The Path to My Blog....

. . .is paved with good intentions.

I know you have heard all the excuses before,

 so I won't bore you with all the details.

Suffice it to say that

 the pictures that follow are just a sample

 of all the goings on  around here.

There were also several things 

that I didn't remember to photograph!

The above is the "Blessing Tree"

that hubby and I made for the big

50th Anniversary shindig

for

Bishop & his lovely Wife.

 This is a picture of the honored couple

& the fruits of 50 years of commitment.

Since we didn't want to hang around for hurricane Isaac

we took the opportunity to go on a little trip.

I will be posting about the recovery 

in neighboring Braithwaite in a later post.

I do not want to gloss over it.

I feel like it would get lost in this mix 

of random reverie.

My latest kitchen adventure:

 Griddle style corn cakes & greens,

topped with a

Tomato & grilled ham salad 

&

Buttermilk Vinaigrette

 This picture is long over due!

Eloise is opening a package

 from our dear sweet blog friends

 over at B-skep Chronicles.

 This little ray of sunshine 

"Brie"

now comes to my house 5 days a week

while mommy works.

Her daddy is a Marine,

 so he is working very hard too.

 These three children were guests in my home 

 For Approx. 3 weeks.

 Keep them in your prayers.

 Finally....

The Biggest News:

Eloise is officially in the youth group 

and sporting braces.

Not pictured:

the 5 yr. old I watch on weekends

&

the 4 kids (ages 5-14)

that I tutor in order to finance 

the aforementioned braces.

We have also been sorting through

 and getting rid of a lot of clutter.

After much prayer and family discussion,

we have decided to downsize.

Come this spring we will be putting our

"Way Too Big for Three people"

home up for sale.

This is not an emergency or sad event.

It is a choice we are making,

that will possibly get us to the 

"debt free" status quickly.

Maybe with less debt & clutter

I might have more time 

to keep my blog up to date....

....don't hold your breath!


BY THE WAY:

HUBBY HAS LOST 45 LBS
IN 6 MONTHS
&
I HAVE LOST 36

There's a First Time for Everything...

This is the first time
that I have ordered clothing
from the internet.
Eloise selected the styles and colors
and I took measurements
and e-mailed them.
The suits were hand made
by a woman in California
and arrived on our porch within 4 weeks.
She made them between
vacation and church camps.
We love, love, love
our new
 modest swim/active wear.
The fabric won't absorb water
and the leggings are sewn into the skirt.
In case you are interested:
http://modestactivewear.blogspot.com/
My good friend
over at
Living the Good Life
just posted a link
to another site
where modest swimwear
 can be purchased.

Last week I had the opportunity to meet one of my new blog friends in person.
I also got to meet her lovely daughter.
This was a first for both of us. We are both normally too cautious to do something like this, but we are of the same faith, we have been communicating through txts, and we met at a church conference with about seven thousand people, so we felt safe.
It just wouldn't have been right for me to travel 13 hours,
 come within 20 minutes of her house and not meet her.
We were able to eat lunch and chat for a while.
She also brought me some goodies.

Jodi & her daughter brought me
everything in this pic minus the cookbook.
 I figured it would make a nice background, 
since "Pioneer Woman" is also from Oklahoma.
The freshly ground coffee smells heavenly!


If you are looking for my post about PEAK,

you're going to have to wait just a little while.

I'm still unpacking!

Try again at the end of the week.


BTW: I've lost 22 lbs.
so far.
My doc says I need to lose about 25 more
in order to get off diabetic meds.
Almost half way there!

Love & Prayers.

A Big Thank You & Other Stuff....

 I want to begin this post by showing y'all what I just received in the mail.

My newest friend over at "Becoming Jody" surprised me with this adorable prize and lovely card,

so to her I say,

"THANK YOU"

 For Valentine's Day Eloise gave out these little treats instead of sweets.

 As you can see, each fruit had a tag with gold ribbon.

They said:

"You're the apple of my eye"

"I'm bananas for you"

&

"We make a perfect pear"

I saw this idea a few weeks back on the net, but I regret to announce that I forgot to write down all the info, so I could give proper credit.

I've got to do better about that kind of stuff.

 A few of the homeschoolers got together at the park to celebrate V-Day.

 The Park renovation is really starting to look nice.

 Unfortunately the peddle boats are only available for rental on weekends.

I should have checked....another thing I've got to get better about.

Avery didn't let this little set back stop him from having fun though.

 F.H.A.

Future Homeschooler of America

 The puppies even had a blast.

When we got home Gumbo had to tell Daddy all about those pesky ducks that knew how to walk on water.

LOL

Gumbo tried to run out on the pond and get them, but soon found himself doing the doggy paddle back to shore!

Well I have more to post, but I'm out of time.

Till Next Post,

~Me~