Horne Home Entertainment

Posted by cokelady

So the other day I was sitting at my desk while James was working in the back yard and the kids were out playing. Suddenly I heard Katie screaming and screeching and squeeling, but it was so excited that I couldn't tell if it was her "fun" tone or her "panic" tone. So I rushed to the back door, just in case. Katie was sitting on the toy tractor, holding on for dear life, legs kicking and flailing everywhere, long hair flapping wildly behind her, screaming at the top of her lungs. Let me clarify something: the tractor was not moving. James was standing about 3' in front of the tractor aiming the leaf blower at her, full force. She was having a BLAST. "Do it some more, Daddy! Do it some more!!!" The boys, naturally, were too chicken to get within 10 feet of their Dad. Manly men that they are.

Yesterday Sam got real excited and started yelling at me, "Fruit loops, Mom! I have fruit loops on my pants!" I looked to see what mess he had made now and found him grinning, with his thumps hooked through his belt loops. Hey, a loop is a loop, right?! Fruit loop, belt loop--same difference.

Just a few minutes ago, Katie and Joe came into my office. Kate was on all fours with a tamborine around her waist and a belt clenched in her teeth. Joe was holding the other end of the belt and "Ho, Ho, Ho-ing" for all he was worth. You guessed it. Christmas has arrived in the Horne household...AGAIN. I'm supposing the tamborine was serving as a "jingle bell" harness of some type for the reindeer. And the kids have been forbidden from putting things around their necks due to their brainless and occasionally violent tendencies (sometimes intentional, sometimes not), so I guess they thought it would be safer to put the belt in Katie's mouth. Well, sure. That way she won't be strangled if Joe yanks on the other end, she'll just lose 6 or 8 teeth instead. Good thinkin', kids! They make me proud.

That's about all the excitement from around here lately. Not really, but it's all I care to share and all you'd want to hear, I'm sure! God's so good to us and I'm thankful for the "lesson" He's teaching me right now. I fear failing Him and am genuinely trying to discover what the right thing to do is. I know that my heart cries out to do God's will. I want the rest of me to follow through! Say a prayer for me, please. Thanks a bundle!

In other news, the 94 year old man and his wife have been to our last two church services and I think they're planning on being with us whenever we meet. They seem sooooooo sweet and they just LOVE the services--especially him. He just weeps and weeps and worships the Lord. Tammy is already SO attached to him! Keep praying for them--God is doing great things!

Well, I'd best get busy. There is a nasty floor in the kitchen and some soapy water and a sponge that all need to get together. I'm the mediator. ~sigh~ Later!

~Rebekah~

8 comments

What Life is All About

Posted by cokelady

I just walked past Katie's room and she's laying in bed reading the Bible. She asked me to look up a few of her favorite passages for her to be able to read (former memory verses and such), then I had her read John 1:1-14 to me. I've always loved that passage and it's a good "starter" section. She read right thought it with no trouble at all (and people say the King James Version is just too difficult!) and, best of all, she was soooooooo excited. Not about the fact that she was reading, but what she was reading. Reading about Jesus being the Word and being the Light and that he was "made flesh, and dwelt among us...that men, through him, might be saved." She was loving it. It makes a Mom's heart burst with joy to see her kids taking such joy in the things of God. There's just nothing better in all the world!

Been a good day around here, over all. I haven't been feeling well for a few days now and it's really slowed down my progress. But God's been helping me and I was more productive today than the previous few days, so that's good. I finally started chipping away at that mountain in my den. I figured if I moved the ironing mess into the den it would motivate me to get it taken care of more than if it's all hidden away in the utility room. I'm smart like that. HA. It just means the den has been trashed since last night.

Katie just came to me. She had instructions to read until 9:30 (she had a long and late nap this afternoon, thus the extended bedtime), then turn her lamp off and go to sleep. She just appeared next to me and said, "It's 9:30, Mom. Have you prayed with me yet?" OOPS. Forgot that part. :-/ It's taken care of now though!

Let's see... Sam got real excited the other day while we were driving and started hollering, "Mountains! I see mountains, Mom!" I looked to see what he could possibly be referring to. Big mounds of fill dirt piled on a construction site. Made my heart break for my poor Texan children! That's the closest thing there is to a "mountain" in hundreds of miles!

Then there's Joe. He was looking at the sky as we were driving that day and finally said, "Mom, if I could get in a hot aiw bawwoon I'd go up so high I could touch the cwouds. Then I'd eat 'em wike mashed potatoes. That's what they wook wike, you know." Leave it to Joe. Other kids see dinosaurs or ducks in the clouds or the Starship Enterprise, or alligators... Joe sees mashed potatoes. That kid loves to eat. Especially since that month long training session on learning to appreciate foods other than chicken and peanut butter!

Okay, so to be totally honest, I didn't put a very big dent in Mount Ironing. I should go start chipping away again. ~sigh~ I'm going to beat this thing yet, you just wait! But it's not going to happen in Blogland, so I'm leaving now. More later!

~Bec~

7 comments

Colossal Kudos to JENNA!!!

Posted by cokelady

Is she a wonder worker, or what?! Is this not the coolest blog you've ever seen?!?!? I LOVE IT!!! Kasey was so kind as to help me out with the last template and I didn't want to bother her again (especially since her Internet access is quite limited nowadays!), so I went to the other Blogging Diva and *WHAM-O!* we have a fantastically fun blog. THANK YOU, JENNA!!!!!!!!! You're my hero. ;-)

Tell me truly, now. It makes you happy just to come to my site now, doesn't it? Come on -- you know it just makes your day! You can't come to a great site like this without a smile creeping across your face, even if you were in a foul mood to start with. Now if only I could get the "I'd Like to Give the World a Coke" song on here. Hhmmm... :-)

There's really nothing else exciting to report at the moment. So HEY, just enjoy the great looking page!!! Let's see... Oh! This is exciting! The 94 year old man and his wife were at church tonight and seemed to love it. He wept through the entire song service and testified to the wonderful spirit he felt tonight -- like the good old days, I think he said, then made some reference to A.J. Tomlinson. WOW. We're trusting that God is rekindling that old Church of God feeling in his heart and drawing him back home. I don't know if I shared this last time I mentioned this man (I may not have known at that time), but he used to be a minister in the Church of God of Prophecy years and years ago. Not sure how he got away from it, but I think it's been a very long while since he's been around God's Church. He's definitely enjoying it! Sam and Tammy are spending lots of time with them, showing them tons of love and attention, giving them rides to church, taking them to get groceries, etc. What a great pastor and pastor's wife! This is such a blessing to us all. Please keep this couple in your prayers. They're names are Ellis and Elizabeth Poole. His family was in the Church "in the A. J. Tomlinson days" in Mississippi. Brother Dewberry actually said that he knows the guy -- and his sister who still lives in Mississippi and is still in the CoGoP, although she's not happy there. Small world. No. Big God! Help us pray!!!

Well, that's probably enough for tonight. I've GOT to at least start on that mountain of ironing before it grows legs and starts following me around the house. Ugh. There's no chance of completing it tonight, but I should at least ensure that the man has some pants to wear tomorrow. I know he'd appreciate it. The rest of the world, too. ;-)

So you can all leave your praises of Jenna's handywork now! You know, honor to whom honor is due... Hey, wait a minute. Don't I get any credit for this page?! It was my idea, you know! Just 'cuz I didn't have brains enough to even know where to begin--so what?! THANKS AGAIN, JENNA! You're the bestest!

G'night All!
~ Becki ~

13 comments

To Blog or Not to Blog...

Posted by cokelady

That is the question. Actually, the question I'm faced with at this particular moment is: To blog...or to iron? Hhmmm. Tough one. Especially since I'd have to get a step ladder to reach the top of the ironing pile at this point. Who wants to get involved with a project like that?! I might even get hurt. So what was I do to? BLOG.

As usual, I have nothing much to blog about, but hey, has that ever stopped me before? Of course not!

James loaded us all up and hauled us to Hobby Lobby last night. You guessed it: Christmas stuff. ~sigh~ Bought 8 snowmen. The worst part is that he makes me pick them out. Call me weird, but I just can't get excited about this. It's September, for goodness' sake. Not December, November, or even October -- September. But this is only the beginning. We're going to have to go Christmas shopping once a week from here on out because the sales change that frequently. This week the snowmen were on sale 50% off. And the argument was obvious: "But Bec, they're never going go on a better sale than this until after Christmas-- and right now is when you'll have the biggest selection!" What hope do I have? When we have so much Christmas stuff that it won't fit in the shed anymore, I'm going to try to draw the line. I don't want to get involved in the "I shall build me bigger barns" thing! Ha!

I've been nicking away at some household chores the last few days, but just can't seem to work up the motivation to stick to any of them. It took me three days to get my desk cleaned off. It's not that it was piled that high, just that my oomph was that low. I cooked three chickens yesterday and finally got around to chopping them up and freezing them in small packs today. Made a chicken & stuffing casserole tonight. Must've been a hit because there's very little left. James had been craving stuffing. After dinner he took Sammy with him to the store and they came back with ice cream (Blue Bell, of course, Mom!), bananas, cherries, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream. WOW! It was great!!!

I made my first peach pie the other day. It was okay, but not nearly as glorious as I was hoping for. I used some peaches that we bought from an Amish farmer while we were in Pennsylvania and just expected the pie to be out-of-this-world. Do you know how disappointing it is to expect out-of-this-world and end up with "eeehh, pretty good." ~ugh~ The peaches (and the apples and the corn on the cob) had a long trip from that Amish farm to west Texas, so maybe that made a difference. In any case, there's half of a mediocre peach pie in the other room if any of you have a hankerin'.

I guess I should go. Does this qualify as a book, Mandie, or should I continue? I would add some pictures for those of you who like the story book thing (you know who you are), but alas, I can't add pictures. Why, you may ask. Because I don't have any pictures. Why, you may ask. Because I no longer own a camera. Why, you may ask. Because it was in my brand new purse that was stolen at the General Assembly!!! That's right, I searched for a whole year for a purse that I liked, finally found one I loved, spent twice as much for it as I've ever spent on a purse before ($18 to be exact--I know, I know, I'm cheap), had it for a whole two weeks and *wham-o* it gets nabbed. It's a long story and hardly worth the telling, so I'll spare you all the gory details. On the bright side, my husband doesn't trust me with any credit cards (not that I ever spend money; I just, on occassion, seem to misplace important things...like purses), so there was no danger there. I did have a debit card, but it was a new one and I'd been too lazy to activate it. I told James, "See, I do my part!" I'm a good wife. :-) The biggest loss was the $50 cash that I had, the digital camera, my drivers license, and the clip-on sunglasses that came with my current glasses. And, of course, the "I finally found the perfect one!" purse itself. ~ugh~ I was sick over it. But it could have been soooooo much worse, so I'm thankful. In the big scheme of things, it's really not that important. But don't tell James I said that--he'll think I'm not taking this seriously enough and he'll never even let me own another purse! Ha!

Okay, I guess I'll spare you any more. For now anyway. Hope you all have a great night!

~Becki~

10 comments

I'm Doing the Work! I'm Not a Slacker!!!

Posted by cokelady

Okay, people, it's like this. We were gone for 18 days on that Assembly trip -- had to go a day early for the Presbytery meeting, then stay a day late for another one. Day after that was spent driving to Pennsylvania, then three days were spent visiting with James' folks there. Then another day to drive back to Cleveland (it's about 10 hours away), then we were supposed to head home the next day, but my wonderful and thoughtful husband decided we'd spend an extra day in Cleveland for the sole purpose of being able to spend a little extra time with my folks. WOW!!! ~gushing with love and appreciation~ We visited with them for a little while in the morning, then just dinked around town until Dad was able to leave HQ that evening and meet us for dinner. Afterwards we went and looked at a house for sale (the folks are in the market, you know!), then went back to HQ and sat down and watched Veggie Tales with the kids in the lobby. (Shhhhhh! Don't tell! -- It's so difficult to visit Mom and Dad right now with no place to go to relax, you know?!) Anyway, it was getting a little late so we put Dad to bed :-) then Mom came back to our motel room with us so she and I could play a game once we put the kids down for the night. I won, of course. ~ahem~ Anyway, the NEXT day we finally headed for home. Made it all the way to Terrel, TX, just east of Dallas before stopping for the night. That gave us about 7 hours to drive to make it home the next day, so that was a breeze. Finally made it home this past Wednesday, threw myself into unpacking and tackling the entire mountain range of laundry (Peak Bleachables is always HUGE after the Assembly), then spent the next few days putting our Regional paper together, as it was already about 3 weeks late. Finished that up on Saturday, then put together Sunday School and song service for Sunday. After service yesterday Sam & Tammy came over to help James "build" the Regional papers and stuff envelopes, etc. They stayed until 1:30am (!!!!) watching Assembly DVD's with us -- after I beat Sam REALLY, REALLY, REALLY bad at a game. ~satisfied sigh~ Life is good. So ANYWAY, that's where I've been and what I've been up to. I really don't think I deserve all of the nagging that has come my way for being a "slacker" and not posting in so long. Especially from people who should be struck by lightning from the sheer hypocracy of such an accusation. I won't mention any names, but I do suddening feel the irresistable urge to burst into song... BLUE MOON!!!! You saw me standing alone!!!.........

By the way, as we were leaving church after service yesterday a 94 year old man and his wife came walking through the door, hoping they weren't too late to join us. He began inquiring as to which church we were (we meet in the First Christian church building) and Brother Sam told him that we were The Church of God--but not the "elders" Church of God from down the road. The man says, "Yeah, that church way back in the 20's came out of Brother A.J. Tomlinson's church." !!! You should have seen Sam's face!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! It was priceless!!! I had to go (James was already outside in the van with the kids), but I guess Sam and Tammy had a real good visit with the man and his wife. He used to be a minister in the Church, but has been away from it for years and years now and has some kind of goofy ideas, but nothing Brother Sam thinks that can't be overcome with a little effort and love on our part. The man has a sister in Mississippi who is still in the Church of God of Prophecy and none of them had ever heard about the split in '93, but they're not happy at all with the course that church is going. Anyway, it's a tremendous open door and we're so excited about the possibilities--they're planning on joining us for service this Thursday. Help us pray for them! His name is Ellis Poole -- mention him to the Lord, if you will. Thanks!

Okay, I've got to get about my day. I was really just stopping by to put an end to the griping. So here's the part where you all tell me how wonderful it is to have be back and you heap on the praises and compliments because I have taken time from my busy life (it's 9:20am, nobody has been dressed OR eaten breakfast at this point) and written to all of my dear friends and associates. HA! The kids are starving and I'm ready to get some real clothes on. Until later...

Love You All!,

~ Becki ~

9 comments