Friday, November 6, 2009

Am I crazy?

I ask you if I am crazy because tonight I will be at our church's Survivor Lock In for 3rd - 5th graders. A fellow Childhood Ministries Staff Member has planned this night for us and here is what I have to look forward to.........................

9 a.m. pizza at the YMCA
10 - 12 (midnight) swimming at the YMCA
12 - 12:30 head to the church
12:30 - 4:00 Wii games, nerf gun wars, make overs, etc.
4:00 - grab your sleeping bag and we will put in Swiss Family Robinson
8:00 parents will pick up their kiddos

Pray I can stay awake. I tried to sleep in this morning but a neighbor is adding on to their house and I woke at 7:14 a.m. to hammering. Nope couldn't go back to sleep........... so I will try and take a nap later.

Please pray for Mattie today- she doesn't get to go home. Her fever is back and white count low.

I will update you on the evening later- and hopefully will have some pictures.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Please pray for Mattie

This is my friend Mattie. She is 6 years old. She was diagnosed with leukemia on Wednesday, October 28, 2009. She begins chemo tomorrow. Please pray for her as she begins this journey.

You can keep up with her journey at www.caringbridge.org/visit/mattieballentine .

Please pray for her specifically tomorrow- Monday, November 2nd. She will have surgery and her first chemo treatment. Pray for her parents- Jeff & Luanne and her big sister Emily.







Saturday, October 10, 2009

What an exciting night!

We had a great evening last night at the Coupon Town Hall! Thanks so much to Jenny Martin from www.southernsavers.com - our special guest for the evening. She taught us many things and was very flexible as we had an interesting night

all to learn more about using ...............
COUPONS!!! She taught us new things, reminded us of good coupon ethics and how to honor the Lord through it all.

Our evening was exciting ................ a visit from emergency personnel. Thankfully our person needing assistance was okay.
AND thanks for the patience as we evacuated to the basement at the advisement of our fire department due to the tornado warning our area. Although brief it made for one interesting evening. Hope you enjoyed the night and learned a lot!!!!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Rain, Rain Go Away


Yes, I would be happy if the rain would go away and come back another day. I think this picture puts into perspective how much rain we have had............ even a duck needs an umbrella at this point!

Speaking of ducks............. I have decided to finally share my duck story. This is just for you Elizabeth!

You see even though I am not much of an animal person now, I used to be. I am not sure what happened to make me a little anxious about animals- especially dogs. However, when I was little I had lots of animals. Lots of different types of animals and I loved them.
On my dad's side of the family I was the first grandchild. My grandparents gave me many different animals. My great grandmother - Nana (pronounce Nannie) also helped instill in me an early love of animals and a great respect for them (and their habitat). When I was about four or five I received a duck as a present from my pa paw and ma maw. I grew up a block from Harrison Bay State Park and loved visiting and feeding the ducks there. So this was a great present. I remember the little duck and I loved the duck.
Soon after I received the duck my family was joining other families from church on a camping trip. When we returned home I couldn't find my duck. I looked for my duck everywhere. My family told me that they thought my duck was lonely and joined the other ducks at the park. So for years I would try and figure out which duck was mine. I would talk about my duck living at the park and feed the ducks. I have taken pictures of the ducks, talked to the ducks, etc. Well I grew up and moved away for college, seminary and serving my first church. I moved back to Chattanooga and one Christmas I was saying something about my duck at the park- my uncle said something about it dying. I was like what? He began to laugh realizing that for almost 30 years I had believed my duck ran away to the park. It was then I realized they found my duck dead when we returned from the camping trip. An animal had killed it.
We were soon leaving to go to my grandmothers and when I got in the car with Mike I begin to cry. I cried all the way to my grandmother's house. When I got there everyone was like what is wrong? That is when they realized I really believed all those years my duck ran away. Now, five years latter we laugh about my duck story.................
I wish they would have just let me believed he had gone to the park and joined the other ducks and lived a happy duck life! Thanks Uncle Scott! :)
Note: I really didn't think he was still alive (I mean the duck would have almost been thirty at that point) BUT I did think all those years he was there somewhere!

Enough about my duck.................. I do believe we are all going to need a row boat if it doesn't stop raining soon!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Sneaking Away

Well hubby is off at a conference- sure miss him. I am headed to a class tomorrow in Georgia so I decided to go today. I am going to get to stop by and visit my sister's class (she teaches special education in North Georgia), stop by the outlets, and finally meet someone who makes my life easier- I will expound later! I will just leave in you suspense for now!!!

I get to finish my Saturday by watching to see how UT does against Florida. I will also be celebrating my fathers birthday! We ate last night but will officially celebrate Saturday night. I am so excited my mom is making coca cola cake.

Sunday will be another great day! I can't wait to see all my little friends. We will also have our second night of AWANA !
I pray you have a great weekend. What are you up to this weekend?

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Fellow Couponers.......... have you heard?

Just in case you have not heard................... First Baptist is having a Coupon Town Hall on October 9th! Jenny from Southern Savers is our guest speaker............www.southernsavers.com is her website.

You can go to our church website to find out more info and to register.


www.clevelandfbc.com

On the home page scroll down until you see the button for Coupon Town Hall. There is a short form for you to fill out and this is the only way we are taking registrations right now........... We have only had registration up since Wednesday afternoon and we have already had about 183 people register. This should be an awesome time of learning more about saving money!

It's Football Time in Tennessee!!


Yes, I know that the University of Tennessee Football began last week. However, since we were at Family Camp I did not watch the game. My husband did. They had a tent set up for people to stop by and watch the games.......... or CAMP out at the tent - which is what my precious hubby did. Matter of fact we laughed because he did not even eat lunch- he just kept watching the games. He was excited our team - UT- won. He said that this week would be a truer test to see how they really looked.............. well we lost today.

Mike is a die hard UT football fan. He grew up in a county right beside Knox County- where UT is located. He is a very patient and quiet man. Most people ask me if he ever talks. I usually laugh and say yes but most of the time he can't get a word in when I'm around. Everyone just laughs because they know I am never at a loss for words. He is really, really quiet. He however has come a long way in his shyness since we met. What most people don't realize is this quiet man becomes a different person when UT football is involved- well really UT anything. He really likes UT basketball. We especially like to watch UT women play- they are incredible. He has a collection of UT things and in our last house we had a UT room. I have recently decided I am going to turn one of our spare bedrooms into a UT room again.

My mom would never believe me that her quiet, shy and very polite son-in-law actually would yell and shout during games. So one day (without him realizing it, I called her and she heard him) and she just laughs. Normally he fires everyone or thinks they need to be fired. He tells the players what they did wrong, or what they should be doing, etc. Well today was no different. We ordered pizza and I looked over and he had not touched his plate. He said he was waiting until it cooled down. He just grinned and I laughed and thought yeah right. Tennessee was at the end of the fourth quarter and had a small window of a chance to win. He was just too anxious. I laughed and laughed. They lost- he finally ate................ it cooled down (AND so did he!). He even wore his orange shirt to watch the game. I love watching UT football with him.

I love him very much! Other than my salvation, my husband is the best gift God has ever given me! He just realized he does not think he can watch next week's big game against the Florida Gators because he will be driving home from a counseling conference. Oh I hope he gets here- it is great entertainment for me just to watch him........ um I mean the game. :)