2010 Comes to an End

I have to be honest here, looking back over this past year, my family has seen a lot of challenges and difficulties and has overcome many of them...Thanks Be to God.  I actually welcome a new year, not to wish time away but to get a "new" start, have a clean slate, whatever you want to call it~I just know for certain I do not want another year like 2010.  We experienced many Blessings, but the hardships seemed to outweigh the Blessing side...at least at certain times.  But...Praise the Lord, my husband's back is much better and he is UP and going at about 90%, My father-in-law has Whipped non-hodgkins lymphoma, My Grandma is enjoying her new body in heaven and I am Blessed beyond measure! 

A few pics from our Holidays

Christmas Eve at MeMe and PaPa's house

I think this is funny, looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger

was in our picture!  LOL

Mr Ben is getting so big...going on

2 yrs old and totally entertained

us with his very active dancing.

He is a HAM.

Say what?

My family...my sister and her boys, Mom and Dad

Christmas morn...I love this, the boys were

S*H*O*C*K*E*D

to see that Santa brought a Wii.

I'm still in shock that Santa brought a Wii

(wink wink)

My boys, my nephew and nieces

JB's sisters kiddos

Christmas Day

We had a fabulous Christmas~I hope you did too.

It's Christmas Eve Baby!

Brisket in oven               Check

Cheesy Taters made        Check

Black eyed peas              Not Yet

Spicy Pretzels                 Check

Cinnamon Candy             Check

Sugar cookies                 Check

Presents wrapped              Not Yet

All presents in the house      Not Yet

Stockings Stuffed               Not Yet

House a disaster               Check

BBQ weiners                   Check

Shower                             Not Yet

White Christmas                Not Likely

Cold Weather                   Check

Excited Boys                     Check

Laundry piled up                Check

Rainy Christmas                Check

Feeling Blessed                  Check

Camera Battery Charged     Check

Merry Christmas!

Family Pictures

Can you see the Hair Flying back? That would be from the wind tunnel

we were standing in.  LOL

Finding the time and cooperative weather for family pics this year proved to be a

challenge.  About a month ago, after church, we had about a 2 hour window to work with.

Now, let me explain that the wind was RIdIcuLoUS that day but the sun was shining

and I was just sure we would be fine.  We were going out to a friends farm

and they have lots of barns, the wind was straight out of the south and I had decided we

could stand on the north and it would all be wonderful.  Off we go with my tripod in tow. 

After about 5 mins of driving, I have white knuckle syndrome because the wind is blowing

us around on the road!  Did I mention it was Cold?  Well, it was.

Anywhoo...I get my guys kind of lined up, set up the tripod, attach the camera

I had practiced with the timer the day before so I would be ready.

What I was NOT ready for was the fact my hair was blowing like mad, the wind was blowing my

tripod over and by the time I got to my spot for a picture, not only did I have hair like Sheena the

Jungle lady, but the look on my face did not show happiness and Christmas spirit! 

Despite the difficulty of the picture taking...I did manage to get a couple of good ones to

put onto a Christmas card.  Wasn't really what I had planned, but I made it work and in the

end I was pretty happy with the pic of JB and I(thanks to ZB) and I managed a couple of good shots

of the boys.  Didn't really care for any of the pics with all of us together.  Oh well.

The End.

My handsome guys.

My sweetheart. 

These two are growing up way too fast.

Merry Christmas from our Home to Yours.

Holy Cow it's CHrisTMaS!

I cannot believe I have NOT posted yet this month.  Hellooooo, it's December 15th~what the heck?
Oh yea...life.  It happens ya know.  First, I want to say Thank you to all of you who left such thoughtful comments on my last post.  I cannot even begin to tell you how much I miss my Grandma...I guess I'm having trouble getting into the "Christmas" mode since then...it didn't really seem like Thanksgiving and that usually gets me going.

I do have most of my shopping done, thanks to a fun day/night with friends in Wichita last Friday and getting home around 11:45pm, thinking "this is sooooo past my bedtime, but so much fun!"
Discussing with my hubby a strategic plan for our shopping...and not having a plan because we can't seem to find a day we can both go AND have somewhere for the boys...Saturday morn was to be my get the laundry done, clean house day...JB calls about 9am "I'm done with chores, it's really cold and windy and we aren't going to do much more today...the boys can stay with dad and can you be ready in 15 mins?"...Me.."Uuuhhhhh, I guess so, I will hit the shower."  We take off for Wichita....for our marathon shopping day...got almost everything done...eventually.  I can't even explain the sillyness involved...but it was good and we finally got home about 10:30pm(day 2 of late night=tired momma) LOL  A few more stocking stuffers and I'm FINISHED!

This morning...my devotional was exactly what I needed to hear...as usual!
Title:  A Carefree Christmas

This time of year, we all have the tendency to stress and worry...whether its little or big things, they tend to creep into our lives and sometimes we don't even realize the magnitude they have until they are HUGE.
These stresses, worries, anxieties...whatever you want to call them are actually HUGE tools of the enemy, yes, Satan uses all that nonsense in his strategies to "steal, kill and destroy".  Worry is a chief weapon of warfare for him and it seems to always work.  I decided this morning to NOT let him win this time, no more worries.  We as believers are to cast our cares upon the Lord and thru prayer and petition with Thanksgiving offer our requests to God.  (Phillippians 4:6).
My prayer for you this season is to be carefree...cast your cares upon the Lord, he is always listening and always waiting for us.  Only then will we experience true Joy. 

Have a wonderful rest of the week.  I promise to post more before another 3 weeks are past...I have family pictures to show and the story of the VERY WINDY day we took them!

Beautiful Lady

That's my Grandma.

Thoughtful, kind, polite, loving, witty, talented...the list could go on and on.  She went to be with the Lord on Thanksgiving Day.  It's not a total surprise, but it's still hard.  She was 93, we moved her to the nursing home in February 2010.  She had been at home until then, with help.  This picture was from her birthday, in April.  She looks so frail and had gotten even more so in the last couple of months.  But her will was always strong! 

Today, we have the funeral...while I'm so sad I cannot hug her neck, hear her say I love you, kiss and hug my boys, listen to her funny stories, I'm so happy she is enjoying her new home...Heaven I tell you!  Praise the Lord for that, it brings about a Peace that our minds cannot comprehend...yes, that's the Peace of God that passes all understanding.  Tears of sadness and joy are flowing from my eyes. 

I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, maker of Heaven and Earth.

Have a Beautiful day friends

I'm going to.

Happy Anniversary to Me...

and my awesome Husband!  16 yrs ago today I married a wonderful man who is more than just my husband.  I thank God for him and his laid back manner, he totally makes the balance in our relationship, I am always the one "wound up" while he brings me back down to reality!  LOL

I can't believe that 16 years has gone by so quickly.  He is such a blessing to me and for that I'm so thankful.  If the next 16 years go this quickly...HOLY COW!

Happy Anniversary JB....Love you Much!

1 Corinthians 13:4-6
Love is patient, Love is Kind...

Have a Blessed Day!

What's Happening

Well, after 16 years we are getting an opportunity to live in the country....Praise the Lord!
Our house is FOR SALE...but we have to sell our house to make this opportunity work for us~I would appreciate anyone who wants to join with us to BELIEVE that our house will sell and sell quickly so this can all happen!

I am getting my opportunity to Call those things that be not, as though they are in this little journey and have complete trust in God and his timing!   We totally believe that this is all orchestrated by God~Join us if you will, we appreciate it!

So much going on...ran another 5K race a few weeks ago and improved my time by about 1 1/2 mins.  Very excited about that!  Need to get my family pics done for Christmas pics/cards and cannot seem to find the time for it.  Maybe today...we are going to a wedding in OK...at the Marland Mansion and I'm hoping to sneak in a pic of my family before the wedding since we will all be dressed up...the grounds are just beautiful there...we shall see. 

Praying that you and yours have a beautiful weekend.  Give thanks to the LORD, for he is GOOD and his LOVE endures forever!!

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.  Psalm 62:5-6



Sad Cats

Well, even though my Wildcats lost to the Pokes...it was still a Gorgeous day and we had a BLAST at the game!  If we had to lose to someone...I can handle the loss to the Pokes...As a "state line" gal...they are a favorite team when the Cats aren't playing!  I have lots of family and friends who have gone to OSU and/or are huge fans. 

Some pics from our great day...

Me(right) and some friends before the game

More friends, tailgating

Wildcats on their way to the field

My f-i-l and his wife watching the team come out

They had never been to a game before, she is a

big OSU gal and he went in "neutral" LOL!

Nice hand-off Coffman

You gotta LOVE Willie the Wildcat!

Scary face..sitting behind us

JB and I having a Ball!

The FOX sports guy was in front of us most of the game

Bill Snyder...

Class Act Wildcat

Pistol Pete

Have a Blessed Week friends

Tis the season to be

THANKFUL

Heading North

It's going to be a PURPLE kind of Saturday this weekend and I am SOOOOOOOO Excited!

We are leaving early in the morning to go watch our

KSU WILDCATS take on the OSU COWBOYS

We will be going with family and friends and are looking forward to enjoying a GORGEOUS Kansas day with the CATS!

It's on FSN Sports if you are unable to go{grin}

Will have lots of pics to share when we get back. 

K*S*U

W*I*L*D*C*A*T*S

Enjoy your Weekend Friends!

Fall Swap

Look at the A*W*E*S*O*M*E goodies I received in the Fall Swap!

A big THANK YOU to Laura @Elephant Juice for being the

hostess/organizer of the swap and another big THANK YOU

to Michelle in California for all of these wonderful

Fall Favorites!

A book of Proverbs & Prayers for mom's, a set of personalized

and adorable note cards in Great Fall Colors, some of her favorite family Fall

recipes, the Cutest set of measuring spoons, Pumpkin Flavored Coffee

and a green trivet.

She wrote me the sweetest note, such a beautiful person

I can already tell.  She has a baby girl and a toddler boy.

I was soooo excited to receive my box of goodies, I was

like a kid! 

I LOVED all of it and was so thankful to have made a new friend.

Thanks again Michelle...looking forward to keeping in touch

with my new blog friend. 

Have a Beautiful and Blessed Weekend!!

County Fair 2010

We had a GREAT county fair this year.  Both boys made it to the Grand Champion drive with their sheep.  ZB ended up with Grand Champion Intermediate Showman and CB ended up Res Champ in the Junior Showmanship.  We were soooo proud of them!  Looking back I am sad, some of my pics were not so great, but, I wasn trying to be mom, photographer and organizer for one or both boys! LOL  Oh well.  We always camp at the fair even though its right here in our town.  It saves driving back and forth several times AND we camp with some great friends and the fun never ends!  It's also usually around 100 to 110 degrees during our fair and having the camper there with AC and food is worth every penny!

ZB talking with the judge in showmanship. 

ZB on  the right.  He's in the top 2, he and Chad have

been showing against each other since they were 7 & 8 yrs old!

It was a tough call for the judge, we thought he might

not EVER decide!  Both boys worked very hard

and it was fun to watch them.

WHOO HOO!  ZB getting the Champion Buckle!

Junior Showmanship...the judge checking out CB's sheep

See the sweat on the judges back?  Yea, we ALL looked like

that!

CB with Res Grand Champ in showmanship

2nd from the left.

My boy was so proud, he ran back to the sheep

pen, traded out belt buckles Immediately!

Close up that doesn't seem so close huh?

Ok...first place in his market class.

My nephew is in the orange shirt, CB in the blue and

a good friend in turquoise!

CB getting 2nd in the market class

Both of my boys on the end here, in the Grand Champion

Drive for Market Champ~very exciting!

CB getting some last minute advice from Dad...looking

exhausted!

Did I mention it was HOT??!!

Holy Cow!

I think I might actually be back in business...blog business that is!  I can't seem to retrieve email yet, but I can blog!  WHOO HOO!!!
And now...





I have some pics of my...




New kitchen countertops...




That were actually "new" in August.




Let me tell ya, I'm LOVING them!  They are a solid surface formica.  Looks like granite but without the GIANT price tag. 

 Here is before...my UGLY green countertops

They were old butcherblock formica that were WORN OUT!

So, several years ago, I decided I would paint them. And it was a good

fix...for awhile.  About 2 yrs ago I painted my UGLY cabinets this

dark red.  Yes...it looks hideous with the green

countertops, but my plans for new countertops have been

in the works for sometime now. 

The Demolition process.  Removing the sink first.  It turned out

to be a challenge due to our water softner/reverse osmosis

system.  Oh yea, and work space the size of a matchbox!

ZB wiping down the tile...I think.  DH observing the

Giant mess we're making!  It was a little weird being

without countertops for a day. 

I wasn't able to be home the day they installed, so therefore,

there are NO during pics.  This is what I came home to after work. 

I was immediately H*A*P*P*Y

Aaahhh...they new faucet.  That's a whole other story all

by itself.  I don't want to go there.  We decided to install ourselves

so that we could save money.  Yea, well, it would have probably

been cheaper to have them do it! LOL

I Love Love Love my new sink and faucet.  My sinks are

deep and wide, I can set a pan down to soak and I am glad.

The kitchen...back to normal.  Stuff on the counters and stuff

everywhere.  Welcome to my kitchen.  I loved seeing the countertops all bare.

It was so "neat" looking to me, but it was not "real" :)

This is a close up of the countertop...it's much lighter in this picture than

it is in "real" life.  Its base color is almost an oatmeal color

 with dark brown, black and white flecks.  But you can get the idea.

I love how my kitchen has come together, it has been a years in progress project.  First the

ceramic tile floor about 8-9 yrs ago, then the painting of the cabinets and new

hardware 2 yrs ago and now...the new countertop. 

 Finally...my vision is complete!

It is good to be back fellow bloggers...I missed reading and hearing from everyone of you.  I pray you have a blessing filled week!!



Very Soon

I bought a new laptop last night...hope to get it set up this weekend and get some pics downloaded and posted!  We shall see, lots of biz-E-ness going on around here...:) 


 Check back soon...and please don't send the blogger police. 

I Did It!

Finished my first 5K run last Saturday.  36.03 mins was my time.  I am sure that's not impressive if you are a runner...but I was Tickled PINK!  I went to F-I-N-I-S-H and not end up walking~I walked about 50 yards toward the end...I had a leg cramp...LOL  Pulled up my boot straps and went on!  My cousin ran with me.  We were sooooo excited to have accomplished this.  We will run another race in October at a local Fall Festival, it's 2 miles so it should be easy! LOL

I am going to have to find a new computer or take mine to the dr...it's a complete *&^$%#@=
translated to NOT WORKING and PAIN IN BEHIND.  I have so many pics to share and absolutely can't make it work.  AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-that would be me having a complete and utter HiSSyFiT.  Yep. 

Have a wonderful rest of the week...and Labor Day Weekend.  I seem to have things going on but nothing overly exciting.  I need to scoot along...hubby just called and is HUNGRY-need to get his supper warmed up and ready.
 Be Blessed AND Be a Blessing!

No More

Facebook.  I enjoyed it, but it caused so much havoc on my work computer and it has been banned there and I believe has caused trouble on my home computer.  So.  There we have it.  No more. End of Story.  I am sad because I was keeping up with lots of friends and family BUT I honestly got TIRED of all the DRAMA I would read on there.  TMI(too much information) was there.  It didn't start that way, but it seems to be more TMI than not.  I became sick and tired of hearing drama.  I hate drama, in case you wondered. :)
AND I was spending time on there that could certainly be used in other areas. 

I hope all is well with you and yours.  Doing good here.  Running my first 5K tomorrow a.m. and excited about it.  My goal=to finish :) lol

I have so many pics to share....and no way to do so.  I'm beyond frustrated with that whole thing. Have a Blessing filled weekend wherever you are!

Isn't Technology Great?

Yes it is...when it works.  For me lately...that's been a real challenge.  We shall see if I can even finish this post before my computer Crashes...again. 

We had several power surges at our house and it fried my computer...I thought.  It would NOT come up at all, I did finally get it to come up and it was restored to factory defaults.  Not what I wanted, but I thought "at least its working".  Well, that is only partial truth.  It just kicks me out at random.  So this post may or may not be finished. LOL

I am currently taking suggestions for computers.  Laptops.  I mainly use my computer for downloading/storing pics, email and surfing the web at my favorite websites.  Let me know what you have, your likes, dislikes, etc. 

I have not moved away, forbidden myself to blog or anything else...I just seem to be having issues with electronics~I don't really facebook anymore either...that's what brought in the virus to my work computer that had to be WIPED OUT completely and "Ghost" another computer in the office onto mine.  Thank Goodness I didn't have to get a new computer at work.  Not Cool. 

Hope all is well with you and yours.  We are anxiously awaiting school to start--after Labor Day.  STILL NO PICS...yea, I had trouble downloading before...EVEN WORSE now.  Double Not Cool.

Have a blessed day/week...until I post again~Lord only knows when that may be.

Still NO Pictures

Well, we had an AWESOME County Fair despite the RELENTLESS heat & humidity we are having here in the southern part of the Sunflower State...My wonderful pics I would love to share...are still on my camera.  My computer is simply~well lets just say not working.  It tells me every time I try to download my pics that it's full and I've saved pics to disc and deleted some files and it still doesn't work.  I tell ya....if it's not ONE thing...it's about 50 others with me lately. 

I'm proud to say I am the momma to 1 Grand Champion Intermediate Sheep Showman(ZB) who also had  Reserve Champion Natural market lamb; 1 Reserve Champion Junior Sheep Showman(CB) who also had Reserve Champion XBred Market Lamb;  which meant that BOTH of my boys got to go in for the GRAND CHAMPION drive!  I couldn't have been more proud.  I have so much to share and such little time...in the middle of all this...we've torn out my old countertops and I had new ones installed yesterday!!!  Have pics of that to share too...someday :)

I miss all of you and hope to be back in a regular blog routine soon.  Praying God's Blessings to you and yours. 

Crazy~Busy

I seem to be having issues---my pics will not download off my camera so I have no new pics to share....again.  Oh well.

Just stopping in to say Hello...I hope I'm not losing any of my followers.  I am literally meeting myself coming and going...we are VERY BUSY with our Livestock Auction....cattle coming off grass now and we are having big sales--which is such a blessing but with hubby still only 3 months post op...the boys and I have been helping out as much as we can to keep him from over-doing it and My f-i-l hurt his back stepping off the tractor last Monday....so he's moving very slow!  Prayers please!  But as a whole....we are GOOD!  Our County Fair starts this coming Thursday so we are on what I call "crunch time"!  Lots to prepare and get ready and we haven't even been home to do it! 
We are so excited for the fair--Our sheep look Great and I'm so excited for my boys. 

I hope all is well with you and yours....I pray God's Blessings to all who stop by and read my blog.  I sure miss my blogger friends-please know that I think of ya'll often even when I'm NOT on the computer...I try to squeeze in some time to read my favorite blogs, I apologize I have not commented lately...once again...not enough time for everything!   

Have a GREAT week!

Jesus Said...

And these signs will accompany those who believe:  In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.  Mark 16:17-18

I believe the BIBLE, I believe what Jesus said was TRUTH.  Therefore, I will stand BOLDLY against any sickness that comes against me or my family.  I am BELIEVING in the HEALING of my son, NO MORE DIABETES!  After all, Jesus said these signs would accompany those who believe.  I BELIEVE.  Want to join me? 

I am reading/studying a book....The Tongue, A Creative Force by Charles Capps.  It is AWESOME and I highly recommend it...it's a short book, easy read filled with WONDERFUL things.  We as Christians speak things that we don't even realize are negative and against God's word.  Idle words.
We are held accountable for all words, Idle, Meaningful, Good and Bad.  Boo.Hiss. That makes one think huh? :)  God has really been showing me that I MUST change my words. 

Charles says in this book....."If Jesus came to you personally and said, from this day forward it will come to pass, that every thing you say will happen exactly as you say it; would that change your vocabulary?"  For some reason.....THAT grabbed my attention!  Why?  IT IS TRUE?  The Bible says we can have what we say...when we speak, we must release faith in the words we speak from the heart.  We must believe that those things which you are saying will come to pass.  I'm doing that alright...in the physical realm-speaking plenty of negative.  I need to speak in faith in what I WANT to see! 
What we speak comes from the heart-I'm finding my heart is not as full of God's word as it should be.  I will continue to work on that. 
Whatever your situation is...I pray that this will encourage you.  As the body of CHRIST, let us join together and BELIEVE!  We have so much authority and we don't even realize it.  I often wonder what God is thinking....I tend to think it's like this...

When my boys were little, we were so excited for Christmas morn, for them to open their presents.  I can't count the times that they opened it up, pushed the gift to the side and played with the box.  I bet God is thinking the same thing...."I gave them this GREAT gift and they have pushed it to the side...and are playing with the box."

I pray BLESSINGS to all my friends~have a good day and Give Thanks in all circumstances. 

BELIEVE

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday is simply a title

I have trouble posting without words. 

Sometimes.

First day of school

August 2009

Last day of school

May 2010

As you can see

My boys are not big on smiling

They are too busy complaining

About having their picture taken

Again.

Someday

They will be thankful

I just know it!

Have a wonderful day.

It's only as good as

YOU make it.

Back from the Lake

Hello Friends!  Hope all is well with you and yours...I've been G-O-N-E.  Yep, we took off for TableRock Lake last Saturday morning and came home Thursday.  Beautiful time, Beautiful Lake, Great friends and Good Food.  Been really busy since I got home...laundry, helping f-i-l move, life in general...trying to get back to the real world :)  LOL

Traveled lots of these roads...

and these turns

to arrive here.  Well worth the trip.

Our view off our friends dock.  We stayed with them

at their lake house this year.  JB wasn't up to

pulling the trailer and boat, etc.  It was nice.

I will have more pics to share...need to get busy before it

gets TOO HOT here.  Thanks for stopping

by to visit.  Have a wonderful Day!