Not Me! Monday

I did not find myself preparing for the possibility of finding our allergy-sickened 7 year old dog a new home (that could hopefully afford all of the suggested allergy tests/medicines, that we did not feel that we could offer him) due to what we thought was yet another sore he had made on himself due to his terrible allergies.  And, after a long night of almost no sleep for Mark and myself, I did not arrive at the vet early Saturday morning to find that he had a large, infected SPIDER BITE!  Though it was a relief that (for once) it was not our dog's allergies, the thoughts of a spider that could cause that damage, gave this Mommy nothing close to relief!  {Sparing you visuals of his sad wound!}

Due to the likelihood of our dog's wound being caused by a spider in/around our home, we did not gladly welcome our wonderful pest control technician early this morning to completely fog our house, inside, outside, and underneath -- to be certain no unwanted pests were anywhere near my babies!!  So, me, my babies, our dog, and their fish packed up the car and spent several hours {out} of our home...gladly...and visited with family.

This evening, I did not stop the car to take these two shots of one of my favorite local landscape areas (I don't know why, but I absolutely love this lone tree in the middle of the wide field).   I regret that my only camera was on my phone, but as Katie always says "Something is better than nothing!"  So, I hope you enjoy at least a small glimpse of God's masterpiece sunset this evening.  It most definitely brought a smile to my face on this MONDAY! I just love how our awesome God can paint such beautiful colors in a sunset after so many grey-colored, rainy days.  Just a sweet reminder of His mercies, which are new every morning! 

Though my "planned" Monday did not go as planned, it was a blessed day indeed.    How was your Monday??

Life Collage

Life has been so good, but oh! so busy lately! I am to the point of not even knowing where to start on updates for the blog, since I've been doing such a poor job of keeping it updated weekly. SO, I decided to do what came natural in our current lifestyle (the crazy-beautiful one we have), and that's just telling you things as they come to mind -- possibly in random order -- but all about our life. Think of it as a collage of our life...little bits and pieces that together make up where we are currently...

Since, mmmmm...., Octoberish life has been in turbo speed! I actually thought things would slow down in/around the Christmas holidays, and was actually looking forward to a little break, but thus far, life is still crazy-beautiful! Today we're finishing up our week of winter revival at church with Dr. Tom Ferrell -- AWESOME! He has been such a challenge to me each night, and though we're all "running on fumes (or maybe an overload of caffeine)", we've survived our long days/nights and made it to each of the services. God has used Dr. Ferrell to lead many to Him this week, Praise the Lord!

Though revival started this week, extra excitement arrived in our family last Sunday (8th), when Katie went to the alter with Mark (she does this typically when one of us goes down to pray). But this time, she started praying on her own, and asked God to save her and to help her do better obeying. We talked with her throughout the week, trying to be sure that she really understood what it meant to be saved, and she has been excited and ready to tell the world about her decision ever since! Praise God!! I am so thankful for God giving us such a wonderful FREE gift of salvation that is simple enough for even a child to understand and accept. We're praying with Katie that God will grow her and use her in magnificent ways for His glory! And, Katie is already telling Austin all about Jesus dying for his sins, and how he can be saved and go to heaven. He does still have some growing to do to actually understand what she's explaining to him, but it's a blessing to see her already sharing God's love with others.

Homeschooling has its good days and bad days lately. Katie reminds me daily that she despises writing (of any kind -- we've tried just about everything)...and I've found myself getting a little frustrated lately because of her laziness in many school areas. Instead of reading a word that she knows, she'll just pick a random word that may start with the same letter and just guess. And, she's suddenly "forgotten" her teen and twenty numbers, constantly telling me that 13 is 33 and other random things that she knew so well only a few months ago. I've had to work much harder with her to pay attention and do her work lately, which has given Austin less structured learning time and more alone playtime (not my plans!). Katie occasionally mentions how she thinks school would be better, and though I know better, I must admit that it does sound tempting on these hard days...

Mark has been assistant coaching one of the local varsity girls basketball teams this season, which has been great for him! He is a very patient teacher (whether its teaching about computers, math, basketball, etc.), and loves basketball, which makes for a great assistant for the girls! I have really enjoyed him having this opportunity, though I'd be lying if I didn't say that it made for long days for me with the kids. It's temporary (as is all sports), and it's worth it.

The kids have been in gymnastics since October, and they've loved it! Two weeks ago, however, we changed their gymnastics groups. There were some things at the original gymnastics group that I wasn't thrilled about, and I didn't feel that they had been working with or challenging the kids with very much at all. Our new group and teachers are amazing! The kids have already been challenged and learned more in two weeks than they did in 4 months! It's amazing to see how much they can improve in just in one hours' time, when the right instruction and attention to detail is given to each child. I hope to remember my camera this next week and take a few pictures for you guys to see them "in action".

I've been SLOWLY getting the house decorated the way that more describes our family style and taste. I'm really close to finishing the living room's make-over, and I can't wait to show it to you when it's complete. One "main" piece for the living room was purchased at Christmas in Mobile, and I'm supposed to be bringing it home in just a couple of weeks when we make our next trip down. SO EXCITED to show you what it is...it was "IT" as far as accents went for me and Mark. ;-)

Austin is growing like a weed...and talking more and more like a country boy! Though it's adorably cute and funny for us right now, I can see that I will have my work cut out for me to help him NOT sound like a redneck boy! He's all about trucks, tractors, monster trucks, and hunting DEER with his Pawpaw. He tells me constantly about him wanting to grow up and get a gun so he can shoot a deer...but only AFTER he lets Katie "shoot" one with her camera ;-) She's turning into my little photography mini-me, and I love it!

Though I'm sure I have lots left to update, I think your probably beyond tired of these updates for now, so I'll save the rest for some REAL posts WITH pictures VERY VERY VERY soon....I promise. O:-)

Heart of Ice | Book Review

I was recently given the opportunity to review "Heart of Ice" by Lis Weihl.  This is an incredible christian fictional thriller that I believe is a must read for anyone looking for a good read to keep you on the edge of your seat.  This book is filled with twists and turns, seemingly unconnected as the book begins, but all beautifully interwoven throughout the later chapters. 

When I first began reading the book, I must admit that I was not sure that I would like it...each chapter introduced what seemed to be a totally different person and conflict.  But within a few chapters of reading, I was totally hooked!  And what made it even better was the fact that this was not written as a sci-fi type of book, but as a book that could totally happen to anyone in today's world!  I love the realistic fictions, and this was no different!

I rate this book 5 stars! I have thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to all fiction readers, especially those seeking a thriller/crime type book! I received this book for free from Booksneeze for this review. The above opinions are my own. I was not required to write a favorable review.