Day is never finished....(master got me workin')

I am trying hard to prove to Steven that I work hard around here... so today I went above and beyond the call of duty. My mother-in-law retired on Monday and has been working in our yard some this week. I helped her weed this morning and we did some other things, then decided to push mow our 1 acre yard. Now, I accepted a long time ago that I can never outwork my mother-in-law, or her mother, for that matter. But today I tried. Mowing the grass is pretty gratifying, I like doing work when the results are immediate. However, after about 30 to 45 minutes I was kinda over that. But, we got the job done. I came in, took a shower, and then proceeded to fix supper. After church I came home and was finishing cleaning the kitchen only to discover my dishwasher is not working. I mean, really. Didn't I work hard enough today? I guess not. But as you can see, I did not unload all of the dirty dishes and wash them. I left them there in the hopes that it will magically start working tomorrow. I finally understand now how my Grandma used to leave a sink full of dirty dishes until the next morning after a day of teaching and then fixing supper. My daily quota of work is met and I can not wash another dish. Literally. Wimpy? Maybe. But it's the best I can do.


Plus, I have to leave some time to enjoy these cute young'uns of mine.

Here's Sadie and Steven at a Greensboro Grasshopper's Game that we didn't even get to go to (don't ask, it's another long, boring, story).

I thought it was a good idea to give the kids an oreo on the way back from Walmart. I was wrong.

My little girl is growing up and riding a big girl bike! This was her birthday present from my parents and she loves it. Being 3 suits her. She is more and more fun every day.

Goodnight!

A thankful heart is a happy heart.

I have received my first (and maybe only) piece of Grandma's estate this week..... her barely used VCR. I have tons of old videos and the VCR part of my DVD/VCR player quit working this year. I have been meaning to buy a new one but now I don't have to. Mama came for a visit this week and we pulled out an old Veggie Tales video for Sadie to watch while we cleaned and organized the bonus room. We picked Madame Blueberry, which is one my favorites as well as Sadie's. The video is about a spoiled blueberry who thinks happiness is equal to accumulating more stuff. Of course, throughout the movie she learns that the stuff wont make her any less "blue". The theme of the video is the title of this post "a thankful heart is a happy heart." I have been singing it the rest of the day and I have to say it is so true. I am very content and happy right now. Even though I am sad when I think of the passing of my beloved Grandma, I cannot help but count the many blessings around me, especially in the form of people. I am extremely thankful and proud of my parents and extended family of whom I'm from. And my sweet husband, who let me cry on his shoulder this weekend and has spent hours and hours letting me talk about Grandma and all the memories I have. Sadie too, has shown compassion. The night that Grandma died we tucked Sadie into bed and Steven explained death, as well as you can to a 3 year old. I told her through my tears that I was sad because I would miss Grandma 'Bose, Sadie sat up in bed and put her little arms around me, to comfort me. She then wanted to read "Love you forever," which of course I cried through, but all the while she was patting my hand. Eli has his own form of comfort, too, as he has started holding my face in his hands and giving me kisses right on the mouth, over and over, with lips open wide. A little messy, but very sweet. And last and most important, my biggest blessing, is the comfort of our Lord, who Grandma herself is in the presence of at this very moment! How sweet that has been to ponder. I hope I continue to... "count my blessings, name the one by one, count my blessings, see what God has done!"
Goodnight!

A tribute to Grandma

My grandma, Fannie Louise DuBose,went to be with the Lord last Tuesday night after almost 93 years on this earth. She was a wonderful lady, she lived a long time, and got to see so much. She had 4 children, 9 grandchildren, and 8 (almost 9 - Mandy is due any day now!) great-grandchildren. She was an educator, a homemaker, an avid reader, and she could do a cross-word puzzle in 10 minutes flat. I always loved getting cards from her because she always took time to write the sweetest things, literally filling up the inside of the card. She was from a little town called Blythewood but spent most of her life in Gable, SC, in the house my Granddaddy was born in over 100 years ago. She lived there independently until last November.



I have so many sweet memories and am thankful to have had her in my life for over 30 years. We spent this past weekend in SC at her home, and it was strange being there without her. When someone lives in a home for nearly 70 years the house just emanates the the essence of that person. Every time I turned the corner or looked over at her chair I could almost see her sitting and reading or bustling in the kitchen preparing a meal. The funeral was beautiful, just like her. The little country church was packed, the music was perfect, and the words spoken by the pastor and the family truly highlighted her rich life and heritage she has left behind. I am more thankful than ever to be her granddaughter, and I hope to pass on the things that she lived and taught to her children and grandchildren in word and deed. As you can see with these pictures she was able to spend a lot of time with my children and she loved every minute. Steven is also thankful that he had gotten to know her these past 11 years. It feels like the end of an era with her gone, and it will be sad for quite a while, but we know that she is now with her Lord and in complete peace. I pray my life will be half the testimony hers and that whenever the Lord calls me home that my funeral will give him honor and glory, just like hers did.

My 8 on 8

Ok, I've read this kind of thing but never done it, so here goes nothin' (inspired by my friend from work, Katie)

8 TV shows I like to watch:
1. The Biggest Loser
2. American Idol
3. The Office
4. The Bachelor/Bachelorette
5. The Duggars
6. What I Like About You
I can't think of anymore other than kid shows.

8 Favorite Places to Eat:
1. La Fiesta
2. Roly Poly
3. Main Street South
4. Kabutos
5. Jason's Deli
6. Cold Stone
7. Cracker Barrell
8. Elizabeth's Pizza
(I tried to have 9...I obviously have lots of places I like to eat out:]).

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. The beach
2. Watching my kids swim this summer
3. Disney World in July
4. Riding the 4-wheeler
5. Sadie's birthday party
6. The Lord's return!
7. naps
8. eating out

8 Things that happened to me yesterday:
1. Changed a record number of poopy diapers.
2. Went to a baseball game and didn't get to go in.
3. I somehow didn't have to pay my copay at the dr.
4. Had yummy Mexican for dinner.
5. Played at the park.
6. Steven and I watched The Office.
7. Had exactly 1/2 cup of ice cream.
8. Went to bed before midnight!

8 Words or phrases I use often:
1. Seriously?
2. I love you.
3. No sir.
4. No maam.
5. Hands to yourself!
6. You're driving me crazy!
7. Hey stinker.
8. I was just resting my eyes.

8 Things I have learned from the past:
1. Enjoy your life today.
2. Be the friend that you would like to have.
3. Don't smell underwear to see if it needs washing.
4. Silent children = mischief.
5. Parents have so much more wisdom than they used to.
6. Do not be anxious for ANYTHING (Phil. 4)
7. Husbands need TLC as much as your babies do.
8. God is good, always.

8 Places I would like to visit/see:
1. Hawaii.
2. Scotland with Steven.
3. Sadie's face at Disney World.
4. Mission field.
5. Colorado ski trip.
6. Jamaica (honeymoon spot!).
??

8 Things I currently want/need:
1. Sleep.
2. Bar stools.
3. A flat belly.
4. Organizing bins for the playroom.
5. New shoes.
6. To play tennis.
7. A vegetable garden.
8. Date night.

Hope this wasn't TMI. It was fun. (most of the phrases I use are directed to my children, if you couldn't guess). Goodnight!

Sadie's Logic

I love to hear what will come out of my daughter's mouth from day to day. Sometimes it doesn't make sense, she has started rambling now and making up stories with no truth to it (like the deer that bites her foot in the middle of the night, or that Papa cried at Chick-Fil-A because he was scared of the cow). But her little wheels are turning sometimes and it is funny to see it. Before I tell her two funnies I will have to share one that my Mom told me today. When I was about 3 I was riding in the car with her and we passed a very big yard sale. I asked her what it was and she told me, "that's a yard sale, honey". She said I replied "somebody is selling their yard?".
Sadie asks repeatedly why people park their cars in the grass, we see the same ones on the way to church. I have tried to explain several times that they are for sale, and the other night I thought I put it well when I said "They don't want their cars anymore, so they're trying to sell them to someone else." Her reply "They want to walk?"
Today I was getting ready for work and was drying my hair and then using the flat iron, layer by layer (my hair is ridiculously thick). She wanted to climb up on the counter and I kept telling her that the flat iron was hot and I didn't want her to get burned, or me. She calmly states "You just want to burn your hair". That was true and a little disturbing!
We had a busy, fun weekend. My cousin came with her 2 kids Friday for a quick lunch (and dress up in princess clothes, of course). That night we drove to Roanoke for dinner with some family. Saturday we had a dear friend take pictures, you can see them on my Facebook. Every other year I have to twist Steven's arm to take family photos, and I love the way these turned out! He even smiled with his teeth on a few, which is very hard for him, apparently. That afternoon we drove to Raleigh for a birthday party and had a great time with friends. By Sunday I was semi-sick with Mastitis, but a couple of quiet days later and I'm feeling better. I guess I have my limits on how much I can go go go. Speaking of going, I need to run and check on a baby (yes, I am at work, as usual). Goodnight!

Cruisin' it up!

Let me say, I love my life. Steven and I are richly blessed to have each other, our kids, and a home that we enjoy immensely. It was wonderful, however, to get away for a few days with my beloved on a beautiful cruise to the Bahamas....with no kids! We adapted quickly to not having them with us and it felt like another honeymoon. We slept until we woke up, ate whatever we wanted, laid out, read, dressed up for dinner, and had a blast. We even made some new friends. Here we are the first night at dinner...

After a day at sea we stopped at our first port called Half Moon Cay, a deserted island owned by Carnival. Here we are on the little ferry, taking us to the island.

Half Moon Cay, the beautiful blue water!

Relaxing on the beach!

We are working on getting Steven to smile with his teeth.

Eating outside with a view of Atlantis

"Cruise elegant" attire.

the perfect way to end the post, the same way I ended every dinner....warm chocolate melting cake.....yummmmm!!! (with an extra scoop of ice cream). Steven had orange sherbert, although he alternated with lime a couple nights. He didn't know what he was missing!

So much for working so hard to lose weight before the cruise. Oh well. That cake right there (x5) was worth every bite:). Thanks baby for a great trip!

Sallie

Self-checkout

We just returned from a wonderful trip, just Steven and I, that I will dedicate a post too as soon as I have my new power cord for my laptop and can download pictures. Until then, I have a subject to complain about...very quickly since I'm sharing Steven's computer and he is waiting for me to finish :).
There is something about the Self Checkout at the grocery store that is so appealing to me, and against my better judgement I have been drawn to it several times. Yesterday was one of those times. I was getting some things at Walmart with both of the kids and they were actually being very good. I'm not sure why I like the self check out, I think it's partly because I love scanning groceries (I'm just a big 3 year old) and also because I like to bag my things a certain way. Two items into this I knew I'd made a mistake, every other thing I scanned had an error message about weight that the employee had to come put her number in over, and over. I'm sure she was getting frustrated, too, but she actually had the audicity to tell me that "FYI, these lanes are for people with less than 20 items...". I wanted to punch the stupid computer if it told me one more time "unexpected item in bagging area, please remove...". So, hours (not really) later, we finally leave Walmart, and I promised myself I would NEVER again do self check out....no matter how tempting. I'm a slow learner, what can I say.
Goodnight!