Puzzle-mania!

My four year old has gotten the "puzzle bug". It's all consuming and time consuming. It all started when his grandma bought him a glow-in-the-dark puzzle from the dollar bin at Target. He put it together in no time flat and was hooked. In the last week, we have had to buy him no less than 3 more puzzles (not including the free one from Wendy's). He is starting now to take them apart and put them back together again! And of course, we can't put them away. We are running out of table space!

I'm glad he loves puzzles. It's so much better for him than Nintendo (again, an addicting game!). He's pretty proud of himself when he is done and ready to move on to the next one. I always remember our preschool director saying she can tell the kids who worked on puzzles as a child.......I hope Jason is one of them!

Food, beautiful food

I love food. I'll admit it. I love it more than my children some days. Food doesn't talk back, always makes me happy, and doesn't make a mess (if you order take out!). Of course, this also explains my weight, but that's another issue for another day. Today, we're focused on food.

We had the great privilege to eat at The Lady and Son's in Savannah and it was delicious. First, before you eat, they bring out these delicious cheese biscuits on top of a Ho cake. The Ho cake is basically cornbread in the shape of a pancake and tastes great with syrup. Yummy! I could have eaten these all day long.

We decided to order the buffet for lunch, which consisted of 2 types of chicken, pork, and a ton of veggies including her famous mac and cheese.

This is what my plate looked like when I got back to the table. What was hysterical to me was that there was a salad bar. Really?! A salad bar at Paula Deen's? Who the heck would eat that? Not me - what a waste of stomach space.

Gosh just looking at that picture makes me hungry. I love the Cracker Barrel, but now it has lessened in my mind after this lovely food!

Next was dessert. My friends surprised me and had a waiter sing Happy Birthday to me while bringing out the Ooey, Gooey Butter cake! That was fun (and embarrassing!) I also got another dessert that came with my meal in banana pudding. Gosh it was all delightful and we needed naps after it. But it was a great place to stuff yourself after a great morning of running. I love that place. I truly do!

Ok, so here it is, the highlight of the weekend for me!

As his mamma, Paula Deen would say, "Aint he purty y'all?" Oh, my word Jamie Deen is so cute! That's him with me right before the race (thank God it was before because he wouldn't have come within 10 feet of my stinkin' body after). And yes, he has his hand on my shoulder. Could I look any happier? I mean really! No wonder I was struggling the whole race - my heart started racing before the gun went off - I mean, wouldn't yours? Here's how it went down. I spotted Michael, Paula's husband, right beside the stage before the race. Now I wouldn't have known it was him, except that Paula was doing the opening ceremony and being perceptive as I am (as my friend Dawn tells me) I put two and two together. Then I saw Jamie and Bobby Deen next to him. Well, if I had been by myself there would be no picture, as I am a big enough chicken to be fried at KFC. However, because Nancy was with me (and things always get done when Nancy is around), she piped up and said "Let's ask him for a picture!" 'Nuff said! Now unfortunately for the picture of our group with Michael, it was somehow not taken as a picture, but as a movie. We asked some old lady (who shall remain nameless because I don't know her name, but if you look at the picture, right next to Jamie's hand on my shoulder - she is the culprit). She obviously had never seen a camera before and pressed the wrong button. Nevertheless, thanks to my sweet friends, I have the picture of a lifetime. He was gracious and kind to all of us, as was Paula's husband Michael. Honestly, I could have sat down right there and waited for my friends to finish the race because my day had been made!

More pictures to come tomorrow of The Lady and Sons restaurant, which thanks to my new friend August, we were fortunate enough to get into. You won't believe the pictures - they will have you drooling!

5k - I did it!

I just completed my first 5k in Savannah this weekend and am so excited that I finished! I ran the inaugural race of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Savannah Georgia along with 3,000 other people (including walkers). I finished in 35 minutes without stopping - I ran the whole thing! That was the goal....not a certain time.....just to finish without stopping; without dying. I accomplished both, which I wanted to do before age 40 (3 weeks away), and now I can cross that off the list.

I have lots to say about this amazing trip and the great women I went with: Dawn, Christy and Nancy. You just can't pray for better friends than these girls. I will post more in the coming days.....including the one thing that topped crossing the finish line for me that occurred before the race. My heart almost stopped before the horn blew when this happened....more to come!

I am so thankful I ran it; so thankful I didn't die; so inspired by the survivors of this horrible disease. I pray what took place this weekend will save many women from having to live, and survive, breast cancer. More to come tomorrow!

Friday Funnies

Since I am on my way to Savannah to run in a 5k, I thought I would post these while I am gone. Have a great weekend! Funny things heard around our house this week: David has been raising funds for his school and was calling his grandmother to ask for a dollar donation for each lap he would run. He already got $20 from someone else, which, unfortunately for him, he thought was the amount to get a scooter in prizes. In order to get the scooter he needed to raise $20 a LAP - not total. So not knowing this information, he calls his grandmother and asks for a donation. She said "will $30 be enough?". His reply "Oh no grandma, you don't need to spend that much, I already got $20 from someone else." Jason responding to me calling him today "Yes, Mother. Mother of Pearl". Wonder where he heard that? Jason praying for one of his friends who got into trouble today at school "Dear God, please help Zachary to learn to be kind. Thank you for giving us sins. Amen." Needless to say this prompted a long discussion on sin and that God does not give us sins but FORgives us of sins.

MOPS Revisited

I had a great opportunity last night to spend some times with my MOPS girls again. My how I have missed them! I was asked to share my testimony on how MOPS affected my life to the girls, along with my friends Nancy, Kristina, and Jen. It was amazing to me how the Lord moved in all our lives through MOPS. I was especially thankful that my sister-in-law came to her first MOPS meeting with me last night. The Lord had been laying on her heart to start a group for her church, and she felt last night's meeting was made by the Lord just for her. She left more excited than ever about starting a group! As I had been frantically working on my testimony the last few weeks, the Lord again used my experience with MOPS to do a work in me. As when I took over as Coordinator for MOPS and felt completely over my head and out of control (not good for a type-A person like me), I today am feeling that way - only on a lesser level. Not knowing what the future may bring, and feeling a little cramped in this apartment, along with other everyday stresses have left me feeling hopeless some days. I again turned to my normal comfort zones for happiness: food, wine, chocolate, vegging out in front of the tv, etc. It has not been good for me and my mental health on most days. But as I was writing my testimony that I would speak to these ladies, the Lord whispered in my ear "why aren't you turning to me now like you did back then?" I couldn't read the words "I know I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me" without feeling a pang in my heart that I wasn't really living it. Did I really believe what I was writing? I did back then, when I felt to desperate for his help and his love and his comfort. But what about now? Somewhere between last May when I "retired" from my position, to today, I had lost the intimate connection I had with my loving Father. The only answer I have for that loss is that I didn't need him as much. I was back to the day in, day out of everyday life and I said to myself "thanks Lord. You were really there for me in my time of need, but I can take it from here. This is boring, easy stuff. You can have a seat over there for now." I still had my quiet time, but not the on-my-knees, "please help me Lord" desperation I had back then. I suppose it's human nature to only cry out to the Lord in desperate times, but why? Why do I ever presume I can carry on with my life without his presence? The Lord has shown me once again this week that I can do nothing apart from him. If I try to do the basic things without his help, I will fail. My marriage will suffer; my family will suffer; I will suffer - and I have. He has shown me, through my own written testimony, that he wants to be the center of my life. He wants me to come to him with everything - life altering or not. I am grateful once again that he used MOPS to draw me closer to him and show me the way.

Weekend Wrap Up

What a glorious weekend to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior! We attended the Tenebrae service at our church Friday night and it was very moving. We then spent Saturday looking for shoes for me (no fun!). My poor husband and sons - what great troopers they were! We did baskets for our boys this year - after saying all month we weren't going to do it. My husband said "why don't we buy them Target gift cards and draw bunny ears on top?" Nice try honey. We really were going to do the gift cards, but then the boys kept talking about all they stuff they were going to get in their baskets and Mommy felt guilty. So I ran out Saturday to Target and bought baskets (ours are still in storage somewhere) and some candy. We did do gift cards, but at least they were in a basket full of goodies. What a sucker I am! One day I am going to hold fast to taking the easy way out! Sunday was a beautiful day to spend with family after church. The kids looked for Easter eggs at Grandmas and then we all hung out and went through old photos my mom had brought back from my grandmothers house in Oklahoma. Here are a few pictures.

Here is "Uncle Rick" helping to open the Easter eggs. Jason, the family clown, goofing off outside! What a great day for baseball - which is always a must when my family gets together. 5 boys and 2 men - sports is what they live for! Check out my nephews in their white t-shirts! My sister-in-law had taken off their dress shirts to play. My kids never wear t-shirts, but my nephews look so cute in them! Here's our newest addition - all girly! Elliana Grace is getting cuter by the minute!