Afternoon Adventures!

We visited the Cartersville library this afternoon for Afternoon Adventures. A friend had told us about it and we needed to go to the library anyway, so we decided to time it so we could participate. We got to the library and returned all our books. My card on my keyring had torn off and gotten all messed up so I went to the front counter to get a new card AND pay my fines. Yep...fines again. Only two days worth but it added up to $4.20! :( It was also $1 for a replacement card, so I took care of that too. *sigh* I'm doing better though! ha ha.

Got all that taken care of and went to the children's department for the program. Afternoon Adventures is a program for kids ages 5 and up. There was a very energetic librarian guy in charge and my kids had a blast! He first did a movement song, then read a book, more songs, another book. Then he led them in performing a little skit complete with reading their parts and props. Katie and Noah were both chosen to participate. There were only about 8 kids there today, so it was a small group, but it was still a lot of fun. After the skits he sang another song and showed them a couple of cute April Fool's Day clips on a screen. Then he had them do "worm art" using yarn to paint on art paper. It went along with one of the books he read about a worm that was an artist. Even though we have to drive to Cartersville, I think we will start going. The sad part is they only have three more weeks of the program before they break for May and pick back up with the summer program in June. Too bad we didn't try it earlier! I took a couple of pictures with my phone:

Can you spot Katie? She's playing the part of a person playing an April Fool's joke on her friends, pretending her head is on backward. She is in the chair with the blanket around her.

This one is really blurry.
Noah is standing in the chair, about to throw "water" (blue tissue squares) on someone.

Another reason we went today was to pick up books for the other reading program we just started. It is called Book Adventure and is an at home "Accelerated Reader" type program. It is sponsored by Sylvan learning centers and other various companies. I created an account and then created an account for each of the kids linked to mine, then they are able to take tests on books they've read to earn points. They can redeem their points for prizes through the website (given by the sponsors) like e-books or coloring books..even a subscription to Highlights magazine is one of them. I can even go in and create my own prizes they can get, which I would provide, of course. I think I will make one for a "$5 movie from Target" or "Brusters ice cream cone" or something. I decide how many points and I have to approve when they redeem points for prizes anyway so I will know when they request the prize and can then get it for them.

The list of books available for prizes is quite extensive. That's one reason I really like it. We sat down together and searched for books yesterday and compared them to the online card catalog for the library and made a list of books to get today. This way they have a lot of books to read that I know will have a test to go along with it and they can earn points. The books can be searched by title, grade level, author, genre, etc. so we found books that I knew each of them would be able to read...well...that Noah would be able to read on his own, ha ha, Katie can read anything. I did limit her to second grade and below for now just for reading comprehension test purposes.

Bad Girls

There is a lot to say in her favor, but the other is more interesting.
Mark Twain
(a quote listed at the beginning of chapter 5, "The First Cut is the Deepest.")

Our book club is reading Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs. I have really been enjoying it! I am learning more and more about specific events in the Bible, some of which I only remember ever hearing the "sunday school" version. ha ha. WOW, yeah they are pretty different when you read the "bad girls" version and learn the real stuff that went on!

Each chapter begins with a modernized account of the biblical story. A way to see what that girl might look like around us and in us. Then, she goes verse by verse through the biblical account with insight and explanation. She sums it up with some lessons to be learned and discussion questions.

We are halfway through the book now. Last night we talked about the "woman at the well" and "Delilah."

She pulled some very good lessons from Delilah especially. Lessons about keeping others' weaknesses in confidence and not tearing down our homes with our own hands. None of us intentionally would tear down our own house, but she writes "keep your scissors out of reach." In other words....most people don't go to therapy with a day's worth of damage. It's the daily snipping that tears down the people around us...so we must be careful with our "scissors" (ie, our tongues!).

Proverbs 14:1 The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

Each bad girl is given a "subtitle" such as "bad for a moment" or "bad for a season but not forever." So far we've read about Eve, Potiphar's wife, Lot's wife, The Woman at the Well, and Delilah. Sapphira, Rahab, Jezebel, Michal, and "the sinful woman" are left. I have really gotten some good insight for myself from stories I thought could/would never relate to my life!

This is a great read. She also writes some fiction....such as the story of Ruth set in "olde Scotland" which sounds very intriguing to me! I love to find a new Christian author!

Strawberry Goodness!

I made some DELICIOUS strawberry cupcakes last night! I found an egg free recipe because my friend's son is allergic to eggs. I was surprised at how delicious and fluffy these were...without any eggs! Then I found a separate recipe for frosting, which I accidentally messed up by doubling the mashed strawberries! So, I just piped it into the middle as a filler and put a strawberry on top to cover it. I am freezing them for Friday's Easter Egg Hunt with our homeschool group, but I had enough extra to make a thin square cake and a couple to sample earlier. YUM-O!

Those photos were taken with my phone. Corey thought they were chocolate because they are dark. That just goes to show you how much COLORING is in things you buy at the store that are "strawberry flavored." These are 100% preservative and coloring FREE!

Here are the recipes:

Egg FREE Strawberry Cupcakes:

Unbleached All Purpose Flour (I used bleached) 1 and 3/4 cups

Sugar 3/4 to 1 cup

Baking Soda 1 teaspoon

Frozen/fresh strawberries, pureed or crushed 8oz (I used 14 strawberries)

Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon

Canola Oil 1/2 cup

White Distilled Vinegar 1 tablespoon

Yield: 12-16 cupcakes or One 9 inch loaf cake.

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Grease/line a muffin tin or grease a 9 inch loaf pan.

2 In a large bowl combine together the flour, baking soda and sugar.

3 In another bowl, mix the oil, vinegar and vanilla. I pureed the strawberries in a blender, because I was not sure if my son would like to bite of chunks of strawberry in the muffin. Add the pureed strawberry also to the oil mixture and stir to combine.

4 Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Stir together but do not overstir.

5 Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins. I got exactly 12 muffins.

6 Bake for about 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If baking a loaf bake it for 40-45 minutes and check for the doneness.

7 Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. When cool, frost the cupcakes and top each with a whole strawberry.

The Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

• 1/4 C butter (room temperature)
• 1 8 oz package cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1/2 C strawberries, mashed up in a food processor
• 3 to 4 C powdered sugar

1. Cream butter and cream cheese.
2. Mix in the strawberries.
3. Add the powdered sugar to the taste and consistency you prefer.
4. Add to your favorite cupcakes!

(double the amount of mashed strawberries to make a filling instead of frosting! lol)

Mothers and Sons

I have such a wonderfully sweet little boy! He is so precious to me. I feel sorry for moms who don't have sons because there is something so special between a mom and her son.... just listen to this example...

The other day I was in the bathroom doing my makeup. The kids were both in the kitchen finishing up their lunch. We were headed somewhere after lunch I can't remember where...anyway..he loves to help out and one of the things is the best at is sweeping the kitchen for me. He is only five but does a fantastic job! He loves to feel grown up. (not like my daughter...a totally different story!)

He came back into the bathroom and said, "Mom...I think the trash is too full.... I'm going to go ahead and tie it up so we can take it out."

Did my mom heart just melt?! NOT!

I didn't miss a beat with my response....

"I want you to go get your sandwich out of the trashcan right now and eat it. And don't try to trick me like that ever again."

Oh, the brokenhearted downcast look I got in response...."Okay" he replied....tragically.

But he did obey.

Am I a bad mom for making my son eat a sandwich out of the trash can? Oh puleeze! It's not like we have poopy diapers in there anymore! Nah, we got much bigger problems than that to tackle... problems like a very smart boy!

Want another example of his extreme talent?

We were sitting at a restaurant and discussing Katie's "love list" (yeah another story there, how do they think of this stuff?). I don't remember how we got around to it but someone asked Noah if he had or who his girlfriend was or something to that affect. His response????

"I have two girlfriends....there and there..." (with a cunning smile and big blue eyes...pointing to his MOMMY and his sister!)

Does he know how to work a room or what?

Yeah....we have MUCH bigger problems than poopy diapers!

Movie Review: Princess and the Frog (2009)

We rented The Princess and the Frog from redbox the other night. I wasn't overly excited about seeing it since I had read about it on pluggedinonline and heard from friends that weren't crazy about it.
A lot of people were really excited about this movie coming out because it would feature Disney's "first dark princess." (nevermind Pocahontas I guess, or Esmerelda, the hispanic toned one). ANYWAY, it was neat to see a new "regular" animated movie come out at all since lately everything has been Hannah Montana concerts or Pixar stuff.

This movie was so extremely disappointing! I know I went into it without expecting much, but it really didn't defy anything I had heard about it.

It pretty much makes fun of EVERY subset of people possible... from the blonde haired rich southern belle family to the poor "working class" darker skinner people and everyone in between! The stereotypes were out of control! For a film that was supposedly breaking race barriers, it totally did not live up to that AT ALL in any other way. Other than portraying the main girl (Tiana) as working hard for everything rather than "wishing" for things to happen, everything else was just ridiculous. They run into Bayou dwellers who are SO HILLBILLY it was not funny, you couldn't understand a single word of their cajun accents!

The innuendo was heavy throughout. Jokes about kissing were too often, as in a "getting their entire tongues tangled up and then joking about it suggestively" kind of way, not in a "kiss the girl" kind of way.

The worst part about all of the groups of people they run into and mock (in my opinion) it doesn't even turn out to be funny or interesting. The jokes aren't funny. Corey said there were a couple of things that were funny but I can't remember what they are. It's kind of a slow movie.

OH, and one of my very favorite things about Disney movies are the songs! These songs weren't catchy. Yeah, they were 'Nawlins inspired, jazzy type tunes...and I LIKE that kind of music. From the time the first song started it seemed like each song was just a continuation of the last and not that different. Disney songs are supposed to be the kind you sing around the house later even after the first time you see the movie.

Now, here is the last straw: the Voodoo. It was the source of all the magic and evil in the movie. I know Disney movies always have the evil and magic element and I have known many people who don't allow their children to see ANY of the Disney movies for that reason. I can totally respect that and understand and respect them for giving any thought to what their kids are watching. BUT, there has to be a line drawn between pure "imagination and childhood magic" and "real evil stuff that has you truly messing with the other side." That's where we draw the line and why we skipped one complete scene where the bad guy is making his deal with the other side. We paused the movie and had the kids go brush their teeth for bed and change, and we just skipped to the next scene. It didn't even influence the understanding of the movie one bit. We didn't even watch it later ourselves...who cares? We didn't!

We will not be buying this movie. We probably won't even watch it again. If somewhere they go decides to show it to the "group" I will have to speak up and say I object. It's just one of those movies that isn't worth it.

My New Love!

FIRST: A Happy 30th Birthday Shout out to my husband's best friend of about 25 years:
Mr. Andrew Freeman!
We met up with them and some of their family at Big Pie in the Sky pizzeria in Kennesaw...yes, home of the 11 lb carnivore pizza challenge! We didn't take the challenge, but all enjoyed a TON of pizza and cake in celebration of Andy's 1 score and 10 year birthday! Corey will be hitting that milestone in just a couple of months himself. Thanks for all you do Mr. Freeman in the US Air Force and for being a great friend!

After our dinner, we headed over to Trader Joe's in Marietta. The store has been bragged on by a few online friends and another local friend, so I had wanted to visit for a while now... but we just had the opportunity tonight. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!

It isn't a big store, but it seemed to have all the basic things you would want or need to buy on a normal trip to the grocery store with plenty of selection.

We are consciously trying to do everything we can to buy healthier foods, but the price tag is often not cooperative. This place has the best prices on healthy food I have ever seen! The very first find was right inside the front door of the store.... organic hamburger buns with NO corn syrup....for only $3.29! I haven't been able to find a single brand of buns in the local store with no corn syrup! Now, $3.29 isn't super cheap (if you are comparing it to the 0.99 store brand bun) but for what you are getting, that is a great price!

Here are some of my other favorite finds:
Organic and/or natural snack chips and crackers: $1.19-$1.99/bag/box
2 lb bag organic fuji apples: $2.49
Organic natural salted chunky peanut butter: $1.79
Organic concord grape jelly (no corn syrup) $2.99
Organic spaghetti noodles: $1.29
Organic cereal bars: $1.69

We got a lot of other stuff too, really we got all of our weekly groceries because none of it was more expensive than Kroger and most of it was cheaper!


Now, how is this compared to coupon shopping? Well, it is more expensive. But, that depends on what you are comparing..... I recently got NON organic frozen vegetables, on sale with a coupon for 0.90/bag. Yes, that is cheaper than the $1.99 I spent on a bag of green beans tonight. Here's the difference: the ones I got tonight were organic, and they were twice the size bag that I got with the coupon.
I won't stop cutting coupons...because it is still worth it to me....especially if I use the coupon previews to decide which weeks have coupons that I will really use. For items like toothpaste, razors, deodorant, Eggland's Best eggs, scented candles, etc., I will always come out better with using the coupons and buying the papers. Although, with cleaning out the snack cabinet and pantry tonight to make room for all our goodies, I did see what "free" items went bad before we could eat them. A lot of stuff I could have donated if I had known we wouldn't eat them by now....

I have decided to not cut coupons for things that will be unhealthy for us to eat. Sometimes I will cut ones that I know will eventually be free, even if I just donate the items to our church food bank.
But, for us, we have decided that buying healthier foods is worth a little extra for most things, and with the addition of a freezer to the basement, we are going to try to come up with a better schedule for buying up foods so that we can include trips to places like Trader Joe's to buy the things that will be cheaper there. Maybe something like: meat from Cosco once every few months, a trip to Trader Joe's for non-perishables one week a month... then fill in with fresh stuff and random things we need weekly from the local store. And, of course, scoring on my coupon buys too!

If you have one of these stores near you, I a SO envious! The best thing about the trip was that Corey REALLY loved it too! He couldn't believe how great the prices were on stuff that was good and healthy! He really loved that because the snacks in our house have been very few and far between lately since I have taken a stand against pure junk food! ha ha!
Since he loved it so much it will be very easy to work out getting down there...since I will have his 100% support with working out a time and/or taking me himself! :)

Busy Mom's Bible-Zondervan (review)

About a month ago I received an email offering me the opportunity to receive a free copy of the new "Busy Mom's Bible" from Zondervan, if I would read through it and post a review on their website for others to read. I have now had a chance to look through and read many of the devotions, so I want to share my review at this time....

First Look:
I received my copy soon after signing up and was immediately impressed with how lovely and feminine it is. The cover is cute and modern with the two tone pink and brown design. The size of the Bible is small and easy to carry with you, but not so small that the type is too tiny to read like many compact Bibles I have seen.

Inside the front cover is a feminine designed dedication page, decorated with bright flowers and pink designs. This same design style is found on the devotional pages throughout.

The Nitty Gritty:

The devotionals dispersed throughout the pages are what make this Bible different, qualifying it as the "busy mom's" edition. There are thirteen pages of topical devotions throughout. Each page focuses on the one topic (like emotions) with four different devotions, two on front, two on back. They each have the choice of a 1-minute, 5-minute, or 10-minute reading or exercise related to the topic, so if you chose to do each of those activities on a different day, then you could have up to 156 different daily devotions. In my opinion, that is a very realistic amount of daily devotions when you factor in that sometimes you may not take the time to sit down with this particular devotional Bible at all, or if you participate in other Bible studies or groups with your local place of worship. You could even schedule to do one of the readings per week, which would use all of the pages in a year's time.

The topics are very well chosen for the typical "Busy Mom" and address things that I find come up often in my ladies' book club as things we struggle with regularly. With pages addressing topics like "Raising Your Kids" and "Your Spiritual Life" you can see that a wide variety of real life stuff is covered.

In addition to these colorful devotion pages, there are reading plans in the back of the Bible that go more in depth studying the life of Jesus and another studying women of the Bible. Another great resource to extend your yearly devotional plans. A concordance and color maps in the back complete this edition.

My "fav:"

I love that it gives three choices for each devotional based on a given amount of time. It allows for flexibility without missing out. You aren't wasting that book you bought with a year's worth of 5 minute devotions when you may only have 1 minute some days! My favorite feature in The Busy Mom's Bible is the fact that I can take any amount of time I have and get a really great reading about a real life problem I am having...the guides give you scripture and insight into dealing with real life stuff. No excuses about not having time to read the Bible! Thanks Zondervan!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Katie has a blog!
She has wanted to start one for a while, so we worked together to set it up today.
She would love help getting started thinking of things to write, so please visit her first post and give her some questions she can answer as posts!

For those of you who don't know, Katie is seven years old and she is writing this completely on her own, with no help on style, spelling, or sentences.
I think this will be a great way for her to practice writing for fun.

Thanks!

Click HERE!

UPDATE: For those who are wondering: Noah does not want a blog, or at least he has not expressed any interest. He does like to send ecards though, ha ha.

Whirlwind Day!

This is what came to mind when I was thinking of a photo for this post! lol.

Whoa! What a day! It started earlier than usual for me this morning, with meeting someone at Food Lion here in Adairsville to give them the book for book club. I met her at 8:30am, so I was up BEFORE 8 this morning to get ready! ha ha! It's a good thing though because I didn't have a moment to spare the rest of the day! When I got home it was storming, so I waited that out till about 11am before I left for the grocery store.

It has been interesting to feed our family without using anything with corn or corn products in it. Basically every single thing at the store has corn syrup or corn starch in it. Did you know that MOST every single brand of hot dogs has corn syrup in it? Ice cream wasn't a surprise for me, but bread, frozen veggies, spaghetti sauce, lunch meat, and most cereals have corn syrup in them! Even cheese has corn starch in it! Almost every chip is a corn derived product, and if it isn't corn syrup it is most definitely corn starch in whatever it is!
Fortunately, I have been able to find "a" brand of almost everything that is good. It really has just opened my eyes to how most everything we buy and eat has some kind of corn product in it, which can't be good for anyone! After we have eliminated this from her diet for a while we will probably go back to fresh corn, and some things with tiny amounts of cornstarch, etc, but we are done with corn syrup! It's crazy! OVERDOSE!

So, after the grocery store, we came home and I checked the mail. A notice from AT&T that the rebate form they received was not valid because of the purchase date on the invoice. AND a bill from the eye doctor for $200 something dollars! OUCH! I came in and got lunch ready and got on the phone....
AT&T's fault...they read the wrong date...they read the date I had printed the invoice to send in, not the correct date of purchase. Fixed...in the mail in 3 weeks.
Got on the phone with the eye doctor.....they had a new computer system and the bill is an error...! (it had not applied our insurance).

We had a package on the doorstep when we got home too! My new swimsuit tops from Lands End! Super excited but VERY nervous. I have a terrible time finding swimsuits, I mean TERRIBLE time, but I was feeling hopeful about these since they are "custom" as in, not just a number size...number plus cup size, so able to customize it more.
I cautiously tried them on and they are GREAT! HERE is a link to one top I got, in two colors: pink and black, and HERE is a link to the other top I got, in pink. THREE tops for less than $30! (the particular size/color combos I got were $9.99 each) YAY! Now to find a swim bottom to go with them....I figure I can find that easily around at a local store or something, which is why I chose basic colors...the tops are the hardest to fit for me.

So, I spend some time cleaning up around the house and decide to go ahead and get out the CD for our Bible Study tonight..and realize that I don't have it! I had noticed it last week when I was putting the last CD in the package, but totally forgot to round it up in the meantime. Ladies were supposed to be at my house at 7pm and it was 4:30! Calling around, no one has it or remembers who borrowed it. Then PJ suggests I ask another friend who had done the same study at her house. Well, she had loaned it to another mutual friend and come to find out she had it with her and she lives in the same neighborhood where Corey works! YAY! He was able to run over and pick up that set for me to use tonight!

So..crises arose, and crises were resolved all in a matter of an hour or two!

I feel like I have been on an adrenaline rush all day! Now, to get ready for the evening and morning...tomorrow is Girl Scouts, so another full day of activities!

OH, and please go over to my book blog and read about the beach read choices and vote. PLEASE!!!!! pretty please?!

Beach Read Semi-Finals!

Go and read about the semi-finalists in the beach read survey! I have posted a snippet about each one and more info....
Tender is the Night, The Book Thief, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, The Giver, The Phantom Tollbooth, Catch-22, or Devil in the White City. CLICK HERE to go to the post!

Alice in Wonderland

Corey and I had a date night tonight to go see the new Alice in Wonderland movie. We did see it in 3D. Alice is 19 years old and has dreams about the happenings of the original movies....

My thoughts are....... that it was just okay. We will not be taking the kids to see it at the theater. First and foremost, I think they would be bored. The beginning is very slow to get going and the plot would kind of be over their heads I think with her being rebellious about corsets and stockings, and then attending a party that turns out to be her engagement party. That doesn't ruin the plot I don't think. She eventually chases after the white rabbit and falls in the rabbit hole...etc., etc.

It was very much like the movies I have seen before..just different looking. The plot is a little different but several of the same things happen, but with less "childishness" about them.

My conclusion is that...it wasn't serious and deep enough to make it interesting enough for adults, but it wasn't childish and silly enough to make it fully appropriate for children either. The gruesome aspects (stepping on human heads to cross a moat, monster eyes being plucked out by straight pins) make it just too much for little kids, so then the lack of more makes it slightly too simple for adults. I think it should have gone one more step one way or the other.

It does look very interesting and beautiful. The 3D affects are great. There are some really funny parts with the Red Queen when she goes on her tirades, but I don't think kids would "get it." The March Hare is pretty funny. The Mad Hatter is typical of what you would expect with Johnny Depp playing that part. The White Queen is whimsical. There is a good message of good conquering evil and the Red Queen's demise. I even picked up on some easy to make comparisons between the overall story/characters/storyline and Christianity.

Overall...if I were rating on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being Mystery Science Theater level and 10 being like Epic Life Changing Films...I would give it a ....... 6. I would watch it again maybe, the story is good because the story was already good, but it will be hard to find the just right age for our kids so we can watch it together as a family. Better versions of this movie have already been made, in my opinion the Disney one is the best because it makes me laugh a lot! Even though they said it is not supposed to be "the original movie" it kind of is. A good version, but disappointed because it could have been so much better. I think the fault lies with whoever wrote the screenplay.

My take on the PluggedInOnline review:
I agree with most everything written in this review, although I think their take on the "sexual content" wasn't as bad as it sounded. The wardrobe issues weren't issues at all for me nor would it be for my kids. Any innuendo was extremely disguised and rare. The only really odd thing was with the people who all had exaggerated features to fit in with the queen's big head...there is the lady like it says in the review....which was just kind of trashy looking, for older boys it could be more inappropriate though the glimpses of that particular lady are just two very fast glances. The main part that strikes it out for me is the "Violent Content" it reviews in detail. It is definitely all as described if not more.

Proof!

I would love for you to read my post and give us your opinion
on a group read for the beach!
Click the top right "book blog" button.

Onto the post:

This morning, Noah asked, "What does proof mean?"

Well...I told him that proof is what tells you if something really happened or not, or if it is true or not. Okay, so I probably didn't do a great job with that, but I think I improved by giving examples. I told him that if someone said he ate a cookie without asking, that the proof might be if he had chocolate chips on his face. Or that if someone said Katie took candy, then the proof would be if we found the candy in her room. Yes, I know there are other definitions, and I probably need to start using the dictionary instead and all that. But here's the punchline:



Katie said, "He means like 'waterproof' what does that 'proof' mean?"
Noah added, "Yeah, and like fireproof, what does that mean?"

All my "great" stories and intentions. I meant well! ha ha ha! I guess they already had the "water" and "fire" part down....*ha*

Beach Read Survey!

I am taking a survey! Details on my book blog, so please click the top right box over there (Carrie's Book Blog) and cast your vote!!!!

Can I Get a Re-Do PLEASE?!

Starting on about December 18th of LAST year....this year was already stinking! Ugh! One thing after another just keeps NOT working out for us around here.

We just found out that we are going to have to pay co-pays on all the ultrasounds I had done in December, because they filed them under our MATERNITY benefits!!!! HOW FRUSTRATING! At first, the lady I talked to said that since I didn't really ever become admitted as a maternity patient that it might be filed under my regular insurance which would be no copay for ultrasound/imaging. Well...I was really hopeful that would be the case, but NO! We now owe them $325 in copays. BOO! DOUBLE BOO because I didn't even end up with a baby out of all this!!!! BOO BOO BOO!

We were determined to get on the debt snowball bandwagon after putting away most of our emergency fund. Then, wouldn't you know we already had to use almost all of it for an emergency?? Of course, it couldn't be helped, and we are thankful we had the money and didn't have to do something else, but it was all spent on gas for trips to see my granny, clothes for everyone for the funeral (yes, we attend a jeans and t-shirt church and really actually literally had nothing to wear to the funeral) and on various other expenses like meals, hotel room, etc.

One step forward....... 20 steps back... *sigh*

I am looking forward now to our beach trip more than ever!!!! A week doing nothing but sitting on the sand and watching the ocean waves. I guess we may have to use our rebates we are getting for the satellite and cell phone to buy some swim suits so we don't have to sit on the beach in our jeans. We haven't been since Noah was still potty training, so hopefully it will be a great relaxing time and in the meantime perhaps we can get ahead one way or the other!

Just had to vent....thanks for listening!

What a Week!

We woke up to about 2 inches of snow everywhere on Tuesday morning! We were kind of nervous about getting to my granny's visitation and funeral Tuesday evening and Wednesday, so we decided to go spend the night in order to be sure we wouldn't be stalled by the weather the next day.
The afternoon did not start off well.... about 15 minutes down the road we discovered that we had left the kids' bag at home! It had everything they needed for the next two days...except their clothes for the visitation which were in the garment bag with our dress clothes.
I had spent the past 4 days shopping for clothes that would match shoes we already had so we didn't have to buy new shoes along with everything else...so discovering that we did not even HAVE the shoes was really really REALLY disappointing!
It was snowing and slushy and we were scheduled to hit Atlanta at about 4:30pm. We decided we needed to just keep driving and just buy new shoes when we got to Newnan. It we had driven home to pick up the bag we would have lost about 45 minutes, which would put us in Atlanta right at rush hour, costing us even MORE time and the weather was just really precarious anyway.
*SIGH*
About 30 more minutes down the road, Katie had to use the potty "really bad." So...another pit stop.
We ended up making it down there, but after picking up new shoes, grabbing chick-fil-a drive thru, checking into the hotel, eating, and changing the kids clothes, we were about 20 minutes late to the visitation starting time.
It was a bubbling/loud/friendly time at the funeral home. The funeral home was in an old historic home of the area.....a two story old plantation style home. It was beautiful. We saw friends and family from everywhere. Katie was fascinated by seeing Granny there. She kept wanting to go see her over and over. It was sweet. She said that Granny looked like "Sleeping Beauty."
That night we went over to Pawpaw's house to eat with the whole family. There was plenty of food that had been brought over, so we had a good time visiting all together.
My mother-in-law had come down to the visitation as well. My paw paw and granny had been her pastors when she was a teenager, so she had wanted to come. She spent the night also, since the weather was so bad, and was able to take Katie and Noah home with her on Wednesday morning..the day of the funeral. What a wonderful blessing that was to us! We figured that the kids didn't need to have to sit through a funeral and see everyone sad and upset, and it was easy to be able to just concentrate on us and the family for the day.
On the way back to the hotel, I couldn't find my purse. I assumed I had left it at the hotel. But the next morning when I started getting dressed, I couldn't find it anywhere! Corey looked in the car, I looked through everything in the room, and I called my mom at my pawpaw's house. NO WHERE to be found! UGH! I called Payless (where I had run in to get shoes) and the funeral home. NOTHING.
I went for one last look in the car....and found it in the glovebox! *WHEW!* What a relief!

We headed over to the church at about 11:45. They had another viewing time from noon-1pm when the actual funeral was scheduled.

Corey was a pallbearer, along with the rest of the grandsons and grandson-in-laws. There are eight of them.

The service was simply beautiful! My cousin, Josh, sang a duet of "It Is Well With My Soul," which was incredible. I actually only teared up a couple of times because the pastor was so uplifting in sharing stories about my Granny, and facts about her life lining it up with scripture and testimony. Truly, it was an enjoyable service, ending with a congregational of "I'll Fly Away."

After the short graveside service we came back to enjoy a delicious meal provided by the church.
This is my pawpaw with his brother.....

Here is my brother and Hannah. I was very thankful that Hannah came to be with us. She sat with me during the service. It was nice to have someone to sit with me since Corey and Chris were pallbearers.

After the meal we went back over to Pawpaw's house again for a time of visiting together. This time it was a lot more peaceful and relaxed. Everyone was talking about movies and family memories....just a great time. The funeral home worker brought over all the plants and flowers that weren't suited for the grave site and all the daughters in law and granddaughters were able to pick something out if they wanted. I picked out this orchid:


I don't have very much luck with flowers or plants, so hopefully this one won't suffer too soon. Katie loved it too, so I think between the two of us and some google research we can figure out how to take care of it.

We got home late Wednesday night after picking up Katie and Noah at Karen's. It seemed like it had been four days instead of just two, so I can't imagine for all the rest of the family who had been at the hospital non-stop. My parents haven't been home since Thursday the 25th.

I rescheduled my Esther study for last night, so that I would make sure and get the house straightened up, ha ha. It was nice to get together with that small group of ladies and just share and talk together. Today it is more back to life, with groceries and laundry on the list.

I know it is going to be an odd adjustment over the next few weeks and months, especially for my Pawpaw who will have an absent spot in his life that has been filled with my granny for 62 years. Keep him in your prayers.

My Granny

My granny. With her husband and four sons.
I think they are in order, oldest to youngest, left to right:
Kenneth, Farrel, Ronnie, Terry
4 sons, 4 daughters in law, 11 grandchildren, 5 grandchildren-in-law, 5 great-grandchildren.
(I think I got all those correct!)

The growing family. That's my dad in the front.

I think he must have been trying to throw her in the fountain of youth. ha ha.
They've traveled so many places together, for ministry and for fun!

Here they are in Alaska.

This was when she got her GED.

Their 50th wedding anniversary.

We decorated their car when they left their 50th anniversary party. My pawpaw LOVED it!

This was their 60th anniversary party. With their four sons.

This is where granny would be every time we came to visit just about!

Mrs. Geraldine Lois Pearson Addis
10/28/29 - 3/1/10

My granny passed away this morning, at around 4:55am. She was surrounded by her husband, her four sons, and their wives. All the loves her life were there to see her pass from this world to her final home where she now resides free of pain and suffering, free to live and rejoice in God's presence forevermore.

Visitation will be tomorrow night from 6-8pm at Higgins' Hillcrest Chapel in Newnan. It is an old historic home made into a funeral chapel, so that will be interesting to see. The funeral is scheduled on Wednesday at 1pm at South Metro Ministries in Sharpsburg.

There was a bright spot in my Pawpaw's day today. His sister came from South Carolina. She has never been able to come visit him at his house due to her health, but her daughter brought her down to see him this evening and my mom said he was thrilled that she came. He watched for her constantly till she arrived and spent the evening laughing, remembering, and visiting together! Just what he needed after a long hard day and a true blessing for everyone who was gathered there!