Two For Tuesday

Here are my thoughts on two things I've encountered so far today.

*Snakes..... I don't much care for snakes. I was talking on the phone this morning and stepped out onto the porch. I saw part of a snake sticking out of the bushes. At first I wasn't sure if it was real, thought perhaps someone was playing an early April Fool's joke on me. The snake was black with goldish bands. I went inside and a few minutes later and returned with my camera, but the snake had slithered away.

*Fractions..... The past few weeks, Hayden has been working on fractions. Not only do I dislike geometry, I must add fractions to the list. He's been recording fractions for shaded and unshaded parts, drawing pictures of improper fractions, investigating mixed numbers, determining whether fractions are equivalent, and ordering fractions from least to greatest. Next week he'll probably be reducing, adding, and multiplying fractions. And perhaps in a few weeks, the 3rd grade math curriculum will involve say, decimals. Now, please excuse me while I go eat 7/8 of a pie!

Target Time

It was great to get up this morning and see the sun peeking through the clouds. It's been dreary and rainy here since Wednesday. It kind of had me in a funk. I know the Lord needed to replenish the earth with rain, but I sure was glad to see the sunshine again.

No, this post is not about an outing to Target, although I like that store. This is about Drake shooting his new gun in preparation for the Youth Turkey Hunting Day, which is Saturday, April 4th. Only hunters under 15 can bag their turkey. As you'll see, Drake has some onlookers who have their ears covered.

Drake sets his mark and realizes that Tom Turkey blew down.

He takes a break and removes his headphones for a bit.

He moves a little closer to the target.

He unlatches the safety and prepares to shoot.

Here are the results of Drake's efforts. Pretty good, huh?

Father and son stop after a job well done.

And if you're wondering, Hayden does not desire to shoot a gun at this point in his life. As for Corinna, she does have her lifetime hunting license and very well may wish to shoot one day. Just not today. She isn't strong enough to handle the kickback.


Now, you may wish to cover your ears before you click on the arrow.

HSM2

Last night, the children and I, along with J.J.'s mom, and my friend Lynette and her 2 girls, went to see Lexington Youth Theatre's (LYT) production of "High School Musical 2." The performance was wonderful. Our small town sure has a lot of talent. It's gonna be a rainy weekend, so go support our local theatre and watch them live on stage. You won't be disappointed!

Corinna, Drake, and Hayden wait to enter the Civic Center.

The anticipation builds as we wait to be seated.

Ma Ma and Hayden read their programs while Drake strikes a cool pose.

Kaitlyn, Sophie, and Corinna are all smiles as they wait for the show to begin.

Drake sports the sparkly "Sharpay" hat. Yes, it's pink, but he's still cool.

Corinna was delighted to have her picture made with one of the actors after the play. Caleb attends our youth group and Corinna has become one of his groupies.

This short clip sums up our evening. So glad that our tix were for last night, as Hayden woke up with a stomach bug this morning.

Flashback Friday: My Maw Maw

This is the only picture I have stored in my computer of my Maw Maw. She passed away this past summer, just before her 92nd birthday. It doesn't surprise me that she didn't look at the camera as this picture was taken. She didn't much like being in the spotlight. She had a heart that loved to serve others. She loved to cook and I fondly remember family birthday meals in her home in Winston-Salem. Maw Maw liked to play cards and she loved to win. She spent the last 5 years of her life as a resident at a nursing home in King. I have many wonderful memories of my Maw Maw Crim. I'm glad my children got to meet her. She loved the Lord and is now with Him.

Two For Tuesday

Here are my 2 random thoughts on this Tuesday........

* I do like spring but NOT the seasonal allergies it brings. The buds on trees, blooming flowers, and green grass are quite lovely. New life is coming forth and the glory of the Lord is revealed through His creation. Yet, sure enough, with the current season comes the watery eyes and nose, scratchy throat and sneezing. Hayden and Corinna are dealing with it as well. We will just take our allergy medicine daily and stuff the kleenex in our pockets before we head out the door.


* Stomach viruses stink (literally). Drake came down with one early Saturday morning and hasn't recovered yet. And they are so unpredictable. His fever comes and goes. He'll perk up by late morning and is still feeling okay in the afternoon. But then by the evening, he's been lethargic. Drake has had to miss two days of school. Hope that he'll steadily improve as the day goes on. So far, no one else in the family has caught this bug. Lord willing, I hope that remains true.

Hand-Me-Down Chairs

We like hand-me-downs around here, especially furniture. Throughout our marriage we have been blessed with oodles of hand-me-down furniture and accessories. This weekend, J.J.'s mom dug these fold-up chairs out of the Carter's showroom. Carter's is a small company that was recently bought out by the furniture plant that J.J. works for. Honestly, the only furniture we have purchased for our home was a crib and a bunk bed set. Hand-me -down furniture has been one of the blessings of having a family furniture business. Now, we are trusting that the Lord will sustain the business. But even if He does not, we will praise Him.

Flashback Friday: Sunset At The Beach

This photo was taken in November of 2006. We were celebrating Thanksgiving at the Six Pack (as in Coke, of course), the beach house in Oak Island, N.C., that my mother-in-law co-owns with her brothers and some family friends. This was taken off the back deck.

Here's Ma Ma (J.J.'s mom) with all of her grandchildren.

All of the cousins chill out. In order of appearance, here's Hayden, Blake, Drake, Brittany and Corinna.

Another of the sunset to bid you adieu.

Two For Tuesday

Here are a few thoughts on two random topics for today......


*Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hope you wore your green or you were likely was on the lookout to pinch someone and was delighted to discover that J.J. didn't have on green when he returned home from work. Perhaps she was scared, but she decided to kiss her daddy instead of pinching him. One of my favorite legends about Saint Patrick is that he used the shamrock to explain the holy trinity, one God in threee divine beings, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He used this plant to explain three in one, one stem with three leaves.

*Third grade math can be challenging. And this is coming from a certified K-6 educator. Hayden is now into his geometry unit. Must I say that geometry was my worst subject ever? What I remember t's better to cheat than repeat." And I must confess that I took his advice. Now back to Hayden....I am being bombarded with terms such as polygon, acute, obtuse, vertices, perpendicular, and congruent. Hayden is examining triangles to determine if they are right (that's the easy one), scalene, equilateral, or isosceles. I am straining my brain to recall the basics in order to help my child get it. Heck, I don't even half get it myself. Now I know what we can do with our tax refund. We need to open up a separate savings account to pay for a future math tutor.

Flashback Friday: Fire Station Field Trip

Our MOPS group went to the fire station today. Corinna and I didn't make it this year. However, we went 2 years ago and here are some pictures. Here is most of the group. Boy, is Drake's firefighter suit reflective!

They had to have their picture made with the fire fightin' pig.

Two future firemen, perhaps?

Drake sits in the firetruck ready for a call.

They do have some lady firefighters in Lexington. Corinna had to wear a suit too.

All of these children are in Kindergarten or First Grade now. My how the years fly by!

The children were mesmerized by Sparky in his remote controlled firetruck. Visiting the fire station is always fun.

Corinna And Her Cousins

The weather sure has been spring-like this week (so far). Supposedly, it will turn colder and rainy in the days ahead. We have made the most of the warm temperatures. Monday Corinna had a playdate with her cousins while the boys were at school.

Chase and Corinna swing side by side.

Corinna takes her turn on the slide.

Rinna, Olivia, and Chase are ready to ride. Brady was in the truck pictured in the background.

Weekend Wrap-up

Our weekend began with somber news, that our friend's father had passed away. Another friend's father passed away earlier in the week and we went to the visitation Friday evening. The good news is that both of these men knew Jesus as their savior and are now with Him in glory.

This weekend was warm and beautiful, reaching nearly 80 degrees. Earlier in the week, our trees were covered with ice and snow and now some are showing buds. I'm not packing up the jeans and long sleeved shirts yet, but I sure was glad for a dose of warm weather.

The highlight of our weekend was attending a Missions Conference at church. It was wonderful to hear of the work of the Lord right here in Davidson County to the ends of the earth. The speaker challenged us to have a heart for the nations as God does. He pointed out that we are blessed so that we can be a blessing.

On Saturday night we had a silent auction to raise money for two missionary families our church supports. Hayden won the bid for this ice cream cake. It's nearly half gone now.

Corinna was delighted that she got to bring home this orange and white polka dotted tote bag. She even gets to have it monogrammed for free.

Drake was so glad to get the final bid on the homemade salsa. As you can see from the photo, we consumed one of the jars for lunch after church. And was it delicious. He was too shy to take the empty jar back to Karen tonight and ask for a refill. Well, we do have three more jars left to enjoy.

J.J. spent several hours washing, waxing, and vacuuming out the van while the weather was pretty. He and all the children got sunburned Saturday from being outside most of the day. I was gone Saturday until late in the afternoon helping with our MOPS consignment sale. I got some great deals on clothes for the kids. Overall, the sale was a big success for our MOPS group.

Now, I've got to get to bed because the time change is going to affect everyone more adversly tomorrow morning when we have to get up and ready for school.

NOTE: I am not pleased with how the layout for this post turned out. All of the text was to the right of the pictures as I was typing it. After pressing publish, it turned out this way. So, please bear with me. The vertical text is hard to read. I think I must have the photo setting on the left instead of the center. I am just too tired to worry about it. Good night.

Flashback Friday: Mohawks Rule

About 2 years ago, J.J. was preparing to give the boys haircuts. I jokingly suggested that they receive mohawks. Of course, I meant that they get mohawks for fun and then shave them off for a normal haircut. Well, my idea stuck and they wanted to keep the mohawks. Some may consider these haircuts fauxhawks since Hayden and Drake's heads were not completely shaved. At any rate, be careful what you suggest. We'll see if the mohawks return with future haircuts around here. I will have to draw the line if Corinna wants one!

White Out!!! 2 (More Snow Pics)

The sleds have been in the shed for years now. Glad they finally got put to use.

Shortly after this photo, all three of the kids threw their snowballs at me. The snow was powdery, so the snowballs didn't do too much damage.

Snowdog Wrestling 101. Here's Latte with Lucy and Buddy the beagle.

Who is this masked man?

Corinna makes a snow angel.

We will enjoy the snow today while it's nice and beautiful and white. I am reminded of the following verses in scripture:

"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:7

"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." Isaiah 1:18

Thank you Lord for the snow. And thank you Lord for your holy word.

White Out!!!

The weather forecasters called for snow and this time they were correct. It started coming down around here about 7:30 last night. This is what we woke up to this morning. The family went out to play about 7:30 a.m. before J.J. left to go to work. We had a great time.

"There's snow place like home. There's snow place like home. There's snow place like home!"

J.J. runs with the dogs, and of course he's leading the pack.

The children prepare for their sled run.

There wasn't much bounce to the trampoline since it was weighed down by the white stuff.

My sweetie and I bundled up.

Funigans

Corinna was invited to Seth's 5th birthday party at Funigan's in Winston. Here is Corinna pictured with the birthday boy. Seth is in her CBS class on Thursdays.

Corinna is ready to use her cup of tokens. It didn't take very long to do so.

Someone climbs on the rock wall. Corinna wasn't quite old enough for this activity, but that day will be here before I know it.

Whoah baby, look at these tickets. As a party guest, Corinna was awarded 300 tickets, so she was able to pick several goodies from the prize counter. She earned about 75 on her own, but kindly gave away about 25 of them to the kid behind us who didn't have many. I thought that was a sweet gesture, and she thought of it all on her own.

Corinna takes a drive in the kiddie car. She must be in Europe since she is driving on the right side.