Date Night!!!

Ciara came home for spring break so we had a mother/daughter date night at the movies. We shared a lot of laughs, some girl talk, popcorn, and a yummy dessert. I know from experience it is just a matter of time before some guy comes along, sees the treasure that she is, sweeps her off of her feet, and then date nights with mom will be few and far between. In the meantime, I'm going to savor every moment of mother/daughter time I have!

Love Is In The Air

I'm not one to go for chick flicks, or sappy love songs, and I don't fall for charm or flowery phrases. I prefer people to be honest and up front with me even if it is going to cause a little upset or anger. I like the direct approach and I would rather get it all out there and move on than to be left wondering about someone or something. I think after all these years Paul has come to appreciate this more "low maintenance" side of me. Oh trust me there are areas of my being that are not low maintenance, ( stop nodding your head in agreement here Paul) but my non-romantic tendencies make ostentatious holidays such as Valentines Day a proverbial "piece of cake " for him. That being said, he doesn't totally get off the hook because it just so happens that my love language is gifts so that means I like to be given gifts. Often.

Now I have heard the argument from some people that a gift should well thought out and personal, and that things of a practical nature should not be given as gifts. I understand that point of view but I don't necessarily subscribe to it. I'll be the first one to admit I love when someone remembers when I say I would like something in particular or knows me well enough to get that gift that they know I will love. Even a heartfelt card or note goes a long way with me. But if my vacuum breaks right before Christmas and you buy me a new one as a Christmas gift I will be just as thrilled with it as I would be anything else. To quote an old cliche , "It's not the gift but the thought that counts" and I feel like any gift that is given to me means the giver thought of me.

So last night I was laying in bed reading my Nook ( which happens to be a gift my husband gave me) when Paul turned to me and said "Hey I know our morning is going to be crazy, so I'm going to give you your present now". Let me just say, that was not the first time I have heard something of that nature come out of his mouth while I was reading in bed so I didn't exactly expect a fancily wrapped package, but to his credit he produced a tangible gift in the form or a gift certificate for a private hand gun class out at the shooting range.

Right now my romantic leaning girlfriends are saying "What??? You let him get away with buying your Valentines gift at the shooting range when he just happened to be out there in the first place???"

Oh yes I did and I love it! He knew it was something I would like and the way I see it, while he was hanging with his buddies out at the range, he thought of me long enough to want to get me a present. That works for me.

Call me crazy, but I get the feeling that there is a new pistol in my future..... perhaps sometime around Mothers Day????

A Burning Bush Isn't Always Necessary, Sometimes You Just Need To Listen

Paul and I have prayed for our children since before they were born. As they have grown some of our prayers have changed, (we no longer pray to survive the toddler years – thank you again God for your Providence during that time) but some of our prayers have stayed the same and I’m sure they will until we take our last breath. For instance, we have always prayed for our children’s health, wisdom, integrity, relationships, and even that their current/ future spouses would be loving and strong in their faith, and that together they would fulfill God’s plan.

Let me just stop and say if by chance this is the first time you have ever read my blog and you are starting to think that I have it all together and am some sort of “Super-Christian Mom” you need to start reading at the beginning of my blog so you will realize just how ridiculous that notion is. And to those of you that have known me longer than a week, you can now stop laughing hysterically at the thought of me having it all together and continue reading.

Lately I have really had it on my heart to pray a bit more fervently for one of my children. That doesn’t mean I stopped praying for the other two (I can just hear my children now “I knew he/she was her favorite she even prays more for them”) it just means that at this particular time one of my children is weighing heavier on my heart than the others and it seems that this week has been particularly straining on our relationship. My daily walks are a great time to commune with God and as I set off on my walk this morning I immediately started on my litany, “ God please let them have the wisdom to see your plan for their life” , “Give them maturity so they will stop focusing on the things of this world and more on eternal things” “ Let them feel your presence and know your in control and have a plan for their lives”, “ Give them the faith and discernment to do the right thing when the rest of the world is telling them otherwise” and the list went on and on. Then it happened. It wasn’t a burning bush or rolls of thunder, it was just a still small voice telling me that all these things I want for my own child are things that God wants for me as well. So instead of handing him my suggestions on how to change other people I’m going to ask that he change me first. Oh I will still pray for all those things and more for my children because I know that God hears and answers my prayers, but I will first do a self-check and make sure I'm where I need to be first.


One last thing, if you happen to live in my neighborhood and you passed a woman out walking this morning who was bawling her eyes out don’t worry. That was just me pouring my heart out to God. I’m sorry if I grossed you out by continuously wiping my eyes and nose on the sleeves of my sweatshirt as I didn’t anticipate needing a box of Kleenex on my daily walk today. The sweatshirt went directly into the wash when I got home.

Hey I’m nothing if not honest. Right?

There Could Never Be A More Beautiful You

For the past nineteen years you have brought joy to our lives. Your fun-loving spirit and dramatic flair have brightened many a dull moment through the years. The fact that you are comfortable at the shooting range, riding a four-wheeler, and burping like a frat boy but at the same time love nurturing children, volunteering your time, and doing girly-girl things makes you a wonderfully unique paradoxical princess who is beautiful from the inside out.

Happy Birthday CeCe! We love you bigger than a hangaburger!!!

Nina

It's been a long time since anybody has called you that. The name Savannah is quite a mouthful for someone who is just learning to talk so you shortened it to "Nina" and that nickname stuck for many years. Eventually you grew into your name and it has been such a blessing to be your mother all these years. You are proof that my prayers did not fall on deaf ears. Happy Birthday Nina! We love you!

Tis The Season

Yesterday I went shopping with the bestie. Our intention was to shop with purpose and knock off some of the names on our Christmas lists. I don't know what we were thinking because we don't shop well together. Oh we have a good time laughing, sampling yummy things we shouldn't be sampling, and talking each other into buying things for ourselves, but doing productive Christmas shopping for others just never seems to work out on our excursions. While I came home last night with two really cute shirts for myself, I didn't put much of a dent in my Christmas list so I ventured out this morning to conquer the mall.

And it was awful.

The first stop was Target. It was quiet and surprisingly not crowded. In hindsight I should have made that my only stop and just bought everyone on my list Target gift cards Oh hindsight you are so smart.

Shortly after I exited the Target parking lot en route to the mall, I noticed a man in a truck next to me trying to get me to roll down my window. Thinking something was wrong with my car I rolled down the window so I could hear what he was saying and this is what he said: " Hey baby what's your name?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? Thinking this guy was either smoking crack or just coming out of prison and seeing a woman for the first time in years, I gave him a not so nice look and took off. He must have mistook that not so nice look for a come- hither look because he continued to follow me and try to get me to tell him my name. Seriously does that really work for anybody? Looking back I should have been more alarmed than I was ( there's that hindsight again) but I was actually just getting ticked off so I took out my cell phone and acted like I was taking his picture and then slowed down to get behind his truck to take a picture of his license plate. I say acted like because I really don't know how to use the camera on my phone but I must have looked convincing to him because he took off and I continued on to my destination.

Ahhh the mall on a Saturday right before Christmas..... need I say more? Probably not... but I will.

After finally finding a parking spot and while walking a mile to get into the mall I mentally mapped out where I would go, and what I would get while spending the least possible amount of time in the mall. Basically I was shopping like a man.

What is that saying about the best laid plans?

Yeah, my plans were not in line with the hundreds of other people clogging every square inch of the mall. As I made my way through the throngs of people, I was assaulted by smells that I swear were not human, sprayed by a line of barbie dolls selling perfume, and run into by a toddler who's parents thought it was adorable that he wanted to push his own stroller.....in the middle of a mall filled with hundreds of people. Yeah.

As soon as I left the mall I headed to the liquor store.

I must say the liquor store is the ideal place to shop. There were no funky smells, no toddlers with deranged parents, and I didn't get sprayed with anything. I was in and out of there in five minutes and I was able to scratch my brothers name off of my list.

I was definetly in the Christmas spirit when I left there and I'm sure it had nothing to do with the samples they were handing out.

Thankful, Melancholy and Rockin the Turkey Shirt

Yes I busted out the turkey shirt much to the dismay of my family. Well most of my family. Ciara has seen the light and decided she wants a turkey shirt of her own and since my daughter and my niece are both talented seamstresses, I'm thinking I will be hitting one of them up to make some Christmas presents. Hmmm....

While I'm certainly dressed for the occasion and the house looks and smells like Thanksgiving this year is again tinged with sadness as it is the first anniversary of my mother-in-laws passing as well as our first Thanksgiving without my dad.

It will be difficult to not have my father sitting at our table with us but I know for a fact he would not like his family to dwell on his absence, or to pass up a good meal because he is not here to enjoy it with us. So with that in mind, we will stuff ourselves until we are miserably uncomfortable, catch up on each others lives, share a lot of laughs and it will be good. Just the way my mother-in-law and father would want it to be.

There are so many things that I am thankful for in my life. I have truly been blessed. But today I am especially thankful for the two people that are not physically with us any more because without them my life would not be what it is today.

So take a minute to thank God for all of the people he has brought into your life ( yes even the ones that make you a little crazy at times) because his ways are so much better than our ways.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!