Random Friday complete with a funny story and pics!!!

So this morning I decided I'd take my camera card out of my cellphone and post a few pics of life in our corner of the world.

So first we have Sir Cuteness in all his spring wonderfulness.

Here he is with the flowers that we bought for great-grandma (my mom) for her little

garden bed.

He was so funny.

He wanted to hold them.

How sweet is this?
I mean seriously...

And then there's this one.

Dak wanted to be the first picture I took with my new phone,

so here he is.

Yes that is an orange...

and yes it is in his mouth....

and yes that is the first pic on my new phone...

This child cracks me up!!! =)

And then this lil darling kicking it oatmeal style.

This little guy just brightens it all up!!!


Oh yeah, and cheeses it all up,
even with an oatmeal face =)

And then this one was taken this morning.

Yep Dak just before his tennis tournament today.

Look how cute and tired he is today,

but my mom skills are showing again,

he's armed with Powerade and donuts, the little powered variety.

Yep rock on with your bad self mama!!!

I know the breakfast of champs =)

So on Tuesday Dak had a meet about an hour from here with a private school that we didn't know anything about.

He called me after the match and I asked how it went to which he replied:

"We got schooled mom!! OH it was bad!!!"

But he was laughing and having a good time with it.

We are a first year team and this is a seasoned team who plays all year round.

Crazy!!!

He said they would serve the ball, jump serve style (crazy good for High School), and he said by the time he swung the ball had already bounced and was unreachable to put back.

Crazy!!

He said that by the end of the doubles match, the other team was just pretty much lobbing it over. He said it was...

Crazy!!!

So Dak went over to coach said:

"Coach, why are we even playing this team?"

Coach: "I want you to know all sides of tennis."

Dak: "Coach, this is just embarrassing!!."

Coach: shrug

Dak: too funny !!! He wasn't upset at all!!

He said they definitely got schooled though, on how to play tennis on a much bigger scale.

Well, I have a challenge for you for the month of May.

Which starts tomorrow, by the way, isn't that...

Crazy!!!

Go ahead and click on my Health and Wellness label and check that out.

Have a Blessed and Beautiful Weekend,

And then there were goats, chickens, horses, cows....and a prom oh my!!!

Well for a few days now we have been helping our dear friend G at her parents house.

They have been adding a porch and that is right up Dick's alley...

and apparently Sir Cuteness's alley as well.

See...

Oh yes, he has been very busy taking in the farm life.

This child LOVES the farm.

Now he doesn't live on a farm or even near a farm,

but now that he's had a taste of farm life,

we may have a farmer...

or at least a builder on our hands!!

Here he is with G checking out the goats.....


and the horses,
and oh how this child loves to chase the chickens.
Yes, you heard that right.
Apparently that is what farm children do.
They chase chickens.
Clearly I lived in the city far too long.
I didn't realize this was a rite of passage for an itty-bitty.

I think their trying to make a country girl out of me =)


It has been such a fun few days playing at the farm.
And this afternoon when PaPa gets off of work we will be headed to Sir Cuteness's house
to work on their first year garden.
I'm so excited for them!!!
I do love me a garden!!

_________________________________

Well, it is upon us. This weekend is prom, and Dak is getting all ready for it.

Sunday after church we bought his outfit.
Now in keeping with the surprise factor, I will wait until Saturday to let you see,
but can I just say that this child has lovely taste.

He looks so daper and cute in his prom attire.

I asked him where they were going to eat before prom because apparently they don't feed them dinner anymore at prom.
What is up with that?
At our prom, we had a banquet.
Yes I know many moons ago, but still. Can't they feed 'em?

Well they are having appetizers.
But that's not real food!!!
But that is what they chose.
Dak said they wanted some kind of real food.
They had the choice of dessert or appetizers and they chose some form of real food.
That's probably a good choice. Especially since some of them won't get to eat out before the Prom.

So I asked Dak where he and Tailor (his date for Prom) are going and he said Panera Bread.
I said "Really?"
He said, "Yep it's not messy."
So cute!!!
Now they may still choose Mr. Yen's, but Panera Bread has made the final list...
How great is that?!!

Oh yeah, so here is Dak.....

So today he is going to get his hair cut for Prom.
He is excited!!! He has a cute style picked out.
Dak is very stylish!!

He's going to look FANTASTIC!!!!!

So I hope you all are having a good day ~~
And thanks for stopping by for just a little look into what we're doing right now ~~

Love you ~~

Dak's Famous Sausage and Peppers

So let me start by saying that my boy is becoming quite a food connoisseur. I told you about the Caesar Salad adventure a while back, and he has become a Caesar Salad and Salad in general eater. It is so cool, and strange, because if you know him, you know that salads or veggies in general were just not his thing.

Well a while back, I came across a vegan recipe for Sausage and Peppers. Well I made it and he loved it!!! Yes he will eat vegan meals and never even bat an eye. Yep even if said Vegan meal includes fake meat, in this case, vegan Polka Keibalsa Sausage. Lovely. Well, then I had the whole intolerance to soy thing and that knocked it out for me, but certainly not for Dak.

Well today I needed to fix something to take to my mom's for lunch. So I decided to make a non-vegan Sausage and Peppers and mom was thrilled, so I thought I'd share.

It is really easy and mom and Sir Cuteness ate it up so it must be good =)

Dak's Famous Sausage and Peppers

1 package Polka Keibalsa Sausage
1/2 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
1/2 orange or yellow pepper (I used orange, that's what I had =)
1 small to medium vidalia onion (another onion works well here to ~~ again it's just what I had on hand)

Saute' peppers in Pam sprayed pan. Cook until peppers are just a little softer, about 5 mins or so. Then add the onions and cook another 5 mins or so. Add the Sausage and cook until the Sausage is heated through, about 5 mins more, and then turn the heat down to low and let cook about 10 mins to let all the flavors meld together.

Then enjoy. I fixed roasted red potatoes with this and took to mom's. She loved it and has enough for left overs, even after Sir Cuteness got ahold of it =)

Hope you enjoy this latest recipe.

Happy, Healthy Eating,

Nachos ~~ Kicking it Healthy Style

So I love me some Nachos. I actually really like Mexican food. I don't like it really spicy, but I do like it with enough heat that you can still taste the food behind it.

So today I went to the health food store for Almond Milk and they had Mango Salsa in the deli, so I picked up some of that and started thinking what I might fix with it, and this is what I had tonight and thought I'd share it with you.

Nachos ~~ Kicking it Healthy Style

2 Corn Tortillas
1/2 cup Adzuki Beans, cooked or your bean of choice (Adzuki is what I had fixed)
1/2 cup frozen corn, cooked without salt
1 cup onions and green peppers, sliced and cooked
1-2 Tablespoons Mango Salsa (or salsa of your choice)
Lettuce
Tomato, diced

Heat oven to 350 degrees put 1 corn tortilla on sprayed cookie sheet. Start with beans and then add corn and onions and green peppers mixture, top with the other Corn Tortilla. Cook about 10 - 20 minutes, until tortillas are crispy. Keep on eye on these closely as they can get to done easily.

After it comes out of the oven, add Mango Salsa, lettuce and tomato.

Enjoy.

Happy, Healthy Eating,

May Whole Food Challenge ~~ Day 1

Update: Check out the breakfast recipe I posted a few minutes ago for this WFC!!! Just click on the Recipe label. Enjoy!!

Hey everyone!!! I wanted to jump on here and just give you a bit of encouragement. If you are joining me on this journey or would like to, welcome.

I am already realizing that I eat a lot of processed foods, even though I generally eat very healthy. But I am adjusting and had a wonderful breakfast and a lovely lunch. I will be sharing recipes with you tips that are helping me along the way.

So friends, lets do this thing!!!

If you are starting slow and just cutting out one processed food a day, it might look like this. Maybe you have a regular snack, say like mine, vegan hot chocolate every night!! I love it and I've learned to make it with protein which is great, but for this month I will not be partaking. I'm hoping to not have a single one all month. Now I really like these things, so that is going to be a challenge for me, but I can do it, and so can you. So if you have something that you eat regularly every day then maybe you could change it to a whole food, like if it's a snack like mine, you could change it to an orange or apple.

Just swapping one processed food for a whole one every day is a positive change.

So happy swapping ~~

Healthfully Yours,

Healthy Fried Potatoes....No really..... Not jk'ing

When I was growing up fried potatoes were a staple in our home. My mom made the best fried potatoes. They were sooooooo good. They just weren't very good for you.

Now adays I don't eat anything greasy, but I love me some fried potatoes, so what's a girl to do? ~~ Make her own healthy style.

I made these tonight. Dick and I really enjoyed them. (Dak is at a tennis match, but I'm sure he will love them to.)

So let's get to the recipe shall we?!! ~~

Healthy Fried Potatoes

7 Red Potatoes (small to medium size)
1 Small Vidalia Onion, chopped
Salt
Rosemary
Chives
Pam
Water

Clean potatoes and slice into thin rounds. Spray pan liberally with Pam spray (or the like). Add potatoes and onions. Add salt to taste. Cook on medium until potatoes start to get soft. Add rosemary and cook until potatoes are done. As the potatoes cook they will start to stick to the bottom of the pan, just add a little water as you go, until the potatoes are done.

Add chives at the very end.

Just a note, I snipped a couple of rosemary twigs from my garden, but only used one, and I cut two chives but only used one for two servings.

These were just delicious. I served it with a lovely spring salad. What a nice supper on a warm spring evening.

Happy, Healthy Eating,

Joy...Sweet, Beautiful, Incredible, Inexplicable joy!!

So you will notice on my side bar that my memory verse has changed. About a week or so ago, the Lord really impressed upon my heart to start studying Ephesians. So I started reading Ephesians and came to these two verses and God really started talking to me.



Ephesians 1:4-5 "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will."

There is much debate about anything in the Word that has to do with being chosen or predestination and election. It is a hot topic in the Christian world today, and in my own life it has been something that I have thought about for years. There was a time in my life that I just didn't read verses that pertained to predestination and election because it confused me and caused me to get all wrapped up in my Spirit, so I felt like at least for a season that God allowed me to read other parts of the Word, but not dwell on this part because I just couldn't get it.

Well then there came a time when I did read it and it didn't cause me to be upset or confused in my Spirit, and then over the coarse of time these feelings have given way to understanding. I'm not claiming to understand it all, by no means, I just understand it more than I used to and I praise God for His sovereignty and His love and I know that He is God, all knowing, all powerful, all God!!!

Well this morning when Pastor got up to speak, the message was introduced on the screen, and I knew immediately that He'd be speaking out of Ephesians. Not only is he speaking out of Ephesians, but that is our new study!!! Oh my!! Yes!!!!! Just what this girl needed to hear. I was so beside myself happy.

I had just told my self a couple of days ago that I might be in Ephesians for the rest of the year. Well, that may well be the case now that Pastor John is starting a study in Ephesians. I am ready for an in depth study of Ephesians. Pastor wants us to read a chapter of Ephesians everyday starting with Chapter 1 on Mondays, Chapter 2 on Tuesdays and so forth. It is 6 chapters long so by the time we get to Chapter 6 each week on Saturday the next day is Sunday and we will be ready for some more in depth study. He wants us to do this every week, until we have completed the study of Ephesians. How wonderful is that?!!! Reading Ephesians everyday for months. WOW I am so pumped!!! I am ready for a fresh Word from God on these very familiar Scriptures. I love how God does that aren't you?

I love that He has put this on my Pastors heart to start this study at this time and on my heart to start studying Ephesians even before I knew we'd be doing it corporately. So amazing!!!

I am ready to go and learn more and start doing more and start being more for Jesus than I have ever been in my life. I cannot explain the joy the it is my heart right now. I am ready to step out!! I am ready to be who God has called me to be!!! He is God and I am His!!

Father,
You are my all -in-all!! You chose me before the creation of the world and that is just such an amazing thought to me. Not only did You choose me, but You chose me to be holy and blameless in Your sight and You predestined me to be adopted through Your precious Son Jesus Christ according to Your pleasure and will. It pleased You to do so!!! That just Blesses my socks off Father!!! You are so amazing!!!!!!!!! Thank You for teaching me. Please continue to teach me Father and please continue to show me Your Glory!!! I love you Papa ~~ in Jesus Name, Amen

Love and hugs to you ~~

Clean Eating Challenge for the Month of May...

Update: Here is the link I mention below: Happy Herbivore.

Okay so I have a challenge for you. Lindsay at Happy Herbivore (which I will have the link up soon for you...) is challenging us to clean eating for the month of May.
Which means cutting down or completely out all processed foods. Now I know for some of you this will be difficult, but this is what I propose.

If you can't cut them out completely, because that would just be crazy for you,
Cut out one a day the first week,
Three a day the second week,
Five a day the third week,
And try on that last week of May to cut them out pretty much completely for the last week.

Please leave me a comment or e-mail me if you'd like to join me in this. It starts tomorrow, (FYI: this post is back dated on this link so it will post correctly, so just ignore the date at the top), but like I said, please start small if you need to. Let's do this together, and feel so much stronger and healthier by the end of May.

I will have much more coming on this topic including clean recipes and fun ideas, but for now I'm off to get Sir Cuteness.
Be sure and check back later and I'll have that link up for you.

Healthfully Yours,

A Day in the Life...

of Dak....

He is one busy kid!!

Yesterday afternoon he had his first and only home tennis match of the season.

We only have 2 courts, so it is hard to host a lot of matches.
It is best if you have several courts, so several matches can go on at once,

but yesterday we did get to have one at home.

Hoping for more of these next year, it was GREAT!!!

There's nothing like the home crowd to get you pumped!!

Dak and John won their first doubles match of the season.

It was a GREAT game!!

Dak lost his singles match, but it went into a tie breaker.

It was such a good game.

He did soooooo good, but he was soooooooooooooooooooo disapointed that he didn't win.

Here he is in his doubles match. I LOVE this pic.

Look how happy he is.

He LOVES tennis!!!

At the net, ready to go.

He made some GREAT plays at the net.

I was so happy for him and John.
They had an amazing match!!!

My mom went with me to the game. It was fantastic. It was the first match she's got to see him play. She loved it and did really good for sitting so long.

I didn't get a single pic of Dak and Grandma at the match.

Oh brother!!

________________________________

So after the match, I ran Dak home and then ran my mom home and then had to get back home and change and eat a bite and get back to school for Dak's Spring Choir Concert, and all in about an hour. WOW it was a quick turn-a-around!!

So here is Dak and I before the concert.

Look how cute he is!!

I love these pics like these.

Before every concert, we have pics before we go.

He came in last night while I was fixing my hair (if you can call it that =)

and said, "Come on mom. We have to take pictures."

I love it that my boy still wants to take pics with me.

He is such a sweetie.

Here we are up close.....

No that is not a rats nest on the back of my head,

yep it's my hair.

Let's not talk about it.

Look at this handsome cutie pie.....



Oh yes, and my normal, arms-out-to-the-side, pic.
I have a lot of them.
It's my thang!!!
=)

Here is our choir, High School and Chamber Choirs combined.
Dak is in Chamber Choir, but sings in both at competitions.


Here is Dak and Sammi.
I feel like Sammi is part of the family.
These two have laughed and sang together and sang and laughed for years.
Sammi graduates this year, and she is so sad.
She came up and hugged me so tight last night.
She is a beautiful girl, with a beautiful voice!!!
I know Dak is going to really miss her next year.....

Oh yes and Sammi has ..........

an incredible personality
and .........

an infectious laugh!!!

Love you girl!!

So that was our week yesterday.

To say we are in a busy season would be a HUGE understatement!!

But I'm loving the end-of-year events and there are many more to come....

so stay tuned.....

Have a Blessed day,

So, why the new design? ~~

Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful? (So do you have that old Stevie song in your head now? Your welcome. =)

I LOVE my new design!!! I mean LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!! First a shout out to dear Faith...
If y'all are not familiar with her, please go check her out and give her some love. Tell her how much you love her work and then get some work of your own from her. She is the BEST to work with!!

I am NOT an easy one to design for. I ask A LOT of questions, and she so graciously answered each one without even a hint of, (I WISH SHE'D JUST LET ME DESIGN ALREADY AND STOP ASKING THESE BLASTED QUESTIONS). Nope. She answered every question and was just a joy to work with, and the end result, well you can see. Absolutely beautiful. And just what I wanted.

You see, at the beginning of this year, God started talking to me about this little ole blog. What He wanted it to be and what I wanted it to be and how that differed. He has been working in my heart a lot lately about what He wants and just how different it is sometimes than what I want. It's a beautiful thing. My hearts desire is to be ALL His. Every nook and cranny, His. So you will remember at the beginning of the year I wasn't even sure if I would continue to blog regularly, but thankfully, except for my crazy busy schedule, I have been able to.

You see, I love to blog. It is an outlet of writing for me, and I love to write. And I love to keep a record of things going on, so it's a win-win!! Yay I LOVE win-win's!!! anyway.....

I had just been feeling like I wasn't blogging for Him, but more for me and that is not what I wanted from this blog. I want to make sure in ALL things that I am giving Him the glory and being all that He wants me to be in it. But I felt at times like I was blogging just to make sure I got a post on that day, so the readers would keep reading. Oh brother. That is not the reason to blog. I need to be blogging for Him and the readers will come, or not. It's up to Him not me. Yep it was a lesson I needed to learn. Thank you Father for teaching me so beautifully, to give ALL things to you. I love you ~~

Well He started working it out in my heart and letting me know that I wasn't to stop blogging, I just needed to understand why I blog. Yep I love to write and yep I love to journal, and I want a place to keep family memories tuck together, but I also want to make sure that all of that falls under Christ. And that is what He was doing in my heart, getting things lined up in my priorities so it can all be in proper perspective. So that when I blog or do anything, it is all to His glory and not my own. That is a deep, wonderful lesson to learn.

So He gave me this design a few weeks ago and immediately I started sensing the Spirit urging me to contact Faith. That is who God wanted to design this blog. You see, He knew I'd need someone like Faith who sees the bigger picture and the details. It's a beautiful thing!!!

So I contacted her and told what I wanted to do with the tabs and all (btw that is a nav bar ~~ I learned so much through this process too =) And then we were off and running.

Now let me give you a quick, how this works:

The nav bar with the headings that say: Home Family Creativity Health & Wellness Recipes

If you click on anyone of those headings you will find specific posts relating to those topics. I'm still in the transition stage, so it will take a little while to get them all updated, but you can get the idea. When you click over ignore the dates. I am back dating so they appear on their link only and not on the home page in current date as well. (Hope that makes sense).

The thought behind this design is to have all of my blogs under one. So it is easier for you to go to other things like recipes without having to go to a completly different URL, and I will be more consistent in posting under different topics if it's all in one place.

OH yes and one more thing, when I post a new post on one of the tabs I will alert you from the home page, so you can check out the new posts as they come in, say like a new recipe. The home page will be mainly devotional in nature, with some family posts making their way there as well.

I hope this makes sense and you enjoy the new set up. I'm really excited about this and really excited to see how God will use it in the future. I know that He has a plan and I just want to be exactly in the center of where He wants me in it all.

I have so many posts running around my head now!!! I'm excited to post, post, post and utilize this new and improved outlet.

Thanks for taking this journey with me.......
Love you.......

Oh yeah, I have started transferring some recipes over to my recipe tab just this morning, so be looking at those. And I will be adding some GREAT tips on Health and Wellness too.... Yep I'm excited!!! =)

Yep still loving you.....

Warning: Catching up = Picture Overload!!!

First of all....

Check out my new blog look!!!!!

I mean seriously....

How cute is this?!?!!

I contacted Faith a few weeks ago about wanting a completely new blog design and look.

She did a FANTASTIC job!!!!

I will be posting more about my new blog look and how you can utilize it's different functions.

I'm so very excited about that.

________________________________________________

WOW!! I have gotten behind quick.

So now it is time to catch up....

But.....

I can't....

Do it....

all....

in....

one.....

post.....

Soooo.....

Here we go.....

Right now is one of my husbands fav season of the year...

MUSHROOM HUNTING SEASON!!!

Now that suggests that mushrooms are hiding from you,

and in a way they do.

Sneaky little things =)

We went this year to a friends farm.

What a beautiful place.

Sky and Papa taking it all in....

This is the creek - ice cold, FREEZING - creek we crossed

3 TIMES!!! BRR!! It was fun...hadn't crossed a creek in years!!!
I LOVE this pic!!
This is how Sir Cuteness rode around a lot of the day...

Beautiful wildflowers were everywhere!!!


Here is Sir Cuteness telling Gurga (Georgia) all about it.

Okay, so I know, I look like a dork in this pic, but I love how Sir Cuteness is looking up at me,

like..... come on g-ma, pass on some more food!!

Umm yes the bottom of my jeans are wet....thanks for noticing =)

Yep creek crossing.....

Here is Sir Cuteness in the back of the truck we cruised in to the field.

He loved that old truck, and he's telling us all about it.

Here is me and Sir Cuteness hanging out under the deer stand.

Yes people, we were in the woods, the deep woods =)

Now the next day we went to a beautiful place about an hour from here.

Look at these beautiful Red Buds. I love Spring flowers...

And....

pay dirt....

Beautiful.....

Lovely.....

mushrooms.....

And here is Sir Cuteness picking his very first mushroom.....

Yes a milestone was hit....

Welcome to the mushroom world wee one.....

Here is Sir Cuteness and his PaPa with his very first mushroom.

And here is g-ma and Sir Cuteness....

Oh how we love this little one!!

And of course he had to climb over this obstacle.

He saw it and had to conquer it!!

Good job Sir Cuteness!!!

Look how beautiful!!!

This place is just lovely!!

And then it was time to head to the fish hatchery.

Look how cute!!!

I love these two so!!

Sir Cuteness was ready to jump right in...

Yes, now he is needing a nap.

And now, my favorite pic of the day.....

Boys will be boys.....

Hope you all have a Blessed and Beautiful day,

Dawn

The Orange Juice Moment...

I just love this kid!!! This one right........

Here..........................................

Yep he's the one!!! We had a moment this morning, well, I had a moment this morning. He probably didn't give it a second thought, as is the case with teenagers most of the time.

He had tennis pics this morning and had to be at school at 7:00 AM, yes that does say AM. Now what are they thinking? Teens and 7 AM usually not even in the same sentence =)

anyway...

So he got up and came out to the garage when I was pumping me some iron lifing weights, and told me to come and get him when it was time to leave, he'd be in the recliner. So when 6:45 rolled around, I went in and there he was laid back and covered up in our favorite blanket. I just wanted to drink that moment in. (That's where it started this morning).

Then we got to school and I asked him if he had enough money in his lunch account for breakfast too, (since he hadn't had breakfast and his mother is a slacker and thinks about these things pulling into the parking lot at school...) and he said no. So I told him I'd go get him breakfast at Casey's (I know check out those mothering skills. Convience Nutrition first!! =), and he said sure. So I went and got him a slice of breakfast pizza, a big ole muffin and some orange juice.

When I pulled into the parking lot he saw me from the tennis courts and came jogging across toward me. As he reaches me he says, "FOOD" as only he can say it!! (He says it often =) and then he sees the orange juice. "OH Orange Juice!! Thanks mom!!!" And he flashes me those beautiful green eyes. (This child has the most beautiful and telling green eyes), and with that gives a little something something (fist bump I think) and trots off toward the tennis courts with orange juice and breakfast in hand, and for a moment as I watched him jog across, I got sad. You see Dak is a Junior, and the end of his Junior year is FAST approaching. His Senior year is upon us!! How has this happened?

As I left the parking lot misty eyed, a memory flashed before me. It was his first day of Kindergarten, and there he is standing in front of a tree with his backpack on and his lunch box in hand all smiles. I cried that day too. It seems like only yesterday, seriously like only yesterday, which yesterday was Wednesday, and that is how fresh it seems to me, and yet there he was my green-eyed babe, jogging across the field happy to have an orange juice. It was a moment. A real moment for me. I love him so!!! It is so often the simple things that make them smile.

So take time to enjoy the simple moments with the ones who mean the most to you. Slow down and drink them in like a tall glass of sweet tea on a hot day. Drink in their smile, their aroma, their uniqueness. Love them well.

Have a Blessed and Beautiful day,

PS Fun things are a comin' and yes I still have a mushroom hunting post to do....soon (I hope ~~ I am such a slacker!!!) Love you ~~

PaPa Prayer...

Have y'all ever heard of this book "The Papa Prayer"? I am reading it and it is so good. I wanted to share something I read:

"Intercession that does not flow out of knowing God ourselves, worshiping Him for who He is, and humbly thanking Him for whatever He provides will be indelibly stained with self-centeredness."

WOW and ouch did that ever resonate with me!! I have been thinking for some time that my prayer life wasn't what it should be. I had been realizing how much I ask God for things, but don't spend quality time with God, just listening and getting to know God more. Do you know what I mean? I mean how many times has my prayers focused on God this one needs this, or please help that one over there, or God I need this.....and I didn't stop and just let God be God in my life and let Him just flow through me, and out of the overflow provide just what is needed? But instead I feel like I am exhausting to God (not that God gets exhausted, because He doesn't) but I exhaust me....like all the time. So this is part of the area that He is changing in me. I shared with you a couple of weeks ago after the Woman Inspired conference that God was doing a work. Yep He still His, Praise His Name and I am changing. I want to be all that God created me to be, but I can't be that girl if my life is constantly about me, even in, especially in my prayer life. Ya know?

The book goes on to say:

"But when relational prayer yields worship and worship produces gratitude and gratitude leads us to intercede for others to know God as we've come to know Him, then we intercede "in the Spirit" with other-centered love. And that process sets the stage for prayers of petition to flow out of a surrendered heart."

And that is what I want. I want my prayers of petition to flow out of my heart surrendered COMPLETLY to God.

Thank you PaPa for changing me from the inside out. Thank you for not allowing me to stay the same old girl day in and day out. Thank you for challenging me and please continue to do that. I want to know you more and more every single day. I love you Lord ~~ Praise Your Name, Amen.

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This weekend was such a fun one, and my intent today was to do a big ole picture ladened post about our weekend, but God had other ideas and I'm so glad He did!!!

But I will leave you with just a couple of pics and then maybe tomorrow I'll get the full post in, complete with pics ~~ lots and lots of 'em =)

Dick took off on Friday ~~ YAY!! ~~ and we went mushroom hunting. Not much luck on Friday, but then on Saturday we went to another place and WOO-HOO we found mushrooms!!!

So here is Sir Cuteness and I with one of the mushrooms he found. How cute is he?!! Eyes fixated on mushroom and all ~~ I mean seriously .....

And then here is Dick and Sir Cuteness.....Oh how I LOVE this picture!!! I'll explain more about where we were in my full post. But just wanted to show you these cuties!!!!! Oh be still my heart!!!!! Oh how I love these two!!!!!

Hope you all are having a beautiful day ~~ love you,

Surging with Strength...

Let me start by giving an update on my M-I-L. She is doing much better. She didn't have a stroke, Praise the Lord, but they are treating her for very high blood pressure. So she will be on a BP medicine. Thank you so much for praying. She looked so much better yesterday.

My mom is doing well too. We went back to the doctor yesterday and she is doing fine. She couldn't see out of that eye really, no more than normal (she is almost blind in that eye), but it is still really early. Her eye is still dilated, so as that disapates, hopefully she will gain some vision back in that eye. Even a little would be so great for her.

Dak went over to visit her last night. He was there a couple of hours. He loves his grandma so. He just went over to hang out with her. It was so sweet!!!

Well, today is a little milder day for me. I'm busy here at the house, well relatively speaking. Right now I'm icing my knee and hanging out with y'all =) but soon I will be back up and at it. I am switching winter clothes out for summer clothes. YAY!!! Bring on the short sleeves and flip flops!! And then this afternoon Dak has a tennis meet match. GO BLUEJAYS!!!!!

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Okay so there are my updates, now let me share somthing on my heart today. Last night just before bed I got irritated. Now that irritates me. I get really upset with myself when that happens, because I try to never let the sun go down on my anger (or my irritatedness). And last night by the time I crawled into bed I felt much better. And really it was irritation of my own doing. When I get stressed that is the next thing that happens generally; irritation.

So this morning I woke up feeling really bad. I prayed for forgiveness.

I only tell you this, because sometimes I think it's easy to brush over that part, almost as an after thought. But this should not be, no-siree. I feel like it is such an important step to keeping your heart right before Abba, and right with those you are Blessed with. It is way important.

So after I prayed and repented and apologized to my husband, to which he replied, "Your silly". It was really no big deal to him, because it really was no big deal at all. It was just me being over dramatic and stressed.

After Dick left for work it was time for me to get busy with my work outs, and today was Yoga day. What a good day to have when you are stressed out. It was just what I needed. Now don't get all crazy on me. I just started doing actual Yoga recently and I breathe and do the poses (best I can) and think about my Jesus. Yoga is actually really hard. No wonder there is so much breathing, because some of those poses you'd have to breathe through or fall over (and I do that anyway sometimes =)

I've had to switch my workouts around this week, because I kind of messed up and did a couple of workouts on the wrong week, but God knew that I'd need a breather today. I do not take that lightly. If I'd have just gone out to our garage gym and just killed it and not really had time to breathe and take it down a notch, I would not be relaxing right now with ice on the knee.

And on that note, the knee is doing fine. The more I work out though, the harder it is on it, so I'm trying to keep it to a low roar on the knee, so I can continue my workouts just fine. That and tomorrow is leg and back day. So I need to be ready to go.

I'd like to leave you today with Psalm 93:1 The Message Bible:

"GOD is King, robed and ruling,
GOD is robed and surging with strength."

Isn't that an awesome picture ~~ GOD robed and surging with strength ~~ and child He is just that!!!! Never underestimate that power of the living GOD to move right into your situation!! He loves you child, and He'll do just that. Trust Him today!!


Love you all ~~ have a Blessed day,

Tennis in the Real World ...

Dak had his first competitive tennis meet match EVER!! yesterday afternoon. (Note to self: Cross Country = meet ~~ Tennis = match ~~ I never get that right =) He gets so nervous before a match or meet for that matter =). And yesterday was no exception. He threw up while still at school just getting ready. Poor guy. Hopefully he has that out of his system for the season. He looked very calm and prepared.

So when I think of seeing a tennis match I'm thinking Wimbleton obviously. Ya know, bleachers up high looking down on the courts and the spectators snapping away with their cameras and cheering on the players, but this is Tennis in the Real World...chain link fence, mesh netting covering said chain link fence and all ~~ yep, Tennis in the Real World!! But a mom does what she can and takes pictures anyway. Yep I clicked right away. I will NOT be deterred by a fence or mesh, nope...I move right on with my picture taking self!!

anyway...

This particular match was at a community tennis facility, so as you can see the picture taking was PITIFUL!! My kiddo's first tennis match and this is the kind of pics I got. Hmpfff. And you couldn't even really see. There was mesh netting all the way around except for the entrances. Yep annoying! But I still got to where I could see. You know, being the very calm and cool mom that I am =)

So here is Dak in rare form, serving. The child can serve!! He's learning to put a spin on the ball and when he gets it in the pocket, whew take that opponent!!! (Okay calming down =)




And here he is waiting to return the ball. You go my boy ~~ rock right on with your cute self!!!
He is ranked 2nd of 14 in singles and ranked 1st with his partner in doubles. They lost their doubles match 8-6 and won his singles 8-4. GOOD JOB DAK!!!

Our next match is Thursday. BRING IT ON!!

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I wanted to give you an update on the other happenings of yesterday:

My mom came through her cataract surgery just fine. We go back to the doc early this morning to get the bandages off.

While me and my sis waited on my mom, I got a call from Dick and he said his mom had been taken to the hospital with a possible stroke. So after I got my mom home and settled, I went to the hospital to see my husbands mom. She was sitting up and talking and walking, but the doc hadn't come in yet, when I had to head to Dak's match and I couldn't get ahold of her last night. But hopefully we will know something more this morning. I'll keep you posted.

Well I'm off and running again this morning.

I have some really fun changes headed the blog way soon!!! Looking so forward to it and can't wait to share ~~ but I must =)

Have a SUPER Blessed and beautiful day,

Papa

I'm currently reading a book called "PaPa Prayer". It is all about praying relationally. Prayer is about developing a relationship with God. So often we make it about wanting God to do this or that for us or someone else we love, or fixing a situation, or coming to our aide, or perhaps even being at our beck and call. (ouch, did that step on anyone else's toes but mine? Yep God just planted that in my Spirit as I was typing).

The PaPa prayer is all about developing and having a relationship with God, our Papa. Coming to Him because we just want to know Him more. Is there anything wrong with coming to Him when we have a need? No absolutely not! But that doesn't need to be the only time we come to Him. God is our Abba, our PaPa, our Daddy in heaven who loves us more than we can imagine and He desires to do good for us, but He wants us to know Him, deeply know Him, and then when you ask out of a heart that REALLY knows God, then faith kicks in deep and you know that you have what you've asked of Him, because you've asked with right motives and desires and what you're asking for lines up with the Word. Oh how I love that!!!

So as I was reading The Message Bible this morning, I read this over in Romans 8:16 (or so, my Message Bible doesn't number indiviual verses):

"This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike, "What's next, PaPa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who He is, and we know who we are: Father and children."

I love that!! Father and children. He is my Abba, my PaPa. Embrace Him today.

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Today is a very busy day. I'm taking Dak and Alyssa (her b-day is today) to school this morning and then taking Sir Cuteness to his Great Grandpa's (about 45- hour from my house), and then to get my mom (about an hour back this direction) and then get her to her eye surgeon. She is having cataract surgery on her other eye today. She had her good eye done about three weeks ago. And all that before 11:45 am. And then after surgery, I'll run her home and then it's on the road again another 30 mins or so up to Dak's first tennis match. WOO-HOO!! So yep VERY busy day!!

Love you all ~~ have a beautiful day,

My what a Beautiful Easter!!!

What a fun and beautiful Easter weekend we had, as you will see in the pics following.

What you won't see is a pic of Sir Cuteness. He went to sunrise service with his daddy and then to an Easter egg hunt that afternoon and dinner, but I wanted to show you his basket and don't worry, I'll have plenty more pics of him to show =)

Okay so check out this Easter Basket. Is this not the cutest?!! Yes that is Elmo. I got that little diddy at Target. I know. You gotta love it!!! The baseball one is Dak's. We bought that one several years ago (like probably 5 or more). I don't remember where we got it. I think maybe Hobby Lobby, no Target around these parts then. I know, it is adorable as well. I pull it out every year. I love it that he has the same one every year, and so personal to him. He loves his Cardinal's baseball!! Oh why yes that is cologne and Ferro Roche, his favorite candy. And yes I am cheap frugal and got it off the regular candy aisle instead of buying the container shaped like a bunny, and yes I did say about $3.00. And no, Dak didn't care one bit!!!

Oh and check out this cake that Sir Cuteness and I made. Now it is suppose to look like a sunflower, ours looks more like a diamond, but either way, it is so cute. We had fun doing that!!

Here is my handsome teenager all dressed up for church. (Yes and barely awake!! and it was after 10:00 am -- we went to a later service). He didn't get back from St. Louis on Saturday night until after midnight, so he was a tired boy. But he had a blast in St. Louis on a field trip!!! St. Louis is about 3 1/2 - 4 hours from here, so he had a lonnnnggg, but fun, day.

And here I am. All ready to go to Easter service. I love Easter so!!! And this Easter especially God spoke to me so special. It was a special time for me. Thank you Father!!

Here I am holding one of my favorite crosses in our Prayer Room. It says "He is Risen"!!! Indeed He is ~~ Hallelujah!!!!!

Me and my handsome boy ~~ I love this kid so!!!

And this is my fav pic of the day!!! (I'm not showing you the ones that make me look like I have a ginormous head and an even ginormouser nose!!! hahahahaha Dick and I got a good laugh out of those!!)

Now these next few pics will no big deal to some of you, but those of you who know Dak personally need to sit down. Yes, go on, take a seat right now. There that's better.....

Why yes, that is a SALAD he is holding.....

What? Is he really going to take a bite of a salad?

Ummm yes, yes he did. You see, he went to Hard Rock Cafe in St. Louis on Saturday, and was NOT impressed. It cost him $21 and some change for a burger, fries and a drink, and the burger, which he ordered well done, came out mooing at him. He ate around the edges and then brought that raw thing home and stuck it in our fridge....EEK!! Needless, to say he was sick of burgers!!! So on the way home from church, he was telling me the story and how he'd almost ordered the Caesar Salad because it was only $10.00, but he just didn't know if he'd have ate it or not. HE IS NOT A SALAD EATER AT ALL!!! I always have to fix him something different when we have salad. So I told him if he wanted, I'd fix him a Caesar Salad when we got home, and since Subway was closed, he took me up on it.

So we stopped at Price Cutter and got a rotissere chicken, some Romaine lettuce, Parmesan cheese, croutons and Caesar salad dressing. He was so nervous to try it, (it was so cute), but he did......AND LOVED IT!!! He even ate one for supper before he went and played tennis. Two salads in one day, now that my friends is progress!!!

I hope you all had a beautiful Easter as well. I would like to leave you with the verse on the back of the program that our church handed out yesterday.

Romans 8:11 The Message

"It stands to reason doesn't it

That if the ALIVE-AND-PRESENT GOD

who raised Jesus from the dead

MOVES INTO YOUR LIFE

He'll do the same thing in you

That He did in Jesus

BRINGING YOU ALIVE TO HIMSELF?"

Isn't that good?!!! If you have a Message Bible you should look up this whole passage, it is really good. Our church service was OUTSTANDING!!! We went to the third service (there were four) and there was probably at least 50 that went forward for salvation in that service alone. God moved among us ~~ it is a beautiful thing!!!

Love you all ~~ have a Blessed week,

I don't know why this pic is at the end. It should be up there with the other ones, but blogger saw fit to move it while I was deleting some empty spaces. Oh well, I'll go with it......