If I was a cat...

I would probably hang out on the heat vent like Patches does all the time....

You can see how he covers the whole vent!!!

But I would hope that I wouldn't lay like this...which is Patches other favorite position...Not a nice position for a boy or a girl!!

Some painting fun

After a while of painting, you need some fun, right?? Above, Patches lays on the coverings. The cats enjoyed playing underneath the drop cloths. We enjoyed watching Mom tape up our teenager. :)
When you just can't take the whining anymore...And then the rolling of the eyes...Don't even think about "talking to the hand"Jennifer was able to get out of her painters' tape pretty easily. Maybe next time we will have to use duct tape. LOL

19 years.....

Dale & I celebrated our 19th anniversary last week on March 16. We had a busy day that day so we weren't able to do anything special that day. But Mom kept the kids Saturday night, so we went out to eat at a new place for us which was at the airport so we could watch the planes come and go. We actually ran into someone from church at the airport who has a helicopter. Dinner was good, and then we went to Costco to get some gas. I know that is not very romantic, but that is one of the things that Dale always does for me when he can. He doesn't mind and I am always appreciative whenever he does it. As we were getting the gas, we saw Mike fly off in his helicopter to take a couple out on a tour. The sun was setting and it was absolutely beautiful so we parked in the nearly empty Costco parking lot and watched the sun go down. It was so nice!!

We headed home and both of us were so tired that we needed to get in bed early, but at least we got some much needed time together and rest.

Here are some pics of us 19 years ago. My how time flies!!

Living with ladders

And paint!!! And this doesn't even include the 5 gallon paint bucket that contains the majority of the paint!!

A few weeks ago, we started the HUGE job of painting the inside of the main level of our house. We are painting the ceilings, the walls, and all the trim. We started in the kitchen, then the breakfast area, and then into the family room and into the formal living room. Then into the 2 story foyer and then up the stairs....into the hallway upstairs. Now we are working on the bathroom on the main level and the kids bathroom upstairs. You see, we have an open floor plan so it really just keeps flowing into another area....and the project seems to never end.

But in the meantime, I feel like I am living with ladders. Big ones, small ones, and huge ones.

We are also cleaning everything before we put things back and cleaning things out-drawers, cabinets, everything. We are so ahead of the game for our Spring Cleaning!! :) I have even cleaned the switch plates before putting them back on! Dale and Mom have done most of the painting and I have done mostly the cleaning stuff.

So, I haven't had much time to post lately. We are getting a lot done and it is going to look so clean and pretty when we are done...I can't wait!!!!

Mom isn't in any of these pictures, but she has been a huge help to us as she is a great interior designer and painter. Thanks Mom!!

BELOVED retreat 2010

And lastly, Mom & I left for the Beloved retreat Friday afternoon. We always have a difficult finding a place to eat before the retreat. Last year, we passed the hotel and had to drive a long way before we ended up at a Mexican restaurant that was NOT good. And had very few people there. But we were hungry and needed to eat something quickly. This year we vowed we wouldn't do that again. We would look before we got there. So, we decided to get off at Jimmy Carter Blvd. After some big time mix-up about which lane to be in and where that lane went, we had to get back on the highway and go up and come back. It was a mess-up for sure. Then we decided to turn the opposite direction and couldn't find anything. THEN we decided to use the GPS and it headed us back int he direction that we had already tried to go. We decided to go to Folks and followed the directions but it wasn't there. So, we ended up at Popeyes. Let's just say that we were a little out of place in there. :)

But we got to the hotel and got checked in. Beloved is a musical group that consists of Kim, Amy, and Denise. Denise is my step-sister. They are really talented and their career seems to be really taking off. They are such a hoot to listen to. They love the Lord and love to sing about it and talk about it. They are very transparent in telling their stories. Here is one that Kim is famous for telling-its called the panty hose story. It has finally made it to print, so I am going to copy someone else's blog-so this is her words sharing Kim's story.This is not my story. This is Kim's story. She has told it countless times. It gets longer, louder, crazier every time. I can't do it justice, but I don't think its ever been in print. I have her permission, so this is my attempt to recreate what has come to be known as THE PANTYHOSE STORY.

"The top is something you go over!" This describes Kim perfectly! Everything about her is over the top: makeup, hair, clothes, personality, friendship, her love for family and for her God.She won a regional pageant singing Reba McIntyre's "Fancy" and went on to become Miss Georgia, 1993. She hosts a local TV show but that's about to change....


Beloved was just getting off the ground and had been invited to sing at a fundraiser. Kim suggested they do a costume change in the middle of the program. The other two girls weren't really in favor but when Kim makes a "suggestion" she's really saying, "here's what we're going to do!"


They decided to change from denim outfits to something more dressy so Kim went to buy pantyhose for the occasion.


Kim reviewed the size graphs on the back of the charts. Do you remember the day when, according to the graph detailing your height and weight, you had moved from A to B, or B to QUEEN? (For the gentleman and younger readers I need to say that although women are generally in favor of being a queen, or being treated like a queen, when it comes to pantyhose we would rather not be considered a 'queen'.)


Kim is not petite. She is 5'9" and will tell you herself she gained "ten pounds for every year and I've been married five years. Do the math!" Thankfully she passed the fifth year without adding any extra, and she is a beautiful woman who works it. According to the pantyhose chart Kim was well into the 'Queen' category.


But Kim was feeling sassy. Kim was feeling confident. Kim was getting...cocky. We've all been there.


"These charts often run large. If you look real close I'm closer to the B shade than the Q shade. Its reeeally close. I didn't eat breakfast either so that should put me in a B. Oh! And I had to park clear across Egypt and must have walked half a mile across the parking lot so that would definitely put me in a B."

So she got off-black, control-top, sandal-foot pantyhose, size "B".


I once heard that Dolly Parton's daddy told her "you can't squeeze fifty pounds of mud in a five pound sack." Kim was attempting to do just that.


Push, pull, shove, rearrange, twist, untwist, take them off, start again. Bend over, stand up, sit down, back up, lay down. Squat, stand, squat, stand, squat, stand sloooowly. DONE! Everything's in a nice, neat smooth package. Nevermind the bulge across the top of the band, thanks to the 'control' part. Don't even think about the burn in the crotch. Turn sideways and look in the mirror. Oh, yeah! That's nice!


The ladies go back onstage to close out the meeting. The money has been collected. The mood is quiet and prayerful. Kim begins speaking in a somber tone with her head tilted slightly down to introduce the final song.


"We want to thank you for this oppor..." BOOM! Zzzzzzippp! The sound of a car tire exploding would not have been more disruptive. She raised her head to see if anyone heard. All eyes were staring straight at her as if she had just turned green. Kim, not one to be outdone, even by exploding pantyhose, preceeded with her speech. " You all have been so...BOOM! Zzzzzippp! The other leg gave way, causing her to jolt forward.


"My off-black, control-top, sandal-toe, size B pantyhose immediately became fish-nets!"


The five pound bag had exploded and fifty pounds of mud came oozing out. The lycra threads that were trying desperately to hold themselves together pulled tight against her flesh, giving her legs the texture of corrugated cardboard.


For most of us we'd be through. We would leave the stage and never look back. We'd certainly ask someone else to pray why we scadaddled! Kim is not like the rest of us.


She leaned forward, pointed her long, manicured nail at the gentleman sitting on the front row to her left. The poor man's face was white as a sheet, not because he had been called out, but because the woman standing in front of him was apparently exploding or imploding; either one being very, very bad.


"Sir," she stared at the frightened man with mesmerizing blue eyes. "You may want to move. These off-black, control-top, sandal-toe, size B pantyhose are giving way and you are right in the line of fire!"


He moved.


This was the fourth annual retreat and they have all been different but super fun in unique ways. They always have lots of giveaways where they will be talking and then the music starts t and they will yell "AND everyone gets one..." and the doors fly open and they hand out purses, makeup, makeup bags, slippers, earrings (we got pearls one year and cz this year), wallets, and many other things. This weekend everything seemed to be animal prints-well not the earrings but everything else. This weekend's theme was "I am every woman" and talked about how we are women of influence. How God can use normal everyday women to change the world, one life at a time. And we talked about who influences us. Mom and I ended up at the table with Kim's family this year and it was amazing that out of the 8 women at our table, each one of them said the most influential person in their life was their Mom and then their Grandmother. I know it shouldn't be a surprise, but it just reaffirms how important our role as mothers is. How what we do will influence generations for years. We all influence everyone, whether we know it or not, whether we like it or not, and whether it is for good or not.

They started out the weekend with a dance line with all the team coming in and dancing. My nephew Austin came in and did the "worm"...
As always, we had a blast. You cry from laughing so hard and you cry when you hear the testimonies and stories. Saturday night, they had a red carpet event where everyone walked the red carpet coming into the room. So, most people dressed up and then they had a photo booth where you could go in there and get some pictures made. Everyone had a blast with this.
On Saturday afternoon, we get a break and went to lunch with my other step-sister Lori. This was her first time at a Beloved retreat so it was nice to hang out with her and her friend. We tried a new restaurant and went shopping at the Forum. It was a pretty day and it is an outdoor mall, which was nice. We even went to Trader Joes' and it was the first time any of us had ever been in one.

At one point in the weekend, my nephew Austin took the stage and sang a song with his Mom. They did a great job together and I know Denise was so happy to have him singing with her.
They also surprised Denise with one of the speakers. She did find out about it a few weeks ago, but it was very moving. Denise and Brian had opened up their home years ago to a teenager that was in a very bad situation. She was one of Denise's Sunday School youth but never said a word in class. They invited her to spend the night with them and she was there for 4-5 years. Stephanie shared her story that night about the influence that their family had made on her life. She did a great job and is a wonderful Christian lady with a beautiful family today and a teacher for middle school students because they took her in and showed her what life could be like. She had been raised with 2 alcoholic and drug parents who also had some mental illness mixed in. It was just another moving story about how God can use a willing vessel. Friday night, we had an ice cream bar with lots of yummy toppings. What a great way to finish the night off!! We also always end the night with a big circle and everyone dancing. The girls come grab people out and dance with them for a minute.They also have tons of door prizes each year. Seriously, like 85% of us walk out of there winning something. Sometimes they are big prizes and some are small, but its always nice to win something. One person won $100, sometimes it is a free retreat for the next year. I have won a bible in the past. This year, I won a picture to hang on the wall. It was really cute, but I knew it would look good in Lori's new closet, so I let her have it. But this year, they had a guy come in and take this paintingand in about the length of a song, with some black paint and only his hand (no brush), he transformed it to this:Then they drew names to see who got this. You can't really tell, but it is really big. I hope the winner has somewhere to hang it or a church to give it to. He was awesome to watch work. Of course, there was plenty of music from Beloved. And they got word during the retreat that a television channel has expressed interest in picking up their new show for TV called "saggin but not draggin". How exciting!


So, I'm sure it is no surprise that out of my whole family's weekend and us going separate ways, that I had the most pictures, is it??!