beauty school dropout

Ellie is currently obsessed with fixing hair. Washing, brushing, drying, braiding, cutting (unfortunately)....  

And as you see, no one is safe from her new fascination.

Aid Sudan Radio Station Project

A friend of mine from high school/college spent a few years in Sudan as a

missionary. Peter and his family are now back in the states and he is the Executive Director

of Aid Sudan.

Aid Sudan is an "interdominational, non-profit organization serving

the southern Sudanese in several targeted locations in Sudan and through US offices

in Dallas and Houston". Their vision is to aid in growing strong southern Sudanese communities

committed to serving Jesus Christ.

Please watch the video to find out about an incredible opportunity to help share the gospel

with the Sudanese people.

run, Forrest, run!

For most of my life I've never had to worry about what I eat or how much I exercise. Blame it on genetics or a hatred for butter, but I just haven't.

Then I turned 30. At that exact moment I gained 10 pounds - or at least it seemed that way. And it wouldn't go away. Not that I tried too hard, but those 10 pounds were there to stay.

Now I'm a few years past 30 and a few pounds past those extra 10. My love affair with all things carbs doesn't help. Neither does the fact that I'm not a big fan of exercise. Playing with my children outside? Yes. Hiking in the mountains? Yes. Riding a bike? Yes. But putting in an exercise DVD or taking an aerobics class or - dare I say it - running? Not so much. Since the fact that we don't live in the mountains and I don't own a bike sort of put a dimmer on those type of activities, I'm forced to find something else.

And that something else is running. I have never been a runner. I am not a fan of running. It hurts and it's hard and I just plain don't like it. But to continue my love of bread and to get myself feeling strong and fit, I have started to run.

I completed my first 5K last weekend. And by completing I mean running slowly the first half and zooming like lightening the rest of the way. Okay, so I was barely able to walk the second half, but in my mind I was Eric Liddell (I totally just googled him by typing "guy from chariots of fire"). Or at least Forrest Gump.

So it didn't go as I had hoped. I was ready to give it up, but my ever-encouraging husband has come alongside me and pushed me until I threw up gently guided me to go further in my running this week.

We have committed to run an 8K on Thanksgiving morning in Knoxville while we're at my grandmother's. I'm determined to finish strong this time. I still don't like running. My poor husband listens to my complaints throughout the entire run. I have to admit, though, 30 minutes after I'm done it feels great.

Eric Liddell I will never be. But that's okay. I'd look funny as a man anyway.

mmmmm....

Every year, at the first hint of fall, I have an urgent desire to buy as many cans of pumpkin as possible.  I can't explain it. Maybe it's a Pavlovian response. All I know is I gather pumpkin like a squirrel gathering nuts for winter.

I. love. pumpkin. But only in cool seasons. Pumpkin in the summer just doesn't feel right.  By the time November spring arrives, my family never wants to eat pumpkin again.

I made my first pumpkin dish of the season for our church small group last night. Pumpkin Bread. It's absolutely divine. I'm sharing the recipe with you. Feel free to spread the pumpkin joy.

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 cups white sugar
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

This probably shouldn't even count as a "post" but I have to write these things down so when I'm 84 (or next year) and I can't even remember my kid's names, I'll have this to look back on.

Jacob just came in to talk to me about marketing.

He said "Have you seen Publix's logo?" I told him that Publix was my very favorite place so of course I had.

He said, "What about CVS?"  Yes, indeed I have.

"Well," he said, "those are just plain CVS letters on there."

"Yes, they are. That's the store's name. What else would you have them put up there?" I asked.

"Like Walgreens. That's a great one. It's in cursive. So people want to go in there because they think they have fancier things because the name is in cursive."

Wanted: ability to focus

I posted this last year, but this is a perfect picture of my day today. Except for the part about changing a diaper.  Strike that part. Already served my time doing diaper duty.


If You Give A Mom A Muffin
Original Author Unknown
If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook ("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger").
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old's diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
And chances are...
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

home again, home again

We're back from our mini-vacation to Charleston.  It was a great few days and more on that later.

We came home last night to find one of our largest fish - Manny - had been pretty badly beaten up by another fish - Dempsey. It was then that I discovered how completely opposite my view of the fish is from my kids'. While he was still 1/2 alive - I was ready to just bury him in the backyard. (He's too big to flush I think).  The kids were devastated and after Jacob's tears and screams of "DADDY DON'T LET HIM DIE. SAVE HIM. HE'S SOOOO SPECIAL" I decided burying him may not be such a good idea.

Kyle separated the two fish and all is well again in the aquarium.

Today it's back to reality. And  by reality I mean still being in pajamas at 10:05 am and probably not having a shower today due to all the housework/errands/homeschooling/grocery shopping I have to do.

It's a glamorous life, but someone has to do it.