Getting an early start on Christmas Parties...

One of our Pastor friends wife, Madonna Massey,(who also happens to be one of the most awesome singers ever!) hosted our minister wives Christmas party today in her home. We had lunch together and then were treated to a personal concert of Christmas Carols by Madonna and then we had an ornament exchange via the ever so much fun game of Dirty Santa. I had to pinch myself a couple of times to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I've always enjoyed listening to her CD's but nothing compares to hearing her beautiful voice in the relaxed atmosphere of her living room while sipping on coffee punch! Awwww...it was awesome. I'll have to load the video clips I took and share them in another post.

Okay...isn't this just one of the most beautiful homes you've seen?



I seriously broke one of the ten commandments today! You know, the one about 'Thou shalt not covet'...Well, I am in need of forgiveness because I so wanted to move right in! Can you blame me?




And, here's the beautiful hostess herself...one of the kindest ladies you will ever meet.


We had so much fun with the ornament exchange and found that some of them could even be used as beautiful earrings. The beautiful lady modeling the ornaments is our district superintendent's wife, Delsia Cox. Beautiful inside and out!



To say that I'm excited about all the festivities we have planned for this year is an understatement! I love this time of the year...and today was a perfect way to start it off!

No disappointments here...

Our Thanksgiving holiday proved to be even better than I had hoped. We left town early Tuesday and spent the evening relaxing with my in-laws at Sergent's Lake, which is an 80 acre lake with several hundred acres of land surrounding it. It's my father-n-laws family's home place, so all the boys lease it and spend as much time there as possible. It's one of the most peaceful places I've ever been to. No one around for miles and lots of things to do. Landon loves roaming the land.

This is where we spent most of the day Friday after Thanksgiving. We fished all over the lake, and Landon caught a catfish that he was really proud of and still talking about.


Landon loves to fish in the boat...

and to feel the water on the side of the boat.




There's nothing better than riding a four wheeler on wide open land...



Unless it's tormenting your husband and trying to run him over with a four wheeler! Just kidding...I only got close enough to scare him and make him jerk the camera away from his face.



I am starting to understand why men like to hunt...Anthony took me to several of the deer stands and we found fresh tracks and checked on the deer feeders. I can see how it gets into ones blood. Now I just have to find time to go to the gun range and learn how to shoot a gun. The city is slowly but surely coming out of me.

Here's my sis-n-law with the deer she shot Friday evening...if I hang around her much more, I will be in camouflage and in the woods with a gun.

And of course Landon had to have a picture with his uncle Ron and the deer.


On Wednesday Anthony took me to Natchez, Mississippi since we were only an hour away and we visited several of the old Plantation homes there. Landon loved the Mississippi River and all the river boats we seen. We spent this day as our family day and had so much fun.


The homes were unbelievable and the gardens we went to were breathtaking.





Anthony decided that we needed one of these hammocks in our backyard. I told him I was all for it if he was digging the pond to go with it!

This is the view when you are lying in the hammock...I just don't think it would be the same without the pond and the waterfall.


And, because I have always loved the picture my blogging friend, Tanya had of her son inside a tractor wheel, I had to capture this moment. I love these pictures...

Home...but not for long.

I had the best time ever with my family in Texas this past week. My parents smiled more than I've seen them smiling in a long time because all four of their children and all their grandchildren were at the same place at the same time. Talk about some noise! It was great to be able to spend time with all my family and friends in Texas...I miss them all so much, but the greatest thing is that when we see each other we just pick up where we left off and it's like we've never been apart!

I came home early Monday morning and unpacked, done laundry, and now I'm repacked and ready to go to Harrisonburg and Manifest, Louisiana for Thanksgiving with my in-laws and all the family. We're staying on my in-laws lease land and fishing, hunting and riding four-wheelers, so Landon is bouncing off the walls at this point! He's so excited that he's going to get to go into the woods and getting to go out in the boat. I'm wondering how in the world he's gonna be able to sit still for a three hour drive!

Hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving Holiday!

My baby brother, Josh and his new puppy...who DID NOT like me much!

My oldest brother, Kenny and myself. Landon took a picture of us, so it's blurry. (My sister somehow kept avoiding the camera?)


My buddies at the Thanksgiving Feast. (Since I promised Monica I wouldn't post pics of her eating...wait, DID I PROMISE???)


Landon was excited he got to visit his favorite place...The Rain Forest Cafe in Grapevine, Texas



I did promise my mom that I wouldn't post ALL the pics I took of her learning to dance at the hotel me and my sister was at...so therefore I will only post ONE...not ALL of them. I try to keep my word! My niece, Kayla kept cracking up at my moms lack of rhythm. Oh, the fun we had and oh the pictures and videos I have for blackmail material! LOL

I'm outta here...

I will be away from the blog land till for the next week. I'm going to Texas to spend some much needed time with my parents, my brothers and my sister, and all my nephews and niece. I'm so excited that we'll all be able to spend some time together. I'll be coming home before Thanksgiving so we plan on celebrating early.

I'll get to spend some time with my friends and our Pastor and his wife from Grand Prairie church on Sunday since they are having a Thanksgiving Feast Sunday evening. To say I'm excited about that is an understatement! I love Louisiana and all that we have going on here, but I so miss all the friendships that I left behind. So, this is definitely going to be one of the highlights of my trip.

Actually the only down side to this trip is that my husband won't be going with me and Landon. He has so much going on here with the church that he just can't pull away and stay as long as I could if I go alone. He has hospital visits to do on Wednesday, a wedding on Friday and a funeral on Saturday, so he'll be busy. I'm wondering if Landon and I are going to be able to stay away from him for a week without crying much. He's such a big part of our world that we just may have to spend lots of time on the phone with him. Thank God for modern technology so we can stay in touch through cell phones and internet.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving holiday! See you all in a week...some of you sooner!

Thankful...

So, this is where I was hiding out for most of last week...

My brother-n-law and I are building a new church website. We're both learning, mostly by mistakes, but we're learning just the same. We still have much work to do and many things we want to add, but I think it's looking pretty good.

We had a very fast paced weekend. Thursday evening I noticed Landon had what looked like a small bump or insect bite on his stomach, but really didn't think too much about it. When he woke up Friday morning, his stomach was swollen and the bite area was very red and looked like a boil the size of a tennis ball. I took him to a friend of ours in the church who was a nurse and she told us he needed medical attention immediately and to get him to the ER or a doctor immediately. The doctor took one look at Landon and told us that we had a problem on our hands. Landon was diagnosed with bad staph infection and he told us that it had already abscessed and that he would probably have to have surgery because he didn't think the medicine would work in this stage.

I done what most moms would do...I panicked! My in laws came to met us and my father-n-law remarked how that he just didn't like the way Landon's stomach looked and the way Landon was acting. He was very sick and would only lay in the back seat and cry. He rode home laying in the back seat because he couldn't sit up in his car seat.

The doctor told us that he was going to over medicate Landon because he felt it was necessary in this case. The medicine was sulphur based and smelled horrible and by the amount of gagging and vomiting occurring from myself, and my husband and Landon as we gave it to him, I could not imagine having to be the one taking it. Seriously, when the nurse told me that the medicine smelled like rotten eggs or worse, she wasn't exaggerating!

Well, on Friday night, my father-n-law was laying across the bed with Landon and praying for him, and very concerned about Landon because it seemed he was having a reaction to the medicine. His stomach was black and very red and irritated and still swelling. The most concern we had was that his stomach was becoming very hard and it hurt him if it was touched. I truly had had all I could take, and was ready to just take him back in. My father-n-law began to pray and ask God for a favor and to heal his baby, and asked him to take care of the infection and all the problems involved. Then what he done next left me speechless. He THANKED God for hearing him and thanked him for healing Landon and stood up, walked away to go home and said, "He's going to be all right."

That's it...he was done...finished. He left and went home, TRUSTING and BELIEVING that everything was going to be fine. I'm sure you know what I was doing. Yep, standing there with my mouth open and my eyes in a stare, thinking HUH?

I'm a mom and my job was to worry. My job was to find a way to fix what was wrong or to take Landon to those who could fix him. I gave my husband that look that says 'We have to do something else, something more, I can't just sit here and watch what's going on"...then I noticed how peaceful Landon was sleeping, how his fever was gone, how his breathing had leveled, and I noticed the swelling going down. I could suddenly feel that assurance that everything was going to be allright, that Landon was going to be fine.

To make a long story short, Landon woke up the next morning, pulled up his pajama shirt and said "Look mom, the bump is all gone." I thought someone was going to have to pick me up off the floor. There was still bruising around the area, but there was no redness and no swelling and no hardness on my baby's stomach! The bruising is something that will take a few days to clear up and it's nothing to worry about.

I am so THANKFUL that I serve a God who heals and answers prayers! I'm thankful that when I couldn't grasp hold of faith that I had someone around me that could believe for me. I was a very happy and thankful mother when I heard the doctor say today that the infection is clear, and that Landon will be fine. We have to finish that stinky medicine until its gone because it's an antibiotic, but that's nothing compared to what we were facing!

I have so much to be thankful for this week...so much!

Three Little Words...

My husband found a phrase that is guaranteed to please an entire audience and make them sit up and come alive. It's such a simple little phrase...only three words.

"And in conclusion."

Only thing is, we all know that when a preacher says these three words, it really don't mean anything! Usually they are just getting their second wind.

My husband is one of THOSE ministers...

WHO FORGETS TO TELL YOU TO SIT BACK DOWN!

I must admit it...he keeps the church in foot bondage a lot! Those lovely words, "You may be seated" NEVER enter into his thought process!

The congregation just stands and waits patiently, but nothing is ever said. Have you been in a church service where this happens? You haven't??? Oh, my...be prepared if you visit our church. I want you to be ready. I'll break it down for you. Here's what happens when you find yourself standing on your feet forever in the middle of our church service...

"Could we all stand?" (Come on...be a sport and stand up so you get the feeling of my frustration a little!)

1st minute
Awesome, we’re standing up. Time to get the blood flowing again and wake up. I really needed a break from sitting here on this pew. Then immediately I start to wonder if I'm gonna be asked to greet my neighbor, shake hands with a visitor, clap my hands, jump up and down, and wave my arms like I'm doing some new form of Pilates? Who knows...seriously, some strange things run through his brain when he first ask us to stand! It's like that moment of suspense in the worst horror story ever...we just never know what's about to be requested of us!

3rd minute
Surely the stand up part is officially over and everyone is standing...but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe we’re about to do something else that requires me to be up and out of my seat? I guess I need to stay standing? Well, I’ll give this another minute or two...

4th minute.
Oh, DEAR LORD, I think my sweetheart just launched into his sermon without letting us all know we can sit down now. Doesn’t he notice we are still standing? I mean, there surely are enough of us standing that he notices it. He sees that, right? Is he already in his sermon? Is it possible he wants us to stand the entire time? The whole HOUR??? No way, there is no way this is happening.”

5th minute.
I am seriusly thinking about just sitting down, but I don’t want to be the unruly, disrespectful, disobedient one who sits while everyone else remains standing. I am not willing to look like I love God or my husband 50% less than everyone else who is choosing to remain standing. I’m just not going to do that...UNLESS he continues on past another two minutes.

7th minute
Maybe, just maybe if I sit down slowly...would that be so bad? What if I just gently lowered myself to the pew over a period of 30 seconds? If I go too fast he might actually see me and call me out from the pulpit. That would stink. He’d probably say, ‘Can we not stand in the presence of God for just a few moments?’ And then I would have to die of embarassment.

8th minute
Seriously??? Eight minutes and we are still standing here...UNNOTICED by the pulpit??? By this time I am thnking, Would God strike me with a bolt of lightning if I pretended to be slain in the spirit so that I could just sit somewhere, somehow, someway?

10th minute
THANK YOU, JESUS!!! Sweet release! Some bold member just sat down and started a tidal wave of derrieres crashing into seats. That, my friend, is a true next generation leader!

DISCLAIMER: I'm not mad at my husband...not at all. I'm just being my usual crazy self. I secretly think he's the most awesome man on this earth.

Fall Fun

We had a hayride, bonfire, wiener/marshmallow roast, as an alternative for Halloween at our church. We had a wonderful turnout, and loads of fun! Landon was so excited about going on a hayride! It was warm until the sun went down, but we didn't mind...it just seems right to have to bundle up for a hayride.

He got started on the rides early...every load of wood we wheeled over to the bonfire, he had to be a part of!




Landon played and played in the hay...the joys of childhood!


Loaded up and ready for our hayride...


Hayrides are fun...



But hay fights are even better!




A great bonfire is just what you need to warm back up after a 12 mile hayride! What makes it even better is toasting marshmallows over a bonfire! Seriously, where have I been all my life??? I am in love with toasted marshmallows.



One lesson I learned about hayrides here in the country...always be a part of the FIRST load and always...always sit towards the front. Why? Because when there's a hayfight, the hay flys towards the rear of the trailer! It took me two hair washings to get all the hay out! It could also be because I was attacked by a group of young people and smothered in hay when we returned to the church! What fun!

It's NOT your fault, McDonalds!

I went to McDonalds today to grab some lunch. They were really busy and I had to wait several minutes before the lady was able to take my order. Once she was free, the lady turned to me and said, "I'm sorry about the weight."

I very kindly replied to her...

"Oh, it's not your fault, sweetie...I've always been this big!"

Sometimes we just need to laugh with each other! It makes life so much more fun!

Youth Trip

We've been so busy since we got home last weekend from our youth trip to Kemah, that I'm just getting to post pics. We had a wonderful time! The weather was perfect, and everyone had so much fun!




Landon loved all the games and rides and rode everything that he met the height requirements for...