MOTIVATIONAL POSTER CHILD...

I admit it.  I'm a sucker.  Got one of those emails from the company that took photos at the OKC Memorial Marathon this year....and my pictures were about to be gone forever!  So I did it.  I ordered this one because I couldn't help it - there I am in all my cold, wet, cramping glory with the friend I  had made the last 3 miles.  She was a schoolteacher from Texas and her daughter had left her behind. I had told my friends to go ahead too.  We didn't know each other's names until coming across the finish line, and the photograph caught our HIGH FIVE!  It was a sweet moment.  Just thought you all might like to enjoy the moment with me.  :)

STARSTRUCK...

A really fun thing happened the other day.  I was shopping in Hancock's Fabric store and my favorite designer from HGTV's Design Star was also shopping  there!  I don't watch much TV, but when I found out Kellie from my home town had made it to the show, I faithfully followed her on the series through the summer.  She made it to the top four contestants and was eliminated then.  But I loved almost everything she did and the way she conducted herself on the show!

So I recognized her immediately but decided I wouldn't be one of those crazy fans.  Just let her do her business and get out.  Then I heard someone else talking to her about another design show.  I got my fabric cut and headed for the checkout.  Here she came, I guess she didn't find what she needed and was heading out the door.  I couldn't help myself, I had to talk to her!  I told her how much I admired her on the show, and she was really sweet.  We had an actual conversation!  About who should have won (Karl) and theorized why Meg did win, what the show's producers really wanted, then I commented on how tiny she was, etc.  I was pumped for the rest of the day!  Kellie, who had rubbed elbows with Vern and Genevieve and Candace had talked to me!

Fastforward 24 hours.  I'm doing Bible study and reading about a woman hero in Joshua, named Rahab.  Yes, Rahab the prostitute.  Poor girl, that description follows her around.  What an interesting story she had!  But you know God must have forgiven her for her past because he allowed her to be saved during the destruction of Jericho!  She and her family were integrated into the Israelites.  All because she had heard of the God of the Israelites and his mighty acts and feared Him.  She had great faith and put her life on the line for it.  She ended up being the great, great grandmother of King David!  Now there's someone to admire!

So I just started to wonder, how well do we know our Bible heroes?  Do we really know their stories like we do celebrities in this day and age?  Do we look forward to meeting them?  Does it put a smile on your face to  imagine turning around and there's Rahab - wow!  Or Mary!  How about Esther?  Will we chat with them in Heaven?  I hope so!!!

DON'T EVER LET A CRAZY FOOTBALL FAN SLEEP ON YOUR FLOOR...

Body paint does NOT come off easily.  Yes, I made him clean it up.  You may notice my son is supervising his effort.  Unfortunately now we have a pink spot still there and the comforter he used is still in the car after one attempt in the giant washers at the laundromat...argh...

WHOEVER SAID BOYS WERE EASIER THAN GIRLS?

PALLET PLANTER...

Because my daughter lives across the street from a loading dock of a grocery store, she is finding a use for their discards.

Yeah, trash.

She made this planter out of a pallet - just got some potting soil and made little pockets!  Now they are growing fall flowers and herbs.  Maybe when it grows up it will look like THIS!

!

I'M A FAN OF A BOY BAND...

And they have stickers.  And t-shirts.  And other paraphernalia.  They have more goodies than a soccer team!

But they have this really sweet bass player.

And some others as well...

You knew it was coming....check it out

I promise there were a few non-family members there!

It was actually a pretty sweet gig.

NONFAT DELICIOUSNESS...

Maybe I'm the last one on the planet to notice this, but maybe not! You no longer have to struggle with the humongous pit inside a mango! I was tickled pink to see this in the store.  I've enjoyed it through the years occasionally, but really started to like it as a topping at the local froyo places! So now I can get it in the frozen section in bite-sized pieces! Is this a great country or what?

BUSY HANDS...

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might...Ecclesiastes 9:10a

Just a little sample of my handiwork this week!  Got some double-sided paper so they would be pretty on both sides.  They have a scripture on one side and an admonition on the other.  I'm hoping my group will love them because I'm going to make them say it every Sunday!

MAKE NEW PLANS...

My Dad with me at college graduation, 1986

Today marks 10 years since my Dad died of colon cancer. Yes, it was just a few days after 9/11 - and I was shocked and saddened about all that, but was in a fog because my own father was in hospice care. After going through treatments off and on for a couple of years, I finally accepted the fact that he was better off going home. But I also remember when he died one of my biggest regrets was that my children would miss out on having their Poppi. I still feel that way. He was a great guy, a Christian servant, a math professor at his beloved Oklahoma Christian, loving husband, interested father, fun grandpa, the family peacemaker. Thankfully, I have many great memories of him!

I thought I'd tell you a little story about THE TRIP THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. My Dad, the math professor and my mother had been accepted as teacher/sponsors for one of the semesters abroad program. They prepared to go on what is known as the PacRim tour, that visits many countries including China, Japan, and Australia. They were in meetings and read about it and bought special clothing and went to events to get to know students who were also going. It was a pretty big deal. My husband and I were very excited too, and begin to hatch a plan to meet them on Thanksgiving break in Australia. We saved money, read books about Australia, got all 3 kids passports and tried to decide on whether to visit the Great Barrier Reef or Uluru. Well, the big ugly C returned, the trip was off for them, and off for us. It was a big disappointment for all of us, but we couldn't be mad about it. We had much bigger issues to worry about.

We had saved up quite a sum over the past year for the trip, so now what were we going to do with that money? Just a few days before Christmas, I had an idea. I'm so thankful my husband went with it! I had heard of the Disney Land/Sea vacation: 4 days in the Disney parks/3 days on the Disney cruise ship. We did a little research and decided to give our whole family, including my sister and her family a Spring Break trip to Disney. I hurriedly printed off home-made gift certificates to open up on Christmas morning. Everyone was elated! Usually we enjoy several trips to the lake together during the summer, but we had never taken this big a trip with all 11 of us!

We got trip insurance just in case. My Dad was on pain medication and was weak, but using a wheelchair provided by Disney, he enjoyed it thoroughly. We had a great time together, sometimes breaking up into smaller groups, but always meeting up at dinner time. The cruise part was a welcome rest from park hopping, but of course, fantastic with the Disney touch and all the great entertainment and food!

So just a little nudge for you in case something in your life didn't go the way you planned. MAKE A NEW PLAN. Or maybe your parents are having aging issues. Do something special with them. I'm really thankful my husband was willing to share with the extended family on this trip. Because six months later, my Dad was gone.

Spring Break, 2001

One more thing, a story on this pic: My sister and I did plan for our families to wear certain colors on the days we were in the parks. Not just to match, but it really does help you find your group! Our last morning there, I wanted to take a family picture and we found this beautiful spot at our resort. The geraniums were already blooming! We just asked a passerby to take the picture for us. It was my favorite picture of the whole trip! I ended up making 8 x 10's for everyone. So glad we did.
We haven't made it to Australia yet, but we don't regret for one moment the time we spent together on the Disney Land/Sea Adventure!

A NEW TRADITION...

for gift giving!   I'm kinda funny about traditions, you know!  Love 'em!  I decided long ago I would give all my nieces and nephews the same thing for high school graduation and also the same thing when they got married (which is a different thing from the graduation thing - did I confuse you?). It makes it really easy and equal on the gift giving!  I started thinking I wanted to do something special for brides I know especially well.  So here it is:

Tea towels! I did the needlepoint on them and my daughter actually added the trim on this pair because she knows her way around a sewing machine much better than I do. It may not be the most exciting gift, but they are so useful, and inspired by the ones I received so many years ago.

These are remnants of 2 sets I received when I got married 28 years ago. The fruit ones are actually painted with fabric paint, and seam binding added for color on the edge. The lady who made them knew both my grandmothers and made lots of beautiful things! The Tuesday kitty is one of a set also, made by my Grandmommie Betty. She was an extraordinary homemaker and crafter, entering things in the fair and winning all kinds of ribbons. She taught me how to needlepoint, so they are really special to me.

I tried to find out why they are called "tea towels" but didn't have much luck. Maybe because you would wash and dry your dishes after having tea? I don't know, but I use them all the time! Do you have any special useful things like this you received as a wedding gift?

SWEET CONVERSATION...

is what you would get with this art project my son came home to work on recently!

Yes, that's right...

He covered a phone in chocolate!

Here's another sweet thing involving my son that happened this weekend: A NEW REIGN farewell concert for two seniors that graduated in May. It was really fun with a great audience who knew them!

SOME THINGS I DID, SOME THINGS I WISH I DID...

are on this list of 23 ways to RAISE KINGDOM CHILDREN.  It's from a new blog buddy of mine, a Christian sister who's a recent empty nester.  I'm getting closer to that status and was so glad to find her blog!  With kids ages 22 (almost), 20, and 16, my husband and I are now seeing the results of our parenting.  We think all of our kids have good character and are proud of them, but they are still young and I'm reminded of:

I Peter 5:8  Be alert and of sober mind.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

So take a minute and check out the list.  There are lots of ideas on there to keep that roaring lion away from our families!

DESSERT VOTED MOST LIKELY TO SABOTAGE MY DIET...

Well, that would be ANYTHING with dark chocolate!  We ate with my family on Labor Day this year and my mother made this delicious dessert.  She sent the leftovers home with me for "the boys to eat..." and well, those boys haven't gotten any!

CHOCOLATE CHERRY CAKE

1 Dark Chocolate cake mix (oil + eggs)

1 t. almond extract

1 21 oz. can cherry pie filling

1 tub fudge frosting

Prepare cake mix as directed.  Add the almond extract.  Fold in the cherry pie filling, then bake as directed in 9 x 13 pan.  Frost when cool.

This is such a moist cake!  I'm not a big cherry fan, but you can barely taste them.  I think they just make it really moist.  So easy and delicious!

PW WOULD APPROVE...

of this "COTTAGE CHIC GOES TO THE RANCH" style wedding!  The bride's a blog buddy of mine and the daughter of our long-time friends.  And she actually won a weekend at PW's ranch a couple of years ago...so of course she deserves a post!  You can see all the planning and special touches she added to the wedding at Bridle Creek Ranch this past weekend:

Fun signs pointing the way

The thumbprint tree for guests to "sign"

The gorgeous bride and yes, that's the groom in a teal checked shirt!

The bride's cake and oatmeal pies for the groom

I snuck this shot in with the photographer!

A little line dancing

                    And it never hurts to send home flowers and cups with the guests!

I love the sweet reminders at weddings of the commitment you make when you marry; the minister did a wonderful job of that.  He talked about both the groom's and bride's hands - the hands that will hold yours when you are happy, the hands that will dry your tears, the hands that will get nicked and cut when they fix things around the house (my husband appreciated that one!) the hands that will hold your children, the hands that will one day be wrinkled and old....a tear jerker!  Thanks Kayla, for letting us share your special day!

OKRA, OKRA EVERYWHERE...

Look at this beautiful bounty!  I grew the cantaloupe in my little garden, but my uncle gave us nearly 40 LBS. OF OKRA AND SQUASH recently!  Most of it I shared, but here's what my kitchen's looked like lately!  

So we've had Roasted Okra with rotisserie chicken...

                                     Okra stewed in Gumbo with shrimp...

And I even tried stuffing it with monterey jack cheese to make Okra poppers....

ANYTHING to avoid making it the best way of course...FRIED!  Well, I think I'll give in and fry some for a family dinner on Monday.  Wish me luck - I'm not an expert fryer - which is a good thing!  At least I'll be sharing the clogged arteries with those I love...

P.S.  The Roasted Okra is my favorite of all these...try THIS simple recipe!

THE EASY WAY TO TONE...

I'm afraid THIS will be on my Christmas list if I don't get back into my exercise routine...