It's a Shame

As a child, one of the biggest thrills was riding around with my parents and seeing all the Christmas lights that people had put up. Now my husband and I have to take our children to Huntsville Botanical Garden's Galaxy of Lights just to see some Christmas decorations. At that time if you found one out of ten houses that didn't have some kind of decorations up, it was amazing, not if you find one in ten that does, it's surprising. What has caused this attitude about putting up lights to celebrate the Christmas season? Has this country become so politically correct that it's not considered cool anymore to decorate for Christmas? Even the White House doesn't call it a Christmas Tree anymore, it's a Holiday Tree. The Macy's Parade won't allow anything that shows a religious holiday, whether it's Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever. Don't you remember what it was like riding around looking at all the wonderful decorations that had been put up? Wasn't it so much fun? Do you remember what it was like showing your children the colorfull lights? Now I can't do this because of the attitude of most of the people now a days. Being willing to celebrate Christ's Birthday has become such a no-no. It should never have happened! I think it's a shame that this nation has forgotten just what we are supposed to be. We, as a nation, are so afraid of offending anyone that we've gone too far in the other direction. There's an old saying that if you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one. That is what's going on. The really bad thing is that I was looking forward to showing my children some of the wonder I had as a child. Now because of the way we've become, I can't and it's a huge shame!!!

I'll get off my soap box for now, but I sincerely hope you have a Merry Christmas and may God bless you and your family always!!!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I had to take a few minutes to say Happy Thanksgiving. I hope today is everything you could wish.

God's blessings with you always, and if you have to travel, be safe.

Things like this aggrevate me!!!

I don't know if this really happened or not, so because of that I'll keep the names out of this post.

Here is a copy of the email. I went through and took out all of the things that will tell you about who, where, and why. After you read this, I'll tell you why this makes me so mad.

My name is XXX. I wrote to XXX (on-line) concerning a program called "XXX XXXXXXXX." In last week's episode, one of the lawyer's mothers decided she is gay and wanted her son to go to court and help her get a marriage license so she could marry her 'partner.' I sent the following letter to XXX yesterday and really did not expect a reply, but I did get one.

My original message was:

XXX is obsessed (or should I say abscessed) with the subject of homosexuality. I will no longer watch any of your attempts to convince the world that homosexuality is OK. XXX XXXXXXXX can be a fairly good show, but last night's program was so typical of your agenda. You picked the 'dufus' of the office to be the one who was against the idea of his mother being gay and made him look like a whiner because he had convictions. This type of mentality calls people like me a "gay basher." Read the first chapter of Romans (that's in the Bible) and see what the apostle Paul had to say about it.... He, God and Jesus were all 'gaybashers'. What if she'd fallen in love with her cocker spaniel? Is that an alternative lifestyle? (By the way, the Bible speaks against that, too.)
--XXX

Here is XXX's reply from the XXX on-line webmaster:

How about getting your nose out of the Bible (which is ONLY a book of stories compiled by MANY different writers hundreds of years ago) and read the declaration of independence (what our nation is built on), where it says "All Men are Created equal," and try treating them that way for a change! Or better yet, try thinking for yourself and stop using an archaic book of stories as your lame crutch for your existence. You are in minority in this country and your boycott will not affect us or our freedom of statement..
This person's second response to XXX:

Thanks for your reply. From your harsh reply, evidently I hit a nerve. I will share it with all with whom I come in contact. Hopefully, the Arkansas Democrat Newspaper will include it in one of their columns and I will be praying for you.

Note: Wouldn't Satan just love it if people stopped using the Bible for a crutch? Please resend this to everyone in your mailbox.

Now to why this makes me so angry!!!

I get so mad over the fact that Christians aren't allowed to express our thoughts and feelings without people thinking that we hate the people we are talking about. You have to understand that it's not the people. A true christian is supposed to love everyone!!! It's the actions that we have such a hard time with. There are several referrences in the bible that show that it's wrong to have this kind of relationship with someone of the same gender, (both the old and new testament state this). I've had a lot of friends of this nature and I've never once made them feel that I hate them for the way they live, but I've always thought enough of them to let them know that I don't agree with it.

I applaud the fact that some people have such stronge convictions and are willing to fight for them, just don't get mad at me because I don't agree with them. Why is it that Christians aren't allowed to express our feelings about a subject without it being taken wrong? I understand that some take it to extremes, but so does the other side. As Christ loved everyone, as a Christian, we should as well. He never made anyone feel inferior for the way they lived their lives, but he never changed the way he thought about it either. He wasn't worried if it offended anyone, and yet as a nation that seems to be all we do care about. The people that think that being a gay or lesbian have strong convictions about this subject, yet they get very mad if someone disagrees with them and states that fact. I was raised under the impression that as an American, I have that right. I don't have to agree, but I also don't have to make someone feel inferior to me because we don't agree on a subject, and that's something I pray I never do!!! Just because I am a Christian doesn't mean that I have the right to judge someone, all I can do is let them know that I don't agree. I won't force them to agree with me. Yet some people feel that they have the right to make me agree with them. Why is that? Am I supposed to change the way I feel just because it may offend someone? I can't do that.

I realize that because of this post, I may get some hate email. I guess that goes with the teritory. It won't change my mind, and to the ones that sends them, I will pray for you. But that is the extent of what I will do. I won't hate you and nothing you can say will make me do that. That wouldn't be Christ like, and as a Christian, that is the main thing I have to do.

God bless.

Fake Emails

I actually got a fake email that was supposed to be (but not) from ebay. Since I keep my balance at 0 usually, I had no idea why I was getting it, so I asked customer service about it. I'm really glad I went about it that way. Come to find out that is was someone that wanted my password. The email said that they needed uptodate info on my cc or banking account and since my balance was over $1.00 and if I didn't give this info, my account would be suspended. I'm really glad now that I do things like I do. If I had been more trusting, this person could have wiped me out.

Please people before you give any personal information out because of an email, make sure you verify it's from the actual company and from a company that is legit! This can not be stressed enough. There are so many people out there that only want to rip you off. All they want is someone that is willing to freely give this kind of information out, then you are there's. Please be careful! I know the internet can be a wonderful place, but if you are not careful, you could be hurt as well.

God's blessings to everyone.

I want to apologize for not writing anything sooner. I've been trying to get some craft projects done so I can have some on sale for a craft show that is supposed to be in December. Plus a friend asked me to do a pillow for her daughter. So needless to say, it's been a pretty busy few weeks. One good thing though, I've got several things done for the show and plan to have some more before it's time.

Plus, great news! There is an online bookstore that has agreed to let me use some of the coloring pages that they send for samplers as the pages I send to the children. The name of the site is Dover Publications. If you get a chance, go by and see what all they have. I'm so glad they agreed to this. For starters, I can't draw a straight line and have it look good, another thing is I really don't like to use a printshop to make these pages. This way I get some wonderful drawings that I'm sure the children will love and I don't have to pretend that I know how to draw.

Another place you may want to go check out is City Links. Here is what they say about themselves, Citylinks, an online community portal providing solutions & resources to non profit organizations and individuals with needs, or who simply want to help. Our services include an online help database, informational resources, volunteer links & community service opportunities. They have so much information on their site, it will take a while to go through it all. But it's definitely worth checking out.

That's all for tonight, I hope you have a great week.

God's blessings to each one of you.

This place is so great!!!

I've been searching for someone to help me do some of these crafts to sell on my site, one of the people that called, we've become good friends since we've started to talk. Her name is Sherry Brooks. Anyway, the reason I'm telling you this is because she made mention that Lowe's might be willing to give me some of the kids crafts for the children I send to. So I went up there today just to see. Guess what! This store manager was so nice about it. I told him what I did and why I was there, I, of course, told him that I wasn't non-profit but he gave me the projects anyway. I've got 9 projects to send to certain children. I haven't made up my mind as to which ones will get them because there are so many to choose from, but I thought it was so nice of Lowe's to give these to me, most especially since I'm not a non-profit organization. I completely understand why people are leary of giving to someone that isn't. It's to easy to say you do this or you do that just to see what you can get out of it, but this didn't seem to bother him. He accepted my at my word. So if you know a child that qualifies for one of these, Please let me know. I don't want to keep these here. I want to have these gone as soon as possible.

God's blessings to you all.

Update on Crafts

I've got the pillow done, now all I have to do is get a picture of it on here. I'm going to try to do that tomorrow. I also have 99.99% of all the supplies I need to do the other items I would like to put on here. Just wait until you see some of the items that will be sold on this site. I think you will be trilled with them as well as the price.

Now let me tell you about my weekend. We took the boys to a carnival that was in town. I wish you could have seen them. They had so much fun. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, the boys or my husband and I. These boys aren't scared of anything. They got on rides I won't get on and when they got off couldn't wait to do the ride again. Even my 3 year old wasn't bothered by these rides. You have to understand, I won't get on a ferris wheel for anything. Ask my husband about the one and only time he talked me into riding one when we first got married. He decided then and there that he would never make that mistake again.

I'm going to go for now. I really need to work on these craft items some more. I hope you have a blessed day.

Okay, I'm bored!!!

I'm sitting here at 1:00 in the morning when I should be asleep. I've been trying to come up with some crafts that might sell on my site. I've found a few and have asked a few friends to check them out and give me their thoughts on the subject. Hopefully before too long, I'll have tons of craft items for sell on my site.

I don't know if you have seen my page of crafts for sale yet, but today I called the local radio station and asked if someone would be willing to donate some time and help me do some cross stitch. I actually got a response. Let me explain about the station first. Every morning, except Sunday, the have a program called The Classifieds. That's where people can call and let people know what they have for sell or what they are looking for. It's a great station and I listen most mornings. (Plus I know the DJ's and want to support them by listening.) Anyway back to the original story. A woman called and volunteered to help do this, but she wanted me to understand that she had never done cross stitch before. I told her I would teach her to do this. To me, it's a very simple thing to do. (If you can sew, you can do cross stitch.) Not only is she wanting to help, but so is her mom, her sister, and her next door neighbor, she just got volunteered to do the calling.

I swear, she and I talked for over 2 hours. Come to find out, she has all kinds of contacts in town here and not only is she going to help with the crafts, but she's going to help get this program on it's feet. She knows people that should be willing to help me raise funds to turn this into a non-profit organization. I know the Lord was watching out for me, that's the only thing I can figure. I mean, what are the odds that the one person that calls would have so many contacts? We plan to meet Tuesday and discuss tactics to see what should and can be done. I am so thrilled to have met her. I've been thanking God for her all day.

Anyway, that's all that has happened here today. I'll keep you abreast on what happens between the two of us. Please keep me and this program in your prayers.

May God always bless you and your family!!!

I wish Things Like this didn't happen

I was watching the television last night and I heard a story about a 15 year old that had been chained to his bed and was being starved. Here's the story, please be warned, this is such a sad story. How could someone do this to their own child? Children are such a blessing that to do one like this is completely beyond my comprehension. As you can tell I love kids, after all look at this program that I'm doing. Children are a reason to celebrate even if the child is sick. God gave you these children. I'm a firm believer that children only belong to a parent for only a little while. Even though a child is always your child, you only have them for such a short time. Then it's time for you to turn them loose and let them live their lives. How could someone abuse a child?

Anyway, I'm going to go for now. I hope you have a blessed day.

You've got to read this!!!

I got this in an email the other day and thought it was so funny. I'm pretty sure this is a true story because I know which store he's talking about. I'm just glad everyone is alright. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did, but I'll warn you, it is a little long, but well worth reading.

My wife is fond of saying that my last words on this earth will be something akin to, "hey y'all, hold my beer and watch this!" Well, I have outdone myself once again. No doubt you will see this true story chronicled in a Lifetime movie in the near future. Here goes.

Last weekend I spied something at Larry's Pistol and Pawn that tickled my fancy. (Note: Keep in mind that my "fancy" is easily tickled). I bought something really cool for my wife . The occasion was our anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my sweetgirl.
What I came cross was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized Tazer gun with a clip. For those of you who are not familiar with this product, it is a less-than-lethal stun gun with two metal prongs designed to incapacitate an assailant with a shock of high-voltage, low amperage electricity while you flee to safety. The effects are supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, but allowing you adequate time to retreat to safety. You simply jab the prongs into your 250 lb. Tattooed assailant, push the button, and it will render him a slobbering, goggle-eyed, muscle-twitching, whimpering, pencil-neck geek. If you've never seen one of these things in action, then you're truly missing out--way too cool!

Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two triple-a batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was so disappointed. Upon reading the directions (we don't need no stinkin' directions), I found much to my chagrin that this particular model would not create an arc between the prongs.

How disappointing! I do love fire for effect. I learned that if I pushed the button, however, and pressed it against a metal surface that I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs that I was so looking forward to. I did so. Awesome!!!

Sparks, a blue arc of electricity, and a loud pop!!! Yippee . . I'm easily amused, just for your information, but I have yet to explain to my wife what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two triple-a batteries, etc., etc. There I sat in my recliner, my cat looking on intently (trusting little soul), reading the directions (that would be me, not the cat ) and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh and blood target. I must admit I thought about zapping kitty for a fraction of a second and thought better of it. She is such a sweet kitty, after all. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised.

Am I wrong? Was I wrong to think that? Seemed reasonable to me at the time.
So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, Tazer in another. The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water.

All the while I'm looking at this little device (measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference, pretty cute really, and loaded with two itsy, bitsy triple-a batteries) thinking to myself, "no friggin' way!"

FRIGGIN' WAY--trust me, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best.
Those of you who know me well have got a pretty good idea of what followed. I'm sitting there alone, the cat looking on with her head cocked to one side as to say, "don't do it buddy," reasoning that a one-second burst from such a tiny lil' ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad (sound, rational thinking under the circumstances, wouldn't you agree?). I decided to give myself one-second burst just for the hell of it. (Note: You know, a bad decision is like hindsight--always twenty-twenty. It is so obvious that it was a bad decision after the fact, even though it seemed so right at the time. Don't ya hate that)?

I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and HOLY **************!
DAaaaauuuuuuMN!!! I'm pretty sure that Jessie Ventura ran in through the front door, picked me up out of that recliner, then body slammed me on the carpet over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, soaking wet, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position. Kitty was standing over me making meowing sounds I had never heard before, licking my face, undoubtedly thinking to herself, "do it again, do it again!"

(Note: If you ever feel compelled to mug yourself with a Tazer, one note of caution. There is no such thing as a one-second burst when you zap yourself. You're not going to let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor. Then, if you're lucky, you won't dislodge one of the prongs 1/4" deep in your thigh like yours truly.)

SON-OF-A-***** that hurt! A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at this point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. How did they get there??? My triceps, right thigh and both titties were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, as my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. give or take an ounce or two, I'm pretty sure.

By the way, has anyone seen my testicles? I think they ran away. I'm offering a reward. They're round, rather large, kinda hairy, and handsome if I must say so myself. Miss 'em . . . sure would like to get 'em back.

Children

Have you noticed just how fast children are growing up these days? My 8 year old already has his own alarm clock so he can wake up on his own. My 3 year old is already wanting to learn how to tie his shoes. Why do they have to grow up so fast? Why can't they stay our little babies for just a little longer? There are times I sit and just watch them and think, "Thank you God for these wonderful blessings you've given me." There is no doubt in my mind that God gave me these children as a blessing! Even though they get on my nerves sometimes, I can't imagine my life without them. As I watch my children, it makes me wonder if I was the same way with my parents. Did I do to them the same things my kids do to me? Probably. Aren't children wonderful?!!!

Now onto the program. I've decided to sell some homemade crafts to help raise funds for this program. You can find them here, Crafts for sale. I realize that I have only one item on there, but more are coming. I hope you check it out and keep coming back to see what new items I've added.

May God be with you always.

Men are Weird

Have you ever noticed that men have their own way of seeing things? If I spend more than 5 minutes on the computer my husband has to find something to fuss about, yet I can spend hours doing crafts and he won't say a word. I've decided to make some crafts and put them up for sell on my site to raise money for this program. I'll post pictures of some of the things I have ready as soon as I finish them. I figure I'll do some Christmas ornaments at first.

I found a wonderful program that will convert midis to mp3s, actually it will convert most kinds of music to mp3. It's a free program but the only bad thing about this program is that you have to have Windows 2000 or Windows XP. If you want to check it out click here. It's a great program. I know you'll enjoy it.

I hope things are well with you and God is blessing you and your family.

Have you noticed???

I changed the way my email reads on my site and I still get some of the weirdest emails around. I keep getting emails wanting me to get medication that will increase the size of certain male parts. There's one BIG problem with that. I don't have male parts. And all the emails are address to info. My name isn't info. I get so tired of getting these things and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'm pretty sure you're reading this and saying to yourself, I know exactly how she feels. The US made such a big deal about this anti-spam law and how it would reduce the amount of emails we get. HA!!! I get more not than I ever did before. I even get those that tell some sob story about how this person is being persecuted and they have to get millions out of their country and need my help to do this. Of course they're going to pay me for my trouble. Like I really believe that. I'm really going to give them all this personal information about myself like my banking account number. Do these people think I'm completely off my rocker?! I don't trust anyone with that information. If it isn't these emails, I get the ones that tell about how some person wants to meet me and go out on a date. I happen to be happily married.

I delete more emails than I actually read. And the attachments! I get some lulus. At least I have decent security on my computer so I don't get that many viruses to come through. I get more change start page than anything else. At least so far. It sure is a hassle getting things back to the way it should be.

I know you didn't come here to read about my email troubles, but I just had to fuss about that, and I appologize if this has offended anyone. I just had to get this off my chest, so to speak. When I go to a site looking for emails to send something to, I at least try to find a name to use instead of just putting something down. I get tired of having email addressed to info. If you are going to send me an email that advertises a product, at least make sure my name is on the email! Is that too much to ask? I hope not.

I also want you to watch for the ones that say application approved. I don't fill applications over the net. It's too easy for someone to be spying on me and get that information. Word of warning, if you don't know who the email is from, just go ahead and delete it. You are a lot better off in the long run. Don't even worry about doing an unsubscribe because all that does is let them know that someone checks the email and it incourages them to send more.

Okay, I'll get off my soap box and wish you a good night. I pray the Lord blesses you and watches over you.

Just Rambling

I'm watching my ebay items that go off sale today and figured that I'd come here for a little while.

I realize I just put August's picture up and just mailed the one for September, but I always try to look ahead to what I want to send the children. I'm a terrible artist. If I try to draw a straight line, I can guarantee it will come out crooked. My 8 year old son can draw better than I can. I wish I were joking but I'm not. He's really good and seems to enjoy it. I'm glad though. I want to encourage him in stuff like this. I'll probably be asking him for pictures to send to the kids. I bet he'll get a kick out of that. He really likes the fact that I do this. He's all the time trying to come up with ways to help children that need it. One day he decided to have a yard sale so he could buy some toys to take to the hospital here in town. He never did though because I couldn't get him to go through his stuff to see what he wanted to get rid of. Oh well, he's only 8. I've got to teach him to follow through on his actions, and I will. He's really a good boy. Actually both of my boys are good boys. One is just a little active, make that a lot active. But that's okay, I wouldn't have him any other way.

It's amazing how different two boys can be. Devin, my oldest is usually quiet. Marcus, he's just the opposite. I know I fuss about them sometimes, most especially when I don't get any time away from them, but I wouldn't know what to do without them in my life.

Anyway, if you want to donate some drawings for this, please feel free to do so. I can't pay you for it, but I'll be glad to put your name on my site by the picture. Just email me and you can either do it as an attachment or mail them to me. I've got a scanner and can scan them onto my computer.

Thanks for coming here and reading my ramblings. I really like that.

God bless you always.

I've got some bids

I went to check my ebay today and noticed that there are actually some bids on a couple of my items. I'm so thrilled. I was wondering if I would or not. I've never done this before so I'm not exactly sure how to do this. I've got friends that sell on ebay all the time. At least I finally did it. I've got a few more items to add, I just need to get some pictures made before I can. As soon as I do, I'll be sure to let you know.

God's blessings to you always.

I finally got some items on ebay for sell. I spent a good bit of time trying to get it listed last night. I don't know how I did yet, as far as the listing goes, but I guess I'll find out soon enough. If you want to take a look at them, go to My Ebay Store. Please, whatever comments you have to make it better, please feel free to make them. I'm very new to this and any help is appreciated.

I hope you have a great day, and God bless.

Wrote my first children's book

I know it may not sound like too much to anyone else, but the Lord gave me an idea for a children's book and I just had to get it on paper. I've learned if I get an idea right before I go to sleep, if I don't write it down, I won't remember it come the morning. I really want to tell you about it, but I wan't to see about getting it published first. Once I get everything underway, I'll be sure to keep you informed on my progress. By the way, I got it finished last night as well. Now I'm trying to get it in manuscript form. Sometimes I really hate typing, but it's something I have to do.

Now on to other things. I had to take Marcus to the doctor today. He had a bad ear infection, which I told the doctor and nurses before they even looked at him. I'm sure I'm nto the only parent to be able to do this, but I spend most of my time with him and know him better than anyone else.

You can tell it's been a pretty boring week. Nothing interesting has happened, except that my in-laws had to go to South Carolina to pick up my stepson. His truck caught on fire while he was visiting some of his friends. Thank God, the damage to the truck isn't as bad as it could have been. As of right now, it looks like a few hoses and belts and the truck should be as good as can be expected. The only thing was that they had two cellphones on them and both of them had the battery run down on them and they couldn't contact us to let us know what was going on. My husband and his aunt were driving me crazy calling all the time to see if I had heard anything. You have to realize, my in-laws don't go anywhere without contacting us at least once a day. The same goes for us when we go on vacation. It's nice to be loved so much!!!

Anyway, I'm going to go for now. I really need to get some sleep. Marcus keep me up most of the night with an ear ache.

I pray that God watches over you and your family always.

Comments

I love knowing that people are reading what I have to say, and here's why. I went through a few of my post and came across a comment asking this: "I love the idea of getting paid for recycling, but why do centers pay when most towns require recycling by law? " It's a very good question and I wish I had an answer for this person. I will do my best to find out though. I've never thought about that one. I live out in the country and they don't do recycling here but they do in the town where I live close to. If I'm not mistaken, the people that pick up the recycling that's put out is a different company than the one I actually take my stuff to, but I'm not sure so don't quote me on this. As soon as I find out the answer, I'll be sure to post it here.

Now on to things about the program. I've got a friend that is such a great artist and he's agreed to help me with some coloring pages for the children I send to. His name is CGFreak, I won't put his real name because most people don't know him by it. Anyway, he has a site out so I figured I'd post a link to it. He's really a great guy and his girlfriend is just as sweet. I got to talk to her the other day. Anyway, here's the link to his site. http://www.savagefls.com/ I hope you go there and let him help you find a computer.

God's blessings to you all.

Happy Birthday Devin

Well, my oldest son turns 8 today. I've got it set up so I can have a party for him during his snack time. I hate to tell him this is the last year I'm going to do this. For one thing, he's getting to old for a party at school and another, I have a feeling it may embarrass him if I keep it up for much longer. He's getting to be such a big boy. He wakes himself up, gets himself ready for school and gets himself on the bus, all without me having to really do anything. I just like to make sure I'm there to see him get on the bus. Yes, I'm being an over protective parent! But better safe than sorry. There's too many people out there that don't mind hurting children, in fact some people see to really enjoy it, and it's something I can't understand. How can anyone enjoy hurting a child? Children are so precious!!! They are a gift, and yes, before you ask, I really believe that. I know my children sometimes get on my nerves, but I can't imagine my life without them in it. They're a constant source of joy and pride.

Now on to a different subject. I found a place that will pay you simply for being online. You don't have to pay anything to join! All you have to do is install a small program that works in the background. You shouldn't even notice it there. I checked for viruses and spyware and didn't find any after I had installed the program, so it should be safe. The name of the place is GomezPEER. I'm funny about what I put on my computer and I won't recommend a program unless I've tried it first to make sure it works and is safe for the computer and user. If you're interested, please join. It's an easy way to make money simply for being on the internet.

I hope you have a great day and that God watches over you and your family.

Just to keep you up to date.

I'm glad you weren't at my house yesterday! You would not have like the way I reacted to this, and yes I'm about to tell you what happened. I was sitting on the couch waiting for the computer to finish running a program, out of habit, I looked up to see how far along it was and I noticed instead of the beautiful picture I usual have on there, there is this blue screen telling me that it had to do a memory dump. I'm praying none of you have ever had this happen! Anyway, about the time I realize that my computer is on the fritz, to put it mildly, I hear this loud thump from inside the tower and the computer shuts down. Since I put this thing together I figure it shouldn't be too hard to fix, right? Wrong!!! One of the clips had broken and the fan that keeps the cpu cooled off had fallen on top of my video card. Now, being the very intelligent person that I am, I decide to reach right in there and grab the fan. Don't ever do something like that!!!! That thing was so hot that I'm just now getting feeling back in one of my fingertips and it's been over 24 hours. That made me realize that I needed something else to pick it up with so I grab a pot holder from the kitchen and use it to remove the fan. Just so you know, the base the fan was attached to is metal. I told you I was intelligent! Because of this, I had to spend today trying to find a fan that would work with the prongs that I had left. Luckily I found one at a place in the next town. The gentleman that assisted me even went so far as to make sure my computer was still working after this fiasco. I was very blessed that all I lost was one of my ram sticks and the video card that was in there. Thank You Jesus!!! Things could have been so much worse. I have an AMD processor, and for those of you that don't know about this cpu, it has to have a fan to keep it from over heating.

Oh well, I'm just glad that things weren't worse than they were. I also learned several valuable lessons yesterday and today. 1) Don't touch metal when it's hot. (You would think that at the age of 39 I would have already know that one.) 2) Don't be afraid to ask an expert for help. 3) Always be willing to learn new things. The gentleman at Gigaparts was so helpful to me today I just had to let everyone know. He went out of his way to not only make sure my computer was working but made sure I understood what he was doing and why. I know that basically all he did was remove some parts but he didn't charge me for his time when he could have! He was so polite and helpful. Never once did he make me feel like a dunce. Some guys will jsut because I'm a female. He treated me with respect. Because of his attitude today, I know I'll go back to that store when I need different computer parts.

Anyway, that's it as far as my day went. I've got my computer up and running again. I even learned a few things about it that I didn't know.

I hope your day was better and pray that God watches over you.

I have a challenge for you

As most of you know, I recycle to help fund this program. I challenge each of you to start recycling and use the money to help a charity organization. It doesn't have to be my program, I just want you to realize how much you can help an organization by doing this.

Call your local recycling center to see what they pay, then start saving those items. I usually go on a weekly basis that way I don't have a lot just lying around the house. Save all the money you've made for one month, earmark it for whatever charity you decide to help and see how much you've raised by not throwing away those cardboard boxes, soda cans, old newspapers or whatever. Not only will you be helping a great cause, you'll be helping the planet.

God's blessings with you all.

Whatever

Have you ever had one of those days that nothing seemed to go right? That was today. I ended up getting a worm on my computer. How? I have no idea! The kids had to pick today to argue with me over everything. Hubby , well, hubby was just being himself. At least I did get the worm off, at least I think I did. The kids are asleep and so is hubby. So now I have the house to myself and I'm enjoying the quiet time, which comes to seldom around here. The bad thing is, I wouldn't know what to do without all this activity! I know, as most parents do, that if the kids are too quiet, they're up to something! And you never really want to know what it is, but being a responsible parent, you have to go check! I guess things could be worse. Sometimes I just like to complain, but it doesn't take me long to realize just how good things are here. I have to kids that are healthy enough to be making noise. Some parents aren't so blessed. I have a hubby to fuss about, some people don't have that either.

Thinking about that makes me think about Daniel's parents, which in one way, makes me feel bad for fussing, because, the very things I'm fussing about, they wish they could be. I really feel for them! I can't even imagine what they're going through. It's not something I've ever faced. Have you ever noticed that when you go through some terrible tragedy, one of the first things people say is, "I understand what you're going through." When they have never been through the same situation? I guess that's why I don't. How can I understand what loosing a child feels like? I've never been through it. Thank God, my children have never really been that sick. I know I fuss and complain about my family, but something always makes me realize that my life isn't that bad. There is always someone out there in worse shape than me.

Okay, enough serious time here. Let's get into something else. I got this as an email and since most people that come here are parents, I thought you might enjoy it as well. I don't know who wrote it, but I hope you get a laugh out of it. If you know, please let me know as well. I would like to tell the person, "Great Job!!!"

"Reacting to Federal Guidelines, the state of Florida, which has been highlighted as a role model for student testing by the Bush Administration's Department of Education, has released the following memo:

In response to President Bush's Federal No Child Left Behind Act, students will have to pass it to be promoted to the next grade level. In the hopes that it will be uniformly adopted by all the states, thus illuminating Florida to a glorious front runner position in education, it will be called: the Federal Arithmetic and Reading Test (FART).

All students who cannot pass a FART in the second grade will be retested in grades 3-5 until such a time as they are capable of achieving a FART score of 80%. If a student does not successfully FART by grade 5, that student shall be placed in a separate English program, the Special Mastery Elective for Learning Language (SMELL).

If with this increased SMELL program the student cannot pass the required FART, he or she can graduate to middle school by taking a one-semester course in Comprehensive Reading and Arithmetic Preparation (CRAP).

If by age fourteen the student cannot FART, SMELL or CRAP, he will earn his promotion in an intensive one-week seminar This is the Preparatory Reading for Unprepared Nationally Exempted Students (PRUNES).

It is the opinion of the Florida Department of Public Instruction that an intensive week of PRUNES will enable any student to FART, SMELL or CRAP.

This revised provision of the student-testing component of the House Bill 110 should help clear the air."

May God's blessings alway be with you and your loved ones. Always remember, no matter how bad life seems, there is always someone in a worse situation than you are.

More about Daniel

I have the information about where to send items to Daniel's parents. Even if it's just a small letter of sympathy, I'm sure that will help.
Parents of Daniel Rodgers, c/o Apostolic Truth United Pentecostal Church, 8018 HWY 53 N, Toney AL 35773.

I know the Lord has a plan for this family! I may not know what it is, but I trust him to be there for them and comfort them. God has stated that He will not put more on us than we can bear, and I believe that. He's also stated that no matter what happens in our lives, it will all work to our good if we trust Him. I realize that sometimes that's hard to do, especially when something like this happens, but that's when we need to trust him the most. Please keep this family in your prayers. I know they need them.

God be with you always.

UPDATE

I just found out that one of the children I send these pages to died yesterday. It would have 4 years ago today that he was first diagnosed with cancer. Please pray for this family. I can only imagine what they are going through. How do you tell someone just how sorry you are that this happened to them? How do you make the pain of this loss go away? I'm a firm believer that parents are not supposed to outlive their children yet this kind of thing happens all the time. Remember, children are a blessing from God. He only lends them to you for such a short time. Take care of them, love them, protect them to the best of your ability. If you decide you want to help this family, as soon as I get an address, I'll post it here.

God's blessings to you and your family always.

Ebay

Have you ever wanted to use ebay like a professional? I found this gentleman that will actually help you do this. He's got a journal out where he talks about what he's learned over the years. I went through and read a couple of post he's got and I have to say, he sounds like he knows what he's talking about. If you've ever wondered about this, you really need to check this place out. Here is where to go. http://www.make-money-on-ebay.blogspot.com/


The church is going to the zoo today, so if you're at the Birmingham Zoo and notice a large group of people acting crazy, that's probably us. I'll write more about what happened when I return. I know we'll have a great time there. Marcus has been before but he was too young to remember that much about it. Now he's old enough to remember. I'm surprised we have so many going. We only have 16 members in our church yet we have over 30 saying they are going. Now if only we can get more people in our church. Oh well. I'll just keep praying over that. The Lord will bring more people there when He's ready to.

Have a great day and may the Lord bless you.

Going on Vacation

I just wanted to take a few minutes to let everyone know that the family is going on vacation soon. We're going to Florida to see my new nephew. I can't wait to hold that little bundle of joy in my arms! If for some reason you don't hear from me, that is why.

I also wanted to share the link to my other sister's wedding. The link is Mary's Wedding. You'll get to see her children as well. I've got some handsome neices and nephews. At least I think so anyway. I've asked everyone else to start a photo album so I can share those with you as will. As I get the links, I'll share them with you.

Pray for me and my family while we're gone. Pray that the Lord keeps us safe during our trip.

Know that my prayers are with you as you read this. I pray that you are safe and happy. If you ever need me to add you to my prayers personally, just drop me an email and I will.

God's blessings with you always.

Good Morning

Well yesterday was my birthday. I turned 39 years old. As you can see, I'm not one of those people that worry too much about telling my age. I had a pretty decent day. Not long after I woke up, my husband called just to say he loved me and to wish me a happy birthday. Now you know one of the reasons I've stayed with his this long.

I've been trying to make some changes to my site. I've got some new site posted you may want to check out.

I realize today's writing is probably a little dull, but it's not really been that exciting lately. I've just mailed off this months pictures, so the children should be getting them soon. I'm still trying to get the auction off the ground. The only thing great is the pictures I'm sending. It's the third one of a series sent to me by Edward Duncan. All the pictures are hand drawn. I just know the kids will like them. I really wish I could draw like that. When I draw something, you would probably think my 3 year old did it. That's how bad I am.

I hope things are going great with you. I hope this finds you healthy and happy. God's blessings with you always.

Children

I watched my 3 year old son make his first pb&j sandwich today. For the most part, he did it all by himself. Of course, I had to take some of the jelly off, I had to clean the mess he made on the table as well as himself, then I had to cut part of it. (He doesn't like the crust on his). But for the most part, he did okay. Just one more thing my children don't need me to do for them. Why do they have to grow up so fast? I wish you could have seen it! He was so determined to do it all by himself. Anyway, that's the excitement I had today.

I hope your day has been rich in love of God and family!!

I know it's been awhile

I need to apologize for that. I've had some things happen lately that have taken up more time than I thought. Plus nothing new has really been happening. It's just the same old things every month. But it's still fun.

School is almost out for the summer here which means that I'll have both of my boys home during the day. Devin will be going on to third grade next year. It's amazing how much he's grown lately. He and Marcus both. I look at him sometimes and can't help but wonder, where has my baby gone? I realize he's still my baby, but he doesn't like to be called that. He told me that the other day. I had to explain to him that just because I called him baby, doesn't mean that I think of him as one, it's just that no matter how big he gets, he'll always be "my baby"! I think he understands it more now. When I call Marcus baby, he'll look me straight in the eyes and say "I'm not a baby!!" When this happened the other day, I heard Devin trying to explain it to him about why I say that. It was sooo cute to here my own words coming out of his mouth. At least I know he was paying attention to me when I explained it to him. Why do kids have to grow up so quick? It seems like only yesterday, I was bringing them home from the hospital. Time sure does fly!!!

I'm going to go for now. I just wanted to let you know that I'm still alive and kicking, just not as high as I used to.

God's blessings to you and your family.

Maybe I can help you

I have decided to try a new way to raise money for this program. If there is something that you have been looking for on the net and are running into what seems like brick walls, let me try to help. For just a small fee that is negegotiated before hand, I will find whatever it is. If I don't find it, you don't pay. This will help all parties involved. If you do want my help in this matter, just email me with the details as well as what you are willing to pay and I'll get back with you shortly with whether I can find it or not. If I don't find it, you don't pay. It's that simple.

Also, I want to tell you about a new forum I found. http://theworks.proboards22.com/index.cgi. It's a great place for information of all kinds. You'll get the latest on freebies, work from home jobs and so much more. It's a brand new forum so please join. I know you'll like it there.

God's blessings to you.

I want to take a few minutes and tell you about the newest addition to my mailing list. His name is Kyle Brown, and he has Duchenne's MD. I know very little about this disease and plan to study some on the subject, but I've put a link here so you can check it out if you want to.

I know the Lord can stop all suffering in this world. I understand that He let's some things happen for a reason. I just don't understand why He let's children suffer. Please don't get me wrong, I trust the Lord to know what is best for all of us, if we will only trust Him to take care of us. I know there is a reason why things like this happen, I just don't know what they are most of the time. Have you ever noticed that the children with the worst situations are usually the ones with the most faith in Him? I amazes and humbles me to find this much faith and courage in the youngest of people. Here they are in a situation I can only imagine and they have more faith than anyone else I know. Why is that? These children can teach so much about love and faith.

Anyway, I also want to tell you about the newest addition to my family. Her name is Sara Jane Jasimine Horton. She was born April 21 at 7:33 pm. I now have a new neice and nephew born this year. Isn't God wonderful? Ironic I ask that question now after just questioning why He let's bad things happen, but it's true. God is wonderful!!! Anyway, if you want to see a picture of her to go My Family page on my site. She is adorable! I can't wait until I can see her in person, but considering my brother lives in Arkansas, I doubt it will be anytime soon. Sara Jane is the youngest child of my brother Billy and his wife Michelle. I don't have pictures of the whole family yet, but when I do, I'll make sure I put them on my family page as well. I'm very proud of all my family, not just my children. Let me tell you a little about my brother. He had to quit school because of situations beyond his control, but, he went back and got his diploma at 21. I'm not talking about getting his GED, though I have nothing against anyone that does this, my husband did this. I just think it took a lot of courage to go back to high school at 21 just so he could walk the ailse. Not many people I know would have that kind of courage, me included. I don't tell him how proud I am often enough.

Anyway, I'm going to go now. It's almost 4:00 in the morning and the sinus pill I took is just kicking in.

May God bless you and your family.

Good Morning, I think

I want to take a few minutes and tell you about the newest addition to my mailing list. His name is Kyle Brown, and he has Duchenne's MD. I know very little about this disease and plan to study some on the subject, but I've put a link here so you can check it out if you want to.

I know the Lord can stop all suffering in this world. I understand that He let's some things happen for a reason. I just don't understand why He let's children suffer. Please don't get me wrong, I trust the Lord to know what is best for all of us, if we will only trust Him to take care of us. I know there is a reason why things like this happen, I just don't know what they are most of the time. Have you ever noticed that the children with the worst situations are usually the ones with the most faith in Him? I amazes and humbles me to find this much faith and courage in the youngest of people. Here they are in a situation I can only imagine and they have more faith than anyone else I know. Why is that? These children can teach so much about love and faith.

Anyway, I also want to tell you about the newest addition to my family. Her name is Sara Jane Jasimine Horton. She was born April 21 at 7:33 pm. I now have a new neice and nephew born this year. Isn't God wonderful? Ironic I ask that question now after just questioning why He let's bad things happen, but it's true. God is wonderful!!! Anyway, if you want to see a picture of her to go My Family page on my site. She is adorable! I can't wait until I can see her in person, but considering my brother lives in Arkansas, I doubt it will be anytime soon. Sara Jane is the youngest child of my brother Billy and his wife Michelle. I don't have pictures of the whole family yet, but when I do, I'll make sure I put them on my family page as well. I'm very proud of all my family, not just my children. Let me tell you a little about my brother. He had to quit school because of situations beyond his control, but, he went back and got his diploma at 21. I'm not talking about getting his GED, though I have nothing against anyone that does this, my husband did this. I just think it took a lot of courage to go back to high school at 21 just so he could walk the ailse. Not many people I know would have that kind of courage, me included. I don't tell him how proud I am often enough.

Anyway, I'm going to go now. It's almost 4:00 in the morning and the sinus pill I took is just kicking in.

May God bless you and your family.

Just felt like saying hello

It's 12:30 at night and I'm here visiting different forums that I belong to trying to catch up on all I've missed. I've got one that I should go to more often. It's called The Parenting Chat. It's a place where parents can come and talk about anything pertaining with their children. Need help with something pertaining to your child? This is the place to go. There are all kinds of parents there, some with a lot of experience and some with none at all. It makes me remember what I was like when I just started out as a new parent. I had almost forgotten that feeling. Completely overwhelmed. I do not miss those days at all!!! It also makes me realize just how far I've come as a parent. Plus there is always someone there that just might benefit from what I've learned. Like, how do you get a child to quit biting while you are trying to feed him/her? Hold the nose. It doesn't hurt the child and they will let go of a very sensitive area to breath. Learned this one the hard way. There are a few other things that I've learned over the years but too many to list here. I'll leave that for the forum. Anyway, I just thought I'd come here and say hello to you before I turned the computer off for the night.

I hope you have a great day, and I hope God blesses you always with health and happiness.

Comments

I wanted to tell you about my day yesterday. I decided to go through my post to see if anyone had posted a comment. I actually had one there. I really like getting comments about my stuff. It lets me know that it's being read. Even a bad one would be welcome to me. I get to hear what people are thinking about this. I realize that sometimes I probably get a little too personal in this, but there's only so much I can put about the program. If I were expanding it, that would be a different story. Since I'm still sending to the same people, there is just not much to say. I mean, who wants to here, "I designed the coloring page today that I would send." or I just mailed off the pages", each and every month. To me that would get pretty boring very quickly. So I tell you about other things that are happening. Even some of the more personal things. Just not to personal. Seriously, no one wants to hear if my husband and I got into a fight, what it was about and things like that. To me, that is too boring, and just too personal. I will tell you about the good things my children have done and how proud I am of them. I might even tell you about how the kids and my husband are driving my up a wall, but that goes with being a parent and wife. Just a part of life. Anyway, I wanted to say thanks to the person that left the comment, I really appreciate it. Thanks for letting me know that my posts are being read.

God's blessings to you always.

New Happenings

I just got a bid on the plier set yesterday. I don't know if you remember him or not, but T J Daniels is the one that made the bid. He's the gentleman that sent me the wonderful poems. Incase you want to see his site, it's http://www.poetry-tjdaniels.com/. He writes some great poems.

Things are going great here. Devin is going to be in a play next month. I have to make him a butterfly outfit for it and some intennea. I've got to figure how to do this. This is the first time I've ever had to do something like this before. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I need all the help I can get.

I hope you have a great day.

God's blessings to you.

Please let me fuss some

As you know, I've been going to this forum where we can talk about anything. It's really a great place to go. Anyway, lately it seems like some people come there only to cause trouble. I get so tired of hearing the same old thing. The owner of the place seems to be trying to put past differences to rest and welcome any and all that feel have been done wrong there. But it seems like everytime he tries all they want to do is fuss some more about the same thing. I'm so tired of hearing about this. Can't they at least try to get along? We are supposed to be adults after all. Maybe one day!

Now about the program. I want to apologize for not putting the page on the other day like I was supposed to. I fixed it on the page here and forgot to tranfer the page to the site. If you will go there now, you can see the picture I send in March. I just can't wait until I can post the one for April. This guy really did a great job of drawing these pictures for the children. I know you will like them. Anyway, I really just wanted to fuss some. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

God's blessings on you all.

I need your help

I want to start a page about children and teens that have done something extraordinary. The thing is I don't know where to look. If you know of someone that has done something for other children or the community, please let me know about it.

Now onto other news. I just received some pictures today that were donated to the program. All the pictures were hand drawn. I can't wait to put them on the site and I will just as soon as the children have had a chance to see them. The person that did these did a great job. I can't wait for the children to see them. I wish I could see the children's faces when they receive these. I know they will like them. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what is going on here. Tomorrow I will put the latest picture on the site for all to see. It won't be near as good as the drawings, but then I never said I could draw. I'm just glad that there are printshops that have lots of clipart.

God's blessings to everyone.

Beware, Security Issue

I don't usually talk about this on my journal, but I wanted today. I've been getting a lot of emails with viruses in them. Luckily I don't open them until I can scan it with my anti-virus program. I want to warn everyone about this. If you get an email with an attachment from someone you don't know, please don't open it until you have scanned it. One of the best anti-virus programs I've found is AVG. It is a free program that doesn't tie your ram up while it's trying to run.

Here are a few tips to remember,
1. Microsoft will never, ever send you an email telling you you need to download an update. If you get one of these, please disregard it because it will more than likely have a virus or worm in it.

2. Watch emails from your internet provider. While the people that sends these can make them look real, if you get one I would suggest that you call your provider just to make sure they really did send it before you open it. I got one that looked legit and because I called just to make sure, I kept a worm out of my machine. This one had a link to follow. Of all things, it was wanting me to download an anti-virus program. I promise, your provider will not mind the call and will probably congratulate you for being so intelligent. They understand that you are being cautious. I've also gotten some that look like they come from a site I visit, only to find out that it is a virus. If you don't want to do some of the things I've suggested earlier, save the attachment to a folder that can be found easily, and scan the file with your anti-virus program.

I know this is covered all over the place, but some things just can't be repeated enough. I keep hearing about people getting viruses because they opened an attachment that had one in there. You need to watch that.

Anyway, that is all I wanted to say today. I hope you have a great week.

God's blessings.

It's hard to believe...

March is almost over. Next week my oldest son will be out of school. It won't be long before he's out for the summer. It seems like time is flying faster and faster each year.

Anyway, I want to tell you about what is going on with my program. I've had two different people offer me some graphics. One guy is willing to draw some by hand and mail them to me. I can't wait until I get it so I can show you his work. The other person is going to send me some clipart for this. I think this is great. I get so tired of seeing the same old pictures all the time. I've been doing the page for April and have mailed it off to the places they are supposed to go to. There are times I wish I could see the children's faces as they recieve the pages I send them, but I understand why they have the rules they do. The children are much more important that me in this situation. I know they enjoy them, I only wish I could do more. These children have suffered so much already. I wish I could take away all the pain and suffering that they have to go through. It's not fair that these children have to go through what they do in the hopes that something will either cure them or at least stop or slow down the disease that is robbing them of a long life. There is no way I can understand what they or their parents are going through. I've never been through it. Yes my nephew has cancer, but that is not the same thing as it being my own child. Don't get me wrong, I love my nephew, but I imagine that it is different for a parent to be going through something like this instead of an aunt. I hope that's make sense to you.

Yes, I'm in one of my moods. It's almost midnight here and I'm sitting up watching this show about mistreated animals. It makes me sick to know that people can mistreat children or animals. They can't defend themselves. They depend on us to defend them. At least a dog can bite when mistreated. A child can't do that. Why would someone hurt a child? Children are a gift! A blessing! They are all so precious. Even when mine misbehave, I love them. I may spank them for being bad, but I would never hurt them like I see sometimes on TV. I do not verbally abuse my children. In some ways that is worse than physical abuse. At least a beating will stop hurting, verbal abuse can stay with a child for the rest of their lives. I don't get it. I guess this is one of those things that I will never understand.

Anyway, I'm going to stop for now and try to get some sleep. I hope you have a good weekend.

God's blessings to you always.

Have you ever found a great site and just couldn't wait to share?

I found this great forum. They are some of the nicest people there. They really care about you. Have a worry? Post it. There are sure to be someone that will help you through it. Just need to vent, you can do that there as well. It's really a great place. These people make me feel welcome. The place is Chat.LookFindGo.com. Beware though this place can be addictive.

Now on to the program. I'm looking for contacts at children's hospitals to set up this program with. Do you happen to know of anyone that would be willing to let me send these coloring pages to them for the children? It does not cost the hospitals anything. I handle all of the cost. All they have to do is pass them out to the children when they come in. If you do know anyone, please email me at info@pagesforchildren.com. I would welcome any help you can give me in this area!

Also, I should be getting a new picture of my nephew soon, so check back. As soon as sis sends it to me, I'll put it here for everyone to see.

God's blessings to everyone.

Email trouble

I am about to go nuts. The email account that goes with this page is driving me crazy right now. For some reason it got change and I have no idea why. I've now got it to where I can check it now but have no idea how to change the password to something that I want. But I'm working on that. The company that does the support for this has been very helpful and patient with me and is trying to find the problem.

Anyway, I thought I'd let you know what has been going on here. Not a thing. Truthfully. Jimmy, my husband got laid off for a week but he'll be going back to work Monday. He's just too good at what he does to know how to do a slow job just to kill time so he could have a check this week. Just so you know, he's in construction and considering how long he's been doing this kind of work, I'm not really suprised. He was taught how to do this by his family. So he learned the old way, the right way. He believe that a job should be done correct the first time.

Why don't we see this attitude more? Anyway, things will be back to normal soon, at least as back to normal as things can be around this house.

I hope things are going great for you. God bless you.

Just here

It's just after 1:00 in the morning here and I'm still wide awake. I know I need to get some sleep but I really don't want to. I write poetry. I've been doing this since school. Yes, it's been a while. Anyway, I was looking for my notebook today and can't find it anywhere. I've got stuff dating back to 1979. That's a lot of memories to loose. I know they have to be here somewhere, I just don't know where.

I'm just in one of those moods. Not really sad, not really happy. Just here. I would understand it more if I had more to be upset about. While my life may not be perfect, I have it better than some and not as good as others. I usually try to be happy but sometimes I get in these moods and can't seem to get out of them. I guess I just want to be alone for a little while and the only time that seems to happen is when everyone else is asleep. It's nice having a quite house. But I also like hearing the boys run around making noise. It lets me know they are safe and healthy. Does that make sense to anyone? I don't know what is wrong with me right now. I do know I'll get over it. I always do. I go through this phase sometimes but it doesn't last long. More than likely, when I wake up, I'll be back to my usual happy self.

Anyway, about the site. I'm still trying to find some items to add to the auction page. You can go there and see what I have so far. Who knows, you just may want to bid on something there. If you do, just let me know.

I'm going to try to get some sleep now. I hope everything is well with you.

May God's blessings be with you always.

What do I write about today?

There is not much happening with the program. But that is not unusually. My busiest times are around the last part and the first part of the months. I guess I could do a few months in advance, but I like to do it when it's needed. That way, I can put myself in the mood of what I want to do. I can see the picture I want to do if I wait til then. That may not make a lot of sense to some people but that is the way I work. It's fun doing it that way. Then I print everything out and sometimes sign the pages, it depends on what I am sending. This is really a fun program. I know the children like it even though I never see their faces as they receive them. But as I've stated before, that isn't why I started this. I don't need anyone to say thanks for these pages. Why thank someone for common courtesy? Why insist on getting a thank you just for being nice? Anyway, I just wanted to say hello. I hope you have a great day today.

God's blessings to everyone.

Isn't Amazing...

We went and saw "The Passion" Thursday night. It was a great movie. If you haven't seen it, then let me recommend it. I've talked to several people about it and so far no one has gotten the same message from it. Don't get me wrong, everyone agrees that it is well worth the price of admission. I just seems that everyone takes something different from it. While there was some guilt on my part, my main feelings were of amazement. It's hard to imagine that Christ went through that much torture willingly. He knew what He would be going through yet He did so anyway. Why? Because of us. It's hard to believe that this man knew about us even while He was hanging from the cross.

I had never realized exactly He had gone through until I saw this film. I knew He had been tortured but I had no idea just how bad the torture was until I could actually see it. This movie does that. It's hard to picture that with out some visual images. Nothing in my limited scope could imagine someone being beaten to that extent. Now when I read, "By His stripes we are healed," I have a better understanding of why that statement has such a profound meaning.

God's blessings to you always.

About something else

I just found out the other day that one of the students in Devin's grade lost his father Wednesday night. The father had a heart attach. Devin's been asking a lot of different question about death. He has seen it before but this is the first time it's actually hit so close to home. My husband and I waited to have children and now he worries that something will happen to us. How do I explain in a way that makes him feel better? He asked everyone at church to pray for this boy and his family, and I know it takes a lot of courage to stand up before everyone and say anything, yet here is a 7 year old doing what some adults have a hard time doing. I'm very proud of him for that fact. He's a good boy. I just don't want him worriing about something that we have no control over.

If you think about it, say a prayer for this boy and his family as well. I can only imagine how it must feel to loose a parent so young.

God's blessings on you.

Sorry I haven't posted lately...

I've been working on my site and trying to get items for the auction. That seems to take up most of my time lately. I plan on sending out a press release soon. When I do, I'll let everyone know when I plan to get the other items up for sell. Just be paitent with me. I promise you will know what is going on here. I won't run the auction without telling you.

God's blessings.

I have to show you this.

I just received some new pictures of my newest nephew, Jay. I think he is adorable and had to show him to you.

Now about the program. I've gotten a few more items to add to the auction, but I want to wait until I can get a press release done and get word out about what is going on. Thanks for bearing with me while I learn how this is supposed to go. I am very new to this and want to do a good job. This program is very important to me. These children are very important to me. I've added the February page now, so you have another one to look at. Anyway, check back and see what is going on. I have a feeling things are going heat up soon. Let's just hope I'm right.

God's blessings to you always.

I got my first bid

Here is some good news, I got my first bid today. I got a bid of $5.00 for the crystal field mouse. I can't wait until I get some of the other items on there, just to see what happerns. The only this is it's a friend who bid on it. I am so touched that he would go through that for me. I've got good friends here. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what is going on.

An Email I got Today

I just had to take a few minutes to tell you about an email I got this morning. It was such a nice letter that I had to share it with you.

Hi Olivia.

I'm disabled. Have been since I got polio at age 6, so I can relate to kids in hospitals and coloring books etc. I'm not a kid anymore, I'm 66. I read
your'how this got started' so can relate even more. I can't send money but can add your site to my links page.

I just added your link now, or I'll forget it. :) It's about 8 clicks from the top.

http://www.poetry-tjdaniels.com/links.html

I write poetry and had indirect contact with a 15 yr old boy that was dieing of brain cancer. His story touched me deeply and I wrote a couple poems, one about him and one about how they are able to continue on. I'll include the URL here so as not make this email any longer than necessary.

http://www.poetry-tjdaniels.com/hisnamewasjames.html

http://www.poetry-tjdaniels.com/thestrengthofangels.html

Here's a site that my daughter and son-in-law started. It's a cancer support site. His Mother died of cancer and since then, he's been helping others to cope. They also have a chat room called oncochat.

http://www.emotionsandnotions.com

As the people on Jims forum said, you have a great idea and site. If there's anymore I can do, just email.

'Til next time,

TJ
--
"CLICK BELOW" "POETRY" by: T. J. Daniels
http://www.poetry-tjdaniels.com/

I read the poems the he wrote. They were so touching that I just knew that I had to share them.

Anyway. I need to go now. Hope you have a blessed day.

I know what the other item is now.

The item that AutoZone gave me is a Jesse James model motorcycle. It is a very sharp bike and I will have a picture of it on the site as soon as I can get one. I know you will like it. Anyway, keep checking back to see what else I have added to the list. There are sure to be some good items coming soon.

God's blessings to you and your family always.

More about the auction

I thought I'd fill you in about what is going on with the auction. I went to town today and got a couple of the items that I had been promised. Osborne's Jewelers gave me a wonderful SWAROVSKI Silver Crystal Field Mouse. I have never heard of the brand, but it's absolutely lovely. Needless to say, I had to take it out of the box to look at it. I've got a picture of it that you can view on the auction page. I've also gotten something from Autozone but because of a 3 year old I can't tell you that much about it yet. I haven't had a chance to look at it. I do know that it's a large toy motorcycle, and since Marcus likes motorcycles so much I'm afraid if I get it out he might think it is his. It's hard to reason with a 3 year old for some odd reason. Anyway, I just wanted you to know.

Also, while I was talking to my sister, the one that just had the baby, it came to my mind that some of you may thing that I get paid for doing this. Let me take this time to inform you that isn't so. I do this because I want to. I never really expected to get paid for this program. To me, it's fun. Even though I can only imagine the look on the children's faces when they get the page I send, I do it for them.

I will keep you up to date as things happen. When I get new items, I promise that I will definitely let you know.

May God's blessings always be upon you.

Thank you

I just found out yesterday that someone donated some recyclables. Joey is not allowed to tell me who it is and I respect that. I wanted to take a few minutes to thank you for the donation. I really appreciate it. I can't thank you in person, so hopefully this will do.

Anyway, I've gotten a couple of businesses to donate items for the online auction that I'll be having. I hope everyone will come and see what is here.

God's blessings to you always.

Checking for Kids sites

I been searching the web for sites that kater to children. I have found a couple and plan to put them on the fun page. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I will personally check each site and make sure that it is child friendly before I put it on my site. If I don't want my children to see it, then you can count on the fact that I don't want your child to see it either.

God's blessings.

new pages on site

I now have a couple of new pages on my site. On one you will be able to download the pages I send. Unfortunatly, you won't be able to get many right now, because when my computer crashed, I lost almost everything I had done before. Plus I didn't same that many. Anyway, feel free to come back anytime. The pages will be updated at the end of the month. To view them you will need to have the adobe reader, but it's free so that shouldn't be a problem.

I also added a page for kid's crafts and fun sites. I will add items as I check them out. I will not have any site listed here that I do not want my own children to see. If you know of any places that I should check out, feel free to let me know.

Now I'm going to talk personal. Have you ever watched the movie Air Bud? I have ended up watching the show at least once everyday this week. My 3 year old found it and has fallen in love with the show. I can almost repeat parts of it by heart. That's the end of the personal post, I just had to get that off my chest. Thanks for reading this.

God's blessings to you always.

I found a great program

I found a program that will convert any document that you want to print into pdf format. Which is the format read by Adobe Reader. The name of the program is called deskpdf. That means I can still use my printshop to design the pages and use this program to copy it to my site. Thanks everyone for their patience with me trying to find something that would do this. Now it looks like I can place examples of the pages out there for you to download.

God's blessings to you always.

I finally found it...

I've finally found the program that will change the clipart that I use. I was beginning to wonder if I ever would. I know you would really like to see what I'm sending the children and now I can show you. Give me another day or two to put in all on word and you should have no problem getting them.

As of right now, when I do get them on, you will have to right click and save as. I'm not very good at this yet and I figured this would be the easiest way to do this.

Thanks for coming.

God's blessings to you always.

Changing Site Soon

I will soon be changing the way the site looks. I will be adding new features and adding the pages that I send to the children. Just bear with me while I do this. I am learning this as I go and am more or less redoing this from scratch.

Thanks in advance for your patience.

God's blessings.

Hurt feelings

It amazes me just how easily some people can get their feelings hurt. As you all know, I go to different forums, and I like to read the post there. You can find out alot about a person by the kinds of post they make, and I'll get onto the post I make shortly. Anyway, I just left one and was shocked by some of the things I read. Some of the people are getting banned and I have no idea why. Then the account gets fixed and the person comes back fussing. From what I can understand, they have no idea why they were banned either. You have one guy upset because he doesn't feel he's getting any respect yet if someone posts something that doesn't agree with him, he gets upset. We have teens on the forum, and I honestly feel he's forgotten what it was like to be that age. I haven't, even though it's been longer for me than him. Most 17 year olds feel they know everything, at least I did at that age. Of course, later I learned I didn't know as much as I thought I did. This person will as well. You just have to let him get it out of his system.

I'm going to go for now, I've got to get to town and get my running done.

Thanks for coming by and reading these things. God's blessings to you always.

bSTATS :: stats for Helping Children Smile One Page At a Time

Have you ever wondered who is coming to you blog? This is the place to find out. bSTATS I don't know what all blogs it will work with. But it's a free service and easy to use. Check it out and see if you can use it.

Bored out of my mind

Here it is, after one o'clock in the morning. I should be in bed asleep, yet here I sit bored. Wishing I had someone to talk to. Anyone to talk to. I get so tired of having only my children to try and carry a conversation with. Don't get me wrong, I love them both, but I need an adult to talk to. Usually I talk to my husband when he comes home but today he wasn't feeling well and went on to bed early because of it. I guess I could surf the net, but that doesn't seem very interesting right now. I could try to find programs that I want to try or learn the ones that I already have, but it just doesn't peek my interest.

I know this sounds pathetic, but that's how I feel right now.

I know I have a lot to be thankful for, and I am. My children are healthy, my husband loves me, even when I'm being a royal pain. I don't know, I guess I need a female friend. Someone I can share things with. It seems like everyone I know is male. I don't plan it that way. I use msn messenger and all the contacts that are on it is male except one, and she just got added today. I would talk to her, but she's busy working on a site that she helps maintain. I don't want to bother her right now. I have a feeling it would not be a good time.

I tried to play some games, but you already know how I feel so I won't go into it again. I guess the best way to describe the way I feel right now is to say I have the ho-hums.

Anyway, I'm going to go for now. I hope you are well and happy.

May God watch over you and your family.

About Children

Have you ever noticed that children hate to clean their room, but just love to help cook? They hate to take baths but love to play in water outside. How do you tell your children that they are more in the way than a help when they enjoy it so much? I know I can't. I like watching mine do little things like peel potatoes, of try to sweep the kitchen floor, even if I have to go behind them and do it all again. To me it's worth it just to see the smile of satisfaction they get when they think they have done such a great thing. Anyway, I just wanted to put that in while I was thinking about it.

God's blessings to you always.

pure bs

I found this site while on a forum I go to about blogger. The first page caught my attention so much that I had to tell you about it. The place is called pure bs. Since I stay home so much, I spend a good bit of the day on the web. It's one way to keep up with the world and meet new people. It's a great place to learn new things as well.

Computer problems or husband problems, which are worse?

I know no one ever has computer problems except me. At least it seems that way. I don't know if I mentioned it or not but I've just built myself a new computer system. It's faster and will be better in the long run. But, and here comes the big thing, I'm still so new to this that it drives me crazy sometimes. I've got a 1.2 Ghz cpu but for some reason can't get it to read above a 900Mhz. I don't know why, spent the better part of today "talking" to the guy that sold it to me to try to find out why, only to have the thing crash on me. Had a great time reinstalling windows. This guy lives in Michigan, so it isn't as if he can just come over and figure out what I'm doing wrong. I've already decided that for now I'll settle for the 900 and as soon as I can get it to someone who knows more that I do, I'll let that person fix it. I don't want to go through that again. Next time, with my luck, I'll have a great warehouse of spare parts just sitting here taking up space. That wouldn't be so bad if I had not already promised my boys that they could have my old computer. I mean truthfully, how would it be if I walked up to them and said, "Hey guys I know I promised but mom made a huge mistake. Now I have to go back on my word and take the computer back." Talk about feeling like a heel!

Have you ever noticed just how observent people can be? I colored my hair Wednesday, and no one has even noticed. I had the box sitting in the bathroom for 2 days before I used it. You'd think that my husband would at least notice that it was gone and figure it out on his own, but nooo. I had to tell him. True it's only a shade or two darker that what I had, but it's even now. I don't have two tone hair anymore. Why is it the wife's are supposed to notice every little thing that is going on around the house and something could be sitting under the husband's nose and he wouldn't see it?

Example: One time my husband was looking for the dog and couldn't find him. He never even gets up off the couch to look, just asked me. Guess where the dog was, right beside him. The one good thing about that episode, I have witnesses that I happened. We had company that night. None of us have let him live that one down and that was almost 8 years ago. The only thing is that he hasn't changed since then, he still can't find anything on his own.

Oh well, I still love him though. I would stay here and fuss about him more, but I don't have a week to spend doing this. I'll put more about him later. The thing is though, if you ever met him, you would probably like him. He's a great guy, he must be, he puts up with me.

I hate to do it, but I need to go. I need to get some sleep, I've got a dentist's appointment later today.

Remember you are always in my prayers.

New Computer

I know I've missed a couple of days, but I just built myself a computer. A friend helped me get the parts. I feel like I did pretty good on the over all cost, but I'd prefer not to go into that.

Instead let me tell you about last night. I actually got to go on a date with my husband. It's been almost a year since we've been able to go out and it be just the two of us. I'm very picky about who keep my children, most especially if I know they are going to stay over night. My brother-in-law volunteered to keep them for us. It was so nice to have some time with Jimmy. The only thing was the house was too quiet. It's surprising just what you get used to. I'm used to my boys making all kinds of noise, when they don't, I know something is either wrong or they are asleep. Anyway, we went to Red Lobster to eat. I really love seafood. The only thing I found wrong with the night was the fact that the only thing I had to talk to Jimmy about was the children. It's all I do. All my time is spent with the boys, and I just wanted to talk about something else for a little while. I even told him that, his reply was all he had to talk to me about was his job.

It's funny, we talk all the time about everything, yet when we get the chance to be adults and talk about interesting things, all we can find is either the children or his job. Oh well, I guess everyone goes through this. As long as we can talk about other things at other times, I don't guess it matters. I really enjoyed last night though. The only thing was when I woke up, I expected the children to already be up and watching TV. Man was the place ever quiet for most of the day. I know I fuss about having to spend so much of my time with them, but when they're gone, I sure do miss them.

Anyway, I'm going to go for now. I hope you have a great weekend, and may God keep you safe.

My New Nephew

I finally got a picture of Jay. Needless to say, he has his mouth open. Looks just like his mom. (When she reads this she'll kill me.) I think he's adorable. I know you'll fee the same.

Some Adult Conversation Needed... Please...

I know you've read several times about how much I love my children, but, when they are all you have to talk to, you tend to look forward to sales calls just to hear the voice of another adult.

I know children are a blessing from God, and I cherish mine. There is nothing I would trade for the two I have. I just miss having another adult to talk to. I spend most of my time at the house with my 3 year old while my 7 year old is at school. When my husband comes home from work, he's so tired that the last thing he wants to do is talk. He just wants to relax for a little while, which I can understand. Things might be different if there were some places I could go to that cater to stay home moms, but this is a small town, and it's not exactly the hot spot for things like that. Everyone other female I know works, and I hate to bother them there. To me that's an unspoken rule. For example, my best friend, Dru, and I have a code set up. As soon as she answers I ask if she's busy. If she says yes, I say call you later and hang up. There is no reason for her to have to explain why, she's busy and can't talk, enough said. It doesn't hurt my feelings. I guess that's why I enjoy doing this so much. I have no idea if anyone is reading this. I like to think someone is, but I do it to keep at least a small amount of sanity. Children can drive a person crazy. Hahaha. This is one way to stay in touch with the outside world. Besides, I'm not that much of a phone person. I would much rather talk to someone in person.

It gets so bad sometimes that I try to reach some of the guys on the forum that I go to. I know that it's not the same thing but it helps. As you can tell from my post I like to talk. I'll talk about anything. Sometimes it drives my husband up a wall. I can meet someone for the first time and in just a few minutes have their life story out of them. I try not to ask prying questions, I don't like to give away too much personal information about myself. I just really like to meet new people. I like to hear where they are from, what's it like where they live. Things like that. People fascinate me.

Anyway, I'm going to go for now. I really need to get some sleep. I've got a lot to do around here. I won't bore you with the details, suffice it to say, I need to do some heavy duty cleaning. If you're in the neighborhood, come by and help. I promise I won't turn down the offer.

God's blessing to you always.

Have you ever noticed...

I was in Wal-Mart yesterday, unfortunately sometimes I have to go there, and while I was checking out, I started talking to the person behind me at the checkout lane. Me being me, I said something about my program. She made a suggestion that I wish I had thought of. She said why not talk to DHR and ask them about sending these pages to the special needs children that go through there.

As soon as she said that, the first thing I thought was, "Why didn't I think of that?" The only reason I can think of is that I was so focused on the hospitals and places like that that it didn't enter my mind to think of other agencies. It really is a good idea. So I called the person she told me was in charge of the Alabama branch here and Athens and left a message for her about the program and that I would like to include her children in my monthly mailing list.

If anyone else has suggestions like that, please let me know. I'm always open to suggestions that will make this program better.

God's blessings to you all.

My Sister Had Her Baby

Joseph Karl Trucks Jr. (Jay) was born around 6:00 pm yesterday. He weighed 9 lbs and 3/4 of an ounce. He was 20 inches long. I don't have a picture to share with him yet but I just wanted to let everyone know.

Insurance, I'm Complaining!

I don't know about you, but I think insurance is one of the biggest cons around. I told you about the problems we had with Marcus a couple of weeks ago. Well, we just got the claims report in today. I know insurance can come in very handy, and I know that it does save money most of the time, but... Why do they have to keep raising the premium that I pay and decrease the benefits that I recieve? If it weren't for the fact that I had two small children, I'd drop the insurance all together. The trouble is, I can't afford to be without it because of the boys. What's a person to do? You can't afford to pay it, but you sure can't afford to be without it!

It's 1:30 in the morning here and I should be sound asleep. As you can see, I'm not.

We just watched the movie "Radio". If you haven't seem it, do so. It was great! No nudity, no bad language. Which seems to be a rarity these days. We really enjoyed it. It was nice to watch a movie that I didn't have to edit so that the boys didn't see things they weren't supposed to.

Anyway, I'm going to try to get some sleep now. I've got to get up in just a few hours and get Devin off to school. And unfortunately, I have to go to town. At the rate gas prices keep increasing, it may not be too much longer when I have to keep my car in the yard. My vehicle isn't really a gas gusslier, but it's just getting too expensive to keep going.

Bye for now. I pray that God keeps you safe and warm.

Blogger Commenting Tool

I go to this place called Blogger Forum. While I was there a friend told us about a commenting tool he has developed. If your interested in this go to http://comment.quodlibet.be/v2/. It's very easy to use. He tells you how and where to paste the script in. You can even say how you want it to look. I really like it better than the one he had before. With that one, you could not customize it. Give it a try.

Weird Dreams

As most of you know, my sister is supposed to have her child this week.

I just dreamed that I was going into labor. I felt the baby drop, felt him moving, the whole nine yards. It was so wild to go through that again. It's been a long time since I've felt that. I don't plan on going through it again, but it was nice to be reminded what it was like to have a little one inside me. I had forgotten just how it felt. It was a wonderful feeling.

Having a child can be a wonderful experience, but having someone you love to share it with is even better. In some ways, I miss that feeling. Don't get me wrong, I don't want any more children! But I enjoyed having my two children. I liked being pregnant. I just don't think I could handle any more. Two is more than enough for any sane person.

God's blessings to you all.

New Promotion

I plan on having an online auction just as soon as I can get a few items together for this. So please keep coming back to read this so you can find out when it will be happening. All items will be brand new, never been opened. Anything that is raised will go to this program.

Just rambling

I go to various forums. Because of these places, I learn a lot about different things. I go to www.cre8asiteforums.com. That is where I learned about having a journal. I started out going to www.webproworld.com. That's where I found Karen, who so kindly redid my site. I went back there today (webproworld) and learned about a forum that offers support for hepatitis c patients, caregivers, friends, and families. Even though my site is not a forum, I couldn't help but go there. I read some of the entries, just to see what they were saying. I fell in love with the place. They make sure that you understand that they are not offering medical advice and you should never take what they say over the advice of a physician. But they try to be supportive and non judgemental. I don't know why they decided to start this forum. All they say is it was for personal reasons. That's good enough for me. I like what they're are doing and had to mention them in this post. If you want, you should check them out. The URL is www.communityonthe.net/board/. No one I know has hepatitis c, but I still enjoyed going there. It was an eye opening experience for me.

One thing you should also know about is Blogger. This is where I update my journal. It is easier than trying to write my own page to do this, since I'm so new to this kind of stuff. Blogger is easy and free to use. And if you have any problems setting up your blog, you can always ask me for help. If I don't know the answer, I can find it for you.

God's blessing to you and your family.