LAST I SAW YOU....

I was left holding the bag.

Actually, MC 2 was holding the bag.

Amidst my many protests, MC 1 said,

"Well, just be glad it wasn't poop."

Well, yes, son, I am rather glad of that.

My sister's kids were here Monday.

(They were not contributors to our "survival bag". She would want you to know that.)

Her MC has a fascination and astounding knowledge of all things military.

He and MC 2 can talk army guys for hours.

He is pretty much the only one MC 2 will even play army guys with, civilly.

A female cousin tried to participate in his army guy training exercise while we were in West Texas.

Mom! She can not play. Army guys do not have girls.

Yes, girls can be in the army.

I did not know that.

As a treat, I decided to take them to a local war museum. However, no one was there to show us around and I was not about to let them touch, climb on or attempt to fly anything.

SO... the worst mom ever made them leave, enduring the cries of MC 2,

WHY DO WE HAVE TO LEAVE?

THIS PLACE IS THE MOST AWESOME!

I DON'T WANNA GO!

Tuesday, the cat disappeared.

Seems I locked him a closet.

Oops.

That night we had storms blow in.

Nothing major, but you would not have been able to convince MC 1 of that fact.

He spent a portion of the evening carrying said gato around and saying,

We're all going to die.

We're all going to die.

Of course, he really thought we were when the power abruptly cut off.

Yep... it was then end of it all.

Despite his doomsday predictions, we all slept soundly and survived to fight another day.

If you are reading this, so did you.

Choose the good fight.

1 Timothy 6:12 (NKJV)

Fight the good fight of faith,

lay hold on eternal life,

to which you were also called

and have confessed the good confession

in the presence of many witnesses.

RAISING DAVE AND CODY...

Just when I thought I would have nothing to say today.....

MC 2 just brought me a Ziploc bag with a urine specimen he and MC 1 had produced.

They were saving to:

1. Show HH

2. Light a fire by using it as a magnifying glass

I am going to bet Dave and Cody's mamas faced similar issues.

I hope they threw it away as quickly as I did.

I am not sure who the survival tactics are for, me or them?

Maybe they should make a show about surviving your sons:)

LAST DAY OF VBS....

is finally here. It has been really great, but also really tiring. I mean this body hasn't been through a VBS since she was actually in VBS oh so many years ago. Spending every morning with some 40+ second graders has had its perks and its challenges. I just keep reminding myself we are planting seeds, and from our days growing up in Arkansas, I know that seed planting takes work. Lots of it. So I am off to finish planting today and looking forward to the harvest. Have a great weekend!

WHAT'S IN A NAME...

See this box above?

Full of pigs in a blanket for VBS today.

This simple, yellow, Tupperware box caused a strange reaction in me.

Aware that I would be leaving it in the "deli",

I knew I needed to write my name on it.

And oddly, I found I didn't want to.

Not my married name.

But my maiden name.

Because this box is from my mom.

It is full of memories from my childhood.

It is the box she stored the honey bars in.

It is the box she used for those pecan puff things, rolled in powder sugar,

she made at Christmas time.

The box made many a varsity basketball pregame trips.

It reminds me of my sisters and parents.

Of the group we used to be, and still are when we get the chance.

I liked that little group.

I loved that group.

I am proud of that group.

The box has always been a part of my life as I can remember.

And I could not bring myself to ignore that fact.

But I knew if I wrote my maiden name,

it might never find its way home to me.

So I compromised.

With myself.

That may be more telling than I realize about a lot of things.

I wrote my maiden name on one side,

and my married name on the other.

When I finished, I stared at it and thought how odd the whole emotional response was.

I mean it is just an empty Tupperware box.

Physically.

Emotionally, it is packed full of memories, good memories.

Mom was going to give it away.

I am going to cling to it.

Maybe one day the MCs will have fond memories of that little box.

REASONS WHY I LOVE WEST TEXAS

1. RaRa & Grandpa,

who welcomed me with open arms some 14 years ago when I made my first trip.

2. Jamie & Greg,

who let us bring our not so quiet MCs

to their awesome and very quiet house and seem to love every minute of it.

3. HH with Grandpa.

Grandpa's health has hit a few bumps.

He told us this weekend one of the things

he missed was being able to cook outside.

It did all our hearts good Friday to see HH and Grandpa cooking out.

Lawn chair and wheel chair side by side, they were happy men.

4. The fact that HH can show the MCs his pets from his childhood.

As much as I dislike snakes, horned toads, tarantulas, and "snake hunting",

the MCs LOVE every minute of it.

Experiences they would never have if we stayed here all the time.

5. The beauty of God's creation.

I love my trees.

They are majestic and powerful.

However, not much can top the West Texas sky at night.

It is absolutely breath taking.

Nothing will make you aware of how very small you are in this big old world.

Realizing that, nothing makes you more aware of the power of God's love for your tiny little self and how important you are to Him.

That puts a very grateful and humble heart in this gal.

He counts the number of the stars;

He calls them all by name.

Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;

His understanding is infinite.

Psalm 147: 4-5 (NKJV)

REASONS WHY I DISLIKE WEST TEXAS

I had hoped to show you more pictures of why I dislike West Texas.

But right now I dislike my phone even more.

So you just get a list.

1. The temp was 111 within a few seconds of taking this picture.

2. HH caught a tarantula.

3. HH caught a snake.

4. HH let the boys catch horned frogs.

5. HH takes the boys snake hunting.

Rattlesnakes that is.

But to not be a Negative Nancy, tomorrow, I'll tell you the five reasons I love West Texas.

THE ONE WHERE I CAN'T THINK OF A TITLE....

You write a post like yesterday and then you think,

Great...now they think I am walking around all full of myself...blah...blah...blah.

Let me assure you, for the days I think I have it all together, there are just as many days when I feel like I couldn't get it together if you gave me the bag and helped.

Which is why my confidence better be tied up in Christ Jesus.

Cause this flesh falls off her self-appointed pedestal A LOT.

I was going to show you pictures of our day yesterday but my phone doesn't want to talk to my computer so you will just have to take my word for it.

We started out bright and early taking Bella to the vet to have her stitches removed.

Did I tell you one of the puppies magically reappeared last weekend?

Uhm-Hhm.

We headed to a not so local library to see the Library of Congress exhibit.

Then it was off to wait in a ridiculous road construction line.

People in Bobcat land...it is going to be a long summer for you.

I mean why would you close down the main intersection in town and 2 miles beyond it in all directions.

Okay maybe dramatic, but it was craziness.

We met up with the sisters (minus one) for lunch at Chick-Fil-A to line out our summer bible study.

Us and every youth group in town.

Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl is on deck.

Not on the shelves it seems as none of us could find it, but on deck.

A stop by a Bible book store, a copy of Made to Crave, a Toby Mac Back2Back Cd, and a Jeremy Camp Cd later we checked out.

Made to Crave.... gonna get all up in my business....I can already tell.

We dashed off to the hospital to check in on my grandfather, who suffered a mini stroke that morning. He is also battling shingles, so any prayers would not be wasted on him.

MC 2 had a check up. He passed. He scored big numbers. He is a big boy.

Round out the day with swimming at Nanny's and some good 'ol chili dogs for supper and it was time to wrap it up.

Which I am.

Have a great Wednesday!