Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving day. Our was quite funny. It all started with the turkey! We took the turkey out of the freezer on Tuesday, put it in the fridge to thaw, and when we took it out to begin the fixins for it........it was still FROZEN lol! Now what will we do?? hum......so the wheels begin to turn........the turkey is too big for the sink it won't sit under water. So I felt the....."you know if you're a red-neck if you have to soak you're over-sized frozen turkey in the bath tub Thanksgiving morning to thaw" coming on LOL

Jason finally got her thawed and fixed her right up. Sounds kinda scary when I give it a gender hu?...well.......at least I didn't name her, right? LOL
She took a while to cook, but wasn't as temperamental as we thought she'd be. We completed the end end of her life at the table, beautifully golden, and decorated with with the ymmies. It's okay, she never saw it coming.

Other than the turkey episode we had a wonderful day! I could not have asked for a better birthday, and Thanksgiving day. I was thankful for all my family and friends..........of course I am thankful for family & friends everyday LOL The last time my birthday fell on Thanksgiving, I was 10 yrs old. On top of that I did NOT over eat! Everyone else did.......so I was the only one not in pain hehehehe

Ah.......Good Times! ;p

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well.........it turns out that I have strained my Achilles' Heel. This is not good! Apparently I have over worked it with walking, being out of alignment (which my Chiropractor has worked on), going up the stairs (don't have a choice there, we live in a town house).

I did a pretty good number on it too because I can't apply a lot of pressure to my foot when walking. Jason is taking good care of me though, he makes my epson salt water, and I soak my foot. I wonder when I can get back to walking!

I'd really appreciate your prayers! Seriously! =)

Here is a link for basic information on it.
www.achillestendon.com/CausesofInjury.html

I had a great time at the gun range! Jason stood by me and taught me everything I needed to know. I must brag..........I did very well for my first time and he was especially impressed with how well I did! I loved every min of it. I can't wait to do it again.

I shot my 22 cal Sig........NICE........Jason shot his 40 cal Taurus. I JUMPED out of my skin when he shot his gun! It was SO powerful and loud! After he shot a few times I quit flinching. I shot his gun and I could only shoot a few bullets it has a pretty good recoil that I am not used to yet. For now I will practice with mine and I would like to get, eventually, a 40 cal Sig.

Here is my picture of my first time =)

Well.......I decided to play with my page. I am not completely satisfied but it's good for now I suppose. I made the header myself, I took the picture and then got to playing. It's definitely therapeutic for me and it's stress relieving.

I always face being indecisive though, and the perfectionist in me says "it's not good enough" so I keep redoing it over and over till there is nothing left to do with it but to start over from scratch. And the hours go buy fast, before I know it I loose track of time. But a girl has got to have sometime.....right? hehe

I most likely will not keep this for long anyway. It's kinda like buying handbags for me.............need I explain more? LOL

Well........I am tired and not feeing well. It feels like a cold but I think it's my allergies. We rinsed the car down today, I noticed how many cars including ours is covered in pollen. It's not as visible on our car though because our car is in the Gold family so it shows up on darker cars. I went to get the "Equate" brand of Advil Cold & Sinus today and got carded! LOL..............wow

On a different note:
I am really excited about my date with my hubby tomorrow. We are going to the gun range and he's gonna teach me how to shoot. I can't wait! I love the way the Sig feels so I can't wait to feel how it shoots ;p

Well...........I am off to relax.................achoo!

We had so much work to do yesterday for home work. I found myself feeling stressed a few times. I really like Amber's school but sometimes the work load is a bit much, but mostly on Wednesdays. She has 2 History test today, an English quiz, plus she had to do an at-home opened book Science quiz. I wish it would have been assigned to study on Friday last week through Monday. This would have given more time to study instead of cramming everything in on Wed along with all her other home work that is due today.

We worked for hours. Jason stayed home with her last night while I went to church with Alyssa and Michael because the work HAD to be done. I felt bad for her.....she loves LIT (Leaders in Training) at our church. She was upset.... but we had no other choice. If we had waited till we got home she would have gotten to bed too late, and we can't have that! Children who do not get to bed at a decent hour aren't worth much at school the next day. They are tired and cranky........I could never do that to her teacher or myself!

So I am praying and giving real serious thought to homeschooling full time next year. I am willing to be disciplined, create routines, plan, etc........and even expand my own knowledge in order to give our children a better education. The cost is actually significantly cheaper to teach the SAME courses at home than sending her to CLPS.

I have already spoken with the hubby about giving me the right resources to expand my knowledge in order to do this. He is also willing to teach me in areas he feels I need improvement before I undertake such a task where I have always felt teaching is not my gift. I will have some History and Math to learn this summer through him.

The more I think about teaching not being my gift, I realize that God gave us these beautiful children, and we actually teach them through example, love, discipline, responsibilities, and the list goes on............

I teach them everyday with out realizing it (how could I not realize that?). From the kids helping to cook, clean, do laundry and other chores, we are teaching them. I am teaching/leading by example how to run a home. Wow, what a huge responsibility I have, to lead by example to teach our daughters how to manage, and run a house with creating a safe, peaceful, God centered environment, and my being a submissive loving wife. Also, according to Deuteronomy we are commanded to teach our children.

The more I give thoughts about homeschooling full time, I realize that, as parents we only have one chance in this life at our children's education (in every area of life), and how a solid foundation will determine their success along with a positive attitude, but more importantly a personal relationship with God.

The more I hash through my thoughts in writing this, I realize I need to improve my "Suzie homemaker" skills. I can remember the kind of wife and mother my mother was, so what will my children remember of me? What will they walk away with when they leave "the nest"? Will I have taught them every thing God has commanded? Will I have set an example worthy of the "Proverbs" wife?

Being a stay-at-home mom is so much more than I have ever realized. This is my call, my ministry, and when the job is done........the right way, it's a lot of hard work! Much harder than I ever realized. Since moving to TX from FL to attend seminary, my perspective has changed in this area. I take my responsibility a lot more serious than I have ever before. I wonder if I was just "playing house" before.

I treasure my time having worked at the seminary. It was the HARDEST year of my life! To be away from my children for HOURS, and only being able to spend 2-3 hours each evening with them, if even that. The weekends were not much better because we had laundry, grocery shopping, and church to attend. This left very little time for me to be who I really am.....wife, mom, and homemaker. I NEVER felt content even though I learned a lot, and gained precious friend ships that I would never trade anything for.

But.......My heart and thoughts were always at home: playing with my children, cleaning , cooking, and there was ALWAYS this subtle knock at the door to my heart yearning to be where God was calling me. He was calling me to be home--calling me to be a better wife, mother, and homemaker than I ever was before. So through a lot of prayer, God opened the door/doors or me to come home. I have never seen my children happier, and Jason more relieved about my returning home full time. I would not be were I am right now if we had not follow God's calling on our life to come out here.

In closing, and through juggling my thoughts through out this blog........ I have a lot of hard work ahead of me if I plan to make a "real" difference in my home.

Okay, there are about 50 things I am "supposed" to get DONE right now/today! But since I am feeling over whelmed about all of it........ I decided to take 10 min to play................
Click on the pix for a BIG view =)









Hanging out with daddy =)


Alright, back to work. I will have to answer my emails later though!

Jennifer:
Thanks for all the links girl!! =)

Blondies are a type of Brownie. If you have never had a blondie, here is a simple and quick recipe. You are just a bowl, wire whisk, and an oven away from heaven!

Blondies

6 tablespoons butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate OR peanut butter flavored chips

1. Combine melted butter and brown sugar; stirring until dissolved. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
2. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter mixture. Spread the batter evenly in a well-buttered 9-inch square pan. Sprinkle chips over the top.
3. Bake at 350*F. for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the center is set. Cool before cutting.

Makes 16 squares.

*Cheers to GOOD Eats!!

Will my feet stop growing?
I can't remember if my feet grew when I was prego with Amber, however, they did grow when I was prego with Alyssa. I went from a size 7 to a 7 1/2......not too bad. Well.......my feet grew again while I was pregnant with Michael. In July I had to go buy a size 8 shoe. This was to be expected since my feet grew while I was pregnant with Alyssa so I assumed they would again.

Here is the WEIRD part! After giving birth to Michael, I started walking my two miles every morning again around 3 or 4 weeks after giving birth. Well, I told Rebekah (my girlfriend) that my feet were hurting ( this was in September) and I probably needed to cut my toe nails. So I cut my toe nails and this did not help! Turns out my feet were STILL GROWING, and I had to go get new shoes yet again.

The new shoes I have now are a size 8.5 and my feet are starting to hurt, again......this time I am having pain throughout my feet period. My toes are hurting once again, so I asked Jason to feel where my toes are in my shoes. He said "They are right at the end", he sat down, looked at me, and said "Stop growing." So tomorrow I want to get my feet measured at Payless or somewhere. We will see if I am growing in to a size 9, but what happens if I have more children? Will I be BIG FOOT?? Yikes!

There appears to be a lot of controversial issues about this movie. My husband and I always watch any movie first before we allow our children to see it. I am interested in seeing the movie to know if some of the rumors are indeed true. I have been told by a couple friends that the author has an anti-Christian agenda, along with Pullman's "The Golden Compass" being a direct rebuttal of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.