I'm Still Here...I think...

I haven't posted in 4ever. Things have been hectic since summer is over. Taryn started 7th grade and Landri is doing her pre-k curriculem at daycare. Taryn has dance team practice after school Mon.-Wed. and dance class at the studio on Mon. & Tues. nights. Wednesday is church. Thursday evening Landri has dance. (her first year) She really seems to like it. Thursday nights are Taryn's performances at their home games. Of course Hurricane Gustav and Ike came through and since I work in insurance the office has been pretty crazy. We just got finished with soccer. Rich coached Landri's team. They had games on Tuesday's and Saturday's. I joined a new life group every other Thursday night. I'm seriously thinking about giving Healing Place as my new address when asked. LOL I love it though! All the craziness!!

Tonight Liz and I went to the Live the Dream Conference volunteer meeting. We got a sneak peak of the opener and got to hear some secrets about next weeks 2nd annual conference. It's gonna be awesome. I can't wait!

SHE'S HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can never get these images loaded up the way I want them, but whatever. Taryn is finally home!!!!! We picked her up in New Orleans last night and then went to Cafe' Du Monde for iced cafe' au lait and beignets. As you can see from the first pic, Landri grabbed the first hug and kiss. The male flight attendant offered me a hug when he saw that I couldn't break up the love fest between the girls. I politely declined. Then this morning I go wake up the girls and find them as you see in the second picture. AWWWW....i had to grab the camera. Sometimes it just doesn't get any sweeter than that. I often question why God gave Landri the personality of a MULE and why Taryn is soooo soft hearted and cries at the drop of a hat. I think I got my answer this morning when I saw this. I am BLESSED way beyond what I deserve! Thank you Lord for these two precious souls, and help me to never take for granted the honor of being their Mother.

Here Comes Another One

I am overly excited to announce that I ...




















AM GOING TO BE AN AUNT AGAIN!!!! My sister is FINALLY going to have another baby. I was also excited that she called and told me first. Before she told her husband, or even our Mom. Sometimes I get sad because we are not as close as I would like us to be, (a lot to do with the big age gap) and then she does something like that and it makes me feel sooo special. I pray that while her hormones and emotions are totally out of whack she'll finally start coming to church with me...because so far she's come to one Chick Night and that was way over a year ago. I pray for a healthy nephew, because we don't have any boys yet. Really it doesn't matter...just as long as he or she is healthy! But, I'm leaning towards a boy!

Goodbye Mrs. Monica

I found out Thursday morning that Landri's teacher , Mrs. Monica's last day was that Friday...the next day. I cried all the way to work, at work, on the way home. I took this picture Friday morning...I'm crying just looking at it. Landri has a huge behavior problem and gives all of the other teachers HELL. Mrs. Monica was the only she really behaved for and listened to and LOVED. I'm devastated. I am worried how Landri will be with another teacher. When I bring her to school in the mornings if Monica is not there for whatever reason, Landri won't even go in the class. What's it going to be like for my baby this week and the following weeks. It breaks my heart. We are both going to miss Mrs. Monica! :(

Pamper Night Success

Just a few pictures I took with my phone last night. What a great time! I worked instead of getting pampered and it was so rewarding to greet all of the beautiful ladies with a smile. I got there 30 minutes early and got in line for SUSHI, and it was soooo good! Of course for non sushi lovers there were other things to choose from. There were also choclate dipped fortune cookies with a message from Pastor DeLynn inside. It read somrthing like this: "Have a great night. God believes in you and so do we. Love, DeLynn " That's what I love about HPC...the special attention to every detail. Everyone I talked to was so excited. Every year Pamper Night gets bigger and better. I wish I knew how many ladies were there, but it was jam packed! A question I got asked a lot was, "where's the bathroom?" Do you know what is great about that question? That question means FIRST TIME GUESTS. Ladies that we got make an impression on by making them feel special and showing them Jesus through SERVING them. Wow...what an honor! Thank you Jesus for letting me be a part of that. Thank you for the wonderful inspiring ladies that I serve with. To God be the glory!

Pamper Night!!!

GET PAMPERED!

WHEN: Monday, June 9
WHERE: Highland Campus
WHAT TIME: 5pm – 9pm
• Free spa services include:
Manicures, Pedicures, Facials, Eyebrow Waxing, Scalp Massages and Paraffin Wax, Massages
• Food
• Lots of giveaways with a Vacation Getaway Giveaway
• Walk Ins are Welcome!

I'm so excited that Pamper Night is just around the corner. This is an awesome way to minister to ladies by making them feel special with some FREE pampering. If you love sushi then you're in for a real treat. This pamper night has an asian theme. Along with the other many giveaways, a VACATION will be given away. I NEED THAT! I'll be working on the greeting team that night and I can't wait to see all the smiling faces. Child care is provided ages 0-5 at the Highland campus and ages 6-11 down the street at the annex campus. If you haven't registered yet, just show up. It's gonna be GREAT! See you there!

HECTIC

To say the last 2 weeks of school were hectic would be a complete understatement.

In order: Landri hurt her foot and had to have it xrayed the day after Mother's day. On my way back to work from bringing her for the xray...a flat tire. Thank you Jesus is happened right by the daycare which is a minute from my house. I gave up on the day at that point and missed work completely. The next day Taryn had a cleaning at the dentist during my lunch break...it lasted longer and I was late getting back to work. Taryn had her end of the year band concert that night, and performed a solo on her flute. She did so good. Wednesday I almost made a full day at the office until I was struck with a sudden migraine headache. I had to leave early, go home, take medicine and get in bed. Well, then came all the rain and storms. Thursday morning I got dressed for work, went to drop Landri at daycare to find out that they did not have electricity and were not opening. Thankfully Rich had not left for work yet and said he would stay home with her that day. That Saturday we went to a birthday party for my friends twins. It was a great day. Then last Wednesday my co worker went on vacation. I had felt myself starting to get sick early in the week, and the day she left was the day I could barely lift my head to get out of bed. I was SICK. I never had time to go to the dr. but I believe it was bronchitis or something similar. I made it through work that day but it was rough. Work has been extremely busy lately. Thursday was Taryn's last day of school. They got out at 11:30, so I picked her up on my lunch break and brought her to work with me for the rest of the day. She was not feeling good, so she slept until it was time to go. That night we managed to go see Prince Caspian, even though we both felt horrible. Friday she went to work with me all day, got a hair cut during my lunch hour, came home, packed her clothes and she left for her dad's early Saturday morning. Landri wanted to bring her sissy to the airport, so she tagged along. I got some sad pictures of her at the airport that I cannot seem to get off of my camera. WHEW! It's been a whirlwind. My house is really quiet with only one child. This week was better. Probably because it was shorter since we were off for Memorial day, and my co worker was back. YAY!

Prince Caspian, TONIGHT!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks...but I'll post more about that when I have time. Tonight Taryn and I are having a Mommy/Daughter date. We are going to see Prince Caspian. YAY! We have been eagerly anticipating this for months & months. I promised her we would go see it before she left for the summer, so tonight is the night. We watched The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe last night to get ready. Big shout out to my most awesome hubby, for watching Landri while Taryn and I spend some quality time together. I love you babe!

Mother's Day

You may be asking yourself, "what is that?" This would be my Mother's Day gift from Landri. Yes it is a cup full of dirt, potting soil, whatever you want to call it. I say dirt. Across the bottom of the cup is written "Freesias." I will have to Google that. I'm sure it is a probably a flower. I had to laugh though. She was so proud as she handed me my cup of dirt as I was getting ready for church. Yesterday she did not have a good day at all. I made her promise that she would be good on Mother's Day. I told her it was a law that she had to be good and listen to me all day. I also told her that she would have to wear a pretty dress to church. She was fine with all of this before bed Saturday night, but Sunday morning was a different story. She is like a fish out of water with a dress on.

My Mother's Day started pretty strange. We got woke up way before 7am, by my phone ringing and knocking at the door. Our dogs went crazy and when Rich got to the door my friend and neighbor from a couple of houses down was crying and asking to see me. Her Mother had passed away. I was still half asleep and a little shocked. I thought I was dreaming. I just held her and let her cry. She was not as close with her Mother as she would like to have been. She has shared with me plenty of times that she never really felt loved or wanted by her mom or her dad. Her birthday was a few weeks back and her mom forgot to call her. I remember how much that hurt her. Now her mom is gone. No more chances to work on their relationship. I told my kids all day how much I love them. I kept thinking that if something happened to me I want them to know how much they mean to me. Then, a thought...we need to live everyday like it's our last one. The people in our lives need to know how much they mean to us everyday.

Church was awesome. We had to be there a little bit early because Taryn was passing out Mother's Day girfts as people entered the building. She looked so beautiful. We all got these really great smelling candles. We always honor the widows on Mother's Day too. They stood up while we clapped for them and they got an extra special gift. We are also careful to be sensitive to those who are experiencing infertility or loss of child. We passed out a book called, "Hannah's Hope" that the ladies could come pick up in the foyer after service. We did this last year also, and I picked up the book for a friend that had just had her 5th miscarriage.

We sang two of my favorite songs. "Lead me to the Cross" and "Amazing Grace." DeLynn delivered the message this weekend and did a wonderful job. Watch out Dino...she can preach! I love our church!

Nope, not today!!!

This is Miss Landri at her soccer game on Saturday. Notice that she looks perfectly fine in the first picture. The sun was in her eyes but she was all smiles. Look closely at the second picture, she is crying and running off of the field into my arms. She decided that she did not want to play less than a minute after the game started. Yep, I said less than a minute. There was nothing we could say to make her get back on the field. No threats, no promises of a big surprise. Nothing! When her mind is made up that's it! Thanks baby girl, we all could have slept in.

He is Faithful

I had to let go of a freindship yesterday that meant so much to me. I am hurting, but I know it's for the best. I prayed about it and lost sleep for many nights and the Lord kept telling me over and over to let it go. I didn't want to, but I had to listen. I have to trust my Father. He will take care of me and heal my heart. On my way home yesterday "You are Faithful" by Hillsong came on and I just lifted my hand to Jesus and started to cry. I pray that my friend understands my reasons and knows that I love her and will miss her friendship terribly. I know that she is hurting as well and I pray that God will surround her many great friends. She'll always have a special place in my heart.

Lord of all the earth
How You care for me
You have made me
You will save and carry me always
You are faithful
You are faithful
You are faithful
Your joy is my strength
Lord you are my God
I rely on You
I put my hope in things not seen
Your promises all true
Always you’re with me
Your hand will lift me
My trust is in your hands
Always you’re with me
Your hand will lift me
My trust is in your hands

Great Weekend!

Taryn got in Friday from Beta convention a little after 3pm and went straight to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Her dance was over at 4:30, but she and the other 6th grade dance team members stayed to work at the 7th & 8th grade dance. Taryn & Rachel worked the picture table, and other girls worked the concession booth. My friend Liz picked Taryn up at 7:30 when that dance was over because Rich and I went to our awesome married couples bible study at Mark & Kim Ammons house. We had "extreme nacho" night. We had a great time, like we always do. Two new couples came...our group just keeps on growing and that is great. When we left there, I called Liz to tell her we were on our way to get Taryn, and she said Taryn had been asleep since 8:30. Come to find out, she had stayed up til 2am in the hotel the night before...I guess she was tired.

Saturday, Rich had to be at the church for 7am for the car prep. I heard all about it when he got home that afternoon. What an awesome outreach this is to the community. About 120 women showed up (single moms, widows, & military wives) to have their cars serviced. BP donated all the oil and O'Reily's donated all the parts. A couple of the cars that Rich and his team worked on needed new batteries...no problem...on another car they replaced the badly worn brakes...no problem...new wiper blades...oil changes...checking tires, filling up fluids, then washing the cars, and cleaning the inside. I could go and on...all FREE. And while the men are working on the cars the ladies get to go inside and be pampered. They got massages, manicures, pedicures, food & gifts. The best story that I heard was that a lady was passing by and her car broke down right in front of the church. She had no idea what was happening that day. I'm sure she was a bit confused about what was going on and why people wanted to fix her car for free and pamper her while she waited. God placed her in that exact spot for a reason. Maybe to get her attention. I think He got it. My heart can't help but smile when I think about it...when I think of all the women who were served on Saturday...all for God's glory! How awesome...I'll be posting pictures tomorrow.

At our Saturday evening service I worked "guest services", which is always fun. Then Liz and I went to see "Made of Honor" with Patrick Dempsey. It was very cute...and fun to have a girls night away. Thanks to my great hubby for not minding that I went and watching the kiddos. He's the bestest!

Sunday morning we all got up and went to church, then we ate at CiCi's, went to Petland, Big Lots, Ross, Target, Walmart and then back to Big Lots. We got home after 6:00 and then did yard work.

Tonight is the last HP women of the semester. But Pamper Night is coming Monday, June 9th. That is great night to invite ladies who wouldn't normally come to church. Tons of give-aways, food, fun and pampering!

Beta Trip & Trip to Wally World

Taryn had to be at her school at 6:15 am for roll call before departing for Beta convention in Lafayette. I hope she has fun. I wish I would have taken a picture of her this morning before she left. She looked so cute. Last night we went to Walmart and I bought a few snacks for her to take and share with her other roomies. I asked her if they would think she was geek for bringing a bag full snacks and she said, "are you kidding Mom, I'll be the coolest because I'll be the one with the snacks." So, with that said, I loaded up her "HPC Chick" bag with rice krispie treats and peanut butter crackers. While we were there and I was getting for Taryn, Landri threw the fit of all fits to make sure she would not leave empty handed. I caved and bought her a "Dora the explorer" shirt. She doesn't even watch that show...BUT HAD TO HAVE IT! She always wins. (LOL) I mean, have you seen her? You wouldn't be able to say no either.

I Can't Look Away

I grabbed this pic off of Carole's post today. This is a pic from the homeless breakfast outreach that our church does every Thursday morning. I wish I could go and be a part of this outreach, but I have to work.

I remember probably the first time I saw a homeless person (and knew that they were homeless) was when I was 18 and had moved to California. CULTURE SHOCK! I cried and cried. I always wanted to give all of my money away. After I lived there a while and realized that I couldn't help every homeless person that I saw everyday I started to look away. It was easier not to make eye contact, because if I did my heart would just break. Of course I'm a different person now than I was then. If seeing a homeless person broke my heart before I was a Christian, imagine what it does to me now. Now, I can't look away no matter what. I know that I can't help everyone, but if I can help just one then that's what matters. Take a good close look at their faces, look them in the eyes, touch their hearts with the love of Christ, let them know that their lives matter. They matter to God and they should matter to us also. I am thankful that even though I can't physically go to this outreach every Thursday morning I can still be a part through my giving. I can see pictures, read blogs, and hear stories about when they first started this outreach they fed about 20 homeless people every week and now they feed close to 300. Wow...that is awesome! God, just keep sending them and we'll keep feeding them!

Field Day '08

Well today is not a pretty day for field day. Rainy & muggy! These pics are of Taryn getting ready at 6am this morning. The men's conference also starts tonight. So I'm believing for this rain to stop and the sun to come out and make everything beautiful. I'm also believing that my brother-n-law will decide to go to the conference and meet up with Rich and Eric. It's really not his thing so I made it sound less like a "church event" and more like fun guy time where they will be grilling, looking at cars and talking about sports. (b/c they are going to be doing all of that too) I pray that nothing will distract him from going , and that he will go and big seeds will be planted into his life. Go Jesus! You can get him there! My sister also seems to coming around. She mentioned going to church with me, and my mouth dropped. Of course I go at 10am on Sunday and she wants to go to 12pm, she's always been difficult...but I don't care, I'll stay for 2 services if it means she will go. I've brought my niece Payton with me a few times and she loves it. I think Payton has been working on her mommy and that's good. I'll use whatever means necessary to get through to them.

Soccer & Pom Poms

Thanks to a good friend we were blessed with a dryer the day that ours decided to have a break down. So all is good and clothes are getting dry. Taryn and Landri had soccer practice Saturday, and their first game is this Saturday the 19th. Here are couple of pictures of Landri at practice. I couldn't really watch Taryn practice too much because I had to stay close by the little one. I did notice that Taryn is the only girl on her team. Those boys better watch out and not get too rough with her, or this parent will be joining them on the field. I'm sure Taryn can handle her own though. She's very competitive! But she's also fragile! There is also a pic of Taryn with her pom poms. She brought them home yesterday and is sooooo excited about them. They are doing the dance they tried out to at field day tomorrow. Her and her friend Rachel went shopping for matching outfits to wear at field day. They got green shirts with their names on the front and "field day '08" air brushed on the back. They also got these white Bermuda shorts with "Pirette" air brushed across the butt. (very cute) I'll take a picture in the morning before she leaves and post it tomorrow. For now enjoy these!

Leave us Alone devil!

So last night before bed I put some towels in the dryer and Taryn's school uniforms in the washing machine. Taryn wakes up at 5:30 this morning, knowing that her uniforms need to be dry so she can wear one of them to school I get my very tired self out of bed to put them in the dryer. Open the dryer, towels are dry...GREAT! Take them out, put wet uniforms in, choose the setting, press start....NOTHING! SAY WHAT? Make sure the dryer door is completely closed, press start again...NOTHING! OK, DON"T PANIC! Press start about ten times, because surely that will let the dryer know that I am desperate for it to work...NOTHING! OK, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO? Taryn remembers she paid $1 the other day to be able to wear jeans today. AWESOME! What about a shirt? Hummmm...found a very wrinkled one in her dresser that is one size too small. OH WELL, IT WILL HAVE TO WORK! She put on a jacket because she gets cold in class...PERFECT! Oh wait a minute...the dryer is still broken...not perfect! Rich gets up, checks the breaker, messes with it for a minute and says, "looks like the dryer is broken." NAW...REALLY! My first feelings were, WHY ME? Our central heat went out in December. (still not fixed, but not like we need it now) Our central air went out about the same time. (still not fixed...but suppose to be getting fixed today) We bought a small window unit and have all been sleeping in one room together. Not romantic, sleeping on a day bed and trundle with the kids! Now the dryer...we don't have the money for all of this. Leave us alone devil...you stink! If anyone is getting rid of a dryer let me know! :)

This is How She ROLLS!

This would be Landri Claire all comfy in the buggy at Lowe's on Saturday. She's pretty smart. I even get tired walking around that big store. She had two blankets. One to cover with and one folded up underneath her head. We were by ourselves this day picking up a couple of things that Rich needed. A girls trip to Lowe's...FUN! I hate going to a store like that looking for a certain size staple for a certain staple gun, a certain size nail or screw. Does he really think I'm a girl that knows about all that? I always have to ask for help! I guess I should be grateful that he wasn't with us. I found help, got we needed and left. He would have drug us around the store for hours. Sorry Rich, I love you but you don't like to go sit in a movie theatre for 2 hours and I don't like to go on excursions in Lowe's with you for 2 hours. :)

Landri said it best, "Wake me up when we leave."

Spring Car Prep at HPC!

It's that time again! The Spring car prep at Healing Place is scheduled for Saturday, May 3rd from 8:00am - 1:00pm. This is such a wonderful ministry. If you are a single mom, widow or military wife you can register here to have your car serviced, and it's FREE. They will be changing oil, filters and air filters, servicing PCV valves, wipers, topping off all fluids and doing minor repairs. My husband volunteered last year and felt so blessed to have been a part, even after he was told by a fellow believer that, "your church does the weirdest things". Really?? Hummm...weird or practical? However you look at, yes we do think outside the box and I feel honored to be a part of a church that is not just playing church, but being the church to a lost and hurting world!

Prepare to be Disturbed!

I took this post off of Chris Hodges' blog. He is the pastor at Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, AL. He is getting ready to start a series called "Sexual Revolution", and this is what he posted. It's disturbing...we all know about it, but what are we doing about it. It starts at home people!

It’s Worse Than I Thought
March 28th, 2008 by Chris Hodges
It’s Friday and I’m at home finishing up the opening message in the new “Sexual Revolution” series. I’ll have to tell you, I knew this was a critical issue that affects everyone, but it’s worse than I thought.
Just read this…
There is over $342,000 spent on child porn every hour. (Research Counsel)
60% of all websites on the Internet are pornographic websites. (Research Counsel)
85% of kids surveyed said their parents didn’t know what they did on the Internet (Research Counsel)
An estimated 70% of all pornography ends up in the hands of children (online stats)
More than 2,500 new sites coming online every week. Average 357.14 a day (Research Counsel)
50% of teens say they have seen porn on the Internet. (Online stats)
67% of these same teens did so from home. (Online stats)
12 is the average age of a child’s first experience with porn. (Online stats)
When your child enters a chat room, they have a 100% chance of coming in contact with a sexual predator. 100% CHANCE! The average contact takes 60 seconds. (FBI Stats)
What’s going on in our culture?

Starting Over...

Ok, so I put way too much pressure on myself with my last blog, and ended up deleting the whole thing. I've come to realize that I'll never blog like Carole , but that's ok because I'm not Carole. But I do love her and her blog.

On a differnet note. I got to hold 5 week old baby Seth Doucet through the entire church service last night. What a cutie! I told Rich not to get any ideas! I love Seth and he's very cute, but he does not make me get the FEVER! We were finally able to give him the gift we've been having for him. What baby boy is complete without an LSU outfit and LSU football? We sure do love that family. Eric & Fannie have been a blessing into our lives.

Taryn will be home Sunday afternoon. We miss her like crazy, but I know she is having a ball in Alabama.