Bake Sale Total: $218  

Posted by cokelady

That's $5 more than we made on the sale we had back in March. Aunt Sue was gone to a family reunion in Arkansas and Stacey doesn't even attempt to bake, so that left it up to Tammy and me. We worked long and hard on Friday (until about 2:00am, I think) to get ready, loaded up in the morning and headed down to Thriftway to set up. OH, how I wish I could post pictures! The table was soooooo cute. I took down a few scarecrows from my mantle and some fake pumpkins and a string of fall leaves to help decorate the table. I'd gone to Sue's store and stolen a bunch of cute baskets and such to display the baked goods in, so everything looked just perfect. And Tammy had found a bunch of ribbon on sale last week and bought lots of Autumn colors, so everything had ribbons and/or bows on them, too. I'm telling you, appearance is everything. I really don't think we would sell half as much as we do if we didn't make everything look so nice and neat and clean...and cute. :-) It was fun. We're thinking about having a Christmas bake sale down in Odessa. We'd have 4 times the traffic and could make a lot more money, I'm sure. Of course, we'd have to bake a lot more stuff, too! For now, I'm just feeling fulfilled over what we've accomplished this time. And somehow, as much work as it is, it was an awful lot of fun, too.
We had good service today. Ellis wasn't feeling well today and didn't make it to church. I guess I can forgive a 94 year old man for not feeling chipper all the time. His wife came anyway though, so that's good. We got a nap this afternoon, then returned some stolen goods to Sue's house (we raided that for bake sale props, as well as her store!), then ate at Tortas y Mas with Sam and Tammy for dinner. Then they came over and I beat Sam at our usual game (~satisfied sigh~), then we spent an hour or more playing James' new Wheel of Fortune game. It's one of those video games that you plug into the front of your TV, you know? It was fun! Sam is such a riot. It was great to have something new to play, too!
That's about it from here, really. It's been a long hard week, followed by a long hard weekend, but it's been successful, too--so there's nothing to complain about. All is well. I'm hoping to get back to some kind of normal life here this week. Maybe even do some school with the kids. Seems like it's been forever since we've done that! They've had more free time that they're used to and it's easy to get bored. And when you're bored, it's easy to be bad! So I'm going to try to keep them a little more busy in the coming days. It'll be good for all of us.
Okay, I know when I've failed. There's nothing even remotely entertaining about this post, so I'll spare you anymore drab rambling. I'll try to pick up the pace and be a little more inspiring next time! For now, I'm going to clean up my office so I can get a good start on my day tomorrow. It's always best to start the day with a clean desk, you know. ;-)

G'night!
~Bec~

3 comments

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

Dad's Birthday Present!  

Posted by cokelady


Dad's birthday was yesterday, so this will be a little late (that's our tradition - ha!), but isn't it great?! A few days ago I got the kids in all their cowboy duds, then went and drug our resident photographer out of bed and we all went down to the Masonic Lodge. For real! They've got this fantastic old building that's all run down and looks to be at least 150 years old (although I'm sure it's not). It used to be a bank, I think. It's got bars and was just the perfect setting for our photo session. We had to open the door (it wasn't locked, since it was behind the bars, I guess) so you wouldn't be able to see the lodge symbol in the door (!), so I guess the kids really could've been thrown in jail--for trespassing! I can't imagine anybody would have cared. Especially once they saw the terrific pictures that were produced there! We got lots of fun shots, but this was undoubtedly the best. Don't you just love Sam's expression?! He looks like he really did just throw Kate and Joe in the slammer! I love it!!! I would definitely recommend Sam Kaufman as a photographer for all of your photographic needs -- he always ends up with the most fantastic pictures...even though he's a loser at Rummy. (Confession: Sam won last time we played.) ANYWAY, I've got to get back to work (you'd think that late night post from last night would have been enough to tide me over!), but I thought I'd post this for all to see. No worries about Dad seeing it ahead of time and spoiling the surprise. He's no blogger. ;-)

14 comments

Ba-a-a-a-a-ad Blogger!!!  

Posted by cokelady

Referring to me, of course. Don't know exactly what's happened to me, but I just haven't been real faithful at this thing. I've been neglecting it for a whole week now and I finally make time to do it... at 1:00 in the morning, after a VERY, VERY long day, with only one day remaining to do a thousand and two things to get ready for the Assembly trip--and when everybody else is leaving for the Assembly, too, and probably won't even READ this dumb post. Smart. That's me.

It's been a good week. Last time I wrote I mentioned that we were going to Merkel to be in service with the people there. It was especially interesting this time due to the Luna's 3 year old neice who had never been in Church before and who, from all appearances, has never even heard the word "no" spoken aloud. She walked all over the building throughout the service, spent a few minutes playing with the microphone beside the pulpit (until somebody finally turned the thing off, at which time it lost its appeal), sitting in the chair behind the pulpit, tipping it back and forth, strolling in front of the pulpit with a set of keys dangling from her mouth... Shall I go on? To her credit, she never made a peep throughout the entire service. In fact, considering how completely untrained she was, I wondered if perhaps she was mute since she seemed to have no desire try to make noise. (Aside from wrestling around with that microphone, that is.) I learned otherwise after the service as she informed me that she'd be willing to clean my house if I'd take her home. She actually was a very sweet little girl and quite the conversationalist, just the kind of kid who's parents need a good spanking. ANYWAY, the service in Merkel was very good (in spite of the distractions!) and I think there were 17 in attendance. There is always a good spirit in the services there and we enjoy the fellowship with the sweet people.

The kids are keeping us entertained, as always. Katie asked me something the other day, but I got distracted with the boys and after a while she finally said, "Mom, did you ever answer my original question?" The question was concerning why we watch some cartoons with characters who wear make-up and jewelry. Maybe I got distracted on purpose! Ha! That kid doesn't miss a thing. We need a lot of wisdom to make the right decisions with her, that's for sure.

Well, we spent a long, tiring day shopping today. Oh, by the way -- NEWSFLASH!!! We are going to the Assembly!!! I know that probably doesn't sound like anything remarkable to most of you who have just been assuming we'd be there (I'm one of those who was hoping and assuming that!), but we really didn't know HOW we were going to pull it off this year. The past two months have been pretty tight and James said he just didn't see how we could afford to make the trip unless the Lord worked a miracle. So that's what I've been praying for. Two days ago we got a check in the mail from some dear, sweet people Bob and Bobbina (*names changed to protect the humble) for $1,000!!! Can you believe that?! We cried. A LOT. James sat in the chair and sobbed for probably 15 minutes. God is soooooooooo good to us. So we're going to the Assembly!!! PRAISE THE LORD! And we were even able to go do a little bit of shopping today and get some last minute things so our family will look presentable while we're there! WOW! So anyway...

We went to Odessa to have Stacey cut our hair (the kids' and mine) today, then we had to do some running around. We were gone for 12 hours. Can you imagine?! All over Odessa, then all over Midland, then the drive back home... ~whew!~ We came in and put the kids to bed, the got to work on our VLB signs -- some of the stuff we were shopping for today. We did something quite traditional, but new for us -- felt banners. So I did some sewing tonight and we got them pretty much finished and looking good. I love them! They're so great! And then I hemmed a skirt I need for the Assembly and now here I sit, blogging at 1:23 in the morning. Why, you may ask??? Because I am WIDE AWAKE. I take that back. I WAS wide awake when I began writing. I must confess that I'm beginning to feel a bit drowsy now. YEAH! Maybe I'll be able to sleep now. I should. I was up until 2:30 last night getting caught up on all of the laundry and ironing. I watched National Treasure to help pass the time while I was ironing. It was PERFECT! It's such a great movie and exciting enough that it kept me wide awake long enough to finish every stitch of ironing. :-) Anyway, I'm going to try to get some sleep. Big day tomorrow. We leave for Tennessee on Sunday morning, will probably stay somewhere in Mississippi that night, and make it into Chattanooga Monday afternoon. I hope I don't forget anything important. Like a kid or something. Ha! Like THAT could ever happen. The kids are sooooooooo excited for the Assembly. Until we get there and they realize they have to sit still and be quiet in church for 12 hours a day and in the in-between hours they have to sit still and be quiet in restaurants -- for 5 days. Fun, fun, fun! It won't matter. They'll be able to see their Granddaddy, even if only for a moment here and there, and that will be all they'll need to be perfectly happy. I'm rambling again, aren't I? Is that right? Aren't I? No. That can't be right. But amn't I ain't right either! Gettin' worse, hu?! I'll go now. Sleep. I must need sleep. If I don't get back here again before, I'll see most of you at the Assembly!!! The rest of you, I WISH I was seeing you at the Assembly!

Love Ya',
~ Becki ~

3 comments

"Kum-ba-ya, my Lord, kum-ba-ya..."  

Posted by cokelady

Have you ever had a campfire in your house? Happens here all the time. The kids will dump the whole bin of Lincoln Logs in the middle of the floor to create their "fire," grab their guitars, pull up whatever they can find to sit on, and sing rounds and rounds and rounds and rounds of Kum-Ba-Ya. Always a very rousing rendition of it, too. They even roast marshmallows sometimes. My kids have actually never been camping. Who needs to go camping when you've got the imaginations of a 5 year old, a 4 year old, and a 2 year old working full steam?

Katie was trying to show the boys how to eat like a beaver tonight during dinner time. (If any of you see her at the Assembly, please don't ask for a demonstration.) Joe told her it was against the law to eat like a beaver and he was going to have to throw her in jail. For once, I was in full support of the little lawman.

I got some cleaning done today and the usual Saturday things: vacuuming, baths, etc. I got into the habit of vacuuming every Saturday night because we used to have church here at our house on Sundays. We don't anymore, but I'm trying to stay in the habit of vacuuming regularly--otherwise it's a job I end up neglecting horribly! Anyway, I was cleaning off my desk today and something just hit and and *ping* I whipped out four cards!!! Wow! I haven't made cards in a few months now. I love to do it, but I rarely make time for it. I made one "fall-ish" kind of card and three Christmas cards. Now, before I start hearing all of the rebukes for being a hypocrite and getting on to James for ushering Christmas in 5 months early (!), let me explain. This in no way is connected with the Christmas music I've been forced to listen to or the decorations I've been forced to view this past week. Actually, my plan was to make Christmas cards in March of this year because when I wait until it's "time" to make them, I don't have time--things are too hectic. Well, things were apparently too hectic in March, too, because I never made any. But when we were on our bargain hunting spree at Hobby Lobby yesterday I noticed that their scrapbook papers were on sale -- 1/2 off. What was I to do?! I found some really fun Christmas ones, so I figured I'd get some now while they're cheap. I saw them laying on my desk today and thought, "Hey, I'm in a card making mood!!!" Since I can't even remember the last time I was in that mood, I figured I should take action quickly before I missed my window of ambition. Thus, four cards. ~aahhh~ It felt great to do something FUN! And just think, 3 people will get handmade Christmas cards from me this year! The rest of you will get the cheap-o's from Wal-Mart. ;-)

We're going to have our service here in Andrews at noon tomorrow (as is customary since we got into this new building), then we're going to grab a bite to eat and drive over to Merkel to join them in their evening service. It's about a 3 hour drive and they start church at 5:00, so we'll be pushing it to get there in time. If I can ever get ahold of Sam & Tammy (where are you two?!?!?) I'm going to ask if they'd like to ride over there with us.

That's it for now. I think I'll go see what James is up to. I've got the house pretty much whipped into shape (all except the kitchen floor, which I am not going to worry about tonight), so maybe we can just relax for a while. Sounds great!


~Bec~


P.S. -- As of tomorrow morning:
JUST 11 MORE DAYS!!!! Wa-Hoooooo!

12 comments

OKAY, OKAY, OKAY!  

Posted by cokelady

Listen up, world...
EMILEE IS NOT IN LABOR ANYMORE!!!
As if you weren't aware of that already. I tell ya', some people are so pushy!!! Anyway, I'll pretend none of you have heard the joyous news as yet: Emilee gave birth to 6 lb. 12 oz. Ezekiel David at 2:02 Tuesday morning. Wa-Hoo!!!!! She seems to be doing just fine and has sounded quite chipper when Mom or I have talked to her. Good deal! If you'd like to see pictures of the new addition, you can visit bigredvan.blogspot.com. :-)


Quite frankly, I just haven't felt like blogging. I've wanted to feel like it, but every time I sat down at the computer I'd think, "Nah. ~sigh~ Not right now." I guess I just didn't have much to write about. I still don't, but here I am. You bunch of nags will be sorry for giving me a hard time! I'll show you!!!! I'm going to post the longest blog ever, about absolutely NOTHING!!! Nothing is in the box!!!!

Let's see... Hhmmm... Uh... Hhmmph. Did I mention Emilee had her baby? I did? Right. Uummm... How's everybody doing in that Presbytery meeting? Been listening to it and enjoying it to the fullest??? Yup, that's what I thought. Boy, there really is nothing to write about tonight. No, that's not true. Christmas. I can always write about Christmas in this house.

James took us down to Odessa tonight for a special family meal at a nice restaurant we rarely go to. We've been doing our Big Fast for the Assembly this week because we weren't sure of what all might be going on next week (I hope God will still count it, even though we're a week early!), so we REALLY enjoyed dinner! Steak and ribs and baked potato and onion rings... ~aahhhh~ It was delicious. Of course, after a big fast, a peanut butter sandwich would be delicious. Man!!! Think of all the money we could have saved! Oh well. I guess I blew this paragraph. It was supposed to be about Christmas. Let me try again.

After our nice dinner, we went to a pet store (just for the fun of it), then out to Hobby Lobby to look at--you guessed it--Christmas stuff. ~sigh~ I just can't stop that man of mine. I was talking to Melissa on the phone today and suddenly he picks up the phone out in his office and blares another Christmas song (from my favorite album, naturally) over the phone. Never did turn it off until I appeared in the doorway giving him the look of death. It's soooooo unfair! I LOVE Christmas sooooooo much. But what makes it sooooooooo wonderful is that it only comes around once a year, so all of those special "Christmas only" things are treasured because they're rare. Not around here. I'll be surprised if James doesn't have the tree up by the end of the week. Freak.

Anyway, although we went to Hobby Lobby to look at Christmas stuff (we eventually did, by the way), we stumbled across a huge clearance sale on all of their VBS craft supplies. WOW! I think we paid about $28 (is that right, James?) and when we added up the retail prices it came to $98! Fantastic!!! Success! I love it. That will be a HUGE help in Sunday School as well as home school for the next year -- or probably far beyond a year. We got a TON of stuff. The kids are sooooo excited.

Ah yes, the kids. Surely there's something to say about them. Aunt Kay, Katie has agreed to sing a song during your preliminary music slot at the Assembly, however she said she, "might need someone to stand by me... just in case." (Grace, pass the word along to your Mom if she isn't blogging herself, okay? Thanks!) The boys are spending the whole of their days as cowboys, as always. James sat down to watch Paladin (you know, that old "Have Gun, Will Travel" show from the 60's) the other day. They were SOOOOOOO excited. Ran and put on their hats and boots and brought their rifles with them so they could help shoot the bad guys. The other day Joe picked up a map of the U.S. and said, "I am the meteorologist." (Really, that's what he said! Who knew!) Then the forcast began, "Right over here," he said while pointing at the map, "there are some cowboys who don't love God. It's gonna be very cold there! And look here--this is Kansas...where Matt Dillon lives." The kid can't even talk about the weather without cowboying it. But then, I wouldn't have him any other way. I mean, any kid who can mosey like Joe ought to be a cowboy. :-)

Guess that's it for now. I failed, didn't I? I've written longer posts before, I'm just sure of it. And there have probably been a few that were even more boring than this one. Bummer. I'll try again next time. Surely I can beat my own record for the longest, boringest (I know, I know!) posts around. Right, JASON?! I know YOU have confidence in me. Okay, I'm outta here.

G'night!
~Bec~

7 comments

NEWSFLASH: Emilee is in Labor!!!  

Posted by cokelady

That's right, folks -- it looks like tonight is the night...or possibly tomorrow morning is the morning! We're trusting that Emilee is in "real" labor right now (her body likes to play tricks on her, but I don't think it's faking this time), so if you happen to see this before it's too late, PRAY FOR HER!!! I know she would greatly appreciate it! All of you moms out there know how desperately she needs it. We'll keep you posted. ;-)

Hhmmm. Seems sort of strange to try to think of something else to write about right now. The happenings there at my brother's home are so...BIG! Seems strange to talk about trivial things while something so big and exciting is going on! But I'll try.

We had a good weekend. Having church at noon on Sundays is going to take some getting used to (!), but we had a good service. On Sundays we have Sunday School and song service and such, then Brother Sam preaches, then afterwards we go into a mini-auxiliary service of sorts. It was my week for my WMB boost/service. I talked about not just enduring the things that come our way, but finding true rest and peace and contentment in the midst of them. To be "content" means, "Desiring no more than what one has; satisfied; willing, ready to accept." That last one really caught my attention. Ready to accept...whatever God chooses to do in our lives. So many times we simply endure hard times, but truly resting in God means that we have to be ready to accept whatever God ordains or allows in our lives.

Then there's James. He does not accept the month of August. I went out to his office earlier today and when I swung the door open, out poured Christmas music. That man! I love Christmas as much as anybody, but this is ridiculous. He starts taking our family to look at the Christmas stuff at Hobby Lobby every July. And once we get home from the Assembly--and I'm ready for fall things (the changing of the leaves, homemade soups and chowders, spiced cider, etc.)--he is in full force Christmas mode. This (to my knowledge) is the first time he's whipped out the Christmas music so early. The worst part? It was a terrific song from my very favorite CD. Within 30 seconds I was "into" it. Still rebuking him for breaking every rule in the book and telling him how wrong it is (and meaning it!)... but I couldn't stand still. It was one of those songs, you know?! ~sigh~ I'm so ashamed. I'm just going to stop visiting his office until after Thanksgiving. It's my only hope.

The kids are doing great and staying happy, for the most part. They've got their Mom "back" for a little while and much more attentive to their needs. It's amazing how much happier and contented they are when I'm not consumed with other things. Simply being with them like I want to and like God intends makes our home so much more peaceful and joyful. With everything that's been going on the past few months they've gone neglected a lot, I'm sorry to say. It shows. "A child left to himself," you know! I'm trying to remedy the problems that have arisen due to that and I'm seeing some improvements.

Speaking of improvements, Katie's reading abilities are blowing me away. She has been reading our devotions the past few nights and doing a terrific job. In fact, I feel certain she could read that last sentence with little or no difficulty. I know I didn't read that well at age 5! We put the kids to bed at 8:30 each night, but I've been letting Katie keep her lamp on and read until 9:00. I think that has made a big difference. Tonight when I went to check on her she had her school book spread out in front of her, working on her math. For fun! Weird. Oh well. I hope she stays weird like that!

Joe is starting to read basic words as well. He's mostly just interesting in cuffing people, hauling them off to jail, then shooting them. (He has a warped sense of justice.) Actually, I think he enjoys just looking the part as much as acting it out.

And Sam? His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds and he cracks us up every day, without fail. That kid is a riot. He has discovered the joy of Lincoln Logs. He's getting better at building with them, but he still likes to throw them all in a pile and pretend he's making fire. It makes me nervous that he has such a fascination with fire, especially considering my own history. I just keep telling myself that he's too young to worry about it too much. Right???

Ramble, ramble, ramble. Sorry again. And sadly, I don't even have anything witty to challenge the Merry Heart Man with. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not all that clever on a day to day basis. I have to have something to inspire me. ~sigh~ Where is Jimmy Williams when you really need him?! Ah yes, he's putting out fires somewhere. Maybe I'll call him if Sam gets out of hand.

Gotta run. Remember to pray for Em!!!

~Rebekah~

10 comments

I've Crashed... But I'm Happy!  

Posted by cokelady

My cleaning frenzy has come to a screeching halt. I have encountered a Jekyll and Hyde type transformation from Molly Maid herself into a lazy good-for-nothing lug, giving the Nothing Day Queen (Hi, Lyndi!) a run for her money. I don't know what got into me, but I kind of went nuts with the cleaning thing. After doing that major cleaning in the office and all three bedrooms I did, indeed, stay up and do the same thing in the living room and den. 5 full rooms, top to bottom in one day!!! That's got to be a record. I know it is for me, anyway! I must confess, I did skip a few ceiling fans. And I only pulled out the small furniture (chairs, end tables, etc.)--left the couches and piano in place and worked around them. But still!!! And get this: the next day I did the great big "deep cleaning" (is that what you call it, Grace?!) on both bathrooms, then the kitchen floor. (If you had any idea the condition of James' bathroom, you would better understand what a miserable job that was. When I have to take Sam in there because the other bathroom is occupied, he always says, "It's gwoss in here, Mom!!!" If a 2 year old notices, it's BAD.) Anyway, all I have left to do now is the kids' play room. I've been putting that off for two days now. Don't know why. It's really easier than all of the other rooms. I think I just ran out of steam. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow will be the day. I've never had my whole house clean at the same time before! Not REALLY clean, that is. I'm so close I can almost taste it -- just one room away! -- and yet I'm struggling to find the motivation to just get in there and take care of it. Weird. By the time I work up the motivation it'll be time to start on my office again! ;-P

My spirits are much improved since last time I wrote. Thank the Lord! He's helping me. He promises that His grace is sufficient. He's so good to give us just as much grace as we need. Sometimes we want more (and sometimes He floods us with "extra" grace!), but He never fails to give what we need. I feel good in my soul. And I feel great having an almost totally clean house. And I'm rejoicing over Sam Kaufman's marvelous losing streak. ~aaahhhh, yes~ That may be the best part of all. For months he smothered us every time we played games, but he's been losing and losing BIG for weeks now. Yes, he has toppled off of that Game Guru throne he'd gotten so used to. God is good. ;-)

In other news (although it's old news by now), I have received my call. You know, we pray and pray and pray for God to give us a calling and let us know what He wants us to do for him. Who could've known that when we finally received our call it would be Vicky Bly on the other end of the line. It is comforting, however, that we've all received the same calling and have the same cross to bear, side my side. I do hope we are side by side, instead of in a massive pile of white gowns and bloomers. It makes me a wee bit nervous to think of 43 women all carrying the train of one wedding gown. How big did you say that train is, Sister Vicky??? OOOOHH! I just had a thought! LYNDI!!! Lyndi is going to the Assembly this year! She can be the caboose! Add her to the list, Sister Vicky! You can contact her at lyndicabales.blogspot.com -- I'm sure she would be soooooooo happy to help you out!!! Just be sure to put her in the rear. She's the type girl who would fit your saved, sanctified, Holy Ghost filled criteria, but who would also slip a foot out to trip the leader of the pack just for the thrill of watching the dominoes tumble. Anyway... Has anybody had any luck finding something white to wear? I tried my wedding gown on a few weeks ago to see if I can fit in it (barely can), but that's the only white dress I've got. I don't think that'll work. Then we'd all have two trains to carry. We've got enough problems. I'll have to go shopping.

It's late. I'm bushed. Tomorrow I'm going to try (again) to get the kids' room whipped into shape, then I've got Sunday School and WMB to prepare for. Everybody have a great weekend! -- And be sure to pray for my folks and Brother Dupre this weekend as they travel and visit with everybody. We need God's answers, His wisdom, His healing. Thanks again for the support and prayers!!!

Love You All,

~~ Becki ~~

13 comments

Something Day?  

Posted by cokelady

Lyndi's post about "nothing day" must've made me feel guilty all the way down in Texas because I've been extrememly productive today. It all started last night, really. My office was needing to be vacuumed, but I kind of went crazy and did a whole top-to-bottom cleaning, dusting, and vacuuming of everything in the room, from the base boards to the ceiling fan. (It never had been cleaned since you guys were here in April, Em! Remember how bad it was then?! Add 4 months of dust to what was already there. Eeeewwwwww!)
After the cleaning frenzy I took a break for a few hours to play Rummy 5,000 with Tammy. Sam was covering the school board meeting, so it gave Tammy and I a chance to play some more of our Eternal Rummy game that we started 10 and a half years ago. We're at somewhere around 180,000 points right now, Tammy being about 3,000 ahead of me at the moment. Ggrrr. Oh well. It's really not all that disturbing when you know it's Eternal Rummy and you've got the rest of your life to catch up!
Today I've done the great big top-to-bottom cleaning of the boys' room, Katie's room, our bedroom, and the hallway. I stopped to make dinner--poppyseed chicken casserole, one of our favorites--and right now I'm supposed to be starting the clean up job in the living room. But I've hit a snag. All of my motivation has drained completely off and I just don't wanna clean anything else. ~sigh~ Now what do I do? I've got the vacuum cleaners and the rags and the Endust sitting there, all ready to go...and I'm not. Even though it feels great to have accomplished so much, today has been one of those "ugh" days. It started yesterday sometime and has continued on throughout the day today. I just feel BLAH, you know? And it's spread all the way through my system now and I don't feel like doing anything. I don't feel like cleaning. I don't feel like reading. I don't feel like blogging. What am I doing here? Even though I don't feel like it, I feel more like doing this than cleaning! I don't even feel like being fun. Oooooooohhhh. That's BAD. That's when I know it's time to go pray for a while! I hadn't thought of that consciously, but when my sense of humor goes flat it's always a sign that I need to pray! It's better to have the world crumbling all around me and still be laughing about security guards and cannons than it is for things to level off, but not feel like cracking a joke or two. So I guess that's my cue. I'll go read and pray for a bit, then try to find the motivation I misplaced and see if I can't get some cleaning done in the living room and den tonight.
MY SINCEREST APOLOGIES FOR SUCH A TERRIBLY BORING POST!!! Pray for me and I'll do my best to make up for it next time. :-)

G'night!
~Rebekah~

16 comments

ATTENTION: A New Blogger Among Us!!!  

Posted by cokelady

A great big welcome to my favorite cousin in Oregon: LYNDI CABALES!!! She has just joined our community here in Blogland and I know you'll all do your best to make her feel welcome. She's been visiting the neighborhood off and on for months now, but she's finally decided to move in and join us. Interestingly enough, she's throwing a Blog Warming Party...for herself. Hhmmm. Her address is: lyndicabales.blogspot.com. You're all welcome to drop by and introduce yourselves, although don't be surprised when she says, "Yeah, I know all about you -- I've been reading your stuff for months!" Oh, and, uh, if you go to see her, take a gift. She's kind of weird that way. She's sure to add some color to our little family here! ;-)

We've had a good weekend. I worked Aunt Sue's store for her on Saturday (her 1-day-a-week employee just quit on her) and that went well. The last time I worked the store by myself was last November, so it's been a while. It's always a FLOP of a day when I work. I was there for 3 hours and the only person I'd seen was the mailman. Not good. I think there was a grand total of 6 (maybe it was 5?) customers all day long. But it all worked out okay because one of them was a CRAZY WOMAN who spent -- brace yourself -- $639.08. Now, to understand the impact of this, you have to know what kind of a store we're talking about. It's not like Sue sells couches or dishwashers or anything. This is a country decor store! You know, froofy little things to set around. The lady spent $640 on candles and shadow boxes and little black dolls and pictures and greenery and just stuff!!! Can you imagine?! She maxed out three credit cards and paid about $200 in cash to do it all. That seems bad enough, but Sue just happened to come in while the lady was there and told me that the same lady had been in a few days earlier and spent over $400!!! CAN YOU IMAGINE?! Over $1000 on junk!!! Just stuff!!! None of it could be considered necessary. Crazy. But it takes crazy people to make a store like that successful, I guess.

I've been compiling our pictures from Family Camp. We've got about 270 of them so far, so once we get Sister Tammi's disc (or is that disk???) there will be well over 500. WOW! Exciting, hu?! What on earth are we going to do with that many pictures?!?!?

I loaded the kids up and took them down to the pond in the middle of town today. Uncle Jerry's grandsons are in town right now and he invited us to take the kids down to fish with them. We've only fished there 3 times, but the kids always have a blast. The fish are tiny (perch and catfish), but you can easily catch one right after another. Katie and Joe each caught fish all by themselves today -- usually somebody will snag a fish for them then let them reel it in. They were excited about that. Katie caught a catfish that was about 10" long! That's huge for this little pond! (Most of the fish are 3-6" long. Pitiful, hu?!) Uncle Jerry helped Sam catch a fish, then tossed the poor thing back out 6 or 8 times and let Sam reel him in over and over again. Fun for Sam, but pretty sorry for that poor fish! And every time Joe would catch one he'd go dragging it across the dirt to go show everybody. Is this considered animal cruelty?!

Well, it's nearing bedtime around here and I need to oversee the clean up project. It seems to have come to a halt. Ah yes, I'm reminded of how fitting the name of my blog is: Buried in Toys. Maybe some day I'll be able to rename it Molly Maid, but for now I'll stick with what I've got. Have a great night!

Later!!!
~Becki~

4 comments

So when evil is afoot...  

Posted by cokelady

That's right folks, here we go again. This will be the third time (I think) that I've blogged this, but the first time on my very own site. It's so appropriate though and I can't get it out of my mind. Here we go. ~ahem~

"So when evil is afoot and you haven't got any arms, you've got to use your head. And when evil is ahead and you're behind, you gotta get a leg up. So keep your chin up, and be hip!"

There now. Don't we all feel better?! God is sooooo good to us and I'm so thankful for His continuing care. He's always right on time. Thank you all for your prayers for my parents--God is answering and sending them the strength they need. It's a great relief to me. I don't deal with things too well when I know they're all torn up and struggling! So thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers--they're helping us all, and The Church of God. Keep it up! :-)

It's been a good day around our house so far. The past week or so has been full of lots of work, but not much actually being accomplished. I hate it when it's like that! But last night I finally finished up on all of the laundry and that colossal mound of ironing that has been accumulating in the utility room for the past... Ha! I don't even remember last time I was totally caught up on it! So it feels good to have that behind me, at long last. It's so nice to be HOME and to finally feel like things are getting back to normal. That sounds so stupid. Nothing is normal anymore, but at least we're home and getting things in order. I made smothered elk steaks for dinner last night (WOW, that was great--it's been ages!) and I've got a meatloaf in the oven right now. I'm going to be working Aunt Sue's store for her tomorrow since her other daughter, Sharry, is visiting this weekend. That's always a nice change of pace and, no more than I do it (just a few times a year), I really enjoy it. Then it will be back to the HOME things.

The kids are doing great in "school." I'm continuously amazed at the words Katie reads, and she's doing really great with her addition and subtraction, too. In English, she's learning about verbs and nouns and adverbs!!! HUH?! I didn't learn any of that stuff until 3rd Grade! But it's in this 1st Grade book of hers. And Katie loves it. Especially verbs. ACTION!

The boys are all excited because James brought them some really neat badges today--Marshall and Deputy. So they've got on their cowbody duds right now, Joe being a mirror image of Matt Dillon, all except the height. He's got his brown boots, tan pants, redish shirt, brown vest, and light colored hat. It makes him sooooooo happy. And me, too. ~big smile~ And I've noticed that as soon as he gets dressed up his southern drawl intenisfies greatly. Ha! Crazy kid.

Sam is still battling his fear of the Rumor Weed (you have to be a Veggie Tales fan to understand that), but is doing quite well otherwise. He is sooooo fun to listen to. I just love the way he talks and the crazy things he says. And he's sooooo stinkin' cute! He's the most kissable kid I've got right now. :-)

That's probably about it from here. Nothing too exiting, I know. That's okay with me though. There are so many other things going on, it's kind of nice to have things "boring" here at home. We do have our daily "screaming and noise making" (sorry--I just can't get over that one! Ha!) with the little ones. And on occassion they act like three little loose cannons, set on taking each other out and conquering, like a trio of little dictators out of control--you just never knew when or where the next explosion may take place!!! RUN FOR COVER!!! ~sigh~ Must be in their genes. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Hee! Hee! Ho! Ho! Ha! Ha! Ha! I feel so much better. Mom, if I'm out of line just "shake my cage" (that's what Brother Dewberry told me today! Ha!) and I'll delete the whole schmere. I'm banking on the fact that Jonathan isn't much of a blogger. I know he wouldn't approve. ;-) Okay, I'm really going now. Thanks for all the prayers and keep it up! (And I'm sure Jon would appreciate it if you'd aim a few more of them directly at me and my big mouth. KA-BOOM! Whoops, there goes that cannon again...)

Hangin' In There,
~ Rebekah ~

13 comments

EXTRA PRAYERS, PLEASE!!!  

Posted by cokelady

I know we're all doing lots of praying nowadays, but I'd like to ask everyone to send up some extra prayers for my Mom and Dad. I know that everybody has been praying for them--that's the only reason they've made it as long as they have! But they are really struggling right now, especially my Mom. God had given her such divine strength and grace to endure all of these horrible things and she was experiencing supernatural peace and joy in her soul. In that victory, she was able to be a strength to my Dad and help him to continue on--I really don't think he would have made it through without her. But Mama is really having a hard time right now and I have no doubt in my mind that it's an attack from the devil. Considering all that is going on, it seems normal to have a hard time, at least periodically. But I feel so convinced that this is more than that; that there are spirits at work in this and that it is a spiritual attack from the devil! I'm not one of those "blame everything on the devil" kind of people, but I really believe that's what's going on here. Mom is really battling and needs a special touch from God to renew her strength, her faith, and her joy. She and Dad are so much "one" that if Mom can receive that special touch from God, it will automatically affect my Dad and be a source of strength to him as well. I'm sorry for making this "public," Mom, but we are to: "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:2). There is such great power in prayer. Our pastor and wife came over tonight and we had a mighty prayer for Mom and Dad and for The Church of God. The power of God was so strong, and I was so blessed by the realization of the wonderful access we have to God in prayer. We, here in West Texas, can cry out and touch God. He, in turn, can reach down in Virginia and touch Mom and reach down in Tennessee and touch Dad. There are times when the burden just becomes too much to be able to bear alone and we need the support of others, like Aaron and Hur holding up the hands of Moses when he became too weary to carry on alone. Mom and Dad are in that place right now. So spread the word to pray! Not, "They're so depressed; please pray!" But, "Things are so tough right now, victory must be near--let's pray extra hard!" They need the rest of us to carry them near to the heart of God in our prayers, more now than ever. Thank you all in advance.

I'm not sure where to go from there, but I feel such an urgency that "Brother & Sister Smith" need our prayers right now -- I had to ask you all to help pray extra for them. I feel kind of weird going into something "light" from that, so I think I'll wait until next time. I'd hate for you to lose the burden of prayer by me rambling on about a kid shoving popcorn kernals up his nose or something. ;-) I love you all and appreciate all of the love and prayers that have been directed at our family. We are so blessed. Keep praying! God is hearing and answering. I believe that with all of my heart.

Love You All,
~Rebekah~

11 comments

Life is no fair...  

Posted by cokelady

Just when we finally get music on my blog--and such music!--it all comes crashing down. I noticed that once James added the song to my site I was having trouble nearly every time I tried to access it. My Internet Exporer would encounter an error and just shut down. When James' computer did the same thing tonight I decided we would have to do something. Don't know what the problem is since the music doesn't mess up James' own site. So, after much sorrowful contemplation, I told James to just take the song off. ~sniffle~sniffle~ I'm so bummed. Maybe we'll try again a little later on to figure out what went wrong and get it fixed. But for now, there's WAY too much going on to worry with such things. Which is really another good reason to take "Pennsylvania 6-5,000" off. I felt a little guilty, what, with all of the heavy things going on right now to be sporting such a happy, carefree sounding song! Might come across as if I'm not taking things very seriously. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although I must admit, I have laughed heartily tonight. Even about some really "bad" things going on. You know how sometimes things get bad, then they get really bad, then they get really, really bad, then even worse than that... until you just kind of crack??? Usually it sends me to tears, but on occassion I find myself laughing about how ludicrous things can get. I've reached that breaking point a lot lately, but it's usually been in the fall apart, curl up into a ball, pray-pray-pray-pray-pray and bawl my eyes out kind of way. Tonight, I grabbed my Bible and God SPOKE TO ME. Gave me a Psalm that David wrote thousands of years ago for us (my family, and my Dad in particular) right here today in this particular situation. Felt so much strength and renewal from God, and wonderful peace in my soul. And felt pretty special, too, that He took the time to reserve that "just for us" passage in the Bible all these years! Wow!!! :-) Then I began going over some of the craziness again and found it to be just that: CRAZY. And I laughed. A lot. I really felt like I was going a little loopy myself, just thinking about everything that is going on -- felt like going outside and screaming and jumping around like a wild woman just to release some of that "THIS IS SO NUTS!!!" feeling that was overtaking me. "A great deal of screaming and noise making," that what I felt like doing. ~sigh~ It's so hard to blog and try to express what you're feeling and what's going on in your life when you're trying to be so careful to not say "too much" or anything that might be out of line! I'm sure James will read this very soon though and will let me know if I ought to just delete the whole jumbled post. (By the way, the last post before this one was deleted along with the music. Don't ask -- I have no idea why.) I guess I should find something else to talk about.
So, how 'bout them Broncos?!? ;-) Or the weather--yeah, that's good. How's the weather? HOT here. Way too hot. In more ways than one! Ha! There I go again -- I'll try another subject.
Kids are doing great. Husband is staying busy. Aunt Sue's foot is doing MUCH better. (Don't think it's broken after all, thank the Lord.) Hershey Dog is still out of control. We've got three new stains on the carpet in my office (not in connection with the dog) that James is not very happy about. Don't know what they are or where they came from. Uuummmmm... Hhm. That's about it from around here.
Pastor Sam has found us a church building to use for our services! YEAH! So tomorrow will be our first day. We'll have a 12:00 service, which will be strange, but it will be exciting to have a place to go instead of just our homes every time. I've always loved home ABM meetings and the "closeness" they promote, but we've really missed having a building. So this will be nice. I thank God for opening that door.
Here I am again. Rambling, when I really don't have anything to say. And here you are again, reading it all as if there's something of significance hidden in all of my babblings. I would offer you each $100 for sticking with me through this whole thing, but some of us don't feel comfortable making committments that we're not willing to follow through with. ~AHEM~ That's it for tonight. Keep praying, y'all! God is working and I know He cares for us all. He is sooooo good and I can't begin to express how thankful I am to be in His hands and the joy that is in my soul in the midst of this horrible storm. Sometimes I wonder if it's right to feel so much peace and joy in the middle of something like this??? I mean, it's kind of WEIRD when you think about it! Rambling again. Sorry.
Love you all!,
~~ Becki ~~

15 comments

Nothing of Interest  

Posted by cokelady

No, really -- I have nothing to say tonight. I have absolutely no reason to blog whatsoever, except to set a new record for myself: 3 days in a row. Please, hold your applause -- that's enough, really -- you can stop now. ~ahem~

We had a combo WBM & CPMA service tonight because James (CPMA) and I (WMB) decided to go galavanting around the country for the first half of the month and this was the only time we'd be available to do our services. Everybody seemed a bit distracted tonight really. Been a busy or rough day for most. My klutzy Aunt Sue broke her foot today (at least we think it's broken), so she came hobbling to service in a lot of pain. That didn't help, I'm sure! It was a good service in spite of it all. God's always so good to help us.

Sister Clarkson, you'll be glad to hear that Joe has been downright gluttonous today. Started off with two big bowls of cereal (Mom does not cook breakfast on fast day!), then chicken noodle soup for lunch (forgot about the chicken it it -- he feasted on all four tiny little cubes of it! Ha!), then three BIG pieces of Pizza Hut pizza tonight. He's been trying real hard to make up for those four days he did without -- tells me all the time how hungry he is and keeps on asking for more. Maybe tomorrow would be a good day to whip out another ham sandWICH (emphasis for your sake, Mom)...

Katie read her entire Dick & Jane story book (198 pages, I think) during nap time yesterday. The kid is reading up a storm and loving it. Katie told the lady at the library yesterday, "It's pretty amazing that a 5 year old can read so well, isn't it?!" I just told her to be quiet and sit on the rug. *blushing* That kid. She'll be the first to tell you all of the amazing things about herself!

Sam. What's Sam been up to. Hhmmm... He's into the stealing-everybody-else's-stuff thing BIG TIME right now. I heard Joe in the other room this morning saying, "No, Sam -- give me my toy back. Sam, that's mine -- can I have it? Give it to me, Sam..." I came around the corner just in time to see Sam lunging for Joe. Tackled him and would've proceeded with his ruthless attack had not he been yanked out of the fray. I mean, how dare Joe ask for his own toy back?! He's got a lot of nerve! Pray for us. We're really trying to do our best, but Sam sometimes makes us wonder if there is any hope at all!

James has been busy copying CDs of our Regional Convention. He created one that's full of nothing but all of the special singing and some congregational stuff. It's about an hour long, I think. It's got Mama singing "Going Back" and Janet Talley singing "Holy Spirit, Move Among Us" and her leading some singing, as well -- "The Old Ship of Zion" and such. It even features the Shuler kids singing "So Much to Thank Him For" and the family singing "Happy Tracks" with beautiful harmony on both. How much do you think you'd pay for an eclectic compilation of anointed and inspirational music such as this??? $49.95? Nooooo! $39.95??? Nooooo! $29.95????? Noooooo! This one time offer comes to you at the amazingly low price of just $14.99 (plus $49.95 shipping and handling). And remember, this is not available in stores. And if you order in the next 30 minutes, he'll throw in a complete set of Ginsu 2000 steak knives at no additional charge! But wait -- that's not all, folks...!!! Okay, so that is all. Actually, I think it was way too much. But it'll make James proud. Right, dear? :-)

As for me, my day consisted of all the nasty jobs I've been putting off ever since we got home from Camp. I moved all the stuff (table, chairs, etc.) out of the kitchen this morning, build a tent in the living room for the kids to play in, then spent the next couple of hours on my hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor. I hate that job, but once it's done I always feel sooooo good. It's needed that for a long time! Then I moved on to the bathroom. There is no room in the house that makes me happier than that bright and cheery blue and yellow bathroom of mine once it's been cleaned top to bottom and is all fresh and sparkly -- especially when I'm burning that yummy Sunbathed Lemon candle in there. Wait a sec,... uh-oh. Be right back................. Okay. Had to go blow out the above mentioned candle! It's been burning for, um... 5 or 6 hours now. Oops. The bathroom smells REALLY great now, though! :-)

I know, I know. It was time to stop a long time ago. I warned you that I had nothing to blog about today. If you're still here reading it's your own fault, not mine. I just wasn't tired enough to go to sleep and didn't have the motivation to do anything productive. So it was time to BLOG, BLOG, BLOG, Ray. Ah yes. We're missing the travelling Adams family, aren't we? ~sigh~ It's just not the same without you guys -- please come back -- we're dying out here -- DYING!!! Help! He-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-elp us!!!

Enough is enough.

G'night All!
~ Becki ~

9 comments

WHOA!!!  

Posted by cokelady

Can you believe it?! A new post two days in a row!!! Has this ever happened here before??? Pretty freaky. I don't know what came over me. I think it's because of the flood of comments that came in after last night's post. Makes you feel like "it's time" for a new one somehow. Nevermind that half of those comments were from my own self. ;-)

I just finished putting my WMB service together for tomorrow night. I hope it will be a blessing to everybody else and not just me! I'm going to be talking about hope and faith -- not the kind of faith that the children of Israel had, or that Thomas had. When they SAW God work, they believed. But Jesus said, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (Jn. 20:29). It's really a glorious thing when all looks dark and dreary, when the future looks grim and hopeless and it seems that there is no way things are going to turn out okay. That's when we have the honor of hoping in the Lord! "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" (Rom. 8:24). That comes just a few verses before that "all things work together for good" verse. :-) God is good and it's a blessing to be able to trust Him and believe He's got everything in His hands, even when the circumstances all around us are screaming, "It's out of control and there's no hope for things to turn out okay--things are doomed to be tragic and devastating!" Phooey. Not with our God! I want to sing "Let God arise, and his enemies be scattered," even with I'm all alone, surrounded by millions of reasons to believe things are hopeless! God is soooooooooo much bigger than whatever crises we may face. I feel so much JOY just knowing that He is God and He loves me and He loves my family and He loves His Church. He's going to take care of us all. (Remind me of this if I slip and have a surge of panic sometime, okay?! Ha!)

Nothing much has been going on around here today. After much persuasion in the form of a pastic spoon that I wear on my hip most of the time (!), Joe finally choked down his lunch. (No, I didn't give him another ham sandwhich...yet.) Life with Josiah nowadays gives a whole new meaning to the term "gag order." That kid. He's the easy going one. I never would've thought it possible for him to be soooooooo stubborn. He'll find out soon enough though--I'm more determined than he is. ;-)

I took the kids to the library for story time today. First time in months, it seems. We used to go faithfully every week, no matter what. Since April, we've probably been 3 or 4 times total. We can't seem to stay home long enough! So it was nice to do something that reminded us, "Ah yes, we did have some form of a routine once upon a time, didn't we?"

I was looking through that crazy "Every Day a Holiday" book of mine today and guess what! The first full week in August is National Clown Week!!! What do you think of that, Jason?! Somebody was weird enough to set aside a whole week in celebration of clowns. Have fun!

Looks like I've run out of things to talk about. I'll spare you all any more.

Until next time!

~Rebekah~

15 comments

Birthday Blues  

Posted by cokelady

Yesterday was my 29th birthday. I couldn't wait for it to be over with! I felt really sick and crummy yesterday and it was one of those lousy "heavy in heart" days. But I did receive several phone calls (not from my own Mother, however -- I had to call her), the most amazing one from my BROTHER. I think this is the very first time EVER that Jon has called to wish me a happy birthday. It was kind of freaky. ;-) I think he was calling to just check on me as much as anything. It's amazing how a dweeb like Jon has grown up into such a great guy. Don't misunderstand -- he's still a dweeb. But I'm just blown away at what a great guy he's turned into and how... well, I don't know how to say it, but he amazes me!

I begged James to PLEASE not get me anything for my birthday this year. He usually goes way overboard and comes home with two or three bags full of gifts, mostly clothes from Christopher & Banks. I just wasn't in the mood to have a birthday -- felt like skipping it entirely, you know?! He couldn't resist though and he brought me an Anthony Burger DVD. It's pretty good!

Tammy stopped by yesterday to bring me a gift -- and a cherry-limeade from Sonic, with extra cherry syrup. My favorite. :-) She gave me a really cute recipe box... in the same old gift bag we've been passing back and forth for YEARS.

What's everybody else been up to? I know the Adams have been travelling, Mom's been strutting, and Jason has been making and then not fulfilling committments. What about the rest of you?

I'm suddenly very tired. Maybe it's because I'm another year older. Or maybe it's because simply recounting the battle with Joe wears me out all over again! In either case, I'm going to call it a night.

Love to you all!
~ Bec ~

18 comments
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