Please pray for my friend A--and for me!

She is going to court tomorrow to set up custody and set up child support for her daughter. Her ex-husband is a real nutcase, so there is no telling what is going to happen. She's asked me to go as a character witness for her, since we've known each other for 23 years. Please pray that it goes well and for my nerves to be calmed. I've never done anything like this, and honestly, ya'll, when I went to court to support a friend a few years ago, I was quaking in my shoes and I didn't even have to be a witness that time!!

I won again! Check out the host!

Gretchen at Jewels in My Crown....Someday seems to be my kind of gal! She is determined to live her life to give glory to Her Savior, and has fun doing it! She hosted the "Sizzlin' Summer Book Giveaway Carnival" as well as "A Verse a Day in June" recently. I have only recently discovered her blog, but I certainly plan on visiting often!

Stop by and say hello, and tell her that I sent ya!

And thanks again, Gretchen, the giveaway and the 2 awesome books that I look forward to reading!

My sanctuary

I have recently discovered a place where I can go and do Bible study and really get into it! It is my front porch! I've been on the porch tonight on an off for hours just enjoying the cool air and hearing the squeals and squabbles of my sons. Of course, this isn't gonna serve me too well in the dead of winter, but most of the time, it'll do!

That being said, if you have time, meander on over to my other blog to read what God and I have been working on lately! Spending time with the Lord reminds me of when I drink more water. The more I drink, the more I crave it! Isn't that awesome?!

Hope you are having a peaceful and relaxing weekend as I am!

eeek!

I'm really doing it! I have sent for transcripts, I am getting ready to write my essay and fill out my application, and my references have been sent. I have registered for the GRE and will print out the prep tests as soon as I get a cartridge.

So now tell me why I feel like I could throw up??

I know, realistically, that I can do this. But I also know it is going to be hard work! Am I crazy for trying it?? I really think that God opened doors and nudged me into asking for the monetary assistance to go ahead with this. And though it will be more stressful for the time I'm in school, it could make life easier in the long run as far as being out of the classroom.

I'm excited, but I'm so nervous! I haven't been back in a classroom other than recertification classes in almost 15 years? What have I gotten myself into??!

Please pray for me!!

I'm a winner, so here's a plug!

I love love LOVE winning blog giveaways, so I thought I'd start a new thing and give them some linky love as a thank you for the schwag! Today I am singing the praises of Goodies for Mom, who hosted a giveaway for a personalized selection of a Scholastic book! Click on the button above to visit the site, and tell her that I sent ya!

We survived VBS!

Like usual, the last night was crrrrrazy! The kids were running around like chickens with their heads cut off! But it ended well, and we'll have a pool party to celebrate tomorrow. Woo hoo!

We decided today that we are getting DishNetwork! woohoo! I've been trying to talk Chris into it for YEARS, but he never would agree. But Embarq had a great deal where we basically get it for very little for a year, so he finally said yes! They install on July 8!

I have spent hours today saving pics on flikr from our computer that is way old and could possibly die. So enjoy a few shots from back in the day!

First: One of very few pregnancy pics I have! If I had to do it all over again...and I really don't....but if I did, I'd take belly shots!


Next: a cute shot of Isaac at Christmas when he was 2!


And last: a cute shot of baby Adam on his first camping trip!

Wordless Wednesday--Family Pic

Formal Night--Cruise June 2008

3 nights down, 2 to go!

It is going well! There is one child that could really benefit from some discipline at home, but alas....not mine to deal with! LOL

I went back to the doc for my followup on the barium swallow. I have a hiatal hernia and have been prescribed generic Prevacid for it. I'm cool with that. Better than surgery! But of all things I wish I had inherited from my dad, a tendency toward stomach issues was NOT it!! Ugh.

I felt much better today than yesterday. I did take a nap, but not any longer than my usual mid-day summer nap! LOL I slept much better last night. I still wish that the boys would stay in bed past 7, but alas.....remind me of this when I can't blast 'em out of bed when they are in their teens!

VBS Night Two!

It well very well considering. I had a very hard time going to sleep last night, and finally had to take a sleeping pill after 1. I went and helped Chris at the church for Bike Virginia, but since he had several people there, I only stayed about an hour. I pretty much slept most of the day. I was in quite a bit of pain and really tired....fibro strikes again! But I was determined to go to do my part at Bible School tonight, and God is so good...once I got there and got into it, no pain! Now as soon as I got into the car, I felt pretty rough again, but I got His work done, right??!

I've already taken a muscle relaxer and am planning on taking a sleeping pill soon and getting a good nights' rest. Hopefully tomorrow will be much better!!

VBS Night One!

Tonight was our first session! Chris and I lead the opening assembly, and then I am helping with the 3 and 4 year old class. It was fun but HARD work, as any of you that have ever done VBS know! Tonight, the "Be Attitude" was Be Obedient.

We had a good time! Tomorrow we have Bike Virginia stopping by our church in the morning and then VBS in the afternoon, so we will be B*U*S*Y!

Then Sings My Soul Saturday

When I happened upon the meme for today....that I have seen elsewhere but haven't joined in on yet....this song just popped into my head! I pray that it touches you like it always does me!

Lord of all creation
of water earth and sky
The heavens are your Tabernacle
Glory to the Lord on high

Chorus:
God of wonders beyond our galaxy
You are Holy, Holy
The universe declares your Majesty
And you are holy holy

Lord of Heaven and Earth
Lord of Heaven and Earth

Early in the morning
I will celebrate the light
When i stumble in the darkness
I will call your name by night

chrous
lord of heaven and earth
lord of heaven and earth

Hallelujah to the lord of heaven and earth (repeate 3 times)

holy......holy....holy god.....

Chorus

Precious lord reveal your love to me....
Father holy..
(backround)...Lord god almighty...

The "universe" declares your majesty
"you are" holy,holy,holy,holy
Halleujah to the lord of heaven and earth 9x

Check out this store!

Join WonderBrains

for 50 Days of Summer!

And jump on in the 50 days of summer contest while you are at it! Wonderbrains has all sorts of fun educational games to keep your kids' brains working this summer! Check 'em out!

What kid wouldn't love this??!

I just found a new site that absolutely rocks! The Secret is in the Sauce is all about getting bloggers together and getting them to comment on each other's blogs! And right now, they are offering an fantastic contest....where you can win the above pictured jumping castle! Would that not ROCK?! Go on over there and check it out! And tell 'em I sent ya, too!

Look what was in last Sunday's paper!

The following announcement:
The Rev. and Mrs. Robert M. “Bob” (MaryLynne Plumb) Copeland of Weber City, Va., will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with family June 14-19, 2008, on a Carnival Cruise.
The couple was married June 14, 1958, at Durham Chapel, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga., with Bishop Mack B. Stokes officiating.
They are the parents of Brenda and Dale B***, Suzy and Scott B****, and Christi and Chris S********, all of Weber City. They are the grandparents of Ked, Logan, Maria and Wesley B***; Kellie Katie and Keener B****; and Isaac and Adam S********.
The Rev. Copeland retired from the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. Mrs. Copeland retired from elementary education in Scott County, Va., and Monroe County, Tenn.

Pretty cool huh?!

We're home!

The cruise was AMAZING! I'll tell ya all about it when I'm not quite so tired! LOL Hope everyone is well!

Tomorrow is the day!!

We leave for our cruise!!

I *think* I'm packed....if I'm not packed, then I guess whatever else will have to be bought on the ship! We are getting up early tomorrow and driving to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Saturday we'll drive the rest of the way to New Orleans. We'll board the ship and visit Cosumel and Progreso, Mexico and be back to New Orleans on Thursday. We plan on getting home sometime Friday!

There are 16 of us in all going: Me, Chris, Isaac, Adam, my parents, my sister Brenda, her husband Dale, their kids Ked, Logan, Maria, and Wesley, my sister, Suzy, her husband Scott, and their kids Katie and Keener. We embark on my parents' actual 50th anniversary, June 14. We're excited!!

So I'll see ya'll late next week with lots of stories and pics!!

Prayer request!

Anyone who might read this, please pray for my friend Carla's father, Charlie! He had a heart attack yesterday and is in Coronary Care right now awaiting a triple bypass surgery between now and Monday. I am especially concerned because we're leaving town on Friday. This is a man for whom I have great love and respect, and consider 'my' family! I'm very worried about him and am in constant prayer for he and his family. Carla's mom, Carletta, kept me as a baby and Carla and I were in each other's weddings. Please, please pray for him and the entire family!

I did a barium swallow today. It wasn't so bad, except that it upset my stomach....imagine that....and I've felt kinda yucky (fibro yucky) this evening. I took a pain reliever and a muscle relaxer but am having a hard time still going to sleep, I'm sure because I am worried about Charlie.

So again, please pray! I'll update you if I learn any more!

Wordless Wednesday--a new dress

For the cruise.....in yellow and black....for $15! We leave in 2 days!!

We're off to North Carolina!

Be back tomorrow evening! And then just a few days til we're cruise bound! Woooooohoooooo!

Behind, busy, burned

Those are three words to describe me! LOL We've been working on a yard sale at our church to raise funds to pay for our addition. We did pretty good considering that we've had record breaking heat the past two days! HIGH 90s with humidity....lovely weather to sit outside for two days! So yeah, I'm slightly sunburned too, but it certainly could be worse.

We leave for the cruise in less than a week! Wooooooo hooooooooo! I'm behind on laundry...imagine that?! Isn't that always the case?

We're also heading to Lake Junaluska Monday/Tuesday for our church's Annual Conference. My uncle who lives in Texas is coming too, so yay for getting to spend time with Neely!

I get to go for a fun-filled barium swallow on Wed. I'm sure that will be ever so pleasant! Why oh why do I mention that more things are giving me trouble to need more tests run? Sometimes I really wonder about that myself!

We took the boys to see Kung Fu Panda this evening since they really were troopers the past few days in the heat! It was really cute!!! If you have a chance, see it! I really liked that the hero was true to himself throughout, clumsy and big as he was. It was nice to see.

OK, that pretty much does it for tonight! Sorry I've been a slacker again the past few days! Thanks for reading!

Wordless (almost) Wednesday

Hey--6 minutes til.....I'm ahead of the game!

My beautiful niece Katie....I know I'm biased, but man.....if you could only watch her dance.....

Praise the Lord for warranties!

The transmission in Chris' car started acting up about 10 days ago. First it was just whining when stepping on the brake while in drive (like at a red light), then it started more stuff, and then by Friday it was slipping. He parked it and made an appointment to take it into the dealer today. Last night, we very carefully took it to a shopping center near the dealership so we would be traveling the majority of the way in light traffic. It was a good thing we did, cause Chris ended up driving it most of the short distance from where we had parked it to the dealer on the shoulder of the road cause it was slipping.

We *thought* that it would be covered by warranty since the power train was under 7 years/70,000 miles and there are only 49,000 miles and 5 years on the car. But until we heard that it would be covered, we were kind of holding our breath--since we don't have an extra $1500 dollars just laying around!

So you can imagine our relief when they called and said that YES, it would be covered, and we only have a $100 deductible on the work!

We're also VERY thankful that this happened NOW instead of on the way to New Orleans, since this is the car we're taking on the trip! Once again, God has watched over us and provided our needs before we even knew them!

While I'm posting, would you please pray for my friend Cookie? She is having a hysterectomy today. She's also a coworker and was Isaac's wonderful teacher this year. She has three daughters and a dear hubby who are very concerned about her as well. Thank you!!

Getting excited about our CRUISE!

2 weeks from now, my family--sisters, nieces, nephews, brothers-in-law, parents, hubby, kids, and I--will ALL be cruising the Western Caribbean! We will depart New Orleans on June 14, my parents' 50th anniversary. That is the entire reason that we are going on this once in a lifetime trip! We started talking about it several years ago and actually started planning it over a year ago. I can't believe after talking about it so long that it is almost here!

Isaac is really getting excited, and it thrills me to listen him talk to what he wants to do. We haven't been to a beach since he was 2 and I was pregnant with Adam, so he's very excited about hitting the sand! Adam is excited when Isaac talks about it but doesn't really talk about it unprompted.

We will be visiting Cozumel and Progreso, Yucatan. Originally we were supposed to go to Costa Maya, but it was hit by a hurricane back in the fall so Carnival changed the plans.

We went shopping for a dress for me yesterday and ended up buying quite a bit more, but isn't that often how it happens?! We got my dress at Dress Barn, and I've got a funny story about that! Chris told Isaac we were going to Dress Barn, and a few minutes later Isaac asked me, "Why do they call it Dress Farm?!" Then when we got inside the store, he said,"This sure doesn't look like a barn!" Chris deemed the dress I got as looking the best on me, and he even picked out a pair of shoes to go with it, as well as a excellently priced and flattering bathing suit! My hubby rocks!!

This is costing a pretty penny, but I really want to quit stressing about that and enjoy it...it is truly something that I never expected to experience, and am thrilled to get to do so with my favorite people!