Christmas Tour of Homes

This post is linked with Boo Mama's Christmas Tour of Homes. If you would like to see other homes AFTER you have looked at mine ;) ,
just click on the highlighted text above for more places to visit.


The 2008 Christmas Decorating
around our house started off by
calling in the "Troops"!

The "Troops"

From the hats they came up with (designed by one 4 yr. old) they seem
to be more ready for a party than for work!
FYI: The silver and blue hats are the bottoms of drum boxes I use for decor!??
The cardboard thingy on the baby's head is a packing cushion for a cookie jar.
Classy, aren't they!

It turns out that one of them is a mighty good helper!

The really short one. . . . . no so much! He can't quite hang'um high enough :)
and the tallest one does the outdoor decorating.


So, let's begin and see how it all turned out, shall we?

WELCOME TO THE PARSONAGE

This is a little blurry but I think you can get an idea of how it looks.
The driveway is a circle drive so cars drive around the nativity scene.

The front door.

The tree.

A shot that shows the lights a little better.
The theme is "toys". There are toy ornaments on the tree and
toys under the tree for the children.

A close up of the tree. The soldier bear is animated.

The dining table and hutch.

The kitchen window.

A little touch of Christmas in the bathroom.

"What Jesus Wants for Christmas"
This little nativity set came with 7 gift boxes. Six boxes contain a part of the
story of Christ's birth. The 7th box has a mirror in the bottom and when
the child opens it they see themselves and you explain that they are what Jesus really wants for Christmas. It's a sweet way to share the plan of salvation with a child and teach them the real meaning of Christmas.

Would you care for some refreshments?

If you were really at my house we would sit down for a nice chat over some Christmas,
goodies, but since this is a virtual-type tour, I will share two recipes that you might like to try.

Here is a very EASY recipe for candy that always seems to be a hit.
All you need is:

2 1/2 cups Captain Crunch cereal (plain)
2 cups Rice Crispies cereal
2 lbs. white chocolate
2 cups dry roasted peanuts
2 cups miniature marshmallows

Melt chocolate. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper.

Note: I melt the chocolate by making a double boiler out of a large bowl placed on a pan on simmering water. Stir chocolate frequently until smooth.
If you can't find white chocolate, vanilla bark works well, too.

Apple cider anyone?

Here's a simple and festive cider for Christmas.
(It tastes good, too!)

1 gallon apple juice
1 small bag of red hots

Heat apple juice. Add red hots and stir until melted. You can adjust the amount of red hots according to your own taste.
This can be made in and served from a crockpot it you like.


Come back soon and I will show you some on my favorite Christmas ornaments,
many of which come from my travels.


Thank you for stopping by today.
Let me wish you a Merry Christmas
and a blessed New Year!

Come back soon for another visit!

Love,

Christmas Cello Concert

Here is a small sample of the Christmas Cello Concert at our Christmas Tea. This is the last

half of Silent Night. I know there is something cleaver that could be said about only having half of a silent night :) My daughter-in-law could definitely come up with something since our 6-month-old grandson still doesn't sleep completely through the night.

I hope that you are all having a very blessed Christmas season. It is going by so fast! I would love to linger here a bit longer, would you?

Love,

The Christmas Tea

Here are some pics from our Christmas Tea on December 2. Yes, I know there aren't any teacups on the table. Very few drink hot tea so I provided glasses for something cold to drink. Apple cidar and hot chocolate (homemade mix) are their favorite drinks. I forgot to take of a picture of the food table :(

Hopefully, this will be our last year in the foyer. Our youth have taken over the fellowship hall while a new youth center is being built. It will seat 200 in the sanctuary (which is stadium seating). We are so thankful for the center and the fact that we have paid cash as we go -- no debt!

The foyer is narrow and what you can't see is that it is decorated for Christmas. The tree was behind me in the first pic.

A few of the tables before anyone arrived.

I bought three of these to for a drawing.

We also had three gift sacks with a soft red socks with pokadots, a matching tea mug and tea bag holder (they matched the socks) and a soft red throw.
There were 6 gifts in the drawing.



Ladies doing what they do best - chit chatting :)

We had just under 50 ladies in attendance.


More conversation :)



After we ate and had time to visit, we all went in the sanctuary for the gift drawing and then
a Christmas cello concert!
It was so beautiful!

Thresa Swadley presented the Christmas Cello Concert,
and she was accompanied by Lisa Schutten on the piano.
They are an awsome duo!



L-R: Lisa, Moi and Thresa

It was really fun.

Back in the loop!

Whoa! I can hardly believe that I have not posted since Nov. 23! It has been due to a crazy schedule and my wireless Internet is not working properly -- have to hook up direct -- must share with hubs -- bla, bla, bla!

Seriously, I have been overloaded for the past two weeks:

• We've had guests to entertain
• We had a Thanksgiving Banquet at church
• I had a routine bone scan (45 min. drive each way)
• Dental appointment (6 month checkup)
• I shopped and shopped and shopped (Thanksgiving, Hanging of the Greens and Christmas Tea)
• I fixed Thanksgiving for the two of us
• Decorated piano, big mirror, dining room table and kitchen for Christmas
• Put up the Christmas tree and lights - no ornaments at this point
• I prepared a meal for Thanksgiving dinner for 30 of hub's family members (no dishes contributed by others - they live too far away)
• Decorated our Christmas tree
• Two days later (Sunday) we had hanging of the greens service at church (I am in charge of getting this all together )
• Monday Dec. 1 was my birthday - slept in and worked on some detail for the Ladies' Christmas Tea
• Tuesday, Dec. 2 - Ladies Christmas Tea (my responsibility) I did have some help in the set up and clean up. We had place settings for 48 this year. (I have pics)
• I scheduled a Christmas Cello/piano concert for the Tea - very good! (I have a video)
• Wed., Dec. 3 I kept my grandchildren. After they left I headed to the church for Toddlers' Class

Oh, did I mention that I twisted my knee and have been doing all of the this with a semi-swollen knee! I really love doing these things but having a physical ailment sore knee was a handicap on my speed ;)

So now you know why I have not posted since forever!

I will be sharing some pics and if I can put a video on here (I've never attempted to do that) I will share some of our Christmas Tea concert with you.

ALSO, Nancy at Olive Leaf Ministries is having a Christmas give away that ends at 5:00 p.m. today. Go visit her blog for some fun stuff!

Til later,

It's Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve!
What memories those two words bring to mind.

• Excitement
• Fudge
• Waiting
• The smell of the Christmas tree
• Waiting
• Christmas movies
• Christmas music
• Waiting
• Dinner
  
• Cleaning up the kitchen
• Waiting
  
• Opening presents
• Playing with my gifts
• Sleeping with my new doll

Yes, we opened our presents on Christmas Eve night AFTER cleaning the kitchen. (I don't clean the kitchen until the presents have all be opened at my house :)) Christmas day was spent at grandparents homes.

Wonderful memories!

Have a very Merry Christmas with those you hold dear!

Old friends and sweet conversation

This morning we have a guest speaker at our church who just happens to be an old friend from our years in Louisiana. They arrived yesterday afternoon; checked into the Holiday Inn Express; and later we picked them up for dinner -- Mexican was their choice.

Our conversation seemed to pick up where it left off. We filled in the gaps of time and some of what has transpired since we last saw each other: children, grandchildren, ministry, etc.

Friendship: a gift from God that will be in it's most perfected form -- in Heaven! If you have a friend you haven't spoken with in a while, given them a call and make connection. You'll be glad you did! Friendship is a gift!

Love,

A picture is worth 1000 words

Valerie won the book give away that I recently ran. She just happens to live 10 - 15 miles from me! (FYI: I was very careful to be fair and unbiased when drawing for the winner of the book.)

We decided to set a day and time for me to give the book to her. We finally decided to have dinner at her house last night. She told me she would like to see my vacation pictures. Since I hadn't yet printed them out, I decided to swing by Wal-Mart have them printed out to take to her house.

When using a digital camera, I have a tendency an impulse that causes me to take a PLETHORA of pictures, just in case . . . Well, I was late getting to Val's because . . . .it takes quite a while to print out . . . 600 + pics! Yes, you read correctly, over 600 pictures. I didn't realize there were that many!

And . . I know how stupid that was! I should have just taken my laptop and ran a slide show! However, if I am going to put them in an album, they will need to be printed out anyway - - maybe not 600 of them, but anyway. . . .

Now you know just what a real sweetheart Valerie is, because . . . . . .

she cooked a wonderful lasagna dinner and looked at EVERY ONE OF THE PICS! (They weren't even all that interesting! )

So, if a picture is worth 1000 words . . . POOR VALERIE!

Wee Ones

Yesterday, in fact, every Wednesday, I have a full day with my wee ones. I spend the day with my two sweet grandchildren ages 4 years and 4 months. Then each Wednesday night I spend time in the toddler class at church. What an opportunity I have to put something positive into their little hearts and minds!

Last week one of the little girls had a minor tummy ache and didn't want to finish her coloring so she went and sat in the rocking chair. One of the little boys wanted to know why she did that so I told him. He then turned to the little girl and said, "When I get home, my mom and I will pray for you!" He just turned 4!

Isn't that just precious! He is such a SWEETHEART!

His mother is our music pastor and she and her husband are doing a wonderful job of instilling Godly principles in him. If all parents were as diligent as these two parents, how different our schools would be! How much better our world would become!

On the flip side, there is a sweet couple in our church who have a grandson that is very difficult to have in the class. (He only comes occasionally when they have him.) He is loud, very, very rough and extremely active. He hurts others and himself. In fact he is missing a tooth b/c of rough play with a truck at day care. The other children do not like having him around -- they say he is mean.

He was in class last night. Of course . . . we had a special project to do! (Indian headband w/ feather). This child makes everything more difficult, but we made it through the evening. I feel so sorry for the grandparents. They try hard to instill the good things in him (when they have him) but his mother does the opposite. His father is in the military and I'm not so sure about his parenting skills. The little one's parents have never been married and the home life is very unstable - obviously. He doesn't talk (as far as I can tell) and only makes eye contact when he chooses, which is rare. He just doesn't respond to things the way he should. He really needs some professional help, and after an evening with him -- so do I:)

One thing for sure, God knows what's in his little head and heart. He's a beautiful little boy on the outside, but his actions and the turmoil on the inside are heartbreaking. I pray that God will provide for him -- soon!

Christ loved children, and He enjoyed having them around Him. Wouldn't you have loved to have been there and listened to their conversations with the King of all ages? It breaks my heart . . . and makes me angry when the wee ones are mistreated, harmed and yes, killed. There is too much of this happening every single day! So much could be said about this but I know that we are all aware of the travesties of child abuse and murder by abortion or other means.

We have had two precious little girls 2 and 5, who were murderd in our small town. The 5 year old was murdered by her father; he is in prison for life. No one has been convicted of the murder of the 2 year old angel. The stepfather and mother of the wee one are both in prison: he for abuse and she for "should have known". All of those who bring harm to a child will have much to answer for when they stand before God!

"God, bless the wee ones. Guard their little hearts and minds and keep them safe from harm."

Love,

Wordless Post

Love,

"This is NOT a drill!"

There are times when I read someone else's post and it gives me and idea of something I can post about. This is one of those times.

We like to take our vacations aboard cruise ships. I always feel like the cruise officially begins when the lifeboat drill and the unpacking is finished. The drills are very informative and are important for your survival should an emergency arrive. In case of a real emergency, you are instructed to dress in warm clothing, put on your life jacket, then head to your muster station. The crew members do several types of drills throughout a cruise and from time to time the Captain's voice can be heard over the intercom saying, "Crew, this is a drill. This is a drill."

On one of our vacations (our first Panama canal cruise to be exact) we had spent the day in Aruba and were on our way to Jamaica. We had retired for the night and were snug in our bed, when around 1:30 a.m. someone pounded on our door (very unusual). My hubs got up and peeked through the peephole and saw that it was a crew member. He opened the door and was standing face-to-face with the silhouette of a man standing in the hallway that was full . . . of smoke! The man was an officer and urged us to leave our stateroom asap because there was a fire!

Note: Fire is known as a ship's worse enemy!

Hubs got me up and told me to get dressed; to grab what I thought was important out of the safe, and be quick about it. Usually, I'm an up-and-at'm girl, but for some reason, I could not get it together. (I think my mind was in shock and couldn't fully process what I was hearing.)

The officer knocked on our door two or three times and in a very strained voice, asked us to leave our room . . . please! We finally got dressed and left the room and were instructed to go to the staircase and wait for further instructions! While we were sitting on the steps, the Captain's voice came over the intercom giving instructions to the crew, but, his last words were chilling:

"THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"

There are no words to express what was racing through my mind at that moment! It was so surreal! I'm pretty sure that at some point, the Titanic crossed my mind :)

We were then instructed to go to our muster (lifeboat) station. We made our way to the appointed meeting place and waited to meet up with our friends. Soon they arrived dressed warmly with their life jackets on.

Hubs and I started laughing . . . at ourselves.

We were dressed in SHORTS, NO LIFE JACKETS (they were still in the closet of our stateroom). I can remember trying to decide what to get from the safe and finally decided on my wedding rings and a few choice pieces of jewelry . . . . that wouldn't weight me down . . . . while I was treading water ! ? ? ?! No passports, no money, no credit cards, no warm clothes, no life jackets ! ! ! I never even once thought about the lifeboats!!??? I guess I was just going to jump overboard at the "appropriate" time! What was I thinking? Obviously, I wasn't thinking! I was still asleep!

My hubs, also dressed for HOT WEATHER, had grabbed what was important to him . . . . his comb!

At least we were dressed. Some were in their pj's. Needless to say, we felt pretty stupid when sitting there with our well equipped and well dressed friends!

As it turned out, it was an electrical fire . . . three doors down from our stateroom. We were out of our room for the rest of the night. We sat and talked one-on-one with the Captain for a while. They provided all kinds of food, blankets and pillows. They also gave us credit on our account for not be able to use our room that night :)

The door to our stateroom was sealed so well that the room did not smell of smoke in the least. I just knew all of our clothing would stink like burnt electrical wires.

This past vacation (another Panama Canal cruise) we were awakened around 2:30 a.m. with our smoke alarm blaring . . LOUDLY! (Boy, there just seems to something about the Caribbean side of that cruise that creates incidents!)

I just want you to know that this time I was ready! I already had our "wardrobes" planned, complete with life jackets, my tote bag ready to EMPTY the entire contents of the safe and I fully expected to ride in a lifeboat instead of treading water! :)

This time there was no fire. A turbine (there are more than one and they generate electricity) went down for about 15 minutes. That caused an orderless fume to set off the very, very sensitive smoke alarms - LOUD smoke alarms. We had to take the battery out to stop the deafening noise. We could here other alarms going off in rooms up and down the hall.

We were thankful that there was no emergency this time, but you'd better believe that this gal was READY! I may have failed the first test, but I was ready to ace this one.

However, there is a more important test I plan on acing. I am making sure I am clothed in the proper attire for this one, too. This time, the reward is not just gaining life here on earth, but instead, eternal life with the Prince of Peace and the Lord of Lords! When the trumpet sounds, it won't be sounding off for a drill, it will be the real and final thing! It will NOT be a drill! Are you ready?

Love,

Scrub board, earaches & Christmas lights

From the title of my post you just my suspect that I had a wee bit of an unusual day and I kinda did.

My washing machine wasn't working properly so, last Monday (a week ago) I had a repairman come out to check it over. The diagnosis? It needed a new timer. So he ordered it and told me I could continue using the same cycles and he would order the new part. Good! I had five loads of laundry left to do so I began as soon as he left.

I will bullet most of this so it won't be so wordy. After repairman left:

• Washer completely quit on load #1
  
• Now I have 1 load of wet soapy clothes
• 4 loads of dirty clothes
• Call daughter-in-law for "HELP!"
• Laundry all finished

One week has now passed. Waiting to hear from repairman. This morning I had a some things to wash so I got out my little lingerie scrub board and began washing a few things in the sink. The weather was so beautiful - a perfect day to hang a clothes outside (I have a retractable clothesline on the patio - just love it). (I don't love Laundromats.)

9:30 a.m. My daughter-in-law called:

• Baby has a well-baby check at 11:00 a.m.
• 4 year old up until 3:30 a.m. with earache
• DIL needs my "HELP" with the doctor visit
• Baby "perfect" - of course he is!
• 4 year old had 2 infected ears! No wonder she couldn't sleep
  
• Picked up her prescription
• Headed home
  

• Repair calls and says he will be here to fix washer this afternoon - Hallelujah!
  

• Hubs began putting up Christmas lights - perfect weather for it
  
• Helped him check for bad bulbs

• Repairman an hour late
• Washer fix - Yahoo!
• It costed a few dollars less that he had estimated!
  
• Put a load in to wash - it works!

• Made hot chocolate mix
• Made potato soup for dinner

This day was not exactly how I had planned it but I am so thankful that there were only simple, minor interruptions. No tragedies or heartaches -- just earaches. God is SO GOOD!

Have a nice evening with your families!

Kids, Christmas, Truth & Traditions

Christmas will soon be here! -- You're welcome :)

It's such a (forgive me here) magical time of year for most people. I have fond memories of special treats baking in the oven that sent luscious aroma throughout the house; the smell of the Christmas tree; the cold on my face; the snow as it glistened under the moonlight; and the Christmas gifts! Oh, my, the anticipation was almost more than I could bear! I'm sure you can add your own memories to my short list.

Playing the Santa "game" was fun but my parents also told me the truth and taught me the true meaning of Christmas early on.

Then . . . . I became a parent. I didn't want to lie to my child . . . so what do I do. Mindy at Ponderings of the Heart had a post that got me to thinking about all of this.

When my son was small and it was time to begin teaching him about Christmas, I prayed and asked the Lord to help me share the truth without taking away the fun of Christmas as we know it in America. Here's what I came up with:

To emphasize that this was Jesus' birthday, I wrapped a gift and put it under our Christmas tree. This was a gift for Jesus and our son opened it first (symbolizing giving Christ first place). I took gold wrapping paper, traced, cut out and pasted some items in the box (shirt box) then wrapped it up nice and pretty.

When our son opened the gift, I explained what each item meant. Each one represented something that Jesus really wants from us.

There was:

1. A Heart: First and foremost, Jesus wants us to give Him our hearts, to ask forgiveness for our sins and accept Him as our Lord and Savior (explained according to the child's age).

2. Hands: We give ourselves to help others - reaching out to those in need.

3. A Hammer: We give Him our labors. (His Daddy was/is Senior Pastor.) Working in our church, witnessing, etc.

4. Check/money/debit card: We give him money as the Bible teaches so that the church will have what it needs to minister to people, etc., etc.

We did this for a few years, until we were sure that he understood what Christmas was really about. Then we hung a small "Bible" at the very top of our tree that told of the Christmas story from the book of Luke. We let our son read the story to us and eventually, he could recite it from memory.

Legend tells us that Santa Claus was Bishop Nicholas from a town of Myra in the 4th century. He helped the poor through his generosity. Loved by all who knew him for helping those in need, the church would later saint him for his kindness and good deeds. Since that time, around the world, many children do believe that if they are good and kind to all, they will receive gifts from St. Nick at Christmastime.

Santa? Yes, we played the Santa game with him. He will tell you today that Christmases were very special and fun. He still receives Christmas gifts from "Santa", the real one -- Dad! :)

I am doing something different with my granddaughter. I have a small Nativity set. For one week, each day the child opens a gift. Each gift is a piece of the Nativity set. Each piece is explained as the story of the birth of Christ is told. On the seventh and final day the gift contains a mirror, and when its opened , the child see herself/himself in the mirror. You explain that they are a very special gift for Jesus. It's a perfect opportunity to share salvation with them as well.

A few years ago we started a new tradition: the "pickle" hidden in the Christmas tree. Do any of you do that?

Many Christian parents struggle to find creative ways to teach their children the true meaning of Christmas. Maybe you are doing something special to get the message across to your children. I would love to hear what what you're doing. Also, if you have any family traditions that you want to share, that would be fun to learn as well.

However you celebrate, family fun and traditions, along with the real reason for the Christmas season, make for a wonderful holiday full of warmth, joy and peace of heart!



Love,

And the winner is . . . . !

Thank you for entering my give-away for the

"What Shoe Are You!"
book by Lori Randall!

This was so much fun!

Now, down to business.

There were 12 of you who entered.
I typed the names and cut the paper in equal sizes.
I put them in my favorite all-purpose bowl.

(That's my favorite little bowl I grab for just about everything.)

Then Hubs drew out the winning name

and it is . . . . .


it is . . . .

Congratulations, Valerie!

I know you will enjoy the book.
I will email you and we can make arrangements to get this to you.

To all of you sweet bloggers, have a wonderful Saturday!

Love,

Last Day!

Today is the last day to enter the

"What Shoe Are You?"

book give-away!

The author is Lori Randall (pictured left). She is the 2002 Mrs. Oklahoma United States
and
2005 Mrs. Christian World
and a personal friend.

Lori has done an excellent job with her book. She shares scripture and detailed information about the God-given personality traits, the strengths and weaknesses. Not only does she give us insight into our strengths and weaknesses but she goes beyond that in giving insight into how to deal with other people and their personalities. Understanding and knowledge go a long way in aiding us to achieve harmony in our marriages, with our children, in friendships and in the workplace.

Instead of using the traditional names for the personalities, she changed them to make them more visual and easier to remember.

Sanguine: CLOWN SHOE
Choleric: COMBAT BOOT
Melancholy: ALL BUSINESS SHOE

Phlegmatic: HOUSE SHOE

To enter, simply leave a comment and the winner will be announced tomorrow, Saturday, November 15.

So far there are 12 of you who have entered!

You can check out Lori's website by clicking the "What Shoe Are You?" button on the right.

Come back tomorrow and learn who the winner is.

This is fun :) !!

Love,

God Bless Our Veterans!

Today is

Thank You

to all who have served our country

and were willing to lay their lives on the line

for our freedom and safety.

To all of those who are presently serving,

who have volunteered to for this same cause,

God bless you!

With God's help,

your courage, sacrifice and heroism

have made this country great!

T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U ! !

I can do it . . . myself!

I must admit that I am a very independent person. I like to do things for myself. Well, that has come back to "bite" me.

This summer our church had an ice cream party -- yummy fun! I brought homemade ice cream and put the freezer in a bucket and yada, yada, yada -- it was very heavy!

When it was time to go home, the SUPERWOMAN syndrome kicked it and I picked up the bucket and freezer and after a few steps I realized that was a VERY, VERY bad idea. (ouch!)

Our Youth Pastor offered to carry it (he probably noticed the strain on my face or . . maybe the bulging vein in my neck) but would I let him feel like a gentleman and help me. NOOOO, not superwomen! God forbid that I could not do it myself! Hense, a very painful shoulder!

My shoulder did get better BUT . . . on vacation, we wanted to disembark the ship early, so, we signed up to be walk-offs, which means you handle your own luggage. Not a problem -- when you haven't been STUPID in the past!

As I was leaving the stateroom with my piggy-backed luggage (hubby had his own to handle), I didn't quite clear the doorway and my luggage caught on the doorway and jerked my arm/shoulder!

It did get better, again.

Now, I have been doing a major clean out, store and trash unneeded items around my house. So, that requires my arms and shoulders! I must have slept on it wrong last night and it is very irritated today.

So if you would, please, pray for my shoulder and arm . . . . and for some common sense :)

(Don't forget the give-away. It ends this Friday night and I will announce the winner Saturday.)

Love,

A GIVE-AWAY!!

This is my very first give-away! I'm sooo excited!

So . . .
let's get to it!

I am giving away Lori Randall's book:

"What Shoe Are You ?"

This is a fun and informative book.
If you would like to be entered into the drawing for this give-away, just leave a comment between now and this Friday, November 14 and I will include your name.

The winner will be announced Saturday, November 15.

So. . . all 8 of my sweet followers and anyone else who happens to stop by, I look forward to hearing from you this week.

Note: If you would like to know a little more about Lori or what the book is about, go to my November 6 post or
Lori's website.


Have a wonderful Monday!

Love,

For all Christians in the Military

It's so inspiring to see the Christian men and women of our military making a way to worship God whether it be in a military chapel, in the humblest of "homemade" settings or simply surrounded by the beauty of creation. God bless them for their faithfulness!

We may be feeling uneasy about the USA right now since we are so uncertain about the real President Elect Obama, but as the video will tell us, we must keep our eyes of Jesus!




Love,

Finally Movtivated

We Americans are the most blessed people in the world! After spending time in Egypt, Africa, Mexico & Columbia, I came to the conclusion that even our very poorest have it so much better than the average person in the third world countries. ( Third world countries . . . I've often wondered . . . who are the second world countries . . . just wondering;)

Anyway, we are such a blessed people that we find it necessary to rent storage units to house all of our stuff. Isn't that pathetic? I must admit I am almost one of those "blessed people" but . . . I refuse to rent a storage unit.

So . . . for the past two weeks, I've finally been motivated to dive into the WHOLE house (which includes the garage and the attic -- Yeah, I know . . . . the superwoman syndrome). This will take a while because I am doing this as I find the spare time and with taking some Fridays off. I have become motivated to sort, store, give away and trash items that are no longer of use to me. I am so tired being surrounded by clutter -- even if it is organized.

I've been making decisions as to what items I really need to keep. I have purchased some dish and stemware boxes from the U-haul store so that I can store some of my Mom's crystal that will be given to my granddaughter when she is older.

The Salvation Army has received a car load all ready. I have another "pile" ready to take next week. I have kitchen cabinets full of dishes, platters, appliances and other things that I will be doing away with which will give me better organized space in the cabinets.

Next, I have hired a lady to help me wash walls and do a Fall cleaning. Fours hands can do a swifter job than two! :) I may retain her twice a month to help me out since my schedule (of life) is so hectic!

I know there are several bloggers out there who have been doing the same thing (well, maybe not the garage and attic). So . . . how about you? Have you been doing some extra cleaning as you prepare for Thanksgiving? If so, got any good, time saving tips?

Now I must go and put some lotion on my poor hands. (I really, really, dislike wearing gloves.)

(Oh, be watching. Next week I will start the give-away for Lori's book, "What Shoe Are You?" I'm so sorry if you wanted to comment on that post and were not able. I don't know what happened but it was not enabled. But . . I have fixed it! I will make sure that the give-away post doesn't have that problem.)

Love,

Mama Alway Said . . . .

It's amazing how our mother's words can come back to haunt us at times. One of the famous sayings of mothers is:

"Don't forget to wear clean underwear."

The following is a true story that my husband and I witnessed firsthand.

We were attending a funeral of a man in our little community. The ushers seated us on the front row, no less. The funeral began with some mishaps and faux pas (such as the minister announcing that the "nut's" gone -- referring to the deceased -- God as my witness . . . he said that!) . . .BUT, the BIGGEST was yet to come!

As we watched the mourners solemnly pay their last respects to the dearly departed, one nicely dressed lady caught our attention. She stood in front of the casket, nose buried in her Kleenex. All of a sudden, the elastic in her skirt gave way and her skirt plummeted to the floor.

Unbeknownst to her, she was now standing there -- in front of the church full of people -- wearing her suit top and a lovely beige slip! However, her husband is suddenly aware of her lack of clothing. Mister helpful Henry here quickly gives her a HUGH nudge in the side and points to the floor. (I guessed he was too shocked to be a gentleman and pick it up for her?)

Greatly embarrassed, she reaches down, grabs her skirt and pulls it back up and hangs on for dear life! She did not immediately go home. No. . . she stayed and clung fiercely to the skirt until the all of the funeral "festivities" were over.

Have you ever HAD to swallow an explosive laugh . . . . at a funeral? I thought I was going to die trying to hold it back. Later, I laughed until I cried --ROFL!!!!

Note: Since we leave in a very small town, we could not tell anyone about this for fear they might be her relative :o

Love,

"What Shoe Are You?"

I have a dear friend (pictured on the left) who has written a book entitled "What Shoe Are You?"; understanding the personality traits. I am using her book in my class as our Sunday School lessons over the next few weeks. In fact, I'm privileged to have her actually do the teaching. She is a professional speaker but for me, over the next 5 weeks, she's working for chocolate ;)

Her name is Lori Randall, and I can highly recommend her to you if you are looking for a motivating speaker. She is the Mrs. Christian World 2005 and Mrs. Oklahoma United States 2002.

She has a tremendous testimony. With the birth of both of her children, Lori experienced severe postpartum depression and psychosis. The illness left her physically, emotionally and spiritually bankrupt. But God is His great mercy reached down and performed a miracle in Lori's life. It's a wonderful testimony of God's love, mercy and restoration.

Lori has done an excellent job with her book. She shares scripture and detailed information about the God-given personality traits, the strengths and weaknesses. Not only does she give us insight into our strengths and weaknesses but she goes beyond that in giving insight into how to deal with other people and their personalities. Understanding and knowledge go a long way in aiding us to achieve harmony in our marriages, with our children, in friendships and in the workplace.

Instead of using the traditional names for the personalities, she changed them to make them more visual and easier to remember.

Sanguine: CLOWN SHOE
Choleric: COMBAT BOOT
Melancholy: ALL BUSINESS SHOE
Phlegmatic: HOUSE SHOE

FYI: Lori is a clown shoe :) She wears the shoes during her presentations as visual effect.

I have placed a link to her bookstore on my side bar. If you are interested, take a look.

However, be watching because I will be giving away one of her books in the next few days.

She is one of the sweetest, most fun and genteel ladies I have ever met and a faithful member of our church. So, if you need a speaker for a women's event, she would be thrilled to come and minister. Her website will give you all the info you need to contact her.

Love,