Bad Accident

Last night Jason, the father of Carlie, (read updates here and here also) was in a bad car accident. He was in his pickup with three other people when a man in a Jeep came at him head on. He swerved to avoid a head on and the man hit the back of his pickup rolling it totally around. Jason got out the back windshield, but was injured badly. He saw that the truck was on fire and there were still three people inside. A game warden at the scene helped Jason lay down and then got the others out just before the truck exploded. Three people, including Jason, were air lifted and two went by ambulance to the hospital.

Jason's arm had gone out the truck window and the truck rolled on it causing a lot of damage. The first prognoses was amputation, but the specialist at the hospital said it can be saved.

God was with Jason, The nerves were not severed, even though the flesh was torn off to the bone. He will need to undergo a number of surgeries and will be in the hospital for some time.

The man that hit them was drunk, running from the game warden. It appears he had no insurance.

We arrived home at 5 this morning and have a full day ahead with Angel Food distribution, some work and then to the hospital again. Please pray for all of us through this, but especially for Jason and Misty. This is a trying time for them. Pray Misty will not have any complications with her pregnancy with all the stress.

Thank you everyone.

Freecycling

Like most of us I like to spend as little money as possible on things. I am not the type that needs the biggest and best, and it is a good thing since my pocket book would never allow that type of living. I have expensive tastes when I look in stores, so I am better off not going. How can we get our non-food needs without going to the store?

I have several ways. One is yard sales. You can find such good bargains at yard sales! I love them. Problem is I often find things I do not need but they seem to call me as I go by them. Temptation!!

I have discovered another way of getting things, as well as getting rid of things — Freecycle! I have given away a nice wood table that I loved but was not big enough when the whole family gets together. Our family has been growing over the last year or so and is continuing to grow, so we needed a bigger table. It was nice to know someone else needed our old one.

My husband and I have had no couch. We had a love seat that is an antique so it is a bit delicate and he is big. I told him I was going to put a request on freecycle and he was skeptical. I put the request up and within a few hours I had 3 offers. The first one sounded like a winner and I told my husband we had a couch. When we got there to pick it up it was huge, in great shape and comfortable. It is a light color and not something I would buy new, but it is great and looks so nice in my livingroom. My husband likes my frugal ways, but he makes fun of me too. Tells people I am tight with the dollar, but brags about my finds.

Here are a few suggestions for using freecycle:

• If you live in a small community sign up for nearby towns as well, especially if there is one that is larger nearby.
• get individual emails, if you do not you will miss offers as things go fast.
• when giving away, select who you will give it to, do not just take the first response. Rules say you can't get it to sell, but people are people and some can come up with a good story just to make money on your free item.
• Contact people fast, things go quickly!

I recommend freecycle for saving money. For more frugal ideas go to Biblical Womanhood.

Traditions

I know I promised that I would have study helps by today, I will try to get them up tonight. This week has been busy and the baby has been active and keeping me hopping. I do need to admit that today I was working on trying to find images for my blog face lift. I am having trouble and can't believe that I can't seem to search and get just the right thing. I guess it will come, but I am getting impatient with my plainness.

Today I was thinking about why we do things? Why do we cook the way we do? Why do we clean house in the order we do? Why do some people have to do a thorough spring cleaning and others just clean as usual and maybe wash the windows? Why do we talk to babies like we do? I repeat things to them. Try to get them to know what it is. Other people just talk baby talk and do not tell them what something is.

When my first husband was in seminary we lived in Indiana in a mobile home park. The park was all Christians, either college, seminary or retired missionaries. Most of the people were about my age and I thought my way was the way everyone did things. I just thought it was THE way. Not arrogantly, I just thought everyone did it that way. I found out that there were all these people and we all did things and made things differently.

I used cloth diapers (had no choice back then) and would hang them on the clothes line. My diapers were white as the day I got them. Do you know how many people came up to me when those diapers were on the line and wanted to know how I got the diapers so white? I just assumed that was the way everyone's diapers looked. But, I found I did things differently than others and mine were white.

We learned from each other, at least those of us that were willing to learn. I discovered just how much tradition played a part in what we do. There were some there who would not change. Their family did it this way and that was that. They did not know why things were done as they were, but they did not want to acknowledge that there might be another way to do things.

I heard a funny story about tradition. A woman was cooking a large ham and cut the ends off before putting the ham in the pan. Her husband asked her why she did that. She said it was what her mom did so she did it. He told her to ask her mom and find out why. When she asked her mom why she always did that her mom said "Because my mom always did it that way". The daughter pressed the mother to find out why her grandmother cut off those ends. When the grandmother was asked she said "because my roasting pan was too small for the ham, so I had to cut them off to get it to fit".

Three generations cutting off the ends and two not knowing why. Traditions. They can be good and they can be bad.

I look at Christians and how many of us are caught up in traditions. We do not know why we do things, we really do not know what the Bible says about what we do, but we do it thinking it is the right way. That is until someone breaks our bubble and challenges us. Why do you do as you do? How about your church's traditions? Are they according to the Word of God or are they traditions of men?

As I sat rocking the baby today those thoughts were running around in my head. I need to examine my traditions and ask "why" and is it in God's word to be done differently?

Creative Cooking

We all like to eat, and many of us like to cook. I don't know about you but I have a habit of trying new recipes and even changing them whenever I am having someone over.

You would think I would try them and change them when it is just my husband and I, but not me. Church supper? Almost always an experiment. Company coming? Another experiment, or adaption of something I have already tried.

Most recipes that I adapt I start out making by using the ingredient list, not the amounts, but the list of what is in it. I am one of those cooks that usually eyeball the measurements. I start putting my ingredients in the bowl and then decide it would taste better if it had_____. So in would go some whatever.

Stews or soups are easy to start trying this out with, anything goes with them. Just take any recipe and be creative.

I will give you one of my adaptions. I was making a pineapple upside down cake for some company and decided it was a bit too plain. So I came up with the following recipe I will share with you. Amounts are approximate since I am not a measurer. I tried this out and used the measurement I have here and it worked!

Peggie's Tropical Upside Down Cake

12 T. butter
1C. dark brown sugar
1/4 C pineapple juice
1 large can of crushed pineapples
2 bananas (sliced)
1/2 C flaked coconut
maraschino cherries
1/2 C milk
1 egg
1 1/2 C flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 400. Melt 4 T of butter in an ovenproof skillet or 9" pan. Stir in brown sugar and continue to stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add pineapple juice, pineapple, banana slices, cherries and coconut. set aside.

Melt 8 T butter in small pan. Remove from heat and stir in milk and egg, beat well.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and granulated sugar in a bowl, add milk/egg mixture and beat well.. Pour over pineapple mixture and bake for about 35 minutes or until cake tests done Cool 10 minutes and turn unto a serving plate.

I double this to make in a 9X 13 pan.

There is my adaption of a pineapple upside down cake, now it is your turn to adapt! Works for me!

Contest and Update on Carlie

First the update: Please read this post and this post before reading this update. Misty went for her ultra sound yesterday and found she is 15.5 weeks pregnant! The dr. is pretty sure the baby is a boy. We are all so excited!!! After "knowing" she could not get pregnant and not miscarry early we know this is a miracle. Pray for her, Jason and Carlie as well as the baby.

Now the contest. Reusable Bags has offered up two of their best-selling reusable bags to one lucky winner : the Workhorse Style 1500 and the Lightweight Recycled Cotton Tote with Dual Handles, both made by ACME Bags. For a chance to win one go here!

How Important Is Your Food?

As you can see I have not started my face lift, not online anyway. I have been searching and experimenting, but nothing so far. However, I have been doing a lot of thinking about what we feed ourselves, how often and why.

That may seem like a silly thing to be thinking about, but humor me and think about it for a few minutes. What do you eat? How often do you eat? Why do you eat? Some of us eat very balanced because we know it is good for us. If we really do not like something, but we know we need it, we eat it anyway.

Some just eat what they like, picking and choosing and some feed themselves with only junk.

Some of us eat 3 official meals, but nibble all day. Some people skip meals even though it has been proven that it is not good for you, especially skipping breakfast. (Yet somehow that is the most common meal that is skipped).

Some people eat because they eat on a schedule, some because they are hungry.

Some people eat for comfort, some because of anxiety, some out of boredom.

There are some who have eating disorders that do not eat much or binge and purge.

We all eat.

Our bodies need the food for physical well being as well as emotional health and clear thinking. I get sick if I do not eat. I shake, get a headache feel dizzy. I am diabetic and need to eat at times just because my sugar has dropped and I do not feel good.

I have been comparing physical food to our Spiritual food. This week I heard two teachings on the Word. On Monday nights my husband and I go to a Bible study. It is a verse by verse, through the books of the Bible. We are in 2 Peter right now. I love it. It is the way Pastor's used to preach. My first husband preached that way and since his death I have found few pastors that do that any more. Last night he was talking about the Word of God and the importance of knowing what it says and feeding on it.

I thought back to Sunday at the church my husband works at and we attend. The pastor's sermon was on the importance of studying the Bible. He said people have gotten away from it and no longer spend time reading God's word. It made me wonder. Why is God's word not important any more? Why do people come home from church and, if they brought their Bible, they set it down and let it collect dust all week till the next Sunday? Why do people think we do not need Spiritual food? Why do we crave physical food and ignore Spiritual food? Why will people read books about the Bible and not read the Bible? Why is there so much deception in churches today, people following false teachings and have no idea how to be discerning?

Scripture says to study, to be discerning, to watch for false teachers, to live by what the Bible says and yet many people in churches today have no idea except what the pastor says. In Acts it says the Berean church was more honorable(Acts 17:11) because they went home from church and searched the Scriptures daily to see if what was preached to them was right.

As I have been thinking about the whys mentioned I thought about the churches I have been in since the death of my husband. Wonderful men as pastors, seemed to love the Lord, but most preach about the Bible, not preach the Word. Some churches you do not even need your Bible. Pastors "preach" on things and pull a verse here or there to "prove" a point. I have sat through sermons where verses were used out of context (grave error in interpretation and meaning). I have sat through sermons where the book preached was If You Want To Walk on Water You Need To Get Out of The Boat. Good book, but not the Bible. If today's pastors think that the Bible is not important enough to give their congregations good solid, verse by verse, through the Bible teaching, then how can they expect their followers to see the importance of Scriptures?

Now before you say, like the kids in a previous post, "I didn't do it" "not my fault"," it is his" etc. rest assured we are each going to be accountable for not following God's Word. Even if our pastors do not preach it, we need to follow and "study to show ourselves approved... to accurately handle the Word of God" (2 Tim. 2:15).

Now, go back and ask yourself the questions above. This time think of your Spiritual food. I will post a part 2 of this with some links, help suggestions, and rules for interpretation in the next day or two. Now, go have a meal of your Spiritual food. Unlike physical food, we can never get too much of the Word.

Face Lift Attempt Coming

I did not sleep last night, I had too much on my mind. I want to change my blog page to look a bit more appealing and not so plain. Since I am fairly new to blogs (not to web design though) I have been trying to find a ready made one that is me, fits my title and that I can change the font etc to look as I want it. No luck. I was awake thinking about this during the night and got up and hunted the web some more. I have ideas for design, but being a bit chicken I have been reluctant to strike out and try it myself. During the night I decided to maybe give it a try. I could not find an image.

Frustration!

With all the bloggers out there why can't I find someone who has a 3-column template that I like and can use? Seems like there just has to be one. So, I am going to try and step out on my own and see what happens. If, over the next week or so, you see my blog looking different, weird or strange, rest assured it is me just trying to make changes. Anyone have a picture of a 1979 dodge van, red, that rolled over and sets lopsided? Hmmm, maybe I am being a bit difficult.

I didn't do it!

Moms, how many times have you heard those words? As a grandmother I hear kids and think back to when mine were young. So many times a memory will come of when mine were little. For some reason I have been thinking about all the "I didn't do it"s I have heard over the years. Some were so funny, like when you have one child and the silly putty is stuck in the carpet behind a chair and they are saying "I didn't do it". Who did? The fish? The cat? Daddy or mommy? Then there was the time my husband went to seminary and opened up a book to find a drawing on the page. You could tell it was supposed to be a person and something else next to it. When he returned home and asked the only child at we had at the time who did it he was told "I didn't do it" but he knew the drawing was supposed to be superman peeing by a bush.

Child two and three came 14 months apart. Paul loved Bethany and at 14 months would pull her out of the bassinet whenever I turned my back. He would lay her on the couch and I could not figure out how she was getting there. This time Erik (child #1) would say "I didn't do it " and mean it, but I could not believe that Paul was actually doing it, till I caught him!

Bethany crawled very early, and climbed right away. She was into everything. She followed Paul around like a puppy dog. Paul would then make it easy for Bethany to do things. One day I ran to the bathroom and when I came out Paul and Bethany were not playing in the bedroom. This was not good. I ran down the hall, not in the living room either. I then heard something that did not sound good, they were in the kitchen. I walked around the counter and there was Paul holding the refrigerator open and Bethany throwing everything out. I made my own yogurt, so there was a bowl with 2 qts. of yogurt spilled all over the floor. A dozen eggs dumped and smashed. Milk, leftover veggies — what a mess! (Lest you think I was in the bathroom long, I was not, those two were just that fast). I walked in, looked at the mess and there was two kids, one in the refrigerator full of food and the other holding the door and food on his feet. Paul looks up at me and in this sweet innocent voice says "I didn't do it". I was not sure if I should laugh or cry! He finally admitted he just opened the door, but she made the mess.

I am not sure why the I didn't do its were coming to my mind today, but it made me wonder how many times we blame others and tell God "I didn't do it"?

Have a good Sunday!

I have a splinter

Last night I went out on the back patio to untangle my dogs leash and I got a splinter. It is in deep, I broke half of it off trying to get it out. I am in pain. This morning my husband made another attempt to get the rest out, but could not get it. It is in my foot, so every step lets me know it is there. Pain, throb, step by step.

I have a few choices. I can let it go and see if it comes out by itself. I can try to dig it out some more. Or I can go to the dr. and get it cut out. It is Saturday, the dr. will be hard to come by, but doable before noon. Hmmmmm choices.

Life is like that. How many times have we let things get under our skin? Maybe something someone has done or said. Maybe something we have done or said. We have the same choices. We can let it sit there and fester up and infect us. We can try to pry it out ourselves and make a bigger hole, a bigger injury and then it festers up and infects us too. Or we can take it to the Great Physician who can rid it from us if we let Him.

I have a choice now. I know me, I will go try to get it out myself, put more drawing salve on it and try again. If by Monday it is not out I will go to the Dr. However, by then who knows what it will look like. I am babysitting today and know it will be hard to go with her, or so I think. Maybe before noon I will change my mind and see the Dr. For my splinter I may get away with this and not have it get too bad, but the splinters of life do not work that way. We need to handle things God's way.

The pain from my splinter has made me think about this today. Like most people I have splinters inside that I need to go to Him about. Hurts that seem to keep me from being all He wants of me. Examine yourself for splinters. Ask HIM to reveal them and let the great physician remove them for you.

OOPS — I saved some money

We all like to save money and try to get the bargains, or make things stretch. This week I have been looking at a few things that I do to help out the budget. First, our HEB food store marks down meats in the early morning. If you get there really early you can usually get a good choice for little money. Some days are better than others. I have bought enough meat, including shrimp, for 2 weeks and spent $14. I also look for other mark downs. I bought a big bag of bananas for 1.99 yesterday. They are over ripe, perfect for banana bread. I am now baking all the banana bread up and will freeze most of it for a later time.

My husband makes our soap. When the bars get too small for the shower he throws them in his shaving cup and uses them to shave with by damping them before his shower and then using his shaving brush lathers it up and he has shaving cream!

Another savings place is Home Depot or Lowes. I have been wanting to do some painting and when my husband went there today to get something from work I wandered over to the paint section. Both stores sell OOPS paint, usually Home Depot is cheaper. I bought 2 gal cans of Glidden paint for $10 ($5 each) and 2 quarts for $1 each. You need to be flexible with the color, but we have bought a 5 gallon bucket for $15 in the past. If a color is too dark you can mix it with a lighter that will go (white or off white for example) and paint away!!

For more frugal ideas, return to Biblical Womanhood.

Carlie Update

The family was almost all there for Carlie's adoption and it was wonderful. Just before the court appearance the caseworker was going over things with Misty and Jason and asked once this was settled today were they going to look to add to their family and give her a brother or sister. Misty gave Jason a strange look. Apparently I was the only one who caught it, but did not know what it was about. Several hours after the adoption we got a phone call. Misty was pregnant. She had not been feeling good for about two months or so, and was wondering if she was. She has had several miscarriages, but never expected to be pregnant again. She was basically told it could not happen. We are all so excited, and pray that everything goes well this time. Join us in praying for them!

Here we all are with the judge after the adoption was signed.

Carlie

This is Carlie. Carlie joined our family when she was born last November and is such a joy to all of us. Misty and Jason had been trying to have children for about 9 years and went through all tests, surgeries etc in an attempt to have a baby. Things did not look good and they started looking into adoption. Babies are hard to come by because of abortion, and their chances of getting one were slim.

While seeking out options a friend told them about someone they knew who had a 13 year old daughter that was pregnant. The young girls mother was trying to convince her to have an abortion, while others were telling her not to, the pressures on this girl were tremendous. Carlie's parent's friend contacted the 13 year old and soon arrangements were made, and an abortion was prevented. Misty, Carlie's mom by adoption, met the 13 year old, and there was a bond there that set the stage for this little girl to have a home. Carlie's adoption will become final today. At 8:15 this morning we will all be in court for the final papers to be signed by the judge.

I look at Carlie and see the blessing and miracle that she is and think of all the other Carlie's that could have been if it were not for abortion. People today are so selfish, and there is so much money in abortion that babies are being killed all over the world. Our country has bit off the idea that these children, the unborn children, are not people, not alive, feel no pain and can just be disposed of at our convenience. Carlie is 6 months old in this picture. Look at her. Really look at her. Her eyes, her smile, she was set to be a statistic, considered not to be a real person. Here she is, happy, a joy to all and with parents that love her. All this because one 13 year old child did the right thing, not the convenient thing, and allowed her to be born and adopted.

I believe in adoption and I believe abortion is murder. We have a lot of people in our world who will need to face their Creator some day for going with convenience and murder and not with the right thing.

See Beth's Blog for more I Believes

Quit Procrastinating

As you know from last weeks post I am trying to get more organized. It is really hard with a baby around as she seems to think it is more fun to disorganize right behind me.

I want you to know my desk is still quite clear after several weeks now. I even made a big headway on my computer desk and found there is a desk under all that mess.

My living room is staying neat, even with the baby and so is the dining room (except for my husband's non working computer setting there.) I have been keeping up with the dishes, but tonight there is a sink full, I will get them in the dishwasher before bed.

I did make two great accomplishments that work for me. My bed and hangers.

My motto has been "why make the bed, you are only going to get back in it, just shut the door and no one knows". Well, since the desk is in my room and it is cleaned off, my dresser is cleaned off and the room is looking pretty good (except for my husbands piles which he "will take care of really soon") I decided to start making my bed. Everyday. What I find works for me, and the only thing that does, is to make the bed when I get up. My husband is usually in the shower and I get it made right away. Neither of us will crawl back in that way and it is done and stays made. I am amazed at how much nicer the room looks with the bed made and it only takes a few minutes of my time as I am getting up.

The next thing I did to organize is actually something my husband has been doing and I am just getting into it. When the dryer is going and I know it is about done I go to the closet to find empty hangers so I will not have to iron. His side of the closet has the empty hangers all at the front of his pole as you open the door. he takes his shirts off and hangs the empty hangers right there. Me, I leave them in the line of clothes where I pulled the shirt, pants, whatever off the hanger. When it came time for the laundry I would be able to grab his quick, but then mine was a hunt. His hangers are big, he is an extra large shouldered man and we have hangers that are good for his shirts. They are too big for mine, so I needed to dig. I finally realized how smart he was and started putting my hangers with his so now all I need to do is open the closet and grab a big stack of hangers and put them by the dryer right after I start the load! Do you know how much time that saves and how easy it is to do?

I am finding more and more that what works for me is to do it right away, then it gets done. After being a procrastinator for so long this is like teaching an old dog new tricks, but I am finding it can be done.

Have I got Something For YOU!

As I promised in my last post, I want to share with you some really great links that came to me. I already contacted Chuck Brown and asked permission to copy the link part of his newsletter, so I am putting it here for your enjoyment and use. I love to have resources at my finger tips and this man has done a great job with these. I have not looked at all of them, but the ones I have looked at will be well used by me.

Kids pages to color, music, entertainment; there seems to be something for everyone!

Here are the links:

1. Free MP3 Music Downloads (http://freemusicgroup.com/)
This blog will be about the latest music posted on our network of indie music sites. Reading or subscribing to this blog will keep you up to date on the following web sites:

- http://FreeKidsMusic.com
- http://FreeSoloPiano.com
- http://FreeSoloGuitar.com
- http://FeelsLikeChristmas.com
- http://ChristianMPFree.com
- http://GreatSongsFree.com
- http://GreatInstrumentalDownloads.com
Subscribe via RSS in a reader: http://feeds.feedburner.com/FreeMp3MusicDownloads
or subscribe via email: http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=830613&loc=en_US

2. Spiffles (http://spiffles.com/)
This is intended for those who are children, have children or work with children. The topic is cool free stuff for kids. Reading or subscribing to this blog will keep you up to date on the following web sites:

- http://FreeKidsMusic.com (children's music MP3s)
- http://TheColoringSpot.com (free coloring printables)
- http://LightUpYourBrain.com (brain-teaser games and audio stories for children)
Subcribe via RSS in a reader: http://feeds.feedburner.com/spiffles
or subscribe by email: http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1069603&loc=en_US

3. Made Me Laugh (http://mademelaugh.com/)
This is clean humor in the form of funny pictures, funny videos and jokes. Suitable for general audiences.
Subscribe via RSS in a reader: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MadeMeLaugh
or subscribe via emai: http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=832834

4. Videos with a Brain (http://withabrain.com/)
This highly entertaining site features video clips in a variety of cateogories...but avoids the "dumb stuff" that tends to dominate most video sharing sites. Categories include Creative Arts videos, Educational videos, Funny videos, Historical Event videos, Illusionist videos, Music-Related videos, Remarkable Minds videos, Rube Goldberg videos, Severe Weather videos, Stage Hypnotist videos and more.

Subscribe via RSS in a reader: http://feeds.feedburner.com/WithABrain
or subscribe via email: http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=819522

Email Woes

Ever have one of those days where you are exhausted, the baby isn't; you want to sit, the baby doesn't; you want to read your email, the server won't send it, and if they did they baby won't let you?

That was yesterday. No email all day to add to my frustration of being so tired and Scout so active. We had to go out last night and did not get home until about 10:30. There in my email was over 200 messages! Since it did not send me them all day, my email isp decided to send half of them 3 times and the other half 4 times! I had over a hundred junk mails for medications, body parts I do not have and bootlegged software to wade through. Most of them 4 times!

Once I deleted and bounced all those back to the sender I was able to get to my yahoo group mails and personal emails. I hit the personal ones first, then the others could wait till this AM. What a mess.

Now, today, I have all the yahoo group emails as well as my regular devotional and verse of the day emails to wade through, and Scout will get here in about 15 minutes! Want to take bets as to how long it will take me to get through all of YESTERDAYS mail??

I did open one very interesting email this morning. I want to pass that on to you in my next blog. I wrote the sender and asked permission, but it has some goodies for everyone!

Friendships

I love animals. I find it so much fun to watch their antics, their handling life and the way they all have their own personalities (animalalities?).

I can remember as a child going to my grandfathers house on the lake. He had a dock and on the left side of the dock was a small peninsula. I used to love to sit and watch the otters play, sliding down the hill and into the water. They seemed to have so much fun as a family.

As an adult we took the kids camping and I loved the animals then too. Skunks, foxes, raccoons and other critters used to be joining our family. We put stuff out for the skunks just to bring them into our site. Do you know they do not want to spray any more than you want them too? No startling moves and they are fine. I loved it!

I was always one of those people who would have some critter follow me home. Even as an adult, they follow me. Jack rabbits stand up and listen to me talk to them and not run off. The neighbors goats come running, the cows in the other pasture come to me and I can usually calm an animal before they take off or growl too long.

However, I also love to watch animal friendships. They are sometimes more odd than people friendships. Over the years I have seen cats adopt puppies and puppies cats. Here in Texas there are these birds that look like small sea gulls or something and they hang around the cows. They go up to the cows mouths, ride on their backs picking bugs off, or just riding and hanging around them in general. We have a roadrunner that loves to come just outside our dogs reach and they watch each other.

In 1977 we got a 5 week old black kitten from a friend. This kitten grew up to be 28 lbs and a great cat. Some time later we were given a black lab puppy and the two became friends. They had a game between them. It was always started by the cat climbing up into a chair in the dining room and when Cindy (the dog) walked by, Tom would swat her on the head, jump over her and start running. Cindy would then give chase. Around the hall, through the living room, the dining room, back into the hall, up the stairs, about the bedroom, down the stairs, through the living room, dining room, hall, well, you get the picture. The game then ended when the cat would jump back on the same chair, hit Cindy on the head and lay down. Cindy went off and laid down too and it was over, till the next time Tom wanted to play.

Many years later this same cat made friends with our cockatiel, Godzilla. Godzilla could talk a lot and learned to call the cat "here kitty, kitty, Tom cat, here kitty kitty". Tom would come running in, well as fast as a 19 year old cat can run, and lay down on the floor. Godzilla would then fly down and clean the area between Tom's ears on the top of his head as well as just sit by him. They were friends till Tom died.

Saturday I was looking through some email and following some links and ended up being reminded of friendships, first in the animal world and then realizing people friendships can be just as odd. For some funny animal friendships look here, here and here.

God made us all unique with no two exactly alike. Think of your friends and those you like to be around. Are they opposite you? Have a lot the same as you? Are they the way you wish you could be but are not? Are you trying to learn from them? Are you and your best friend as nutty a pair as some of these animals or are you the same?

Be thankful for your friends. Let them know you are thankful for them. No matter how you are matched or mismatched we can all learn from each other, encourage each other and help each other grow. Even if your friend


is a porcupine and you an armadillo.

Train up a child

"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

How many times have you heard that verse for discipline or for comfort when a child is doing wrong, or, for a reason to be super hard on a child? This verse has a little different take when you look at in in the Hebrew it was written in originally.

The "in the way he should go" does not mean the way it sounds in our English. What it means is "according to their bend". Every child is different. Some are gentle, sensitive. Some strong willed and determined. Some a look is enough for them to change, others even the "good spanking" only makes them go do it again.

I had five kids, four of them born in 5 1/2 years. 3 in diapers at a time. All different. My kids all talked young, some more than others, but all talked enough that you could tell when they were being defiant even as babies. However, one I just had to look at and say her name. Another it would take a time out or light tap on the rear, another no matter what you did they would do what they wanted. Each had and has a different personality, different talents and gifts. What is your child's bend? What are their talents, what is their personality? Do they need more sleep than others? Are they accident prone? One of mine could walk past something, not touch it, but it would fall off the table and break behind him. He was yelled at by everyone, yet he did not do anything (those times!) However, the times he did do something and we knew, we needed to discipline according to his bend.

Part of the training them up according to their bend is also seeing their talents and gifts, as mentioned above. Get them to use them. Find ways for them to put the energy into what God has designed them to do. Are they good with other kids? Younger kids? Do they seem to want to serve? help others? Do you have an inquisitive baby who is always into everything and trying to figure things out? This is a bend that needs to be trained accordingly. Not broken, but find ways that they can be safe and still figure things out. God has a purpose for that desire. The same with the "good" baby that is content to sit and play and not want to check out everything in the house.

Yes, we need to tell them "no", keep them safe and at times spank a bottom. However, think about what is going on in them, and train accordingly. God has given them a bend. However, He did not send the book along to tell us what it is. He wants to use that bend for His glory, so let's be sure to train accordingly and not try to change the bend. Trying to change it is futile, and may give a "good" child for a time, but they will take off when they can and leave you wondering why that verse is not true.

Another caution: I had a fifth child. I found out I was pregnant when the 4th was coming up to kindergarten age and I was finally going to have time for myself. Who wants another child then? Well, I comforted myself the whole time. I thought since I had 4 kids this one can't be any different than them. I knew it would not be just like one of them, but a combination. I also figured this one could do nothing that one of the others had not tried and done, and I would at least know how to handle it (or not handle it) this time. WRONG!!!! She was very different in so many ways. Her own bend. No matter how alike two kids are, there bend has some differences. Discipline, training, talents and gifts will be different.

Now my kids are raised and having kids of their own. Now I am supposed to have time to myself. WRONG!! I am now watching a granddaughter, have had her since she was 6 weeks old, and am again challenged to find the bends.

So I am challenging you, check again how you discipline,what you discipline for, watch your kids, find their bend and train them towards that God given bend. When they are trained wrong, not encouraged in their special talents and gifts, they will become frustrated discipline problems.

One last word, I am not saying do not discipline for wrong. Just be sure it is wrong. Spilled milk by accident is different than spilled milk by a kid who turns the glass upside down and pours it on the floor. Discipline will be different. Take time to really know and watch your child. You can see things from a baby, personality etc. Scout, the granddaughter I watch, has shown an interest in animals since I started watching her. She would watch them close. Once she could reach, she started wanting to figure things out. She is now 9 months old, into everything and trying to open everything and see what is there. She tries to take things apart, look in books, climb and slide off furniture. She seems fearless. I need to keep her safe and out of stuff that will hurt her or she should not be in, but not break that inquisitiveness that God has given her. I need to encourage her talents as they show up and help her see how to use them for good and God.

Laundry Soap and Angel Food

I have been trying to live more frugally. My husband says I am tight, but when you have lower income and bills to pay you need to be. He may tease me about my tightness, but when he saw my savings by making my own laundry detergent he was thrilled. This week I made a batch and figured it may have cost 80 cents for 2 gallons of laundry detergent. He sure bragged up my "tightness"!

We all know how much it costs to properly feed a family, any size family. My family is my husband and I, but food shopping is quite the challenge. We live in an area with only two food stores to choose from, an old Walmart that has limited selection, and a small HEB, with a limited selection. Of course the prices reflect the fact that we have few choices.

To really shop I need to travel, and with gas prices I do not like to do that. Then something came my way that really excited me. Angel Food! No, not angel food cake, but Angel Food Ministries. Anyone can buy the food, no income standards or forms to fill out. For $25 in my state ($30 in CA) you get food worth at least $50 or more. This months menu is:

(1) 4 lb. IQF Leg Quarters
(1) 24 oz. Beef Back Ribs
(1) 1 lb. 80/20 Lean Ground Beef
(1) 2 lb. Breaded Chicken Tenders
(4) 6 oz. Bone in Pork Chops
(1) 1 lb. Ground Turkey
(1) 18 oz. Stuffed Manicotti (Cheese)
(1) 12 oz. Smoked Sausage
(1) Betty Crocker Seasoned Potatoes
(1) 7 oz. Cheeseburger Dinner
(1) 16 oz. Green Beans (frozen)
(1) 16 oz. Baby Carrots
(1) 2 lb. Onions
(1) 1 lb. Pinto Beans
(1) 1 lb. Rice
(1) 7 oz. Blueberry Muffin Mix
(1) 10 ct. Homestyle Waffles
(1) Dessert Item

There are other packages you can buy to go with this, but you must buy this one first.

You are allowed to get as many $25 boxes as you want each month. The boxes vary each month and you do not need to buy one each month. If you do not like the menu, skip the month. For me this is a savings. I can then frugally use the meats in meals and stretch out with other items.

To find out if there is one going in or near your town go to the Angel Food Ministries web site. There they list the menu for the month, locations and deadlines.

For more frugal ideas see Crystal's blog.

Oh where, Oh where did my blog go?

It was 5:45 AM and I was awake. I was writing my blog for today in my head and it was sooooooooo good. I fell asleep, had the weirdest dream, and woke and my blog was gone. Gone! I can't even remember what it was about. I don't know what happened to it. I tried to go back to bed and maybe it would come back, you know how when you forget something when you walk into another room and you go back and there it is! You just left it in the other room when you walked out. You had it back now and all is well.

I thought going back to bed would bring it back. It did not. All it did was want to make me take a nap and I have too much to do today for that. So, if I did not leave the blog in bed, where did I lose? Some thoughts came to mind:

1. Someone in my dream stole it to use for themselves.
2. I had the window open and the fan on, maybe it blew into my husbands head... he says no.
3. It blew into the bookcase across the room, I looked and can't find it there either
   
4. Maybe, but I hope not, I have a hole in my head and it slipped into it.
   
5. When you would forget something my grandmother used to say "It must have been a lie", well believe me, this was no lie!

Another thought occurred to me, I am getting too old and forgetful, NO, PLEASE NO!!

My daughter answered the question for me, she said I just had too much on my mind and the stress of it all took it. Ahhhhh that sounds so much better.

I have decided to put a pad by my bed for my thoughts. I had one there but moved it and forgot to put it back... oh oh, there is that nasty word again, forgot!

Well, maybe later today I will remember that terrific blog I spent time on during the night and will post it then. If not, just know I had a great one.

Papers, Papers, Papers

Credit card offers, bills, advertisements, magazines, receipts, notes, cards... from last year.. where do they go? On the desk, or the counter, or the end table. Clean the living room? they all go to the desk, and not fall on the floor if I am lucky.

Well, two weeks ago I decided to tackle the mess and find a way not to let it end up all back on there again. I moved it all to the desk and got out my shredder (been in a box in the closet to use when I get around to it). I then seperated the piles, stuff that could be thrown out as is went in the round circular file on the floor. Stuff that needed to be shredded (the credit card offers, bills and those tempting "use now" checks that come in with the credit card bills) I opened, threw away what could be thrown and set the rest in another pile, the "to be shredded pile". Then there were book like advertisements and "wish" books. I set a few of those in a pile on the chair in the livingroom and put my purse on the top. No, not for shopping, but then my granddaughter could get into them and think it was a "no no" and leave my piles alone.

I made another pile for bank statements. I hate to tell you how many months of statements was there! My last pile was for things I had to keep. My filing cabinet got the bank statements, another file got the things that had to be kept and that left this huge pile of shredding. I shredded, emptied the bin and shredded some more. Finally I had a desk!

Now, I keep the shredder on the back of the desk and take care of the junk as it comes in. File cabinet, circular file and shredder have eliminated all that mess. My husband even commented yesterday about how nice the place looked and he feels so good about less clutter.

Works for me!

Grandkids vs kids

I have been asked many questions about raising kids and now grand kids. For some reason since I had 5 kids and now have 15 grand kids people think I am a pro. There have been questions like:

• Which were easier to raise, boys or girls? My answer? The right handed ones.
• Are babies easier than teens? Babies can be picked up, locked up, hugged and kissed. Teens can change their own pants.
• Are grand kids more fun than kids? The typical answer here is yes since you can spoil them and send them home. But I think they are more fun because you have had a break from the kids for a bit and then you are ready for the excitement.

So, what then is the difference between being a grammie and being a mommy? Mommies are younger, usually. They have more energy, usually, and they have that special mommy/child bond.

Mommies get to tell the grammie what the child is doing that the grammie is missing because of distance . Mommies get to get up in the middle of the night with the sick child, tell them bedtime stories, and get them the big yard toys they seem to want.

Then there is grammie. Grammie gets to hug and kiss them even when they are big and may not let mom or dad do it any more. Grammie gets to brag. I mean really brag! But there is something else that is better as a grammie too. Having raised the children we gave birth to we have seen it and been there. We do not panic as much when they fall down and bite there lip, or get their first cold. We know that they get heat rash, or diaper rash and will live through it... as well as their first cold! I am more relaxed with my grand kids. So what if they get a little dirty, you do not need to change their clothes right away. It is ok to let them eat with their fingers, put potatoes in their hair because they missed their mouth or drink from a glass you are drinking out of. There is all those years of experience behind you.

Right now I babysit one of my grand children. Her name is Scout, rightly named because she likes to scout out trouble. She is 9 months old and seems to already know how to find things to get into and push the fences. But I have fun. I show her pictures of Lexi and she laughs. She climbs up on everything, chases the dog and cat, looks for her PaPa to come home from work and cuddles and hugs. We play together, laugh together and walk together. And yes, I can send her home at the end of the day and get rested for the next one!

Scout, after a long hard morning of play.



The four girls born last year



Lexi, with her big, beautiful smile.



There are still 11 more at last count, but from these you can see why I am blessed and bragging!!

From my heart

I know I do not have a very big audience —YET— but I would like to share my heart with those that are reading.

One of my purposes in writing a blog is to be a help to people in general. Make them laugh, give ideas, learn from my experiences and encourage with ideas for frugality, everyday life and love. I have another passion, however. A burden that has been in my heart for which I have no idea how to implement.

Scripture says that the older women are to teach the younger women to "love their husbands, love their children, be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored" (Titus 2:3-5).There are similar commands for the older men to teach the younger. I firmly believe that the divorce rate, unhappy marriages and messed up kids is what it is today because my grandparents generation began to fail, my parents generation really failed and now my generation has no idea. People from my generation on think love is a feeling, think they should compete with men instead of be the compliment to them and think children are fine in a day care or plopped in front of the TV.

Love is not a feeling or God would not be telling the older women to teach it to the younger. Where is purity today? Young mothers, and grandmothers, are running around showing off their bodies and lusting after other men and other people's husbands. All because older women have failed to teach.

I want to see this reversed and at this point have no idea how to go about it. Young women today, even in the church, usually do not want help or advice from older. They seek their peers who are as lost as they are in these areas. I am not saying all young women are like that, so please don't get your feathers ruffled, but in general this is what I see.

My heart is to see this all reversed and bring women back to where we should be. I have not wanted to consider myself old, but I am seeing a younger generation that is getting progressively more and more away from learning to love their husbands and more and more kids being from broken homes.

So, now you know my heart, what to do about it I do not know.

Younger women... I love you all!

Thank You Elias Howe

Who, you ask, is Elias Howe? He is the inventor of the sewing machine. Personally I always thought it was Singer, but not so, it was Elias Howe.

I am not sure where I would be without my sewing machine. From about 12 years old on I began making my clothes, my sister's clothes, then kids clothes and now grand kid's and husband's clothes.

I have sewn curtains, pillows, aprons and toys. Dust ruffles, dolls, upholstery and baby blankets. When I was in my teens I hated to wear hand me downs, so I sewed. There was a Grants store not far from us and they had fabric for 25 cents a yard. I could sew a whole wardrobe for little money.

Something that has been lost in society today is family. The older generation teaching the younger. My mom used to sew and she and I would sit up late at night sewing. This was especially true before Easter. She made some of the dresses and I made some, after all there were 5 girls in the family plus her. Those late nights would be something memorable. As the hours went on we would get more and more tired and more and more silly... and make some crazy mistakes! Everything was something to laugh at, even though at a less tired moment, or if we were alone working on it we would have been crying. We had such a great time together, all over sewing machines!

I made my wedding dress. I saw one for 500 dollars, today that is not much for a wedding dress, but back in 1970 it was an awful lot. I looked at it, knew I could make it and I did. For about $25. All because of Elias Howe and his invention.

How I love to sew! Mr. Howe's patent for the sewing machine was granted for on this day in 1846. If it was not for Mr. Howe my sons and their dad would not have had those beautiful royal blue checked leisure suits to wear for Easter back in 1975!

Thank you Elias Howe!

And they talk about women

Who is the last one out of the church? My husband.
Who is the one who talks to everyone in the store? My husband.
Who gets on the phone and yaps forever? Yup, you got it, my husband.

I have talked to other women and it is the same thing, they are always waiting for their husbands. Why do these men blame the women all the time?

Now don't get me wrong, I love my husband very much. I feel very blessed to have him. He is kind, loving, caring, puts me first most of the time and is there for me and encourages me in all I do. But some times men are just odd.

Take today for example. We came home this evening and he told me that he needed to bring in a computer from the van. Let me explain why there are these computers in the van... he put them there to get rid of them!!! He has a friend who has a computer repair shop and is teaching Rick to work on computers. All these computers are ones Rick has collected over the last two years to do something with "someday". I thought someday had come. I thought we were finally getting rid of some junk. I thought... but he is man. He had a computer blow up on him last week, the one he used most of the three he has on his desk. He has his laptop and then one he was using to learn linux on. He has set that one aside and was using the main one with windows. Now that he lost his windows (and I think his marbles!)he had to use linux. However, he has been wanting to get his A+ certification, which means he needs windows. This is what prompted the return of a junk computer. He realized if he spent all his time messing with the linux he would not learn what was needed for the certification, thus the announcement that he had to stop the linux and get a windows up and going.

Makes sense, right? Please tell me why then, he brought in two junk computers from the car and set them on the floor in the living room and he is sitting here at his desk playing with linux?

Men! Ya gotta love em!

Ain't No Place To Put A Sticker

Now that I have posted two posts I guess it is time to tell how the name came about. Life is strange, so is love. Over time I hope to be sharing things from my life that may help you along yours. Hopefully you will do the same with me. "Ain't no place to put a sticker" is one of those misadventures in life and raising kids.

When our children were growing up my late husband was a pastor. We did not have mega churches, nor mega salaries. We did have a mega family though. It seemed like the kids kept growing and needing and the budget kept shrinking. As the family grew we needed bigger vehicles as well. Our vehicles were not Fords, but they were Fix or repair daily. We did have a full size van though and it ran pretty good.

Our oldest son, Erik, got his drivers license and we allowed him to make the "milk run". You see we bought our milk from a farm about 10 miles away and a family with 5 kids goes through a lot of milk. On this day Erik and his sister, for some reason, decided to come home off the beaten path or maybe I should say on the path instead of the road. It was raining.It was a farm road. Had ditches on the side. It was raining. It was muddy. Mud is slippery. There was a large sharp curve. The poor van did not have a chance with a teen behind the wheel! They rolled totally around, landing back on the wheels. Praise God no one was hurt in spite of broken milk jugs, tool box emptied on them and a hammer coming down right by my son's head. The only harm to the kids was a broken fingernail on a teenage girl. Catastrophe!

We arrived to see the damages and found we could actually drive it home. There was broken windows, windshield out, the top and bottom of the van did not line up and it looked more like a rectangle that was pushed over so the top was off to the left. Remember I said it was raining? There was no windshield but thank God the windshield wipers still worked!

Now, we were close friends with our mechanic, we had to be since we needed him so much. I think we actually bought his new building. We drove that van right down to the mechanic and asked him to please inspect it since it was due for inspection. (snickering under our breath of course). Good old Charlie looked at it and in his back country way, so kind and loving, said "ain't no place to put a sticker".

Life is like that sometimes. Things hit. Things crash. That is life. Somehow, the "ain't no place to put a sticker" makes me laugh and realize it's going to be alright.

You think your desk is messy... well let me tell you..

Beth tags Jessica, Jessica tags me and gets me started (finally) on my blog. So now I am supposed to tell you what is on my desk. First thing I need to say is "What desk?". I know there has to be one here somewhere. See, Jessica got her paper collecting from me, sorry kid. I think I can only list 5 things, five things will not get me to the desk. OK, let's see:
1. The cat. She likes to sit under my nose, on the mouse (yeah really!)
2. A cookbook. Been here for some time, I guess I was sending someone a recipe for something.
3. A cake decorating tube. The dog found it and dropped it on the floor by the desk, so I picked it up and here it sits.
4. An Indian. Yes, an Indian. Years ago kids played cowboys and Indians with these little plastic cowboys, Indians and horses. Somehow one ended up on my desk. I think I found it in a box I was taking care of and never got it with the horse. Why do I have it you ask? Well, I got some things from when my grandparents were selling there house and this was stuck in one of the tins.
5. A Cassette from when Karra was young and went around singing all the time. It is really cute to hear her going through the hymn book and singing. If she did not know the tune she made one up and sang away. I recorded it and was going to try to put it on a CD, so here it sets... still.

OK, dear daughter, how did I do? I have no idea who has a blog to tag, soooo if you are reading this, you are it!

My first post

Now how was that for a creative title? I hope to get the hang of this before long, but till then I guess you will need to put up with some rambling.

My daughter, Jessica, knows I have been wanting to start blogging for some time, in fact I did try it about a year ago, but one post was all I got done. To push me on, she called me today to tell me I have been tagged. Now, I had no idea what that meant, so she explained. My next post will be my "tag", however I wanted to start by welcoming you to my blog. I hope we can get to know one another and enjoy life and love and the joys and perils of both.

Peggie