Dentist visit, Tim's birthday, and "take me some venison;"

I took Allison to get a tooth pulled yesterday morning. I couldn't believe how quickly and easily the dentist took the tooth out. I've never had it done or seen it done before. I thought she would cut it out or else really yank it out, but it appeared that she just grabbed it with her tweezers and gently pulled it right out. It was a baby tooth, so maybe that's why it came out so easy. Allison did really well and didn't have any problems. All 4 of the kids have had something done with their teeth that they had to get numbed for. None of them even realize that the dentist gave them shots in their mouths though. She puts the numbing gel on first and then she is so sneaky with the needle that they never see it. I'm not going to tell them either.

After the dentist appointment, Allison and I went and visited my sister, Tricia for a while. We had lunch and then went and did a little bit of birthday shopping for Tim. I got him the first season of "The Dukes of Hazzard", a motorcycle movie that Al picked out, and some candy (Hot Tamales, Lemon Heads, and Whoppers). Allison and I got back home just in time for Clara and the twins to get home from school.

Yesterday was Tim's birthday. My Mom watched the kids last night while Tim and I took a motorcycle ride and went out to eat at Applebees. We had such a nice ride. It wasn't freezing cold this time! I'm hoping that the weather will stay nice enough so we can go on a ride for my birthday in a couple of weeks.

We had a nice dinner at Applebees. Tim had what he always has there, the Bourbon St. Steak. I had a trio of shrimp, buffalo wings, and spinach artichoke dip with chips. It was all good. :) We got back home around 8pm. The kids and I gave Tim his cards and presents yesterday, but we didn't have cake yet. His Mom just came up late last night so we're going to have cake and icecream with them tonight.

I watched "The Office" last night. That show is so cooky, but it's funny most of the time. I watched "E.R" after that and was bawling at the end of it! I couldn't believe that Pratt died! It seems like that show always ends with unanswered questions though, that they don't answer even in the next episode. Last night I wondered what was up with Abbey's foot. She never did get it checked out. What about the hero guy that saved the old lady. What was that really all about?

Anyway, that was my day yesterday. Today I'm trying to get the house cleaned up for dinner and dessert tonight with the family.

Allison gets to go hunting for the first time tomorrow. There is a special Youth hunt just for this weekend. She's hunting with a bow and arrow and she is really good at it. I hope she gets one. She will be so proud and we will be so proud of her. We are all hungry for venison too, so I hope she gets a big one.

(From the King James Version)
Genesis 27:3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;

It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Well it was a beautiful day in our neighborhood and as it turns out, a beautiful day for a neighbor. :) We have a new neighbor moving into the house across the street from us. A family had lived there when we first moved here, but they left a couple of years ago. Yesterday we saw a U-Haul truck there, so we figured someone was moving in. Today, we met our new neighbor, Ann. She seems very nice and very friendly. Tim and I and a couple of other neighbors helped her unload the truck today. The house is big and very old. There is a lot of cleanup needed there and probably repairs as well. I'm hoping to help out a little bit if I can. I think it's a lot for one lady to do.

We did have a really nice day today. It was sunny outside and just such a nice fresh day. We went to Church and Sunday School this morning. Tonight I went over to my Mom and Dad's house for a little bit. My sister Tricia was there too, so we got to visit for a little bit.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm hoping to get some more cleaning/organizing done around here. I don't plan on going anywhere tomorrow and the kids will be at school; so I should be able to get a lot done. I might invite Ann (The new neighbor) over for a visit tomorrow. We wanted to have her over for dinner tonight, but she must have left to get another load with the U-haul truck.

Well, it is getting late and I'm really tired tonight. I guess I am off to bed to get rested for working tomorrow. :)

Our Whole Family Will Be Together In Heaven!

Friday September 19, 2008

I am so happy today! Today I was so honored to lead our little Emily to accept Jesus as her Savior! :)

We (Ben, Emily, and I) were talking about Heaven. I said that I was going to go there someday because I am a Christian. Ben said he was too, because a couple of days ago Daddy had prayed with him to accept Jesus into his heart. :) Emily asked if she would go to Heaven. I told her that she would if she became a Christian. I took her and Ben and sat down with them with my Bible (My precious Bible), God's Holy Word. I reminded them that the Bible is inspired by God and He told men what to write. I reminded them that everything in the Bible is true because God is perfect and he cannot lie. Then I went through some verses with them, explaining each one as I read them.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (I explained that we are all sinners from the time we are born and that sin is when we do things that God doesn't want us to do such as lying, cheating, hurting people, and disobeying. I told them that even Mommy and Daddy are sinners)

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (I explained that because we are sinners we will be separated from God when we die and won't go to heaven. But then I told them that God made a way for us to get to heaven in Jesus.)

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (I reminded them of how God loves us even when we are sinners and showed us that by sending Jesus to die for our sins. I told them that Jesus was perfect and never sinned)

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (I explained to them that Jesus is God's only son and that God sent him for us so that we wouldn't have to die [be separated from God] and we could live forever in Heaven with God.)

Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (I asked them to say that Jesus is the Lord and asked them if they believe that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after he died. They said that they did know that.)

Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, (I explained to them that since they said that Jesus is their Lord that now when they sin, God can forgive them if they ask him to because of Jesus.)

Romans 5:10 For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (I explained that if God forgave us when we were still sinners because Jesus died for our sins then he will even forgive us now when Jesus is alive in Heaven)

Then I asked Emily if she wanted to pray to God. She said that she wanted to go to Heaven, but didn't want to pray right now. Then Ben said a prayer and in his prayer he asked God that Emily would pray. Then Emily prayed and told God that she believes in him, that she knows she is a sinner, and she thanked him for sending Jesus to die for her sins.

Emily saw me crying and I always tell them that sometimes when Mommy is happy, she cries. Emily started crying too and said "Stop! Oh, you're making me so happy!" :)

I told Ben and Emily that when you become a Christian, God says that we are born again. So, tonight, we had a birthday party for Ben and Emily! I made cake (Angel food cake by coincidence). Emily said she wanted presents. I reminded her that God's gift to her was eternal life with him in Heaven. (and I bought her and Ben some candy and some bracelets and a necklace for her). :) They were so happy today, especially Emily. She called quite a few people to tell them the Good News. When she would get on the phone she would say "It's my birthday!" and eventually explain that she was saved today.

Tim was with Ben when he got saved the other day, so I don't know all of the little details.

What a good feeling it is to know that everyone in our house will one day be in Heaven together. I told Ben and Emily how wonderful Heaven is. I told them that we won't need medicine or bandaids there. I told them no one will ever be sad or mad or mean in Heaven. They asked if there would be toys there. I said that God would make sure that they were happy there. Emily said she wanted to go there now because it was boring here. I told her that God will take us there when he wants us to be there. :)

More Photos

Here are some pictures that I took yesterday at my Mom and Dad's house.





This is a poor little plant that is being eaten up by something, but I thought it looked so beautiful and lacy.



Here is a four leaf clover that I found. They are pretty hard to find, so I was excited about it. :)

Hearts

These are pictures that I took this morning that look like hearts to me.

A Beautiful Day!

I had a beautiful day today! I got up at 5:30am and took a nice hot shower. It was so cold this morning in the house. I woke the kids up at 6:00am and got them dressed and drove them to their cousin's house where they get on the bus. Then I had a nice cup of coffee and a visit with my sister-in-law, Kim. She always pours me a nice big cup and puts just the right amount of flavored creamer in it. :) I took my niece, Tara, to school at 7:45am for a meeting she had.

Then I went up to my sister, Tricia's house and visited with her for a little bit. We went to the coffee shop and she had coffee and I had a peach muffin top. It was really yummy. I took her back to her house and then I went to my Bible study.

Bible study went really well and I made a couple of new friends, which I am really excited about! It is so good to talk to people who are similar to me and have the same struggles and desires. I love the group of ladies in the Bible study because they are all so supportive and encouraging. I learn a lot from listening to them.

After Bible study, I went back to Tricia's and we went to the farmer's market. There were so many yummy fruits and veggies there and pretty flower boquets. I like the little pumpkins that one lady paints up with cute faces and puts a bow on their "head". I bought some beautiful Indian corn. I'm not one to decorate very much, but I mostly bought it just because it was so pretty and I like to look at it. I will probably do nothing more with it than to just sit it on the counter and look at it. :) I also bought a squash. I forget what kind it is. It's dark orange and kind of squattier than a pumpkin. I bought some last year and loved them even though I don't usually like squash like that. I also bought some homemade sheeps milk soap. I felt compelled to buy it because it smelled really good and it had shea butter in it. If it's got shea in it, it has to be good right? :) Oh, and I also bought some huge sweet hot peppers. I'm not sure what I'll do with all of them because there were so many, but again, they just looked really pretty. I do like peppers though. I'll probably make some salsa and freeze the rest of the peppers for later.

After the farmer's market, Trish and I went out to lunch. She had a grilled roasted veggie sandwich and I had a grilled ham and cheese with onions and apples on it. It might sound a little different, but it really tastes good! We both had a cup of chili too that was made from elk, lamb, and bison burger. That was also yummy.

Trish and I went to the Dollar store and got a few things there. We had time to go into Claire's for about 5 minutes. It is probably good that we had so little time to go there because we both really like the stuff in that store and would have likely bought a bunch if we had stayed longer. We managed to just look today though an didn't buy anything.

I took Tricia back home and then I came home right before Clara, Ben, and Emily got home from school. I was supposed to have a meeting at church tonight, but it got rescheduled. I was kind of glad that it got rescheduled because I just wanted to relax. I made a nice dinner and just got to rest for a little bit. I read some new books to Emily and looked at a book my sister loaned me called "Earth From Above" by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. It has some really amazing photos in it from all over the world taken from above (in a plane or helicopter).

Tim and Ben went squirrel hunting and got a squirrel. I think Benny feels like such a big boy when Daddy lets him go hunting with him. Yesterday was opening day for small game and they went out then too. Tim got a squirrel yesterday too and let Ben carry it back to show us. I don't really like it when Tim shoots squirrels. We believe in eating what we shoot. I love eating venison, but I don't like cooking squirrels. They taste ok, but I don't like the way they look when they are skinned. I'd prefer Tim to only shoot deer, but I will cook the squirrels for him anyway. (I probably won't eat any of it though). :) Oh, and speaking of things I won't eat...Tim's chickens have finally started laying eggs. Actually only one hen has started laying eggs. They are cute little white eggs. I know they are good, but I just can't bring myself to eat anything other than store bought eggs. It is just something silly in my brain I guess but I especially won't eat brown eggs, even if they do come from the store. It drives Tim nuts, but I can't help it. I'm even kind of picky with my store bought white eggs. I can't eat them unless I take out all the white squiggly things. I do eat them boiled though and I know the squigglies are boiled in there too, but it doesn't bother me then. I know I'm weird, but at least it's not really anything too serious. I suppose I could eat them if I HAD to. :)

Anyway, today was just a great day all around. The sun was shining and I felt so happy! It was nice to spend time with my sister and nice to meet some new friends today.

More Beauty from Nature

Here are some pictures I took this morning after I took the kids to school. Except for the picture of the road, they are all taken in our back yard.



Dew drops on pine needles


A puffball mushroom


Dew drops on a leaf


I think that all of these caterpillars were huddled together because it was so cold last night. :)



This is on our road



Dew drops in the grass


Dew drops shimmering in the sun


I love this closeup of the water droplets on this dandelion.

Mystery Dinner Ride

Last night our chapter of CMA (Christian Motorcyclist Association) went on their monthly mystery dinner ride. The group meets at 6:30 pm and then we all follow the leader to the mystery dinner place. It was Clara's turn to go with Tim, but for $3.00 she said I could go. :) Tim and I rode 30 miles along with my Dad to the meeting place in town. Then we went with the other 7 people on another 30-40 minute ride to the restaraunt. The ride there was really nice. The sun was shining then. The air was so cool but it felt so good rushing against my face and smelled like cool water. One thing I really notice riding on the motorcycle is different smells in the air. We passed by a sweet smelling freshly cut lawn. Certain fields had fragrant smelling wild flowers. I also smelled wood smoke from a campfire. I love breathing in those smells deeply as we pass those spots! Other places, I wanted to hold my breath, like the dairy farms or the spot where there was a dead skunk on the road. :) We got to our destination and had a great time visiting with everyone as we ate dinner. Most of us drank hot coffee which warmed our hands and our bodies. It's fun getting to know people better and fun for Tim and I to get to do something like that together.

By the time we left the restaraunt to head home, it was dark out. It was about 9:00 pm then. With the sun gone, the air was bitter cold, and not as pleasant as it had been earlier. I added another jacket to my layers as well as a pair of gloves and a bandana on my face. We made it home about 10:00 pm, tired, freezing cold, but with a happy and content spirit. I'm so glad that I went with Tim. I'm really excited about being in the CMA and going on all of these rides! I enjoy meeting new people and making new friends and riding on the bike with my husband.

Beautiful Nature

Pine cones with sap on them.




We have these poky things all over our yard. Ouch do they hurt!


This is some sort of weed. I just thought it looked cool.


These look like daisies, but they are a lot smaller. They are called asters.


Here's another weed that I think is pretty. We used to put these in boquets we picked for our Mom. :)


Purple clover. If I were an animal, I'd want to eat it. It looks sweet.



This is a side view of Queen Anne's Lace.


Here's the Queen Anne's Lace going to seed.


Sweet peas are my favorite flowers!



These are on the lilac bushes. They must be seeds.


Here is golden rod, best left outside because it makes me sneeze when it dries in the house.


This is a tiny weed flower, but pretty I think.

Mom's Birthday

I surprised my Mom tonight by taking her a Dairy Queen icecream cake for her birthday. Tricia and Bum went over to Mom and Dad's house too to give Mom her birthday present. My Aunt Sandy (Mom's sister) was visiting, so we got to see her too. I haven't seen her for a couple of years. We had a nice time visiting and eating the yummy cake. :)

Mom is opening gifts from Allison and Clara that they made.


Here's Mom looking at a cute picture Clara drew for her. Clara says it is an Elvis monkey. :)


Mom is showing off the boat that Clara made for her. Of course, since she's holding it upside down, it does look like a hat.


Here's a picture of me at Mom and Dad's house. I'm wearing my new CMA shirt that I bought at the rally last weekend.


Here's my beautiful little sister, Tricia. She is always dying her hair different colors. I think it's pretty this shade of blue. That's my favorite color. :)

I love to make presents look pretty on the outside too. :)


I gave my Mom some stationary and Sharpie markers. We love Sharpies!


Mom's opening her gift from Tricia.


I love this beautiful coffee scoop that Trish gave Mom...(hint to Trish, my b-day's coming up soon!)


Here's Mom with the surprise Birthday Cake I got for her. It was a strawberry cheesecake icecream cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Today is my Mom's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you so much! I'm so thankful that God gave me to you and Dad to raise. You have taught me so much and you have helped me become who I am.

You have always showed me love, even when I didn't always show it back. As a child, when I was disobediant you taught me right from wrong. You taught me by example to put others first. You showed me how to be a good friend. Your life showed me how to draw closer to God in hard times. You have displayed Awesome faith when others would have lost all hope.

You have always been a "fun" mom too. I have so many fun and silly memories of you both from long ago and from just days ago. I'm glad that we can have so much fun together.

You are always there for me. I love our coffee visits and just being able to talk to you and share my life with you. You lift me up when I'm down and you always point me to God whom my true joy comes from! You give me the best advice you can and you pray for me.

I love you so much and I hope you have a very happy birthday!

Love, Shea

Here are some pictures of my beautiful Mama!






Decorating Christmas cookies


My Mom loves to "clown" around. Here she is at Halloween.