Weeds

I like weeds. They pop up and grow and sometimes look pretty.
I have some leafy weeds with purple flowers growing right now.
Then of course I have dandelions.
I've always liked dandelions.
I'm not a green thumb, so to me, if a weed with a colorful flower wants to pop up and add some color to my yard, then who am I to pull it up?

But Alas, today after the rain last night, my pretty purple weeds are coming up over my pretty rose bush. My Yellow Rose bush that was transplanted all the way from my Nana's house in PA. and entrusted to my care all the way in Alabama.
My Mom lovingly planted it for me after my Gall Bladder surgery 4 years ago.
I've never tended to it...it just comes back every year. I don't feed it the traditional Rose food, I just let Mother nature do its thing.
But today, the weeds are threatening to choke my hearty and tough Rose bush.
I need to go out and pull them up, stomp them to the ground and let them know they are not to mess with my Rose bush!

My soul is like that Yellow Rose Bush.
It's been transplanted several times.
It goes through it's seasons of beauty and dormancy.
It is threatened by the ailments.
It thrives where it is planted.
And yet, just like my soul, it is threatened by weeds.
The Rose bush's weeds come pretty and purple and look pretty harmless.
But left alone, they could choke the life out of my pretty plant.
I am constantly reminded of the weeds of sin in my life. Sometimes they are masked with sweet purple flowers, disguised as weeds. I tend to leave it unchecked...what harm can that little sin do? Sometimes I am so entranced by the purple petals that I don't even recognize it as sin until I am so entangled in its trap. Then the process of getting rid of it all has become painful because of the root it has taken. If I could have just recognized it in the beginning, then maybe I could have just plucked it up right away.

My Yellow Rose bush is lovely and I don't even do much tending to it.
What if I started giving it Rose bush food?
What if I pruned it?
How much more beautiful would it be if it was given care.

And Alas, the problem with my Soul.
What if I was more diligent about feeding on the word of God?
What if I cut down the layers of sin that creep in and threaten to take hold?
How much more effective would I be for the kingdom of God and furthering His Glory.

The words of this song have been ringing in my heart today:
"O great God of highest Heaven
Occupy my lowly heart
Own it all and reign supreme
Conquer every rebel power
Let no vice or sin remain
That resists your Holy war
You have loved and purchased me
Make me yours forevermore

I was blinded by my sin
Had no ears to hear Your voice
Did not know Your love within
Had no taste for heaven's joys
Then Your Spirit gave me life
Opened up Your Word to me
Through the Gospel of Your Son
Gave me endless hope and peace

Help me now to live a life
That's dependent on Your grace
Keep my heart and guard my soul
From the evils that I face
You are worthy to be praised
With my every thought and deed
O great God of highest heaven
Glorify Your name through me."

Good Times, Yeah

Last night we went to Silas's birthday.
It was fun for everyone.
Kim amazes me when it comes time to throwing a party.
"When is the party?"
"I don't know"
"When do you want me there?"
"I don't know"
"What is the plan?"
"I don't know"

And yet, somehow in the end the party turns out wonderful and everybody has a great time and Kim gets the most amazing pictures. Seriously, I think the pictures from last nights party should be in a magazine for an article entitled...
"How to throw an amazing Spring time bash without planning for weeks"
(Planning for weeks is what I do...but why when you can have such a great party with little planning. I am now resolving to be more like Kim Hill.)
If you haven't seen them...check them out here.
You can ignore the ones of me eating Smores. Although, I made a really good Smore, and I reaaallly needed it yesterday. (Thank you Heather for seeing to my comfort all day long ;)

I have made some really great friends through Kim.
Everybody out at Community Pres has been such a joy to get to know over the past how ever many years. It made me sad last night that the Hill's will leave soon and I may not have as many oppurtunities to hang out with all of these great people. Including Kim and Quinn.
There is this great feeling of family amongst all of them. It reminds me of when I grew up.
So anyways...that is my sob story for this morning.
Check out the pics of the party...it was fun!

Now I am off to go play in the golf tournament! WooHoo!!!

Mom of the Year...

Yep...that is me! Missy Lowery...Mother extraordinaire.
I cook, I clean, I wash clothes, I teach, I do yard work.
Then there is that one crazy day when you make a big lunch and then get too busy to clean up from it...then you are gone the rest of the day and don't get home till 8:30completely forgetting about the unwashed dishes upstairs...completely unknowing to the fact that in one days time the children somehow used all of the silverware...then comes the moment that every wife and Mother loves to hear...

Stacy says to Lana,
"Lana, why are you eating your cereal with a soup ladle?"

I gasp...
Crap, I was in the shower, she got some cereal, there are no clean spoons because I am after all the Mother of the Year!
I'm sure my husband left for work this morning shaking his head wondering why in the world he leaves his children with me every day.

So let that be a lesson to you all...
If you ever want to buy me something, perhaps I need some spoons!

Bippity Boppity Boo....

I need a fairy Godmother.
I am having a hard time getting back into the real world.
I still have stuff to unpack, laundry to fold, bathrooms to clean, and a butt load of VBS stuff to do.
And yet, I laid down on the couch a little while ago and fell asleep, and am now blogging while I eat M&M's left over from my weekend.

Yesterday the day was consumed with a turtle.
Arg...my parents sent the children home with a turtle.
Granted my Dad did call and ask permission first.
I had no idea yesterday was going to be spent making the turtle happy and comfortable, and yet, $40 later, that is what my day consisted of.
Now I will say, in the turtles defense, he also provided school materials and the Science Fair Project we have been looking for. So I guess I should not complain to much about "Smokey Williams." Not sure why that is his name, but it is!

I don't feel well. I think it was all the traveling I did last week.
Plus I think it's approaching PMS time and I feel incredibly blah.
I shouldn't complain since I did have fun on my trips.
So I will shut up now...plus my M&M's are gone and I must find something better to do.

Back to the Real World

Ah, the beach was lovely.
We arrived Thursday night, giving us all day Friday and Saturday and leaving on Sunday.
Friday, my friend Gwendy and I went and played golf. It was so much fun.
It was windy and once my ball was going straight and suddently turned to the right and splashed right into the water. It was funny.
The beach was a bit nippy on Friday.
I wound up sitting in a long sleeve shirt bundled with my towel!
But the hot tub was nice. (Until you got out of course, then you froze!)

Friday night we went to LuLu's. You know, LuLu's is just one of those hype places. I mean the food was decent, but the atmopshere is fun. I guess it's just one of those places you have to go when you go the Gulf Shores.
Friday night it stormed and we where on the 10th floor.
The wind was crazy and loud.

Saturday on the beach was GLORIOUS!
It was warm and just a bit breezy.
We went on the beach around 10:30, came up for lunch later, and then stayed out until 6:00.
The water was COLD at first, but after you got used to it, it was fun...excpet when the waves smacked me so hard I came partially out of my bathing suit and smashed my knee into the ocean floor...but you know, besides me being me, the ocean itself was nice!

I love just sitting on the beach, listening to my MP3 and contemplating the vastness of the ocean, my sin, and God's love. How you can sit in front of an endless body of water and not understand that a Holy God created that, is beyond me.
I feel blessed this past week to have been able to enjoy the beauty and majesty of the Mountains and then enjoy the serenity and endlessness of the ocean.
I love how the ocean can look so calm while you just sit and look at it, but then once you enter you realized the depths and the danger and the effort it takes just to stay afoot. Watching allows you to enjoy the beauty, but entering makes you respect the power. You have to experience both to understand the fullness.
The Hymn, "O The Deep Deep Love of Jesus", went over and over in my head this weekend.

"O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast unmeasured, boundless free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean, in it's fullness over me.
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love.
Leading onward, leading homeward, to my glorious rest above.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, Spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, Changeth never never more.
How He watches o'er His loved ones, Dies to call them all His own.
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o'er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, Love of everey love the best!
Tis an ocean vast of blessing, Tis a haven sweet of rest.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, Tis a heaven of heavns to me.
And it lifts me up the glory, for it lifts me up to the thee."

So now it is back to the real world. I feel refreshed and ready. I think! I sure do love the beach though...

And now for the finale!

Yesterday with the hubby was most excellent!
We played golf, ate chinese food, watched another episode of John Adams, and just hung out.
Stacy and I very seldomly get to have dates, so a whole afternoon and evening was a huge treat!
I even played good golf, which made it even better!

So this morning I have already gotten up, driven over 100 miles and collected my work data.
I am now about to do my typing, do some packing, and get ready for phase 4....
Drumroll please....
The BEACH!
Yeah! Me and 3 of my friends are leaving around 6 tonight for the beach!
3 glorious days of white sandy beaches and even another round of golf!
Woohoo!

I have found myself overwhelmingly thankful this week for the variety of activities I have been able to pursue. I know that next week it is back to the real world and it will be crazy and hectic...but for now, I am thankful that God has allowed me this week of refreshment.
The beach weekend will just be the icing on my already yummy cake!

So tata my blogging friends. Must go get my chores done!

Moving on to Phase 3...

My time of perching at the parental units house is coming to a close.
We've had a nice time.
Yesterday Lana, Mom and I played Kurplunk for a very long time...
then I took the kidos over to see my brothers new place...
then we came back and ate homemade soup and bread and it was goooood!

Today we went to Art class and a gem mine.
I must say gem mining is a little addictive.
It was a lot of fun sifting through the dirt looking for treasures.
I think we may have found some Sapphires that I want to take somewhere and see if they can put them into my ring that lost its sapphire. It is one of my wedding rings and I lost a Sapphire out of it over a year ago and have been missing it a lot. Its special you know!
So how cool would it be if I then panned for my own replacement.
Well, we'll see if it works out.

We watched American Idol and Biggest Loser tonight...Yeah for Ali!!!! The first female Biggest Loser.
Let me just say that this girl has lost 112 lbs in 6 months. That is very inspiring.
I only need to lose a quarter to half of that, so I am really motivated now to get on it big time!

After phase 3 and phase 4 of course...
And what, you may ask, is phase 3?
Well, tomorrow I leave here BY MYSELF and drive home BY MYSELF, to meet my husband who has been pining away for me since I left last Friday.
We will have a whole afternoon and evening date.
That hasn't happened in years I must say.
It will be fun to spend the whole afternoon together. Ecspecially since he's been missing me so much!

Thursday will be a crazy day with a fun ending.
That must not be revealed until after I have finished enjoying phase 3!
One phase at a time people!!!

I am a very blessed woman right now to be having this week O' Fun and refreshment.
Trust me, I am very aware of that!

So now I bid you adou'. Must go get the rest of the kidos laundry put bag in there bags...you know how nice I am. I couldn't leave my Mom with all of that laundry while she keeps my kids for 4 more days!

Perching...

I arrived at my parents this afternoon after my wonderfully fun weekend in Knoxville with my friend Stacey...not my husband Stacy, my childhood friend Stacey.
Confusing, I know!
But we had a fabulous time shopping and eating and talking and sharing and laughing at people we met. And let me tell you, we met some doozies! Yes I said doozie! I said that to our waiter last night and he laughed because he hasn't heard that term in a while. He was a nice guy...and in case you where wondering, that was at the Melting Pot! Yummo! We just did cheese fondue, salad, and Chocolate fondue and it was amazing. The chocolate was divine!
All in all it was a very nice weekend of no agenda, no kids, and care free contentedness.
This will be an anual tradition!
I will post some pics when I get home.

So now I perched at my parents...why am I saying perched? Because there is a sign with a bird on their porch and it says pirch on our porch, and that is exactly what I did when I got in today!
Now it is snowing lightly. Yes snowing in April. Crazy stinking George W Bush and his weather machine!
My brother and his girlfriend came over today and Adam and I made yummy "Brinner".
Blueberry pancakes, sausage, bacon and eggs. It was so good.

Well...that is all for now...I must continue my perching. Also must go to bed early tonight because although my weekend in Knoxville was fun, I slept little and when I did sleep it was very uncomfortably on a bed of rocks.
Hope everyone else is perching where they are!

On the Road Again...

I just can't wait to get on the road again...
Who sang that song?
I think they wrote it just for me!
I have gypsie in my blood.
I like to be on the move.
I like to travel.
I like to take weekend excursions.

I was just telling my friend Jeri, how nice my husband is to let me travel on my own.
We discovered long ago with his crazy jobs that if I was to ever get away or if my parents were ever going to see their grandchildren, then I would have to travel...alone.

I've had some memorable little escapades.
Like the time that I drove to Atlanta around the 4th of July.
Lana was born on June 5th via c-section, and Logan had turned 2 June 26th.
I drove to Atlanta to pick up my sister, Laura, and 6 month old Sarah.
We then drove in my non-air conditioned car up to NC to visist Mom & Dad.
YES...you read correctly...July in the south...cramped car with 3 car seats, 2 being infants, one being barely a month old, and NO air.
We got one of those little fans that you plug into the cigarette lighter to try to cool the babies in the back. It made no difference...The Sarahdactyle as we called her because of her amazing loud scream, screamed half the time anyways. Logan whined and complained and Lana cried her pitiful newborn cry.
It was crazy and we wanted to die by the time we got there, but looking back today I would do it again in a heart beat.

That following January was my Mom's 50th Birthday and we had planned a suprise party.
So I loaded up 2 1/2 year old Logan and 7 month old Lana and we drove. It snowed on the way there. Then it snowed a lot more while we where there. Then I couldn't drive the car back to my parents because it had snowed so much.
Then...the stomach bug invaded the house and picked us all off one by one.
Poor little baby Lana got it the morning we where leaving.
So I put her car seat in the front ( a big no-no!) so I could check on her and drove home, recovering from the vomits, with a 2 year old having diarhea and an infant throwing up!
That one, I wouldn't do again!

2 Christmas's ago the kids and I drove up to NC the day after Christmas to have round 2 with my family.
On the way home I got a flat tire. So I pulled over...but I pulled over to far and then was also stuck in the mud.
I called a wrecker service (thank goodness I have road side assistance with my Cingular account!) They came out...I had to open the back of the van so they could get to the spare tire...A 500 pack of Legos fell out of the back of the van all over the side of the road!
Yes, that was a joy to pick up in the middle of winter on the side of the interstate with a strange wrecker man and my two young children!

So you may ask...why do I continue to travel and subject myself to the obvious torture that sometimes ensues...
Because I HAVE to!
When I was a kid my Mom would pack up the 3 of us kids and we would drive to Pennsylvania.
And that was back in the day of no cell phones!
We always had adventures then too...there was always poop or vomit or toilet paper hanging out of Moms pants as she would come out of the bathroom!
Those are some of my fondest memories...not just the trip, but the travel to our destination.
I'm glad I can do the same for my kids.
I'm thankful that my husband lets us leave the safety of our home and travel out into the wild blue yonder in the name of creating memories.

One time when we turned onto the gravel rode that my parents live on Logan said...
"Mom, can you role down the windows, I've been waiting to listen to my favorite sound."
"What sound is that?", I asked.
"The sound of our car driving over Marmi & Pappy's rocks!"

And that is why I will continue to subject myself to the drama of traveling by myself with kids!

Pictures by Kim...

Today we went over to Kim's for her to take pictures of Lana in her 2 dance costumes for recital. Lana was not very cooperative.
"I'm Hot"
"My dress is itchy"
"I want cake"

Why oh why have I spent all of this money on these blasted outfits and she won't cooperate for some pictures.
Oh well, Kim was able to work her magic and get some cute ones.

This is the Tap Costume...

Complete with HUGE bows!

I think this is one of my favorite ones because it captures the real Lana sweet face!

This one too...This is the ballet costume.

They are mermaids!

My son was very cute and photogenic today!

Is that not a sweet face or what?!

The boys found a frog in the tree and Kim took these great shots...I love the focus effects that she uses!

I love those dimples! Daddy custom ordered those when I was pregnant!

What will I do when Kim leaves? Who will take good pictures of my kids?
And who will make such yummy Cheesecake like we had today?
And will Paige and Heather still be my friends? They said they would discuss it.
I hope they decide yes!

Words Women Use

My Mom emailed this to me and I thought it was funny.
Not that any of us would ever use these words!

9 WORDS WOMEN USE:


(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)

(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a woman can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says "Thanks a lot" - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say "you're welcome" . that will bring on a "whatever").

(8) Whatever: Is a women's way of saying RAM IT!!!!!!

(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking "What's wrong?" For the woman's response refer to # 3.

Growing pains advice

Logan is almost 8.
He's been on growth spurts before obviously, but the one he is on now seems to be making this child miserable.
He can't get enough to eat. I'm talking always starving.
He's not falling asleep well because he can't get comfortable because his legs hurt.
He is tired all the time, and sleeping later than usual.
Mom's that have already been through this kind of growth spurt, any advice?
What can I do for this poor kid to make his life a little easier?
When will it end?
Do I have enough food in my house?
Should I rub Ben-Gay on his legs?
How much longer until he is as tall as me?
Why can't I eat like that and be as skinny as he is?

The Colors of Spring

Right now my 2 favorite colors for spring are Pink and Green. I have bought several pieces of clothing that reflect that, along with brown accents and accesories.

Thought I'd try it out on my blog for a while.

What are your favorite colors of Spring?