Birthday

My Jesse turns 6 today. Happy Birthday to my sweet boy! It seems unreal that just 6 short years ago he was my little (big) 9 lb baby. He's grown in so many ways. He is kind and considerate, although we do have some sibling rivalry at times. He is my cuddle bear, lovable on the inside and out! He loves his family but most importantly he loves God! Jesse, grow strong physically, intellectually, morally and spiritually. I'm proud of you.

Good News

Loren called me at lunch excited with good news to share. He had a manuscript accepted, with minor revisions, to the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology. This is good news as he is working on his application for tenure. It has also been quite a few years since anyone in the Department has had an article published in this journal. I'm so proud of him.

Other good news, I am in the process of transferring my volunteer financial responsibilities. The process is a lot of work and once it is finished I'll breathe a big sigh of relief and look to new horizons.

Rebecca, my little one year old, is holding onto my fingers and taking steps. Oh, she's growing up so fast. I'm beginning to wonder about how many comments I get that she is SO small, I think she's just perfect. Everyone has their opinion.

coupons

Things that make you go hmm. I had an interesting trip to the grocery store. The store was sold out of the reusable bags, so I had some unhappy children as I put back the 3 bags of Doritos. Pepsi had a deal where you bought 3 products you got a free bag in honor of Earth Day.
At the checkout I also discovered that my Kroger doesn't accept computer printed coupons any more. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, but the clerk really made me feel like a thief. Funny how different tones make words sound different. We can not accept THESE coupons. My first thought was, WHAT, I *know* I checked all the expiration dates. I've had no problem on past trips. I asked the clerk if it was a new policy and she said, "Our company has never accepted THESE type of coupons." I was tired and in a rush trying to get back so Loren can keep the children and I make my dental appointment. I had hungry cranky children (remember the ones who were not happy about the Doritos..) Plus there were 2 church members in the store in nearby lanes. Must keep my Christian witness. Looking on the positive side, I guess I will be saving myself some ink. There are really a lot of good coupon deals online like here and here.

Update on my dental visit, Loren had a meeting that ran late so I ended up taking all 4 children with me. Rebecca started crying when the receptionist offered to hold her so I ended up nursing Rebecca in the chair while the other 3 squeezed onto the bench and colored. Guess what! The crown did not fit for the third time. I almost wanted to cry, Rebecca cried for me, she really didn't like them messing with my mouth. Loren did arrive at the clinic and took the children. Good thing because the dentist had to really work at getting it to fit. I'm still not quite back to normal, hopefully I'll adjust to it soon.

Blogs I read

I discovered this blog a couple of months ago, Be Thrifty Like Us, and have it in my blog reader. They are a husband/wife blogging team who blog about being thrifty and various free or rebate items they discover. It takes a lot of legwork out of searching for deals. Today is their Bloggy Giveaway and I'm linking to them to enter :-) It's always fun to get freebies.

A Weight Lifted

A big volunteer job I've held for the last 3 1/4 years is leaving my plate. I made my decision official today in a committee meeting and guess what, someone stepped up to the plate. I was honest about the job and how much work it entails. We also found someone who'll do the conference treasurer job, I've been doing both for the past 2 conferences and really they are 2 big jobs. I've burnt out on conference and even though it is going on right now and for the next 2 days, I've not even made plans to attend any sessions. I'll pop in and out to do deposits and socialize a bit, but that is as far as I'm going. One of the attendees was almost jumping up and down in excitement at hearing our speaker, and I'm just so unmoved. A weight has been lifted and I feel so good.

Taxes filed and tree pictures

Ahh, the feeling of relief. We did a final review of our taxes and filed last night and we are getting a refund from Federal, but we owe a bit to the State. It works out positive in the end, so it's a happy ending. We'll be paying down our credit card debt that was acquired in the need to remove that mammoth oak tree in the yard last fall. After the straight-line winds and tornadoes of last week, I am so very glad that tree was gone.
I'm finally uploading a few pictures of the tree removal. Cynthia had fun taking pictures, we have a minute by minute update of the tree (almost 300 pictures), especially the stump grinding. Although I have to admit the process was pretty fascinating, half my neighbors stood outside and watched. When the top 8 feet of the tree came down the house shook, they said that section weighed about 2000 lbs. When the last 20 feet came down my neighbors down the block said their house shook too. Can you see the clouds of dust in the picture?






Daniel Baptist will be holding their Vacation Bible School on July 13-17 in cooperation with New Vineyard Church. The theme will be a Judean Village. We were supposed to be out of town, but we are currently trying to rearrange our schedules to be back in time for VBS.

Good Cause

I had an interesting experience going through the drive thru of Trustmark today. I was depositing a reimbursement check for the La Leche League conference and the teller thanked me then raised her hand in the air like a victory sign and said "Good Cause! Have a great day."
I left smiling and had a great grocery shopping trip at Kroger, except I left without my 1.00 coupon from the catalina. Oh, well, I still saved 41%.

Providence

I'm crossing things off my to do list and getting caught up while Rebecca is napping, I've had this post on my to do list all week.
Last Sunday we arrived at church with a few minutes to spare before Sunday School. We parked on the side of the church closest to the playground because the children wanted to go in down the stairs, most people park behind the church which has wheelchair access. We realized that we left the package of wipes sitting on the high chair in the kitchen. Loren had used the last one in the diaper bag on a diaper change on Wednesday night while I was in choir practice. Our church nursery doesn't have wipes so we were wondering whether to drive home and get our package. We only live 3 miles, instead of nearly 20, from church but we didn't want to miss any Sunday School either. It was a matter of, do we take the chance of not needing wipes on 2 children for 3 hours? I had just said to Loren, if you really want to get them go ahead, it's your decision (put it off on hubby teehee), when.... this car appears beside us and Ms. Peggy is motioning me over to the driver's side and she handed me a bag. Inside the bag was a package of size 3 diapers AND a small package of wipes. God truly cares for us and watches over the smallest details of our lives.
It amazes me over and over how He shows up in our lives when we are watching for Him!

Farmer's Market

Oh, Spring is in the air and I have Farmer's Market fever!
Cynthia and I headed off just after 8 am to have a girls morning out. We first stopped at the Mississippi Farmers' Market on High Street. They are a producers only market and I love supporting local farmers. We've been buying produce from Ric for a few years now, although I really haven't been going the last year. Not that I've really been home alot in the last year!
Ric is selling free range eggs, beautiful flowers, unique bags of spring lettuce and edible flowers and the best jams and jellies I've tasted.
We also bought beets and "free-range" lettuce from Steve of Hixon's Farms ( I believe). I had to know the story behind that marketing slogan. I've heard of free range eggs but never lettuce.
We also sampled different types of Humus by Pattie and came home with Roasted Eggplant, and a Black Bean Humus for running a favor for her. Pattie lives in the neighborhood and we joked about having to go to market to chat. Pattie has this sauce called "Come back" it has quite a bit of kick to it, and I see it could be very addictive.
Cynthia and I stopped by the Belhaven Market but we didn't buy anything as I spent my fresh produce budget at the other market.
Well, we are off to the NatureFest at the Natural Science Museum where we are going to test drive a kayak from Buffalo Peak. See you soon, maybe a bit wetter too!!

Yeah!

Only a mom will understand my excitement that my John is potty trained (ing?). I had despaired that he would give up diapers, but really how many college students need diapers? He decided Monday morning and we've only had 2 accidents since then. He tells me every time and I'm just so excited and proud.
Last night we went on a slug hunt, wow, I knew we had a slug problem as my garden was disappearing but I didn't realize how many slugs you could collect. The children and I had cups of bleach and flashlights, John got pretty excited when he found one. The biggest ones were actually near the cat food dishes.
We drove to a breastfeeding support meeting tonight and I drove through some of the storm damage. The children were oohing and wowing over the massive trees still on houses. Old Canton Road is lined with piles of debris.
Rebecca is taking a couple of steps while holding my fingers, can you believe my baby turns one next Saturday? Where did the year go? Oh yeah, I spent most of it travelling in AZ and Eastern Canada.
Next week is our big conference, Breastfeeding: The Gold Standard with Dr Nils Bergmann and Dr Rebecca Saenz. Thursday night they are showing The Business of Being Born
from 10pm to midnight, a $5.00 donation is suggested for the general public, but it is included in registration for conference attendees. On some levels I'll be happy for the conference to be finished, it is a lot of work.

Prayer

something to think about...
P.U.S.H.
P-----pray
U----until
S----something
H----happens

How many times do we become discouraged when we don't get the answer we want, or in the time frame that we want?
I have a CD by Brian Barrett, and there is one song called "One Prayer Away" where a mother has been praying for years, but she keeps on praying because she could be 'One Prayer Away" from seeing Heaven move.
There is also a song by Greg Long of Avalon called "Fifteen", it talks about a person needing 15 times hearing about Jesus before they believe and what if I'm 15?. That is convicting to me, how many times am I so afraid and timid of what people will think that i let fear silence my tongue. Then I've also entwined or wrapped myself in volunteer organizations tow the party line only say what they want you to say, don't offend... hmmm, some more things to consider..

Wild Game Dinner

My church, Daniel Memorial, is holding a Wild Game Dinner on April 20 th at 6:00pm. Tickets are free but you need to have one to attend to insure enough wild game for everyone. We are encouraged to bring a salad, vegetables, or dessert and a friend. Want to come?
I've been updating their website, and just started a blog to keep up with church activities, let me know if you have any comments :-)

Faith

"Worry looks around, sorry looks back, Faith looks up."

I'm tired of looking around and looking back, from now on by faith I will look up.

Little Girls and Sleep Overs

Cynthia slept over at her little girlfriend's house last night, oh she's getting so big, and tonight they are giggling up a storm in her room. We haven't decided if her friend is going home before or after church. We don't want to miss church! It's been way to long since I've been this excited and content in attending a church. God is Good, He knows the desires of our heart.
My Jesse lost his first tooth today. Poor little guy was excited and devastated at the same time, since he lost it as he was biting into a S'More and he swallowed it. He was so upset he said he stomach was sore, and of course he was blaming the tooth for the upset. I told him he would still get money for his tooth, no worries. We'll have to go read Moose's Loose Tooth again tonight.