Huh?

Isn't that the scariest picture I put at the very top of my blog? I hate that picture. It's so creepy. I know it's our friend's little boy... but, HELLO!... he looks like he's going to come kill me.

Paul can't hear. He's 38. What's it going to be like when he's 70?

When I say he can't hear, I am not exaggerating either. He recently failed a hearing test. If he can't read my lips, he can't understand me. For real. He is forever asking me to repeat myself.

Although, I'm not going to lie, sometimes, it's so funny!!

Tonight, Casper was on tv. Every time Emme looked at the television, she would whimper. Paul said, "Emme's not a fan of Casper."

I was working on my project for school. Oh! Excuse me... I meant to say I was working on Gracie's project for school. I had my head down because I was writing. (These school projects... seriously.... I better get a report card.) I responded and said, "Emme's not a fan of the Halloween aisle."

But because Paul couldn't read my lips he said, "Huh? She doesn't like the paranormal?"

Hahahahaha! I died laughing! When I could finally respond, I said, "She doesn't like the HALLOWEEN AISLE but I suppose she's not a fan of the paranormal either."

For Gracie's project, we had to take a picture of her demonstrating one of the metaphors used in the Bible to help us see Jesus more clearly. We chose John 10:11:

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

Jesus and Casper in the same post. Only me.

Normal... only a setting on a dryer

*****Blog background change... for Michael Corbett who complained because he couldn't read the blog on the last background.*******

********The picture was from Trick or Treat 2008. The year we ventured to the dark side. It was an innocent dark side. Shelby was a rocker girl and Gracie was a spider Fairy.... and Jackson... he had a REALLY bad haircut:-)!!!************

Here's a glance at last week!

And the interesting people I live with.

Before reading, remember... normal is only a setting on a dryer.

This is Shelby's first year attending school. I would be lying if I said I wasn't at all worried about how she would assimilate. I think she's doing great. She seems really happy. She has a lot of friends. Her grades are great.

But, last week, I questioned all of that. She had a book report due on Monday. On Sunday night, she asked if she could read it to me.

She ran upstairs, changed clothes and came back wearing one of her dad's suit jackets and a hat. She began reading her report as if it were written by the professor in the book. I wish you could have heard her read. The accent... unsure of it's origins but very good nonetheless. At one point, the professor's hot air ballon, in the story, was attacked by a see.... bird. See... bird. Seabird. (Can you guess where that's from?) Anyway, she squawked just like a seagull. I was on the couch laughing (dying) the whole time. She didn't care.

And, yep, she marched into her class on Monday morning and read it exactly the same way to her classmates and her teacher. (I asked.)

When she came home, I asked her if anyone else went to all the trouble. She said, "One boy put on some jeans." (They wear uniforms at her school.) I so wish I had her confidence. She so belongs on the stage. I have known since she was little that once there, she'd never come off. I have enjoyed her all to myself for the last 11 years. I guess it's time to share.

Next.... the child that cried for an entire month about having to go to school. Never mind that he is the only child that has been to school since he was three. I am still a bit perplexed by it. I can't tell you how we got him to stop crying because then you'd have to call children's services on us...... KIDDING!
I went on a field trip with him. When I arrived for the field trip, he looked like he'd lost his best friend. When I asked him what was wrong, he said, "I am afraid I am going to cry when you leave." I had to drive separate from the bus, so I told him he better find his smile on the bus or I wouldn't chaperone another field trip.

He found it!
Jackson and his bren. (That's how he used to say friend. Every once in awhile, we all still say it that way.)
EVERY DAY I have to write his bus # on his hand. EVERY DAY! Never mind that EVERY where we go, he sees the number and tells me, "Look mom! There's my bus number!" It's on his backpack, it's on his lunch bag. Wow! He has been an interesting bird this year. See....bird.

Emme having a REALLY bad hair day eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She's making progress with eating. I've actually been praying about it more and so have the women in my Bible study. So, like my pastor Charlie always says, "When I pray, coincidences happen. When I don't pray, coincidences don't happen."
A rainbow on Friday night. I took that as a promise from the good Lord that I could in fact make it through the weekend with 3 kids playing in a soccer tournament with no husband to help. And, here I am... writing about it. Barely. But, I am here.
Shelby played on Saturday morning in the frigid cold. I mean frigid. Emme was shaking by the time it was over. Saturday, her game went into overtime. She and another girl scored in over time, so they won. On Sunday, they played for 1st place. They lost 5-0. The picture above is her receiving her 2nd place trophy.

Jackson also played in the frigid cold on Saturday. We had to be there at 7:30 am. It was dark. God wasn't even there. They won the first game so they played again at 1. Gracie also played at 1:15. Grr! I tried to go back and forth but.... Jackson scored a goal for his team in the first quarter. In the last quarter, the other team scored. Overtime. 5 minute overtime.... no one scored. Another 5 minute overtime... with no goalies. No one scored. They went to 3 vs. 3... no subs. Jackson was in that 3. No one scored. Switch the 3 vs. 3 kids..... our guy was going to the goal DEFINITELY going to score. All of a sudden, a player from the opposing team pulled his arm back to he wouldn't score. The ref made nary a call on it. It was insane! Thankfully, the same kid dribbled back down again... and scored! Yea! But, poor Gracie didn't have anyone watching her. They only won 1 game the entire season. I wasn't really expecting much, but did feel sad for her. I felt like my mother because all weekend I kept saying, "I AM ONLY ONE PERSON! I CAN ONLY BE IN ONE PLACE AT ONE TIME!"

Sunday Jackson played for 1st and won 5-0. YEA!!!!

I know I have been on a blogging hiatus. Sorry! This sending your kid to school thing... it's taken a toll on me:-) I'm worn out!

Things that make you go...hmmmmm

I'm not gonna lie to you... Peppermint Patty make me go.... hmmmm

1. Only in America......can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

2. Only in America......are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.

3. Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the
store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

4. Only in America......do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.

5. Only in America......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

6. Only in America......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and
put our useless junk in the garage.

7. Only in America......do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting
so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.

8. Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

9. Only in America......do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well:
'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.

10. Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.



EVER WONDER ~~~~

Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?

Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?

Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?

Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?

Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?

Why is it that to stop Windows 98, you have to click on "Start"?

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid is made with
real lemons?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?

When dog food is new and improved tasting, who tests it?

Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make
the whole plane out of that stuff?

Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

Why do kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

~~~~~

Here are some actual label instructions on consumer goods.

On a Korean knife: Keep out of children.

On a Sears hairdryer: Do not use while sleeping.

On a bag of Fritos: You could be a winner! No purchase necessary.
Details inside. (the shoplifter special?)

On a bar of Dial soap: "Directions: Use like regular soap." (and that would be how??...)

On some Swanson frozen dinners: "Serving suggestion: Defrost." (but, it's
"just" a suggestion.)

On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom): "Do not turn upside down."
(well..., a bit late, huh!)

On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding: "Product will be hot after heating."
(...and you thought????...)

On packaging for a Rowenta iron: "Do not iron clothes on body." (but wouldn't
this save me more time?)

On Boot's Children Cough Medicine: "Do not drive a car or operate machinery after
taking this medication." (We could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction
accidents if we could just get those 5-year-olds with head-colds off those forklifts.)

On Nytol Sleep Aid: "Warning: May cause drowsiness." (and... I'm taking this
because???....)

On most brands of Christmas lights: "For indoor or outdoor use only." (as opposed to...what?)

On a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use." (now, somebody out there,
help me on this. I'm a bit curious.)

On Sunsbury's peanuts: "Warning: contains nuts." (talk about a news flash)

On an American Airlines packet of nuts: "Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts."
(Step 3: maybe, uh...fly Delta?)

On a child's superman costume: "Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly."
(I don't blame the company. I blame the parents for this one.)

On a Swedish chainsaw:"Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands."
(...was there a lot of this happening somewhere?)

Off the Florida Keys, there's a place called Kokomo

There's also a Kokomo, Indiana...

Saturday afternoon I got in the car with those people (the ones who live in my house) and we went on a 3 hour road trip to that very place. The one in Indiana that is.

It didn't start off well.

Before we left, the Buckeyes were losing. That meant Paul was holed up in the basement until 2 minutes before we needed to pull out of the driveway. That means everything you think it means: I did all the packing, I got all the kids ready and on and on and on. It also means as he was running out the door, he grabbed whatever it is he needs for an overnight trip.

I jumped behind the wheel because a)Paul drives like a grandpa on a normal day b) he was so depressed about the OSU game that he would have driven even slower and c) we had to pick Gracie up at a birthday party on the way. Bottom line: the whole trip had a timeline. Gracie needed to be picked up at her party right when it ended... for obvious reasons. And, we were headed 3 hours away for a surprise party. Kinda ruins the surprise when you pull in WITH THE PERSON YOU'RE TRYING TO SURPRISE!

I knew the whole 3 hour drive I'd hear about the Buckeye's loss. Paul always tries to act like it doesn't bother him. Really, it depresses the life out of him. Over the years, he's tried to be more grown up about the losses, but I read right through it. He used to say, "Man! I can't believe they lost." He'd rehearse plays with me... like I'd remember them. He'd go over their record to see where they could possibly end up in the polls and then he'd decide if there was a possibility they could play in the National Championship game. He would go over all the scenarios with me. And, I was such a good wife. I'd listen and try to interject when and where I could.

His new grown-up approach sounds more like: "Ya know, the older I get, the less these Buckeye victories mean to me." Or, "They can't win 'em all." Or, "Just because Pryor isn't doing well... I mean Tim Teebow lost 4 games his sophomore year." These comments come... oh, every 5 minutes.

Since he is so "grown-up" about it now, he didn't wake up Sunday morning and say, "I had a bad dream the Buckeyes lost to the worst Big 10 team." He used to always wake up and say something like that after a loss. Instead, since we were in Indiana, every time he would see a Purdue sticker on someone's car, he'd just start yelling at them. "Oh!! GO AHEAD...GLOAT!!"

Poor guy!

We were on our little trip this weekend to visit our favorite teenager. Her name is Abby and she is turning 18 this week. Her parents planned a surprise party to honor her and bless her. No, it was not your typical surprise party. But, then again, Abby is not your typical teen. And, her parents, they're not typical either. If you're ever around them, you leave... just wanting to be better.

I'm going to continue to tell this story with pictures. Although, I know this is going to surprise you, but I forgot my camera. All the pictures were taken with my iphone... hence the quality.

I missed the first picture I tried to take. Gracie yelled, "LOOK! Horses!"

To which I replied, "Or deer!"

Clearly, she either needs to get out more or the poor kid needs some glasses.

In this picture, I was trying to capture the first Target I had ever been to. Many, many times in our married life, Paul and I have headed over to Kokomo, Indiana to visit the T family. When we were first married and we passed this same Target, I will never forget asking, "What's Target?" To which Paul replied, "Just a store. No big deal."

If I knew then, what I know now AND we had not been married, I may not have married him. Target- just a store! Are you kidding me? Just saying Target makes me happy. And, he didn't think it was a big deal. He knew about Target because he had lived with the T family for a couple of years.

I can't talk about it anymore. Just know it was the first Target I had ever been to. And, when I was trying to take a picture... with my phone... I said, "Oh! It's so dark! I can barely see the picture." He said, "You could just put any Target picture up and no one would know the difference." Can you believe him? Trying to compromise my character like that!

One more rabbit trail and then I'll head back to the party.

My good friend Jennifer tested my character a few weeks back... at church no less! I saw my mom walk in the doors of the church. She has those transition glasses... they transition between sunglasses and regular glasses. (I'm so smart.) So, I wasn't being very nice and I said, "I hate those glasses." And, I do. They remind me of Marcy from the Peanuts. Every time I see someone wear them I think of Marcy talking to Peppermint Patty, "Sir....." (Peppermint Patty, that's a discussion for another time, huh?)

So, Jennifer and I were sitting at a table and my mom comes walking up. Jennifer says, "Hey Peggy! I like your glasses!" Then, she looks straight at me and says, "Do you like her glasses?"

My chin hit the table and I said, "No! No, I don't like her glasses and I just told you that!"

I do like the frames, but that is beside the point. Can you believe my 'friend' would do that to me? I mean with friends like that..........

Soooo... Abby's party was in a barn and I do not think Pottery Barn themselves (haha!) could have done a better job decorating or setting up.

There were pictures of Abby growing up (Stacey can remember her camera obviously) all over the place... on the tables, hanging from the clothesline, etc...

Abby with my kids... side view. Too much work to move around to the front.
Ummm... I hate pork. I adhere to Old Testament dietary food laws. Apparently, over the years, the T family either a) didn't get the memo or b) they don't care. I'm thinking b. Final answer.

That bounce house cracked me up! Never seen one like that!

That's Stacey (Abby's mom) giving directions for the food. This is what she said and I am quoting her verbatim. "The food is laid out over there on the manure spreader... but try not to think about that too much."

Are you kidding? Pork on a manure spreader. I was done!
Jon and Stacey T praying for the food and the reason we are all together. And, speaking of praying for food, why oh, why do we pray it'd be blessed to our bodies? I don't want it blessed to my body!
Stacey always thinks of everything. A little picnic table with fall pictures for the kids to color.

Abby- they made her sit there while they tortured her and made her cry. Poor kid. (more on that in a minute)
Jackson can be good and sit and color. I am not going to mention that earlier I heard there was a fight outside and I sent Paul to check and yep, sure enough it was Jackson. (In his defense, I don't know that he's ever gotten in a random fight like this before. Of course it was the other kids fault!)
While Abby sat on the torture chamber, people came up and read blessings and prayers over her. This is Abby's sister Ellie, who is 9 years younger. She wrote about all the reasons Abby is the greatest sister and why she loves her.

This is Stacey's really good friend. She wrote a book, practically, filled with scripture and all the things she was specifically praying for Abby. She talked about watching Abby grow up and how it was such a joy and on and on and on.

Yes! I cried. A lot. I don't cry much. I fight it at all costs!
This is one of Abby's teachers. More of the same!

About this time, since there had been 3 people up so far, I turned around and looked at Paul and said, "Good thing you took some time and wrote all your stuff out!" Then I wanted to fall on the floor and laugh at myself. Well, it was either that or fall on the floor and crawl away in case he embarrasses all of us with his lack of preparedness. (If you have not read his first funeral, you must! Click here!)

This was a man who came to know the Lord through the T family. He talked about how Abby has influenced him. (He is also the boy Jackson got in a fight with.)
And, since his enemy stood with his dad, well.... Jackson must do the same. Please notice the lack of paper in the hand of my husband.

I guess I am happy to say, he did a great job. He was funny! He lived with Abby so he had all kinds of good stories. Like the time she wanted a drink and he thought she wanted apple juice with chocolate syrup in it and so that's what he gave her... and she drank it like that for quite awhile. Abby was one of the flower girls in our wedding, she cried when Paul dressed up like Barney for one of her birthdays and on and on and on.

Then he cried when he said how much he loved Abby and how she was like a little sister and how he'd love it if his girls turned out just like her. Then, because he is a walking book of memorized scripture, he gave her 3 verses for her life. He was last and so he also prayed over her.

And, he summed it up by saying how different our world would be if there were more Abby's.

He's right. I am not sure I can do justice in describing her. She is loves Jesus, she's pure, she's never been in any trouble. She's smart... wants to be a doctor or a nurse and probably wants to use that to serve the people of India... where she thinks she's been called. (Her and her dad went on a missions trip there in January) Abby is witty and funny and has a great personality. She can play the piano and act and swim and play soccer and.... have you heard enough?
Singing Happy Birthday!
They had live music... everything from worship to country to pop. They were so good!
And... somehow, Gracie makes a good friend at EVERY event she goes to like this. SO cute!

After this part of the party, they whipped out a bunch of teenage food and whole slew of Abby's friend showed up.

We left at 10 pm. We were tired and frozen. We took Ellie and our tribe and went back to their house and went to bed. I think the rest of the T family rolled in about 1 am.

It was a great night!

Happy Birthday Abby! We love you and we can't wait to see what God does with you!!

Aruba, jamaica ooo I wanna take you
Bermuda, bahama come on pretty mama
Key largo, montego baby why dont we go
Jamaica

Off the florida keys
Theres a place called kokomo
Thats where you wanna go to get away from it all

My couch

That's a picture of my couch.

For some reason, when I homeschooled the girls, we always sat on that couch. We never sat at the table. Because they used writing utensils to do their work (big surprise), pens and pencils would fall in the cracks and lay beneath the cushions. Often times, when we needed a pencil, we would just reach down in the cushions and pull one out. It was quite convenient really.

I've never claimed to be nor would anyone ever accuse me of being the Housekeeper of the Year. I can not live in abject squalor, but if people who visit my house can't see it... it's probably not going to get cleaned that often. I'm just saying.......

So, Friday night as I was preparing (translation: I was cleaning like a mad woman) to have a new small group at my house, I looked at the couch and thought about cleaning under those cushions, but I changed my mind. I mean, who's going to look under my cushions?

Well, there's one in every crowd, right? Because I'll tell you who would look under the cushions of my couch. My friend Janae, her husband, Michael....that's who.

We were getting ready to start the Bible study portion of the night and he calls me over real serious like and says, "Hey, do you have a pen or pencil I could use?"

I could tell by the way he was asking he wasn't serious. So, I said, "For real?"

All of a sudden his hand comes up from behind the middle cushion full of pens and pencils.

Who does that?

Then, he reaches back down in the cushions and pulls out a Mrs. Potato head, head. He thought he was so funny.

Well, haha!

The next day I was on the phone with Janae and I said, "Only Michael would go digging through someone's couch cushions!" I could hear him mumbling in the background about the potato head too. He just couldn't let it go!

He just kept talking. Janae paused to listen to him and I said, "What's he saying now?"

She relayed the message, "He said he found a small Vietnamese kid down there too. You didn't need to go all the way to China to get one!"

I thought my sides were going to split wide open! I died laughing. It's been 5 days since that comment was made.... and I am still laughing about it!

Hearts are Deceitful

Warning: I am totally going to name drop here... bail now if you don't want to hear it.

The picture above is a country music group, Lady Antebellum. The girl in the picture is Hillary Scott.

She's my friend.

It's a long story how I met her and it's really not worth sharing right now. She came to our house many times and at the time, Lady Antebellum was just starting.

She's got roots in the country music industry but I would have never known. I would expect someone with her background to be a little snooty. But, honest to goodness, she is one of the sweetest girls I've ever met. She's very easy to talk to. She loves my kids... brought them gifts every time she came to visit. She sat up in Shelby's room for an hour and wrote a song with her. She's from TN but showed up to watch an OSU football game at our house totally decked out in OSU wear. She's just your all-American girl!

We hit it off and even when the person we had in common was no longer in the picture, we decided to keep in touch.

It wasn't long after meeting her that Lady A took off in a big way. Immediately, I decided I would commit to pray for her. I told her so and she was very grateful.

See, to many that life sounds really glamorous, but... call me a pessimist, I see all the negative aspects of it. The temptations, the loneliness, and the pressure. The people who want to get to you just because of who you are and on and on and on.

For a beautiful young lady out on the road, I decided someone needed to do battle for her. She loves Jesus and I am sure the enemy wants to destroy any platform she might have. I pray for her frequently and try to email her about how I am praying.

I was emailing her Sunday morning and I felt the Lord impress upon me to share on my blog what I shared with her. Someone out there needs to hear a word from the Lord.

Hi Hillary,

I've been praying for you! Watch out!

Do you remember when I wrote you about 2 places in the Bible where God equates success with meditating on scripture? I think when I wrote you about those verses, I mentioned success not being just what one does for a job. There are many other ways to be successful: relationships, discipline, finances, health, etc...

Well, I have been trying to take my own advice and not just find a verse to memorize but really meditate on that verse. One of the verses I did that with recently was Jeremiah 17:9-10. (I use the amplified version of the Bible a lot. I think it's for slow learners.:-) It defines words to make the text more clear.) Anyway, Jeremiah 17:9-10:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]? I the Lord search the mind, I try the heart, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.

I guess when I think about the heart, I think about love and kindness and doing good and compassion, etc... The word heart, for me, has always stirred up positive emotions. But, as I sat thinking about this verse, I thought, "Above all the things the heart is... love, goodness, kindness, etc.., it is first and foremost deceitful."

Wow! That hit me like a ton of bricks. My heart is deceitful more than it is loving and good and kind. I like to think of myself as having pure motives and doing good because I have a good heart. But, to hear my heart is deceitful... darn it!

And, if my heart can deceive me, I can probably talk myself into to thinking anything is good and right. OR, things that I know are wrong, I can find a way to justify.

I ran across a devotional talking about this very thing. Here's what it said:

Self-deception is one of the easiest traps of the enemy that we can fall into. The self always helps the self get whatever it wants. When we have a strong desire for something, we can easily deceive ourselves by telling ourselves whatever we want to hear. If my will wants a think, my mind will give me a variety of reasons I should have it, and my emotions will certainly produce ample feelings that agree with my will's wants.

We must learn to live deeper than the shallowness of our own minds, wills, and feelings. Deeper living means that we go beyond what we want, what we think, and how we feel and live by the word of God. We must bow our knees in humility to God's word and His will because that is where we find true blessings.

I encourage you to have regular times of waiting in God's presence, asking Him to reveal any impure motives you might have. Pray against deception, for Satan is the great deceiver. When we believe something that is not true, we are deceived. Satan also seeks to lead us astray through reasoning that is contrary to the truth.

When you believe a lie, it becomes truth to you even though it is not actually truth at all. Ask God for what you want, but always be willing to change it if you discover that you are not in agreement with God's will. If what you ask God for is His will, it will come in due time. If it does not come, then believe that he has something better in mind for you.

Above all, hold your peace and remain at rest. God can easily lead the believer who is not frustrated and anxious. Pray as David in Psalm 51: "Behold, you desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart" (Psalm 51:6) The more you truly know God's wisdom in your heart, the less likely you are to be deceived.

Oh Hillary, how the enemy probably works over time to deceive you! You have a platform few will ever have! I pray that you are not being deceived in any area of your life right now. Ask God, as I am for you, to reveal any areas in which you may be (or Satan may be) deceiving you.

I encourage all my faithful readers to do the same. Have regular times where you examine your heart and ask God to reveal what's there. He'd love to do it!

Can I do it all again?

I had one of the best weekends I have had in a long time... and Paul wasn't even in town for the most part. I haven't quite figured out what that means yet.

Friday morning I went to conferences for the girls. Having homeschooled them until this year, I wasn't sure what to expect... especially for Shelby going into 6th grade. BUT, I am happy to report that Shelby has all A's and a really high B in Spelling- which if you could have seen her spelling a couple of years ago, you would know that a B is like a miracle. Parting of the Red Sea, Shelby successfully spelling... almost the same. Gracie is doing fine, 3rd grade, but she needs to work on being distracted. I don't know where she gets the nosiness.

Friday afternoon I was on the phone with Janae and it was 12:20. We decided at 12:25 to take the kids to a movie that started at 1 o'clock. I wish you could have seen what I looked like at that moment or for that matter, the way I went out in public looking. I am surprised Janae is still my friend.

After the movie, we hung out at her house and let the kids play. It was a gorgeous fall day and we had coffee on the back porch. She threw some chicken on the grill. We ate dinner and then sat around a bonfire and played Are You Smarter Than a Fifth grader with Shelby. Actually, I was just the host. And, I am not going to tell you that Shelby won because, well, that might make Janae feel bad. Bless her heart....

It was such a fun day! How come days like that can never be planned. How come I had to look like Hattie the Witch all day? Because if I had actually taken a shower and looked like I had some sense, I would have sat home all day.

Unplanned days like that... some of the best days ever. Do you know the Spongebob song Best Day Ever. I hope you do because Janae wrote me an email with that song in it about our day together and I sang that blasted song all weekend. Now I hope you sing it all day long. Why is Spongebob so annoying? Geesh!

We had 3 soccer games on Saturday. Then, on Saturday afternoon I conned someone into watching my kids so I could meet a college friend I had not seen in 8 years. As I sat talking and laughing with her and her sister, I was reminded why I loved her so much in college. I might cut off my right arm to have her live around here. It didn't seem to matter that we hadn't see each other in 8 years because we picked up right where we left off. I wish someone could have clocked how many words we crammed into that time... that seemed way too short. In life, you leave some people feeling completely drained. Others are like a breath of fresh air! She's the fresh air... in case you couldn't figure that out.

On Sunday our church had a fall festival. We spent all our time watching the kids on a bunch of inflatables. Have you seen the bungee cord inflatable? There are two lanes on this inflatable with a wall running down the middle of the lanes. On top of the wall in the middle, there is a velco strip that runs the length of the course. The velcro is marked in feet. So, they put two kids in vest and the vests are attached to bungee cords at the back of the lanes. The kids hold a bean bag and race to see who can make it the farthest by putting their bean bags on the velcro wall. They can only get so far because of the bungee cords. And when those bungee cords snap those kids back and they fall on their backs, I about pee my pants. It never gets old. It is so funny every single time. Maybe I should have been a carnie.

My other favorite thing was the mechanical bull inflatable. The best part of that... watching Paul try to ride it holding his arm up like he was some kind of professional bull rider. When he got slung off, which didn't take long, he came off the ride and hit the ground. I think it hurt the... well, you know!

I wish I could do last weekend all over again!

Here's Emme doing whatever it is she does with food.

Licking it, taking bites of the carmel and the paper... hello, take a bite of the apple!

Sometimes when Em eats, she looks like an old woman.

You don't have to be at the county fair to find some characters. They're everywhere. This man was totally trying to look like Guy from Diners Dive-ins and Dives. Judge for yourself. I mean seriously, does he think no one watches the show? Be yourself big guy! And, I have no shame.. I'm taking pictures of the guy so I can talk about him.