BLESSED

I just got off the phone with the sweetest lady. Her name is Willie and she tutored(sp?) Scott when he was in school and they have always kept in touch.
She is now in her 80's living in Tulsa. She is such a neat lady. She went back to college at 40 to get her teaching degree and then taught for the next 20+ years. She hosted a wedding shower for us and was there at Coco's birth, bringing us meals. I just love her.

We hadn't talked to her in awhile so she got worried when she couldn't reach us so she called Scott's parents to check on us this weekend. She and Scott have played phone tag the past couple of days. She called tonight and told me she was worried that we had been raptured and she was left behind. So FUNNY!

She volunteers alot and she is now volunteering at a Assisted Living Home on Mondays  answering the phone. Can you imagine? She had just come from taking her recycling out. She's totally up to date with this Going Green stuff. She stays up until one or two in the morning and then sleeps until 10 or 11. I told her she is like a teenager. She told me she prays for us. She prays A to Z when she goes to bed. Whoever she can think of with each initial she prays for. I told that is why she is staying up so late... LOL

Her call just made my day. Shame on us for not calling her more often!

Feeling very blessed to have her in our lives!

Wish she was still living in our area so we could be with her often. She is a very special lady!!!

WEEKEND RECAP

I failed at the week in life project last week. It is so hard to remember to take photos. So I gave up and started again on Saturday.

Saturday April 24th

This is Scott replacing our bathtub faucett. We couldn't turn off the hot water so we had to replace. The best way was to cut a hole from our bedroom wall to the back of the tub. This was easier than cutting into the tile. Now it is all fixed. It rained and was cold all day so Coco and I worked on getting closets cleaned out for the garage sale next week.

Sunday 4/25/10

We slept in and listened to the church service online. This is becoming a bad habit!

I continued to work on getting stuff cleaned out for the garage sale. I was shocked at the number of clothes I found in my closet that I forgot about and some with the tags still on.

Coco had her friend Gwendolyn over to play this afternoon and they bought ice cream from the ice cream truck. We just found out that Gwendolyn will be moving in June, this is so sad for Coco. This is the 2nd BFF that has moved away.

I made beans and cornbread for dinner. I like to make white beans better than pinto beans so that is what I made.

I plan to go to my mom's when Coco goes to school in the morning to work on setting up the garage sale.

I have my camera right with me to succeed in documenting our life this week.

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN

We started our new tradition of reading 25 books to Christmas tonight. I am surprised we remembered. Today was kind of hectic.

This is the book we read. It will not be my favorite but it does have a teachable theme about it.

Coco and I got our seasonal flu shots at the flu clinic at school today. I volunteered for a couple of hours and I was able to be there when she came through so I went first. Not bad at all. I know there are lots of opinions out there but we chose not to have the H1N1 vaccine. I just don't trust it. Call me crazy but that's the way it is.

We got a wonderful surprise on Saturday. We had some friends come into town from St.Louis. Unfortunately they were here for a funeral but we did get to spend some time with them on Saturday and then we all had lunch before they left on Sunday. Here is a photo of Coco and Stephanie chowing down on some Chinese food.

Stephanie's mom Darleen is battling a recurrence of cancer so please put her on your prayer list. She has such a positive outlook and is very confident that she is going to beat this. She told me this weekend she has been overwhelmed at the amount of people that tell her they are praying for her, she feels these prayers and is comforted by this. She has a strong faith in God, I am proud to call her friend.

I didn't get any comments on the blog about the Challenge. I left mine at work so I don't know what # I am at. Let me know if you find them all.

Blessings,
Pam

PHOTOGRAPHY SESSION

I have spent most of the day shooting photos. I did some for our neighbors and they turned out so cute. Then we did ours in downtown Bentonville. The sun was pretty bright so we were squinting alot, but we got a few good ones I thought.

Coco pretending she is falling into the water fountain....

Quite the little poser! What is she doing. I was using a remote control for the camera so I couldn't really see what I was shooting. I am happy with the way it works, makes it super easy to do self photos without running back and forth to the camera.

We roasted hotdogs and made smores with our neighbors this evening, fun and yummy!

I am looking forward to a very short week. I work Mon & Tues then off until next Monday. Hope to get the house all ready for decorating on Friday. Tradition that we always order pizza and put up our tree on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Blessings,

Pam

Prayer Please

A good friend of ours needs prayer right now. She found out on Wednesday that she has a recurrence of cancer. She has battled breast cancer for the past year. Double mastectomy, chemo, radiation you name it she has probably had it. Things were just getting back to normal for her when she went in last week for a scheduled pet scan. She has had this cough and congestion for a few weeks so she had diagnosed herself as having pneumonia. We all do it! Anyway the pet scan showed something that the doctor wanted to check out further. She was supposed to go see him on Monday. Well, Sunday evening she started getting a pain in her side which continued to get worse by the hour. She went to the ER at midnight Sunday. They did a biopsy of her liver on Tuesday. the cancer is back in her liver, possibly her lungs and lymph nodes. They were starting chemo today and another friend called us and she began having a severe headache after the chemo so they are going to do a MRI on her brain.

Her name is Beth and she is a wife, mother to 2 beautiful girls, daughter, sister, friend. She is in her early 30's. Please I ask you to pray for her and her family. This is going to be and is so hard for them. The not knowing is scary.

Scott and I have been talking about the why's and what if's all week. It is so easy for me to sit here and say Trust God, have faith but if I were in her shoes, what would I be feeling. What would my child say and think of God, if I were to die? So many questions will go unanswered because his ways are not our ways. I know he has a purpose, this illness has a purpose. What do you say to the spouse? The mother, father, sister? My prayer has been for peace! Of course I pray that he will perform a miracle and heal her. Wouldn't that be a awesome testimony to those that don't believe. I want him to be BIG and be shown as BIG in this situation, but I know this is his will that will be done so I pray for peace and acceptance. I pray that she has time to prepare things, if that is what she wants. I pray that she finds comfort in Jesus during this time, that the entire family does.

I am rambling. Again please pray for Beth and her family.
Thanks
Pam

MESSIAH

Sunday night we went to see the "Messiah" at my friends church. This is a small church that puts on a huge production. It is amazing to see the talent and passion from those that are involved. And it takes alot to put this on. What amazes me is that it is about a 300+ member church. I don't think the big mega churchs could put this on and make it as good.

Jesus talking to his disciples.

Jesus being beaten.

After carrying his cross. Some of these they did in still while others sang. Amazing to see them stand so still. He carried the cross around the church while the guards were poking him and pushing him down. That is when Scott and I wanted to get us some guards.

Jesus on the cross!

It is always hard to watch a depiction of this, but it always reminds me of how soon we forget what Jesus went through for us. I think it was worse than any play or movie could portray. I don't think our human minds can handle it. I can't find the words.

Grateful for people like Lynn and Renae and their church that took time to do this for their community and church. This drama will bring it to life for you. To be able to take my daughter and through God's love she understood it and was frightened at some parts but not frightened to where she had nightmares or talked about being scared. This is something that is true and happened so that we can be saved and live eternally with Jesus. She knows this and so it isn't something that she feels afraid of.

I don't think I am making a lick of sense but I hope you all get what I am saying.

Blessings,

Pam

PS: Did you see this post? I am pretty proud of my girl!

Happy Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

STEPHANIE

WE MISS YOU!

FRIENDS

This is my friend Kim. Isn't she pretty!!! We went to lunch today at our favorite place Chili's and we had our usual Chicken Quesadillas. YUMMY but not on my WW diet. Oh well it was worth the splurge. Good food and good friends. You just can't beat it.

Do you see that?? In just 9 short days we will be outa here and headed to the sun and sand. Oh I just can't wait. I am so excited I just can't hide it. I have been surfing the net looking for new things and places to go while we are there. We are going to Big Kahunas water park for sure. Colby is just the right age to enjoy it now. I also hope to go to Grayton Beach and Baytowne Wharf too. More than anything I am just ready to get away and relax. I love taking my bible study and going down to the beach early in the morning. I am always in awe of how awesome he is and the vast ocean that he has provided for us. I love finding the beauty in all his creations. Warms this heart.

I have got to go prepare some stuff for a bridal shower we are having at work on Friday. Just like me to leave everything until the last minute.

Have a great Thursday!

Pam