Proud Mom Alert!!!

My daughters are beautiful, sweet, and funny! They both love to laugh and LOVE to have a good time. They love food, soccer, and one likes basketball while the other prefers to cheerlead! They are precious girls, but as of yet, we haven't really found our *niche*. For the past few years, I have watched while other moms had their children make the advanced dance group, the select soccer team, and the biggie...the advanced group at school. I really struggled with it, probably more then I care to admit. I come from a family that was always in *that* group. I excelled at ballet, my brothers were excellent in sports, and my sister is one smart cookie. I have "forced" my girls to try just about everything and just waited for them to find that one special thing. Well......drum roll.........after an audition on Monday that involved a solo and other "drills" in front of JUDGES....they both came home with a certificate announcing that they had been selected for the school HONOR CHOIR!!! I am so proud of them for that accomplishment. It is not easy to stand in front of judges and sing a solo by yourself. So if you see some extra light in the south part of MS tonight, it may be coming from my house. This mommy is beaming with pride!!! :)

Juggling it all....

***PRAY FOR SUSAN. SHE IS HAVING SURGERY WEDNESDAY MORNING (9/12) AT 8am. THANKS!!

Wow, I haven't blogged in so long, that I think alot of my friends don't even check here anymore!!! Life has gotten so busy and I can't say that I am happy with that. I don't like to be so busy, that I am stressed all the time and rushing here and there. Yesterday was a crazy example with errands and 2 teacher conferences, evening activities, homework, & getting kids in bed. By the time I was through with all of that, all I could do was get myself in the bed and pull the covers over my head. I don't think that is what Jesus meant when he said "abundant life". YIKES!!!! Every week I say that the next week is going to be different, but so far, it hasn't worked out that way. I have been able to help a few of my friends out and for that I am so thankful, but some of the other things have just been ridiculous. I told my husband that I am really wanting to get back into my photography, my scrapbooking, and then there is my new house that desperately needs some attention! Forgive me if this sounds like a whine. I am going to try to get back to living my LIFE and make this blog what I originally intended it to be. Stay tuned......:)

Update on Susan .....

Thanks everyone for the prayers! I had a good visit with Susan. Bless her heart, the phone rang so much. It was different drs, etc. I got to hold her 4 month old little boy who is absolutely precious! She had a photographer over to take pictures of him and they did some mommy and me shots. Sooooooo sweet. She is upbeat and determined. I can't help but feel that I would be a depressed mess! They are headed to Houston today and I just want everyone to be praying that they get the absolute best opinions there. I *think* what is going to happen is that the lesions will have to be taken out and biopsied to make 100% sure that it is melanoma. The best thing would be for it not to be melanoma, but something else that if removed will make everything better. Please join me in prayer for that!!! Just pray also for Susan to continue to feel this supernatural peace. I am sure that until you go through something of this magnitude, you can't possibly imagine how great and true your faith really is! I know that the Lord is wrapping his arms around her and is giving her the strength to get through each day!!!

Other stuff in my life seems so mundane. I have been busy with all kinds of things and I am ready for some slow days. I plan to get my camera out and take some pics of house and kids very soon. I just haven't been in the mood lately! ;(

Busy Busy....

Well, my weekend was busier then I had planned, but still fun. Saturday night, we had some friends over for dinner. It was fun and I made two new Cooking Light recipes. Both were delicious and I will have to post the recipes. One was a lemon/lime cake....soooo yummy. Yesterday was church and then we were invited over to some new friends home for dinner. The girls ended up spending the night so we had a very quiet morning with just Noah to care for. We went and looked at furniture this afternoon ( didn't buy just looked) and then ran across the street for a little pool party. Noah and I came home early and are just waiting for daddy to come grill the chicken!!! It has been a lovely weekend, but my thoughts and prayers have drifted so often to Susan. This really puts things into perspective and causes me to realize how shallow alot of my thoughts and concerns are. I am so excited because I emailed her over the weekend and told her I was praying for her and to call me if I could do anything. Well she took me up on it and I am going over to her house tomorrow as soon as I drop little man off at preschool. I am thrilled that I can go to her house and keep her company. Please pray that I will be a blessing and that I will know just the right things to say and that encouragement would be the highlight of my visit. KEEP PRAYING.....I am just believing for her healing. Just today I got an email from Donna....my old neighborhood friend. She has a clean bill of health. The cancer is gone. I feel certain the Susan will get the same result. There is power in prayer!!!! :)

Calling All Prayer Warriors..

Yesterday was a hard day. I found out that a friend of mine is about to endure a fight for her life. About a year and a half ago, I had the wonderful priviledge of teaching children's choir with Susan. We had alot of fun and her oldest daughter A is Noah's age and they got along wonderfully! Susan was pregnant with her second child during most of the choir year. Everything was going well until about two months away from her due date. She had discovered a mole on her back and the dr wanted it looked at. It turned out to be a melanoma and they immediately scheduled her for an early delivery. Our prayers were answered when all tests came back clear and the cancer had not spread to lymph nodes. Flash forward to a year and a half later and another baby. Apparently Susan had a seizure and it was discovered that there are two spots on her brain. Friends and family, I am asking you to please lift her up to the Lord as well as place her on any/all prayer lists. She is MY age and she has 3 little children under the age of 4. She has a Caring Bridge site, and if you are interested in keeping up with her journal updates and encouraging her with a message on her guestbook, then email me and I will send you the link. Her optimism and faith in the Lord are inspiring. You will be glad that you visited her link! I am believing in her healing and I am believing that God is going to reveal to her and her husband, the right course of treatment.

Painting & Pointless Trips to the Mall....

What a title!!! LOL I couldn't think of anything else to call my assortment of stories. This morning after I dropped Noah off, I went to Different Strokes to meet some of the neighborhood gals. They have a coffee get together every Friday morning and one of them had suggested we paint coffee mugs. I got there late which as a newbie, I should have known better. It is always best to arrive on time when you don't know everyone. It was kind of awkward when I walked in and they were already all painting and chatting. Let me clarify that they are all extremely NICE, it is just me who feels like the outsider. I have to kind of sense my way around the group and know exactly when to talk and when to just shut up and listen. Does anyone understand that awkward feeling of being the new kid on the block??? Somehow, I managed to paint a decent mug. I chose to do some sort of glaze thing that is very simple. I hope it turns out ok. There were a couple of times where I said things and then wondered if people thought I was an idiot!!! I HATE THAT FEELING!!! I just don't know them well enough yet! To make matters worse, the one I am closest to did not show up. Oh well, I survived and I should have a cute mug to show for it!!!

After the painting party, I ran to the mall. I have been out of my hairspray for almost two weeks and the only reason I went to the mall was so I could go to Trade Secret. Well wouldn't you know it, their debit card system was down and of course I DIDN'T have my checkbook. I tried to go get cash out at the ATM machine nearby, but they were down as well. I left without my hair products and trying not to throw a mini temper-tantrum!!! Somedays are good, somedays are great, and some like today you just shrug your shoulders and thank the Lord for a house you can retreat to! ;)

Did someone declare it "whiney day"?

Seriously!!! All 3 of my children woke up with a bad case of it! The twins were incredibly hard to pull out of bed...yes I said PULL!!! Then they complained about what we had to eat, complained and whined about their clothes, whined about how tired they were, etc. Noah whined because I couldn't "hold" him. He did this while I was driving and I tried to explain to him that mommy can't hold him and drive at the same time!!! Then he whined because he said his shoes didn't match his outfit. I don't know whether I should be more upset about the whining or that he was worried about color combinations!!!!! Good grief! No one was happier then I after dropping all of them at their respective schools! I got myself a LARGE at Seattle Drip and ran to the grocery for a few things. Since it is "whiney day", then I will not buck the trend. My whine is this: why are organic and "healthy" foods so darn expensive??? why does Brookshires *insist* on taking your groceries (even if you only have 3 things) to the car for you???, and why do big large vans always seem to park next to me and make it incredibly hard to pull out??? OK, done.....now back to regular Wednesday. I declare "whiney day" officially over! ;)