Cat whisperer

My baby girl is a cat whisperer. They talk to each other.
Little kitty, what secrets do you tell her?
Why do you love her so?
Would you tell me if I bribed you with a bowl of milk?

Dinner and a funeral?!?

You know you've been married too long when you husband ask you on a date that consist of a funeral with dinner afterwards. The funeral went well, lunch at Cheddars was even better! What more can a girl ask for?

A really great Wednesday

Normally I do not like Wednesdays to well. They are stuck in the middle of the week, too far from the beloved weekend on either side. Today was a really great day however.

I slept in a little, not too late but long enough to feel like I was cheating.. all from the steady rain that had gone on all night.

Skipped my workout and went to Blackbirds Coffee, orderd my favorite caffee mocha latte read my study in Ephesians at the shop, in peace and quiet.

Went to see my friend Lauren who just got out of the hospital. Her contractions have stopped and it looks like Gage will wait a few more weeks before coming! Thanks God!

Enjoyed supper with Wayne at Zaxby's. We talked about our day over chicken salads.

Ordered this cute sweater at Sahalie's, one of my favorite online stores.

Spent an hour with Becky my friend and disciple and heard all about how God is using her in the life of one of our other friends who is struggling with infertility issues.

Leslie told me all about how she made an A+ on her vocab quiz, and knew all the answers to her science test. Amazing what the promise of a laptop can do for gradepoint average. Hey, don't judge me for bribing my children!

Listened to Virginia practice her keyboard, she's really got the McNabb family piano talent gene.
Only downside to my day is hearing Bill Clinton yammer on TV in the background about how Obama is going to change America. Whatever!

Counting my blessings tonight for friends, family and blessings that are more than I can number!
I think I'll go enjoy the last brownie and my cup of decaf before ending this wonderful Wednesday. We are all tired here and it's time to go to sleep! Goodnight!

Be Happy

Read this neat poem i found on one of my favorite blogs: kari and kjisa-

HAPPY

Grumpy is easy.
I have lots of friends
and relatives who do it.
They grump around like toads.
—You know—
Cause life always spills in
and muddles up.

Happy is hard.
Cause you have to reach inside
and find the place where it starts
and change it,
—You know—
and force your cheeks up
to smile.


Mark W. Presley
Begun March 26, 2006

Baby Nursery

My girls have long since outgrown the nursery, however, remembering how nice it was to enjoy a church service uninterrupted, I still keep new baby nursery once a month. Today was my turn, and I'll admit it,the real reason I keep nursery is because I LOVE babies.
.....I love how "fresh from Heaven" they are
.....I love how they smell like baby powder and milk breath
.....I love their little gassy smiles
.....I love their little startles that make their arms fly up.
.....I love how their eyes roll all around
.....I love how a grown man can make an utter fool of himself when he talks to them
.....I love to hear them belly laugh when you make silly faces

Oh sweet babies! It will be grandbabies the next time I hold my own!

Stress relief

Why do you think life is so stressful? Do you think our grandparents lived life stressed out? I cannot for the life of me imagine my grandma leaning over the kitchen sink and crying to my grandpa over the dishes saying" I am so stressed out!" Was life simpler than? Do we make things too complicated? Do we really think we can have it all instead of just loving what we have?
I have been learning lately that my stress is often self-induced. So in order to bring more peace and tranquility to my life I have started to actively try to reduce my stress by:
1) Playing piano- I really can't play all that well, but I like to!
2) Run- Nothing soothes my mind like running. I can think things out.
3) Say no- I'm learning that I don't HAVE to do everything everyone asks me to.
4)Stop and really listen to what my kids are saying to me instead of mindlessly nodding. It really is interesting!
5)Taking pictures- I have had a blast with my digital camera. I love that I can delete what I don't like.

These are just a few things that help me. How do you beat your stress?

Boy Bands

Boy bands have a special place in the heart of every American girl.







Jonas brothers, you may think you're hot, but you'll never take my breath away like Menudo.

There was a day when I put on my high top reeboks, pegged my jeans, teased my bangs sprayed them with my Aussie hairspray, and danced to the tunes of Bon Jovi!

BB good to me baby

Me, Leslie and Becky and 40,000 other adoring fans tonight in Atlanta to see these guys live! All I can say is "B B good to me Atlanta traffic!"

My third kid

Becky is Leslie's best friend, and my other child. We love her because she's funny and sweet. She makes us smile. I am glad that God let us love her so much!

Weekend checklist

Here's my To Do list for this weekend:

Go out with my super duper sweet friend Heather and her husband Matt for dinner. It's Friday night, Daddy got paid and we are goin' out on the town!!

Run 3 miles tomorrow morning

Go shopping with Leslie and Virginia, which will include the quest for the perfect pair of jeans for Leslie, and a stop at the pet store for Virginia to just look around

Grill out Wayne the perfect juicy hamburger tomorrow night

Finish my Jodi Picoult book. I'm a little OCD. It's the 3rd book of hers I've read in the last 3 weeks

Catch up on laundry--whatever that means

Take a long, long nap on Sunday afternoon

Make the candy bar pie I saw in Southern Living magazine at the dentists office yesterday. Yeah, it was on the back of the haircut picture that mysteriously made it's way into my purse

Take some black and white pictures. I was inspired by my sisters blog

I need to make a confession

I tore a picture of a cool hairstyle I saw on a page of Southern Living in my dentists office this morning then stuffed it in my purse when no one was looking. Then I lied to the hygenist and told her I floss my teeth (like she didn't figure it out while cleaning them) By the time I left the dentist office I felt evil. I hate the dentist office. I've always had crummy teeth, and maybe that is why I hate going so much. It brings out the wicked ugly side of me.

Fall's just around the corner

This lone leaf on my Bradford pear tree is whispering to me "Fall is on it's way." So in order to celebrate what is hopefully not to far around the corner

Top 10 reasons why I love fall
1. October 19 is my anniversary.
2. Wayne and Craig usually deer hunt which means that Lynn and I spend the day watching movies, eating out lunch, or shopping at Big Lots all afternoon.
3) Jeans and sweatshirts.
4) Chili in a crockpot.
5) Fall air smells wonderful.
6) Bar B Que tastes better when its chilly outside.
7) Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday
8) Running outside is so much better when it's cool.
9) I love my porch when it's "fallishly" (wait, is that a word?) decorated.
10) You thought I was gonna say football games- no I can't stand football- how about camping in the mountains, making smores by the campfire.
Even so come quickly fall!

Who's the real enemy?

Do you battle unbelief? In the spiritual world, we battle the forces of dark.(Eph. 6) Since this is not a physical war, we can't see out enemy, but he is very real. As you battle unbelief, don't forget, that sometimes the enemy is your own thoughts. I read this in a book written by Dr. Lloyd-Jones:


Have you ever realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? ....When those thought come, and surely they will, remind yourself of God, Who he is, and what he has done and what he has pledged himself to do for you. Then having done that, defy yourself, and defy others and defy the devil and the whole world and say with the psalmist, David " I will praise Him for the help of His countenance."

Back in the saddle again

Being the routine lovin' girl that I am, I think I am ready to say goodbye to summer(despite the fact it will be stifling hot for another month) and welcome fall with open arms. I thought about it and today marks the twelfth year that I have taken a first day of school pictures and sent my children off with their tummies full(usually of diet coke and oreos) and their minds empty. Such little soldiers of education! I waited with anticipation all day to hear about their adventures in learning and was greeted like this
Me- "How was school?"
Them- "Fine"
Me- "What did you learn?"
Them-"Oh I dunno, just stuff"
Just when I thought my tuition money could be better spent on a Tahiti getaway, they asked me to help with homework.
In a word- I'm and idiot. I figure, if my kids can manage to learn things I cannot understand, like the values of x and y, and steps of scientific experimentation, then I ought to be set for life. My genious children can take care of me in luxury when I'm old. At the worst, I better end up with a private room in the nursing home with a view of the sunflower garden!

Sunday Morning thoughts

It is quiet, everyone is still sleeping. I'm sitting here with my coffee and waxy chocolate donut. Soon I'll wake up everyone and it will be chaos for the next hour as we all get ready for church. Here's my love letter from God this morning:

" I am absolutely convinced that nothing-nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable- absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

Romans 8:38-39 (MSG)

Happy Birthday to ME!

For my birthday in March, Wayne and the girls got me gift certificate for a spa day! I can tell you that I felt guilty spending that much money on such a service for about 5.3 seconds. The guilt quickly vanished as the masseuse turned by muscles into jello. It was heavenly!!! This service included a massage, manicure and pedicure, but my favorite was the facial. It was so great and I may be mistaken, but either they plumped my face or this miracle salve really did reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles around my eyes. The only down side was the pedicure. While I don't generally fork out the money for massages, I will pay for a visit to my local "L.A. Nails salon" my experience is usually very similar to this:

Just because school's starting, does that mean summer's over?

My girls are in deep mourning. I could not even get a halfhearted grin out of them on Saturday while dropping a small fortune on shoes (what ever happened to wearing Walmart "No Boundaries" tennis shoes?!?) and various other school supplies. Their grief is so deep, they have tried to comfort themselves with a marathon of Nickelodeon and Disney over the last three days.

Next Monday heralds the beginning of a new school year. How can it be that my first born is starting 10th grade?? Even worse, my baby is in the throws of middle school. I always hated to see summer end, but my kids have it worse. They start school while it is still hot enough to fry an egg on the side walk. Can you really worry about algebra when your mind is drifting to this:

Seven

His name is Seven, chosen in honor of his extra toes.



The girls are spoiling him--too much for a yard cat.
Wayne thinks he better earn his keep in mice.
Ginger is insanely jealous.
I love a purring cat, so he's already won me over.
Please stay out of the motor of my car little kitty!

Congratulations Matthew

The first time I met him, he was a little fella playing cars in the floor of his Grandpa's hospital room. He was a little cutie!
The first vacation of our married life, he was there and I distinctly remember a ginormous fit he pitched over some fried shrimp. When Leslie came along, she was absolutely smitten with Matt, and any time she was near him she was on him. He lugged her around countless hours, and even now, she wears a big grin every time she sees him.
We watched him play many a baseball game, and as he grew up we learned to love his keen sense of humor. It's not often you find someone who can appreciate "Austin Powers" like I do. Wayne was there for his first hunting trip, and he was there the day Matthew killed "the monster buck".
We shared many summer vacations and every Christmas eve. No one in the world can tease their mom like him, even Wayne may have met his match in teasing Lynn.
Matt has always been a smart boy, and it was no surprise to me when he graduated with honors from high school. I've always had a special place in my heart for him from the moment that he told us he wanted to go into the medical field. (This after falling 20 feet from a fence and tearing his spleen). One of my dearest memories was last summer when he volunteered at the indigent clinic ministry where I work. It was such a joy to teach him, and see him experience health care in it's rawest form. He never flinched, or turned away, he was fascinated by it. I knew then this kid would make it.

He graduated from the University of Georgia on Saturday. Proud? You bet! He's on his way to being the best physician's assistant around. Who knows? Maybe we'll be working together somewhere someday.

We love you Matt!

Sweet Charlotte

It's no exaggeration when I say I read "Charlotte's Web" 57 times when I was a kid. I still love that story. I made the girls go see the movie when they were well past cartoon age.
I always laughed when Wilbur tied a string around his tail and tried to spin a web. I always cried when Charlotte died. What sweet story.
I found this "Charlotte" in my backyard the other day. Kinda creepy, yet pretty up close. If you forget all about the sucking -the-blood-out-of-it's-victims part, they look really cool.

But beware--- If they write your name in their web, you are the next victim!!!