic. I'll post pics of the after.


For now, I have a large group of people spending tomorrow with us, so I had to put things back in place to get them off the floor....

and I am totally cool with this.....maybe God is lightening my OCD after all :)



Have a great weekend everyone! Hope this inspires you to pull out your old "junk..Things" and created something new.

From the Archives....

I was browsing my archives from last year and came across this one. I so wish I wouldn't have forgotten about this event for this year! It is still going on and greatly needed in our state, for they have over 2800 children requested for. Please read and consider donating here, or drop your donation off locally at Ridgecrest Baptist Church until April 30th!! We still have a week to bless their socks off! Come on Dothan, Let's do this!

Below was written April 2011, but still very much applies today.... Tuesday, April 19, 2011 Please Help..... Without getting too lengthy, let me share my thoughts. Several years ago, I had my uterus removed for medical reasons. Our Eleven year old wants another baby sister soooooo badly and begs us pretty much on a daily basis to adopt. The past couple of years the Lord has really pressed upon my heart Pro-Life. What does that mean? What do I really think about that? What can I do to help? Please, do not get me wrong; I have always been and totally stand on Pro- Life and believe that whatever the stage of pregnancy you are in, if you choose to end the "pregnancy", you choose to take your babies life. But as a believer, lately I have felt to stand on the ground of Pro-Life means more than just stating/doing the following- 1. If I get pregnant I will have this baby no matter what. 2. Sending women who are pregnant and wanting to abort to a Crisis Pregnancy Center. 3. Volunteering at a local Pregnancy Center 4.Praying for these Women and families 5. Asking these women to give their baby up for adoption other than abort. and much more I know...... Number 5 is what the Lord has been pressing on me. Please do not take offense in what I am about to say as saying you should do this, but rather this is what I have struggled with. If I were to tell a women to PLEASE not take her baby's life and that there are lots and lots of people out there who will love her baby and care for her baby. That her child will be well loved, by people who truly want this child. And if that women looked at me and said....."will you take my child??" What would I say? That has been my struggle. I think it is easy for us all to say, "Of course we would say YES, this is a life or death situation" . But in reality to really see the meaning behind Pro-Life we would see that even though the Lord calls individuals, he also commands we take care of the widows and the orphans (James 1:27). I have come to great peace over this past year with a "Yes Lord" attitude if the Lord sees fit to bless our home with whatever age, race , gender child. He may never do so, but I count it much joy in the peace, for my biggest struggle in my Christian walk is to say "Yes Lord". And although I think nothing wrong and am very grateful to all the Families that have adopted from Countries out of the USA, as the poster states above, there are children right in our back yard who need love and care. We sadly live in a declining Country. The teen pregnancy rate to ridiculously high. Grandparents are raising their own Grandchildren if best. We are to be a light in the darkness. We are to set an example. We are to live a Godly life and serve a Mighty King that gave us life, eternal life. So in this small tangible way, please come support life. This is how you can help. I may be wrong but I believe last year our Houston County has 167 foster children alone in the state. To me that is no small number. If you don't have time to shop for the suits itself and ship them, or you are like me and you are in the check out line and say to yourself, "shoot, I was supposed to get that!" then you can just purchase a gift card right there for $25.00! You may ship a gift card from Target or Walmart in the amount of $25.00 that would purchase a Swim Suit and Beach Towel Combo. Or make a Donation online by clicking here. Please spread the word to ALL your Facebook friends as well! That would be a huge help! ***You may also, drop off gift cards or swim suit, towel or both, to Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Dothan, Alabama***

THE talk....

Warning: this is a talk about THE TALK. You know, the one that parent's dread talking to their kiddos about. The one parents purchase books on, "how to" talk to their kids about. And the one some parents don't even talk to their kids about. So if you find this topic sightly offensive, you may want to turn off your computer, but  I suggest you read on, because This Talk will be one of the most important talks you have with your children, and I suggest you not miss that opportunity.

First, let me state, that I have shared this story a few times, and have gotten a couple brow raises. I have thought about sharing this multiple times with you all, but because of those eye raises, was discouraged to do so. Then at church yesterday, they were introducing the next series we are going to go through starting next week, and when the words "No one wants to talk about it" came up on the screen, followed by "until now". That was all it took. Yep, we're talking about Love, Sex and Dating, and I couldn't be more thrilled that this topic is going to be discussed in church. It gave me that conviction and encouragement, that if I believe what I said to be true, I should share.

With that-

 Here we go....

I was was truly one of those parents. I started thinking about it when the girls were really young. Like, 6 years old young. All the questions flooded in. When do I tell them? How do I tell them? How much detail should I give? When do I start? Do I tell them in stages? What books do I need to read? HELP!!!!


The MOST important thing for Tim and I on this topic, was that we would be the first ones to introduce our children to the knowledge behind Sex.

I so badly, and I tell you, BADLY, wanted to be the first to share that information with our children. I didn't want them hearing it from someone else; and I surely didn't want them to have that first glimpse into this life changing moment for them to be misconstrued by a 10 year old. First impressions are not called first impressions for no reason. It will be what stays with them forever. Not to mention, Tim and I truly believe that if we are the first ones to tell our kids anything and truthfully, they will respect us, and our relationship with them will be built on trust and truth.

So, I did what a lot of you have done. I asked mother's with teenagers, I asked for books, I asked for advise,  I wanted to know their experiences.

But I will tell you what it was. We prayed, A LOT, over this, and  the Lord knew my heart and He so graciously gave us timing.

I had a hysterectomy when Jillian was 6 years old, so the girls have not been through the "time of the month" with me from what they remember. So one Saturday morning a couple years ago, I crawled in the bed with the big girls and felt the Lord's leading on timing and words, to share about a period. I stuck with the medical reasoning and terms, and answered their questions, and that was that. It was perfect. God is so Good.



Then, it seemed over the next year, I would question so often. Is now the time, is now the time, is NOW the time?

I had heard NUMEROUS ways of sharing, including from books, but NOTHING seemed to be the way I wanted to share.



Then one night Tim and I had a conversation about it being time. We also, came into agreement, that it should come from both of us.

This is where the eyebrows from others were raised.

We totally chose to rebel against the traditional way of,  Daddy's tell the boys and Mama's tell the girls; and these are some reasons why-

When a boy is acting inappropriately with our girls, I personally would prefer our girls to be more comfortable with sharing that info with their father for guidance and protection, rather them being embarrassed by it and me being the mediator in this problem solving issue.

We needed our girls to see we were together on this. That we both agree, so that when we correct their inappropriate behavior or they have troubles later in life, it will be more impactful.

Not to mention, we wanted them to know that Sex is Good, God created it. It is saved for Marriage. It is something shared beautifully together, a gift from God for a husband and wife.

Then the flood gate of questions opened, and bible story after bible story came to their minds, and they truly saw how the story of King David and the like unfolded. And so, we started from Adam and Eve. 

We then shared the importance of it, and shared the destruction of it. The seriousness of it, the baggage that is carried by the disobedience of it.  How the world has corrupted this Good thing that God created. How divorce so often happens.

I can't praise God enough for his timing on this. The words He gave us. There was no awkwardness, and why should there be. For Sex IS a good thing, and our children should know the real meaning behind it. They should hear it from us. It shouldn't be so private coming from the parents, with whispers, the blushing; those only come when it is contaminated, when we think there is something wrong with it, and we are embarrassed by it.

I can not express the importance I feel about parents talking with their children. Not just about Sex, although I think it very important, but life in general.

 Unfortunately, relationships of any kind, have become disposable to mine and our children's generation. A person is simply not placed on this earth to meet YOUR needs. If we can teach our children that; and that we are to serve others as Christ himself served us, then we could change the climbing statistics of teen pregnancy, domestic violence and divorce (to name a few) in this nation.


We are about to embrace the most challenging years of child rearing from what I hear, and I can feel it coming. We are far from perfect parents, we are far from sinless acts in the parenting department, our children are far from sinless children, and I fail in so many areas that I pray is redeemed by the Lord's mercy and grace daily. But, I am truly thankful we chose to not miss opportunities to share important information with our children. Important information, that they know is important, and that they know they are important, and that is why we want to be the ones sharing it with them.

I am excited about this new series in Church. I don't know what all it holds with sharing information and truth, but I hope it encourages parents to talk to their kids, is used to redeem situations from acts of disobedience, that statistics will change because of it, and God will be Glorified through it.

From the Garden....

I anticipate big things for our garden this summer! Things are trucking along in our nice little beds and I can wait to start picking the beautiful fruit of our labor. Assuming we have fruit, Tim has his doubts, but I am so ready to prove him wrong on this one ;) 

In the meantime, we have been enjoying the fruits of other people's labor. I thought I would go meatless on this one. So here it is-

Here is what you will need for the Salad...

 I "skin" my cucumbers like so, to keep a little green....



You will need 2 cucumbers (I use the english ones from Sam's Club- pack of three)..


Slice or cube however you would like, and place in a bowl (preferably with a lid).

Top the Cucumbers with about 1 tsp salt, grind about 1/2 tsp pepper and about 3 tbls of sugar. Toss with spoon.

Add about 1 Tbls of fresh Dill (chopped) if you have it...this actually did come from my herb garden.

Pour about 1 cup of White Vinegar over the salad. Put a lid on your bowl, give it multiple shakes and place in the fridge until serving.

For your Pasta...yes, I am back to eating it....

I actually only used ONE box of pasta for this, not two. Wash your veggies. Cut up you mushrooms and I only used the tips of Asparagus. These little tomatoes were super sweet.

In my super large skillet I drizzled oil oil (1T) and two tabs of butter  over medium high heat.
And started the boiling water (very salty remember) for my pasta.

Add your Asparagus and Mushroom, because these will take the longest to cook. Sprinkle with salt (about 1 tsp)....

 Cover with lid to create a nice steam for about 5-7mins.....Do not add water, the veggie's alone hold enough...

by now, your water is about ready for your noodles so add them to the water and cook about 7 minutes... Chop your peppers with 2 large or 3 small cloves of garlic...

add to your veggies and give it a stir...

Simmer on med-high for the next 5 minutes...

add about 1 1/2- 2 cups of white wine and crank the heat up....

once back to a boil, simmer and add your tomatoes and sprinkle again with salt...

when the tomato's skin starts to pop (5 mins), add a few tabs of butter and stir.....




add your drained (but not rinsed!) pasta, toss and serve... you won't even miss the meat :)

Enjoy!


We have been soaking up this glorious weather! Take your meals outdoors, even if it is on a blanket in your yard. We enjoyed our Easter Dinner on the patio...here's a few pics of our garden in the works! Hope this inspires you to try your own!