Weekend Fun

This weekend has been fun and busy. We had a garage sale at my sister's house. Her subdivision had a yard sale this weekend and I took some of my treasures to her house for others to enjoy!! I sold lots of treasures and got to visit with lots of people. It was a good Friday and Saturday at the yard sale!

Jody went camping Friday night with guys from our Bible Fellowship class. The girls went to sleep over at friends houses. What was I to do? I went shopping!! I spent 2 hours in Target by myself, it was scary!!

The girls had Living Christmas Tree dance practice Saturday and Sunday. It was a weekend practice. They had a good time of course because they were dancing!! They were really tired by the end of the day of Sunday!!

Sunday night at church Aubrey's choir sang during worship service. This is the first time this group has sung together as 3rd and 4th graders!! They did an awesome job. This is the group I work with and I am glad I have gotten to know these children. They are really great kids and we have a good time each week in practice. We are starting practice for Living Christmas Tree music, Christmas music, etc.. It is a busy time in choir.

Jody is working in Knoxville this week!! We are so excited. I hope everyone has a great week!

Biltmore House in Ashville, NC

Yesterday we went to Biltmore House in Ashville, NC and had a great time. They had lots of demonstrators set up and lots of activities for the kids. We took a tour of the flower and vegetable garden, held a baby chick, sampled good food, decorated cookies with chocolate, made food designs with syrup, and took a tour of Biltmore House. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time. Thanks Nana for going with us.

Wednesday Word

As I was doing my Bible study one verse really got my attention this morning.

In Psalm 81:10 God instructs, "Open wide your mouth and I will fill it."

In the study Lysa TerKeurst reminded me that God will give me what to say today. What to say in happy moments. What to say in aggravating moments. What to say in moments where I feel insecure, and what to say when I feel completely confident. What to say in disappointing moments. What to say in response to questions.

I also needed to be reminded that sometimes it is best not to say nothing at all. This is the hardest for me because I can always have a response.

One challenge of homeschool for me is having Taylor and Aubrey around me to see the real me ALL the time. They are always with me, wherever I go, whomever I talk to... to hear the words I use in every situation. Sometimes I will need to remind them to get rid of the bad attitude or to be careful with their words. Then I have to wonder, are they repeating and imitating the words and attitudes that they see from me?

My prayer is Psalm 86:11 "Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth..."

Manic Monday

That is what I feel like we are having today. Since getting up this morning it has been go, go, go. After school today we have been cleaning out Taylor and Aubrey's bedroom. We are getting ready for a garage sale and I am using this as an excuse to clean out clothes, toys, stuffed animals, etc... (yes this is a carried over project from last week!!). I will let you know more about the garage sale this weekend, just make plans to come by on Friday and/or Saturday.

For dinner tonight we had homemade pizzas. This is one of few meals that I can fix that is a favorite for Taylor and Aubrey. I prepare the toppings and then they fix whatever they want on their pizza. The pizza was extra delicious tonight because we had been on a bike ride/walk before dinner and were extra hungry and had extra calories to eat!! (the first pizza is mine, the second pizza is Taylor's and the third pizza is Aubrey's)

Taylor Sings

Taylor sung tonight in worship service. She sung with her 5th and 6th grade choir. This is the first time this group has sung together as 5th and 6th graders. We have just been back in choir practice for 5 weeks. They did a great job. I love to hear the children singing and praising God with song. Thanks Mrs. Cheri and your helpers for making this a great time for Taylor and all the children. I appreciate all the time and effort you put into this choir.

They will continue to work on learning more new music. They are beginning practice for Living Christmas Tree and special Christmas music. It is a busy time in Children's Choir!!

Weekend Projects

First let me say there was not a lot of "we" in the weekend projects. This was poor work boy's weekend projects. What do you expect, he was home all day Saturday? Here are some examples of the great work he did. Thanks a bunch work boy!!



If you can't tell from the pictures here is the honey-do list for Saturday (in no specific order):
1. garbage to the dump (after getting it all together from all over the house)
2. put up a board in the kitchen (after going to Lowe's to get some supplies)
3. unclog the drain in Taylor and Aubrey's bathtub (very yucky job and a trip to Lowe's for a special tool and no picture because still some more cleaning to be done before a picture can be taken!!)
4. mow the yard
5. replace ceiling fan in bedroom
6. replace ceiling fan light in bedroom
7. cook dinner (this is our favorite dish that he prepares for dinner. Chicken and pasta - very delicious. This picture does not really show its greatness. This picture is from Monday when we reheated leftovers to have it for lunch!)
8. watch the Vols ballgame and relax

I am happy to say he got it all done and was probably happy to leave this week to go to Atlanta to work and rest!!

Fun Friday

Today we went to Fort Kid to play and have a picnic with friends. We had a great time and the weather was wonderful. We then decided to go to the Sunsphere and go to the observation deck. I had not been in the sunsphere for a long time. Taylor and Aubrey had never beenin the Sunsphere. It was a lot of fun to read about the World's Fair when it was in Knoxville and to remember the World's Fair. I remember going to the fair with my sister, grandmother and papaw. We would sometimes just go and sit and watch the people who were visiting and eat a funnel cake. We would ride some rides. It is a great memory.

After the sunsphere visit we visited the Candy Factory. Our family has two favorite things at the Candy Factory and that is chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered potato chips. Today we got chocolate covered potato chips.

Thanks for a great day Abby and Marie and families!! We had a great time.

Taylor took most of these pictures. She wants to be a photographer one day. I think she did a great job! She wanted to get some pictures of Baptist Hospital to have because it will not look like this in a few months when the building is torn down. The football field is on the world's fair park and was used for the pep rally on Thursday for the UT vs. Gator game!!