They got my number

It's kind of important that I get caught up with last weeks happenings before I start a new week.  It sure doesn't take long to get behind.

Thursday evening consisted of dinner at OCharley's with the four of us followed by a trip to Wal-Mart and a quick trip through Algood.
Friday was supposed to be a great day for Stroker and I to spend some quality time together and get lots of things accomplished. We awoke to the pouring rain that lasted pretty much most of the day. After we got the kids to school, we did go to IHOP for a good breakfast for two followed by a trip to Hobby Lobby to pick out Christmas cards together. We found a really pretty snow scene card with a beautiful verse inside. I am looking foreword to mailing out all 198 of them, but dread buying the postage.
I checked my bank account online around 2pm and that is when the day really went south. Seventeen charges in the amount of $12.96 each and one charge for $15.09 were showing up as pending. This was a total of $235.41 - I called the bank and found out the bad news. Some-where, Some-how, Some-one had stolen my debit card number and was charging USPS.com shipping labels to our account. I had to go through the whole ordeal of closing my debit card and order a new one. It was a stressful afternoon to say the least.  The bank suspended the fraudulent charges temporarily, but said that they could still show up. We finished off Friday afternoon at Chili's for dinner and we paid cash this time around. I can't figure our how my debit card number got stolen. The only time the card left my sight was at OCharley's the night before.
On another note, our Chili's experience was different from past experiences. It was so different that we asked our server if we could speak to the manager. When the manager approached, we informed him of the excellent service that we had received.  Ninety percent of our visits to Chili's end in disaster, this one was a complete turnaround.
Saturday kept us hopping all day. We spent most of the day in the truck, but we did make time to pick out a pumpkin. Better late than never I guess.
Looks like Brookelynn wore the appropriate shirt for pumpkin picking.

Today was church, a trip to Alpine and a trip to Doyle. We picked up mom along the way and took her with us.  We ended the night with Faith Evangelism and some really good visits.

Tomorrow is Halloween.  I wanted Brookel to dress up for school, but she told me that they were not allowed.

Timing

Brookelynn's latest idea is to join the "jumping cubs" jump rope team. We spent an hour Tuesday night driving from store to store to find the perfect jump rope.

Tonight, we finished the book "A Love Worth Giving".

Over the past few months, we have studied and discussed this book chapter by chapter...seeking to love one another like He loves. Well that is easier said than done. I think we can all agree to that. I especially had one of those days today. There could not have been a better day for me to read the final chapter.

This text from the book stood out to me.

We also spoke of how true love for Him is evident in who we are, and how we act in our everyday lives. We can't seek salvation and go back to our normal lives. Life is different when we live for Him.

It's not like we can exclaim "Yes! I have got my ticket to Heaven" and return to our sinful ways. It just doesn't work that way. 

Mathew 15  ⁸ “‘These people honor me with their lips,
   but their hearts are far from me.

That ticket is revocable when a person knowingly goes against God's Commandments.  Of course, sin is a part of who we are, we can't escape it, but we cannot continue to consciously sin without repentance and still feel like our ticket has not been terminated. 

How have you loved lately?

We are Wired that Way

This evening, we wrapped up part 2 of "Wired That Way" personality assessment. These two sessions have opened our eyes to why we sometimes don't understand our children (or each other). When I signed us up for this, Stroker was absolutely, 100% against it. He did not want to participate and questioned why I would sign us up for something like this without his consent. I will tell you exactly why, because I knew it could bring peace and understanding to our home.
He reluctantly went with me to the first session to "get it over with". Within the first ten minutes, he was a changed man. He saw where we were headed and where this insite could take us as parents (and in our marriage). At that point he was all ears. As we left session 1, he was looking foreword to session 2 today.
Here is a quick synopsis. As parents, we sometimes question why our children are not like us. After all, they are a product of us...they have our DNA...and we teach them our beliefs and morals; however, we sometimes cannot get through to them. "Why won't he/she listen?", "Why doesn't he/she understand the importance of what I am telling them?". We ask these questions in complete frustration.
The misconception we have as parents is the attitude of "I am right, so what is wrong with them?". The truth is, God made us who we are. None of us are wrong, just different. These session have taught us the strengths and weakness' of all personality types and how to bring them together.
Turns out, my personality type is Melancholy/Phlegmatic. Strokers is Choleric/Melancholy. We also discussed how opposites attract and bring balance to a home. We discussed how different personality types work together to make good parenting decisions.
I am so thankful for my dear friend offering these sessions to us and for allowing us to invite other parents to take part.
Every marriage should begin with this evaluation and every parent, or parent to be should be equipped with this knowledge.

Faith Builders

We just finished up another night of FAITH Builders. So glad that we can be a part.
Last week was a great week. It feels good to know that people we care about will spend eternity in Heaven. I hope that each of our friend's and family will be there too.
You can read about our past week on the Faith Fellowship blog by scrolling to the bottom of the page or clicking HERE

Sunday Sixteen

1. Devin signed up for Basket ball Thursday.
2. Watched Michaela at her basketball game Thursday night.
3. Bought Devin some new basketball shoes...and found me some new shoes too:)
4. Stroker and I done a little Christmas shopping and knocked out quite a few gifts.
5. Brookelynn spent Friday night at her friend Treasure's
6. Turned on the heat unit for the first time this season and as our luck goes, it had trouble starting up.
7. Stroker fixed the heater all by himself.
8. Went by my brothers house Friday night and the truck battery was dead when it came time for us to head home. Turns out the battery was corroded. Stroker fixed that too.

9. Almost finished Brookelynn's birthday invitations.
10. Had a busy day Saturday visiting Overton, Fentress, Cumberland and White County.
11. Church Sunday morning followed by a quick trip to Monroe TN.
12. Spent the day (Sunday) at Daddy's with all my family.
13. Daddy celebrated turning 73. Happy Birthday Daddy!
14. Never got the chance to clean the house at all this weekend.
15. Went to Dairy Queen with the family and to let Brookelynn get her free meal for All "A"'s on her report card.  Yay Brooke! 
16. Had intentions of wrapping Christmas gifts, but never got around to it.

Two for Tuesday

Yesterday was the typical Monday. Lots of blah blah blah and yada yada yada.
1. Today, I attended another PEP Talks (parents encouraging parents) meeting from noon till 1pm. I encourage you to attend in the future. There is a lot of useful information to helping to understanding what your kids are thinking and personalities of other members in your families.

2. The day ended with rain setting in, bringing in the fall temperatures. Perfect weather to begin working on Christmas cards.

Starting Over

I got to messing around with the template on this blog this morning. Next thing I know, I had saved this default template.  It totally messed up all my custom fonts, signatures and settings. I guess I will have to start over because I want my personalized template back.
Speaking of starting over, Paris was born again tonight at 6:40pm. It was an awesome event.  So glad I got to be part of it and witness it first hand. The angels are rejoicing as I type this blog entry.
Congratulations Paris and praise the Lord.

Found It

So here it is...the very last day of fall break. The house is clean, the shed is organised, the fall decorations are out and the kids are depressed that school starts back tomorrow. Every day, we worked on a project. Brookelynn and I started her birthday invitations and I even ran across the Jr. Titan's cheer leading uniform that I couldn't find last month. I knew that would happen after spending eighty dollars on a new one. Turns out, I don't think it would have ever fit her anyway.

The kids and I took a day this week, Wednesday I think, and drove to White County and took my mom to lunch. Brooke and I painted the bathroom that is "under construction" on Thursday. Devin has absorbed football for two weeks straight. This morning, I am making a cheese danish to take to church. My mother in law, Mildred, has invited us to dinner later today.

Tomorrow...it's back to school. Goodbye fall break 2011.

Allergies vs. Zyrtec

Monday was a mostly productive day. 

• I wired a light in the bathroom that is "under construction".
• We sat out all of the Halloween decorations.
• Stroker used his handyman skills to work on two of the gates.
• I Got a couple of loads of laundry done.
• Done my quarterly shed organizing.
• I Took a Zyrtec to help my allergies...and that's where it all went south. An hour later, I was droopy and ready for bed. I took my shower and was in the bed by 8pm.

Today started with a Zyrtec hangover, but I trudged through it. It's a toss up for me...either sneeze my head off without allergy pills or sleep my life away when I take allergy pills.
Brookelynn and I began her birthday party invitations. She invited her friend Kelsey over for a couple of hours and I done some more house work.
Also, as of today, I am officially promoting "Sweet Sallies Bakery and Cafe". We all settled in front of the TV tonight and watched Transformers. Not exactly my movie choice, but I did enjoy the family pile up on the couch.

Weekend Review

Wait! Shouldn't this still be Friday?  There is no way three days should have passed already. Let me think...the Hayes House has been in fast forward all weekend.
Friday, Amanda brought me four boxes of Count Chocula that she picked up for me at Target (since Wal-Mart can't seem to get their act together). One thing I love about October, is Count Chocula. I wish General Mills Cereal would go back to making it all year. Thank you Target for having it in stock and thank you Amanda for picking it up for me.

Friday evening, we headed for the "Liberty Square Celebration" in Sparta. We took Stacia a canopy to use at her booth so that she wouldn't bake in the sun on Saturday.  We also went by Darlene and Gary's house to pick up the kids, but Brookelynn wanted to spend "one more night". We all went to dinner together at Logan's, then Brookelynn went back home with Aunt Darlene.
Saturday, we visited the big cities of Monterey, Smithville, Hilham and Sparta again to pick up Brookelynn. The day was beautiful. It was a great day to drive around and enjoy the sunshine. When we got home Saturday evening, I decided to scrub the shower and tub and do a germ elimination on the bathroom. I wiped everything down with Clorox wipes...even the base boards.
Sunday, after church, we made a trip to see the enormous tree house. It is the world's largest tree house reaching ten stories high. It was a cool experience, yet danger lurked with every step. There were area's fifty and sixty (or more) feet high that had no railings...yikes.  We met and spoke briefly with the man who built it and learned a little about why and how the tree house came to be. There is even a chapel inside the tree house.
Devin should have went with us, but he decided to skip the adventure. He is at the age where he thinks we are just not cool anymore...Hhhmmm, go figure?!

Tonight, we joined some church members for our "Faith Evangelism" team meetings. We made a few attempts to visit people, but didn't have much luck. Catching people at home can become quite a challenge.

Commitment

Since the kids have been doing everything in their power to aggravate each other, I called off the fall break lunch deliveries.
Today, Brookelynn came to me and said that she and Devin made a "commitment" to each other to stop barging in each other's rooms and to get along with each other. They made it through day one. It is nice to see them work things out on their own for a change.
Brookelynn lost another tooth today...just in time for her dentist appointment.  She was hoping it would be the one that the dentist planned to fill, but no such luck. I told her that dentist doesn't fill the ones that are ready to come out soon. Tonight, she and Devin are planning a sleepover at their aunt Darlene's. They love and look forward to those visits.

Fall Break

Fall Break is "breaking" me for sure.  These kids are asking for lunch from a different restaurant every day.
Tonight we had a "Soup and Sandwich" dinner and fellowship at church. I made beef and cabbage soup with some cornbread.  Yep, you read that correctly...I "made" it.

To start off October, we finally caught the movie we wanted to see on Saturday. We all thought it was a good story. We replayed the whole family date event which started with dinner at Cheddar's and then "Courageous" the movie.
We visited my mom for a bit on Sunday and enjoyed the entire weekend full of sunshine and temperatures in the seventies.
Monday, Brookelynn vacuumed my car for me, then Stroker washed and waxed it. I felt like I had a new car. I was so appreciative, that I cooked dinner.

Tuesday evening, we spent some time outside planting the six mums that we bought 2 weekends ago. They are lined along the sides of the front steps. Now, if we can only get the rest of the fall decorations out before this week is over.

Devin and Brooke are wearing thin with each other already. Tomorrow is day six of fall break...there is still eight days left to keep them from driving each other (and me) crazy.