Pampered Chef :)

I am so glad to be a Pampered Chef consultant!! I love these products and meeting new people! Cooking has become more fun and fast! If you'd like to host a party for me (you can do one from anywhere in the U.S.!!) please message me. :) If you'd like to earn some extra $$$, I can tell you all about it. Visit my site to learn more. :)

We're running a special until the end of May but look at what all YOU can get:

My New Job

I am now an Independent Consultant for The Pampered Chef! I'm so excited. Visit my website here and my facebook page here. I decided to enter this adventure with my eyes wide open and see where it takes me. My goal is to pay off my Camaro early and to stock my kitchen, of course. :) If you'd love to host a party for me or be on my team, get with me. I'd love to share the lovely perks about this business with you!!

She's Gone Again and Another's About To Fly

Natalie is in Nicaragua yet again. I am so proud of her! She's gone down this time to help another ministry in Managua, the big city. She is thankful that it's not as hot as she was afraid it was going to be and she's super excited that they have heated showers. :) It's funny how little things like that make such a big difference in our world. We definitely take heated shower water for granted here in the States.

Courtney is moving out in one week and one day. I'm proud of her too! She got hired on at a Chick-fil-A in Longview with higher pay, promise of 40 hour work-weeks, and promises of promotion quickly. She will be living with her grandparents until she can save up for an apartment, which she's hoping to accomplish within a couple of months. She's still looking for someone to foster her dog, Benny, but if she is facing putting him in a shelter, we'll let him stay here until she or we find someone to take him as a foster. He is a good dog, just big. And inside. I'm glad he's housebroken. :) Anyone local want to babysit for a month? It would be like a little visit from a sweet, loving dog. :) May resort to bribery.... ;)

Bethany's Neuro Visit

We took Bethany to her neurologist today for a check up. The doctor wants us to take her in for a 23 hour VEEG (Video EEG). We're all in agreement. So, the scheduler at the hospital will be calling us shortly to schedule her visit. Why the VEEG? Well, she hasn't had any noticeable seizures but we want to see what her brain is doing off meds. She hasn't had a non-medicated EEG since she was 8 months old. Anyway, we suspect spikes and the EEG will let us see if she is or isn't. One huge positive is that we were in and out of there within 40 minutes. Sure beats the doctor being over an hour late to our appointed time. First morning appointments are the way to go!!

After the visit we went to IHOP. The cheesecake pancakes are great. :)

Have a blessed day!!

....Not To Be...That Is The Answer

Well. Not sure how to start this blog post off but I'll just jump into it and rip it off like a bandaid stuck to your skin: we are NOT adopting Calli. <GASP!> "What happened?" "Why?" - two questions we've heard over and over. Figured it would be better if I just said it all here and got it over with. So, she chose to go back to her biological mom and step-dad, that's what happened. Why? I have no idea. Maybe because she finally got what she wanted with her boyfriend and in September, they'll be parents. Maybe her family supports her getting married to the bum boyfriend. I don't know. What I do know is that when she told us about the pregnancy on Friday night / Saturday morning, she said again she wanted us to adopt her and that she was glad the baby would be a part of a family that loved her/him and she (Calli) wouldn't have to worry about the baby being around crazy people. Then, a little more than 12 hours later, her bio mom, step-dad, and the bf's mom showed up at our doorstep. When Calli's phone rang (we were sitting on the couch) she held it out to me and was shaking saying it was Angie (bio mom) on the phone and what should she do. I told her to answer it or not but that was her choice. If we did nothing else for Calli, we know she now knows she has a choice in her life. She didn't answer the phone but the doorbell rang and there they were.

It wasn't pretty. As a matter of fact, it got ugly. I know I smacked the bf's mom's hands off of Calli (or so I was told - I was too mad to remember) and then yelled at her to get off my property, but she was literally pulling Calli down the driveway. No one else tried to protect Calli. Just me. Sad, huh? You would have thought Angie would have told Marlene to back off. She is such a busybody and troublemaker. Anyway, Angie was saying she wanted to just hug her baby and blah-blah-blah and they wanted to talk in the car. So, they did. For about 30 minutes or so. I don't know how long it was actually but that seems to be about right. Anyway, Calli got out of the car and came to me and said that "I'll come back to visit." So, we knew the answer. She chose to go back to the home that hurt her, deserted her, and pushed her away. That is her choice.  Hope she's happy with her decision.

She came by on Sunday to pick up her things. What's ironic is that she wanted her stuff to be put outside. It was like they were afraid we were going to kidnap her and change her mind about going back to Angie's. Really? Really??? Calli knows us and yet it only took a little amount of time for them to convince her we were not who she knows us to be. Ridiculous. We are guilty of one thing: loving a young lady who had slept in her car and was not going back "home". We gave her a roof over her head, food, Tom even fixed her heater in her car, laughter, security, and love.

So, now that she's gone what next? Well, we've had all kinds of emotions running wild. Anger, frustration, sadness, questioning - would we do anything different? / did we do enough? The answer is easy. We did what God wanted us to do and we'd do it again if given the opportunity because it's not about us. It's about Christ.

Life...

My mom and step-dad are coming into town today. They are staying with my oldest daughter (their oldest grandchild), son-in-law, and grandson. I'll get to hang out with my mama tomorrow and am so excited. :) I was going to go to breakfast with them but I have to pick up my Bountiful Basket and the timing on that just won't mesh. Unless, of course, we can meet early in the morning. At any rate, I guess I should plan on what to serve for a late lunch. I'm sure there will be some domino game going on tomorrow and it's always fun to snack while playing games. We can get pretty competitive so it will be exciting. I can see chips flying in the air as we speak. :)

I rearranged my furniture in the living room today. For some reason, it looks emptier so we'll see if I like it. 

I finished reading an awesome Christian historical fiction book last night. To Whisper Her Name by Tamera Alexander. It is a long read but well worth it. I loved the characters. I now have about 3 more review books to tackle. I must admit that since I received my 10" tablet, I have been doing more reading on it than hard copy books, which is odd for me. I usually don't like ebooks. I'm learning to love them. :)

Today my 20 year old daughter's boyfriend is coming over to cook for her. I'm ready to see what he's going to create and if I can sneak any samples. :) 

It's going to be a good weekend but next weekend is going to be super busy. Hopefully this Saturday will drag by because I do enjoy a good, lazy day. :)

Hope you have a blessed weekend!!

Chicken Tacos...It's What's For Dinner

Today I visited with my oldest daughter and my awesome grandson. He's so precious. I love it when he calls me Nammy. I'm actually supposed to be Grammy but oh well. I'll take it. :)

Anyway, it was time for me to leave and I knew I needed to stop by Kroger to get something to fix for supper. I just didn't know what to fix. Nothing sounded good. So, Hannah suggested I get a rotisserie chicken and some flour tortillas to make chicken tacos. Hmmm. Sounds good. So, I went to the store and bought two chickens (I'm feeding 8 people tonight so I figured I might need two) and fresh flour tortillas.

I have now shredded the chicken. I will warm up the awesome pinto beans we had the other night so we will have a side dish. I already have lettuce and sour cream. Sounds yummy, huh?

One thing I decided to do after I was deboning the chicken was to make a stock from the bones so I saved them and will work on that tomorrow. Tonight I'm going to help my hubby with a project at church so I don't have time to cook it tonight. We'll see how that works. Hope it's not a waste.

Anyway, here's a photo of my shredded chicken and the bag it came in in case you wanted to try it yourself.

Bon appetit!

Reconnections...

Today has been fabulous. Through the awesomeness of Facebook and Google, my daughter Hannah found some of my friends whom I haven't seen in about 22 years. I am so excited and what's great is that they are too! When Ann said hello after answering the phone, the only thing I could do was cry tears of joy. Oh what an amazing day today has been. I am praising Jesus for His blessings!!

Have you reconnected with someone you haven't seen in forever? How did it go?

Sunday's Posting

Well, this week has been crazy. I think I could probably start ALL of my blogs off with that statement. I don't know what our life would be like if we didn't have a crazy week. Maybe I'd like to try it out though. :)

Natalie is doing well in Nicaragua. She's actually moving from Diriamba to El Crucero tomorrow. The gal she's been staying with is coming to the states for a few months so it's safest for Natalie for her to move. Plus she'll get to be closer to her job of teaching English and helping with the other orphanage. It's all God's timing for sure!

We went to see The Judgement House in our area this Saturday. We had about 25 from our church that went. It's a good way to get someone to learn a little about Heaven and Hell and hopefully help them make that life changing decision.

This next weekend we're going to play paintball with the church. I am going to sit out and watch the action from a safe distance. Something about getting bruises doesn't appeal to me. :)

Bethany is doing well coming off her epilepsy medicine. She's had some anger outbursts but she's calmed down fairly well afterwards and we're thankful for that.

Tom's almost done working on Courtney's Fiat. I sure hope he gets done soon so I can start parking in the garage again. Especially before winter. :)

Well, that's all for now. Have a blessed week!

Weekends

Weekends are supposed to be fun and restful, right? Well, our last weekend was anything BUT! I bet we put a whole months' worth of stress, drama, pain, sickness, laughter, sleeplessness and tears in those two little days. And I will say, it was waaay light on the laughter. So looking forward to a stress-free day today!!! How was YOUR weekend?

The Day Has Arrived

We've both looked forward to and dreaded this day for some time now. Our baby girl, who will be ten soon, has been given the OK to go off her AED's. (Antiepileptic drugs) She will begin weaning by only taking one pill at bedtime for 30 days followed by one pill at bedtime every other night for 30 days. So, at the end of 60 days from today, she will be, Lord willing, completely off her meds. However, if she has a seizure between now and then, she has to go back on Zonisamide and prayerfully at the same dosage. We were told that it's possible the medication that she's on now won't be as effective but we'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, she's been taking AED's for 10 years and she deserves a break to see what will happen. We do have a rescue drug to give her if she goes into a seizure for more than 5 minutes. Hope we don't have to use it but I'm glad we have it. Thanks for praying for her. :)

Recent Life Events

Well, for the past couple of weeks I have been in my own little world. I kinda like being there. . . with my head buried in the sand. . . but it's not good for those around me so I gotta pick myself up, brush off, and get going in the right direction.

Last Friday I received a call that a fellow pastor had gone on to Glory. You may remember him. His name is Bro. Marc. I took a devotional or two, well, actually three, from him and put it on my blog. He was always willing for me to take what he wrote because like he said, it wasn't his, it was God's and if it would reach more people, then good. :) Bro. Marc was cool like that. Didn't have to worry about him copyrighting his stuff. :) I can still hear his voice as I read his posts. I hope I always remember his calm, precise voice, with accent. His lovely wife, a dear, dear friend of mine and accomplice in all things troublemaking, is now a widow. Bro. Marc was 55. I'll not share Becky's age but she is around that age. Anyway, her entire life is now upside down. She will move out of the parsonage and into her parent's home. Her son lives there too. It's 3 hours from me. Although she currently lives only 30-40 minutes from me, I have been too busy to go visit her. For that, I feel horrible. I love this woman to death. I'm notorious for that. I either love you for life or really, really dislike you. I guess I do tolerate some people, but I'm pretty extreme one way or the other. Anyway, my heart bleeds for my friend. She's always been a pastor's wife. What will she do next? Only God knows. I will be the friend that she needs me to be though.

Our newest daughter, Calli, is adjusting well. She has her ups and downs but is a delight. Providing we are able to go through with the adoption (totally letting her decide) we will change her name to Calli Noelle. We chose Noelle for the phrase "now all is well" which was shortened to "noel" and I like flowy, so I added "le" to the end. :) As Tom said (who wanted just Noel), "I didn't get to choose with the others, why am I not surprised I didn't get to choose with this one?!" Ah, he'll live. ;) Noelle is prettier. :) And Calli is a beautiful, graceful young lady and it fits her better.

Natalie is now safely in Diriamba, Nicaragua. I've video chatted with her twice today. She just arrived yesterday. I promised to not hound her daily. I may have lied. lol

I think that's all I have to say for now. I'm going to go see if my bank is back online now. I was going to do my banking but the site was down and like I said earlier, my head's been in the sand so I haven't even looked at my accounts for a week or two. Not a smart move. Until later...

Happy Anniversary!!

Today is my 21st wedding anniversary. Tom and I have been through many ups and downs but I am thankful that he's my hubby. I love him. :) I could tell you all about our life together but it's kinda boring so I'll spare you. :) What I will leave you with is a picture of what one of our daughters gave to us for our anniversary:

Pretty, huh? :) Love my kids! All 8 of them!

The Phrase..

"God works in mysterious ways" is so true. As you know, we've talked and prayed about adopting. Once Court graduated and Natalie moved out, we were going to clean out a bedroom and make it ready for a new baby. Sounds like a good plan, right? Gotta make sure we don't have too many kids at home as I know the maximum is 6 in a home at one time. Now, however, it seems like God has different plans for us.

For starters, Natalie is not just moving out, she's moving to Nicaragua. That's pretty far from Texas. BUT, we know God is leading her and will strengthen her through this. How amazing to be as close to God as she's going to be. Having to rely on Him for protection and knowing you can't do it on your own is something we honestly rarely do. But, this post isn't about that so I'll stop chasing rabbits with my story. :)

Around the first of August we had a young lady need a place to stay. She works with one of my daughters so we know a little of her personality and trust our daughter's judgment concerning her. Anyway, for many reasons, Calli came to stay with us. This young eighteen year old girl is such a delight. Having raised and graduated 3 daughters, working on 2 sons and 2 younger daughters, I know when the teen years strike that you can have conflict. Not always, but it can happen. Things aren't always "rosy". So far, we've not had any problems with her. As a matter of fact, I know we're all blessed to have her with us. So much so that the topic of adoption has come up. At first I didn't think you could adopt an adult, but you can. I googled it. :)

So, whether or not we adopt Calli is yet to be seen. We are all praying about this and seeing where God is leading. At the minimum, we are treating her as our own and she has blended in well with our family. Everyone loves her. She will be a part of our lives forever regardless of a paper and a name change.

What have I learned from this? Be open to God's leading. We're getting to adopt a whole orphanage by helping send our daughter Natalie to Nicaragua to serve in one there. We have adopted Calli in our hearts. Who knew we'd be in this position a year ago? Actually, to be more precise, who knew we'd be in this position early July? We sure didn't. But we are so blessed. It's an amazing thing. I'm so thankful that I took part in a Bible Study in Judges. When God says do something, you do it. Ahhh. Love. :)

We Finally Have A Licensed Driver

If you read my previous post, you'll know that I don't like taking kids to the DMV. If you didn't read my story or need a refresher, you can read it here.

At any rate, Courtney PASSED! I did end up taking her for the test because Tom was working and Natalie had a headache. I wasn't as nervous as I was the Friday before, but I was still nervous. I almost hugged the lady who tested her when she said Court passed. It was definitely a time for celebrating!!

Kids and Driver's Licenses

For whatever reason I get extremely nervous when it comes time for the kids to take their driving test to get their license. To the point where I visibly shake and feel like I need to vomit. I honestly don't know why that bothers me so much, but it does. So, from now on, I will NOT be taking anyone to the DMV to get their license. I just can't handle it. Weird huh? Well, it's important we know our limits, right? :) On a sad note, Courtney failed her driving test today. "Clifford" our big red Ford Freestyle kept overheating and acting stupid which possibly made her a little nervous. At any rate, she supposedly hit a curb. She said that it was an imaginary curb because she didn't think she hit anything. She DID pass the parallel parking. Now she'll have to start over. Her next test is Monday at 3. Hope Tom is able to take off work like he did today because as stated earlier, I just can't handle it. I'll take the "wimp" trophy on this one. :) Is there anything you know you can't handle and choose to let someone else take care of?

Our Week in Review

It has been an eventful week. To start with, Natalie is in East Texas and will be visiting her aunt's church tomorrow to give her presentation from her Nicaragua mission trip this past July. This church took up a donation to help fund her recent trip and so now she is following up with them and is looking forward to sharing how much God blessed her and tell them of what He has called her to do. I'm so excited for her. She loves sharing about Christ and she will be in her element tomorrow for sure. :)She'll also get to go visit with my mom who I know is looking forward to spending time with her second granddaughter. :)

Also this week we welcomed a new member to our family. A friend and co-worker of one of my kid's moved in with us. She's a very sweet girl that needs some time to sort things out in her life and we're blessed to be able to help guide her. Please pray for her as she has lots of decisions to make and that we are an encouragement to her.

On Thursday, my sixteen year old son along with me & Tom, met with a young lady and her parents for a time of interviewing. :) He was questioned by the girl's dad because my son asked permission to date her. It was great. I loved watching my son's emotions. He was all smiles. :) Plus a bit nervous. ;) Oh, the dad gave permission. Also, we don't "date", we do a modified courtship. Should be a fun season. :)

I went school supply shopping today. Looks like Walgreens will have lots of goodies on sale tomorrow. I'm looking forward to visiting a store or two after church tomorrow. Is it crazy to love shopping for school supplies? :)

Tom has been working on Courtney's car all day today. Hopefully he'll be happy with the results by bedtime. :) I think that's all the updates for this week. Thanks for following. :)

Please remember to pray for Natalie. If you feel led, please consider donating to her Nicaragua Mission Fund. You can find the Chipin link in my sidebar. Every little bit helps. :)

The End is Near

for me transporting Courtney from place to place. She will FINALLY be going to the DMV to get her license as soon as I can get her scheduled. With her working 2 jobs, that's not as easy as it looks. :) BUT, she can drive well and even parallel parked most excellently the other day. Now if she can do the same with a person holding a clipboard in the passenger seat while she drives, we shall see. Fingers crossed. :)

Chipin for Natalie

After looking at the Chipin account for Natalie's Nicaragua fund, I noticed that regardless of how people are sending the money, Paypal is keeping a portion of it. It looks like it's the standard .30 plus 2.9%. SO, maybe we should rethink this. I hate that the money she needs is being taken by a third party. What do you think we should do? I know it's convenient, but is it worth it?

To Paint or Not To Paint. That Is The Question.

I bought a half gallon of paint off of a garage sale site I'm a part of on Facebook. It's actually a little less than half. More like 1/3. Maybe. So, I started painting one wall. One. Not enough paint to paint two. lol It's ok. I only planned on painting the one wall anyway. It's in the laundry room. I hope to finish it tomorrow. I like looking through the kitchen into the laundry room and seeing the splash of color. Can you guess what color I bought? I'll give you a hint. It's not black or red. :)