~...and a Happy New Year to all of you~

This year has finally come to an end and I am so glad. This coming year is going to be one of change, excellence, new careers, new life! That's one reason I changed my template and picture!
Do you have your new calendar for the new year? I have a small one.
I spent today thinking, planning and cleaning so I'm ready for 2008. I need more than one day to be ready, but I'm on my way!
There was this horrid smell in the laundry room pantry, and the closet. I only discovered a rotten onion, but there was also plenty of country mice doo doo! So, now the two closets are cleaned and ready to fill~! The smell is still there, so something must be dead under the floor!
It was so warm today that I had to put on the ceiling fans!
Well, we're headed to a party tonite, so the boys are laying down. I'll try to put pix on tomorrow of us all dressed up.
Happy New Year to all of my family, friends and everyone that peruses this page!
Oh, here is a cool thing I got in an email today...

Let it go for 2008...by T. D. Jakes


There are people who can walk away from you.

And hear me when I tell you this!

When people can walk away from you: let them walk.

I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with
you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you,
staying attached to you.

When people can walk away from you let them walk.

Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left.

The Bible said that,

"They came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were
not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would have
continued with us." [1John 2:19]

People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they
are not joined to you, you can't make them stay. Let them go.

And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person, it just means that
their part in the story is over. And you've got to know when
people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying
to raise the dead.

You've got to know when it's dead. You've got to know when it's
over.

Let me tell you something. I've got the gift of good-bye. It's the
tenth spiritual gift. I believe in "good-bye". It's not that I'm
insensitive or uncaring, it's that I trust, I know whatever and
whomever God means for me to have and be a part of my life He will
give. And if a relationship takes too much sweat I don't need it.

Stop begging people to stay.

Let them go!!

If you are holding on to something or someone who doesn't belong to
you and was never intended for your life, then you need to ..LET IT
GO!!!

If you are holding on to past hurts and pains .. LET IT GO!!!

If someone can't treat you right, love you back, and see your
worth... LET THEM GO!!!

If someone has angered you ..LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to some thoughts of evil and revenge ..LET IT
GO!!!

If you are involved in a wrong relationship or addictive behavior
..LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to a job that no longer meets your needs or
talents .. LET IT GO!!!

If you have a bad attitude...LET IT GO!!!

If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better...LET IT
GO!!!

If you're stuck in the past and God is trying to take you to a new
level in Him...LET IT GO!!!

If you are struggling with the healing of a broken
relationship....LET IT GO!!!

If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help
themselves.. LET THEM GO!!!

If you're feeling depressed and stressed ...LET IT GO!!!

If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling
yourself and God is saying "take your hands off of it," then you
need to... LET GO!!!

Let the past be the past. Forget the former things.

2007................LET IT GO!

2008................BRING IT ON! Fresh and new in each moment.

Merrrry Christmassssssss!!!!!!!

Well, the day has come to a close and what a full holiday it has been...
We didn't leave church on Sunday until 7:45 pm! There was the service, which, as usual was extremely anointed and convicting, there was a little girl's dance recital and then dinner followed by Cleto Rodriguez toasting everyone and we even had a 'snow ball' fight with white confetti and what a blast that was! Once we finished off the bags, we got down on the floor and just picked it up and started all over again...Well, oh my gosh...there will be confetti in that church until we die! It was so fun to celebrate Christmas with our family. Then we left and had to hit Wal-Mart one more time-AAHH! So, there I am walking around with confetti lodged in my hair and no way of getting it out....but I had my dress on from the morning, so it looked very festive! We were up until midnite, I think, trying to catch up for the next day and then yesterday we had a birthday party that we actually had to leave before it was over so we could clean up the house to get ready for all the big boys and Jackie to come and spend the nite. We were up until 2:30 this morning and then by 8 sharp, Isaac knocked on our door to remind us that it was Christmas and we needed to get up...he knows the tradition...we don't open any gifts until daddy has his coffee...so, he decided to 'help' by filling the filter to the top with grounds! Fortunately, Jef got to it before he started it!
It's been a quiet day...I thought we were in trouble when I went to put the turkey in the oven and discovered there was no foil! I put it in the oven last nite at 200 degrees and let it stay on all nite and when some child dialed our no. at 7:15, I jumped up to answer it and I got to listen to children in the background talking and playing with their toys and I kept saying, "hello, hello." I hung up and realized that I should check the bird and that we probably had turkey jerky since I had had nothing to cover that thing with~! But, Praise God, it was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside! So, dinner was saved after all and I went back to bed while it cooled and then Iman woke us up anyway forty-five minutes later. All I had to make was mashed potatoes, and throw the frozen veges in a bowl...mic them and we ate at about 3ish...Dan made his 'specialty eggs', but I didn't care for them! It was a gift to not have to cook breakfast, tho, and for that I was most grateful!
I realize that I'm not making paragraphs here, but I'm still so tired. And you don't care, right?
I did speak to my daughter and granddaughter today...Hailey said a bunch of words, but I still don't have the gift of interpretation with her tongues yet! Rachael told me she knew they were going to the grampa that asks her if she wants to take a nap! She knew my dad...that is so awesome...Is she not the most brilliant child?! Absolutely...
Rachael did call and speak to the boys before we woke up and they were tickled to talk to her.
I forgot to say that Sunday, Caleb went forward for prayer and he said the anointing touched his heart and that God spoke to him and told him that it doesn't matter what you look like to other people around you when you worship Him with all your heart...he was weeping when he came back to his seat...I am in awe when I see what the power of God does in a child...particularly mine! His Word does the work...our part is to position our kids where it's the priority of their life...He does the work.
Relax tomorrow and enjoy Him...

Wow!!! Only three days left...how time is flying...

I am looking forward to this holiday with such anticipation.

The birthday of my Savior. Being with my church family enjoying each other and Him together. Being with my children on Christmas day and opening gifts to each other...

I do regret and I'm sure will cry on that day because Rachael and Peter and Hailey won't be here to enjoy it with us...(did you hear the sigh?...)

We took the boys to the Bass Pro shop because we were at that end of town and they absolutely loved it. They were mesmerized by all the animals...stuffed, of course, but they were particularly interested in the birds...I suppose it's cuz of their chickens...oh, here's a pix of them standing in front of an 'antler' tree...so cool!

Gotta get some sleep!

Five More Days!

Well, I have some awesome news...during our Wed. nite service, Pastor Todd was speaking of the sin in our lives and if anyone wanted to get rid of it, to come forward and Caleb got up and walked to the front and repented.

Later he confessed that he only wanted to be baptized (that was back a couple of years ago) because he saw someone a little older him at the time that had gotten baptized and so he wanted to. (I think the whole baptism scenario came out because he believed that that was when he gave his life to Jesus, but then he kept doing the wrong things with no remorse.)

When we got to church he made a decision he told us later on that in his mind he thought that just because he didn't feel like worshipping that he had no right not to because God liked it and God was worthy of him singing to Him with his whole heart.

I had looked over at him and he was really singing and clapping and I think I just hugged him and he leaned over and said, "I am so excited!" I had no idea why until he told us about his decision.

It all happened so fast and I wasn't even in the room when it happened, but someone came and got me so I could snap the pix. I am still in awe and gratitude.

I credit the Power of the Word of God to convict even a child's heart of their need for a Savior.

This truly is the best Christmas ever...I need no gifts. Jesus has given me, as a mother, the best gift of seeing our son give his heart to the Lord of Life!

~Six days to Go~

Hello...It's taken all day to actually just get to this page to write...but that's ok, since the boys and I have been working on Christmas gifts for the family...fun stuff, too. I can't say too much so that no family member figures out what we're doing!

Let's see...the homeless that slept outside the shelter (because they couldn't get in) were an interesting bunch.
When we pulled up to the area under the bridge where they were sleeping on the ground next to each other, the boys were blown away. I sensed their grief and sadness and yet their anticipation to help them by feeding them breakfast tacos.
We arrived at the Rodriguez's home at about 3:45 am and the house was already abuzz with cooking, frying the eggs, and filling the shells! Caleb got to help with the filling and he was excited to hand them to Isaac who loaded the coolers filled with them.
It was an eye opening experience and we'll probably do this every year!
Here is a pix of the kids cooking. I'll post Caleb's at another time.
So much more to tell, but I must go now.

~!Eight days to go!~

There is so much going on around here!

Now that I have my camera back, I am ready for all the stuff that's going on around me...like new calves...aren't they adorable?

It's December 17Th and the boys still insist on playing outside barefoot!

It did get to 59 today, so I really can't say too much...they're on 'vacation' until the beginning of January and so now is when the real learning will happen...like today. They found this old broken stepper in the 'red house' and decided to 'invent' something...so, they took it apart and came in for their tools, paper to draw their new invention idea, and then I caught Isaac carrying his father's orange extension cord to plug 'something' into it in order to 'see' whether it would work...!!! AAAHHHH~!

Here's a really interesting little commentary my friend, Della, sent me today from Citizenlink about the whole "Holiday"verbage" vs. Christmas and retailers...the boys loved it~Thanks Della!

Well, at 2 a.m. this coming morning, we're going to the Rodriguez's home along with some people from our church and some area comedians that are believer's and we're preparing breakfast tacos to take to the homeless people that live under the bridges near their house. This is something the comedians do every year. We're also taking blankets for them. It's been down to 32 at night, so I'm sure they'll appreciate that. I'm looking forward to it. I should go to bed soon, but I wouldn't be able to sleep...

Another thought...this came today, too, from another sister, Diane, and this is funny!

I totally related to what this forward says about moms...:

WHY I LOVE MOM

Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, "I'm tired, and it's getting late. I think I'll go to bed". She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day's lun ches. Rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning. She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the washer , ironed a shirt and secured a loose button. She picked up the game pieces left on the table, put the phone back on the charger and put the telephone book into the drawer. She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry. She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk, wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse. Mom then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her Night solution & age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails. Dad called out, "I thought you were going to bed.""I'm on my way," she said. She put some water into the dog's dish then made sure the doors were locked and the patio light was on. She looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamps and TV's , hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework. In her own room, she set the alarm; laid out clothing for the n ext day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her 6 most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals. About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular. "I'm going to bed" And he did..without another thought. Anything extraordinary here? Wonder why women live longer... we can't die sooner, we still have things to do!!!! Send this to five phenomenal women today...they'll love you for it! I just did. Then go to bed.

OK, just one more thing...the boys, particularly Isaac, and I sat and read John 3:16 to the 'end of the red letters' and discussed walking in the light where we're pleased to let everyone see our works, knowing that we're pleasing God as opposed to hiding in the dark because our deeds are evil and for fear that if we come into the light, we'll be exposed...Sooooo, this afternoon we had that situation with them and the electricity and Isaac sneaking to take the electric cord and then another situation with Caleb about taking a donut before dinner cuz Isaac had one at lunch...We discussed justifying bad decisions, stealing, the Ten Commandments, and instead of beating them over the head with Scripture, I simply mentioned the Scripture we read in John as well as breaking the Commandments and Caleb had tears in his eyes. I also discussed dulling their consciences, which are gifts from God, and the Holy Spirit revealing to them it was wrong by their hiding it...it was a great conversation...ended up in prayer and repentance...isn't God good? He is so faithful to take His Word and work it in our kid's hearts. We have to remember we're training...that takes time 9lots and lots of it, too!!!), consistency, unconditional love and forgiveness the way He gives it to us and constantly remembering that we need to grow up just like our children...into the Image of His Son, the one who came to earth as a baby to die as a Savior.
God bless!

~I forgot about the video camera taking pix!~

Here are their faces on the table.

Cool, huh?

~Rachael has a blog!!!~

My daughter, Rachael, our only daughter as of now, has her own blog...I am so proud of her! Check it out! It's very fresh...like minutes old as of 11:48 on Sat. nite, the 15th of December, 2007.
Well, I've been working on gifts, talking to our son, Josh, who's been here working on a table he and his roommate are making with their faces stained into it...(they didn't literally stain their own faces...I read that after posting and realized how hilarious that sounded!), but just vinyl cut outs of their heads...it's really cool, too!)
OH, OH, OH.....NEWSFLASH...I'M GETTING MY CAMERA BACK TOMORROW...IT'S DONE!!!
HALLELLUJAH!

I couldn't be happier!

(The pink is in honor of Rachael and her new blog! ;)
So, I'll put a pix in of Josh and Brendan's table when I get it so you can see the creativity that oozes here on the ranch...actually, it just oozes from the kids of God around here...
Good nite everyone.

~It's the Christmas Performance for Jef!~

Last night was Jef's school Christmas performance. He wrote a play for the children (with Jesus as the central theme!-mind you, although it's run by Christians and is a charter school, that doesn't really mean anything because most of the families are not believers in Jesus)!

I got the privilege of videoing it and his camera takes still pix, so I'm including some...these kids were so cute and the performance was precious. I was so proud of him!

Well, there's only ten days to go and so much to do to be at a place that says, "Ahhh. We finally finished with all the gifts!"

It's been fun to be together and discuss who we're giving what to.

Can you believe we yard saled today??? It was almost 60! Buffalo is getting a storm tonite...

Now, here's a funny story! We went to what we thought was the last yard sale for the day.

I was on the cell when Jef got out of the car and started looking. So, when I got off, I heard the lady say that Jef couldn't look through a box cuz it wasn't for sale...I wondered, "why do you have it out here if you're not going to sell it?" Just a fleeting thought again...amazing how those things just fly through one's head so quickly...when I said I'd give her a dollar for a bunch of picture frames but then there was this one picture I knew she wouldn't want to get rid of and she said, "No, I wouldn't want to lose that." But then she said, 'Well, actually, this isn't a yard sale, we were just cleaning out the garage!!!" Talk about embarrassing...come to think of it, there were no signs in the front or on the corner, but cuz Jef saw 'stuff' on the front lawn, he, we just assumed that's what it was...she did sell me a pot for a plant for fifty cents, tho! We just laughed at how she let us go through her stuff and she didn't say anything...she said when Jef was going through her Bible that it was enough...but it was out there to be sold, we figured!

She did tell us that she had cancer and we prayed for her on the way home...she was a chaplain at a local hospital and prayed for people to be healed, so we agreed for her healing...her name was Ms. Bell! Funny thing is that's my maiden name!

Have a great day tomorrow!

~Ten days to go!~

Can you believe it? So much to do, so little time...

But I am so excited to be celebrating the birth of my Savior. The 'baby' Jesus that is bigger, stronger, more powerful than any other little baby I've ever met! Because He never was just a baby and He isn't a baby anymore...He is Lord, Master, King of all Kings, ruler of the Universe, my friend, lover, director, instructor, inspirer (is that a word?)...and they should all be spelled with CAPITAL LETTERS!

Well, in light of all I need to work on, I say so long for today and enjoy your day...it's all you get! One at a time...

Celebrate the little things...

snowflakes on the windows...either real or paper, as we have!

AND if you don't have any snow like us, then just sit and stare at the picture and dream...it's much warmer that way, too!

~Sky Collage~

Yesterday, I ran down the road like I always do, to take the sunset pictures, and I dropped my camera and it jammed. The lens wouldn't close, or turn on and stay on! I immediately called Josh, who bought a four-year warranty just for me because he knows how hard I am on things. "Help, Josh"!

..He also came and picked me up and we went to Best Buy to find out about getting it fixed and they took it from me to send for repair and I won't get it back for two to six weeks! Help me, Lord!

A most sad event that has caused me much sorrow. I am ok, tho. I get to look at the world with just my eyes for a while...

So, here's some of my sky pictures to enjoy while we wait together to see new ones in the future.

My son, Pierre Van Gogh!

Caleb wanted to pretend he had a mustache after I put this cap on his head.

It goes well with the cap, and for a while he kept it on, but the eyeliner started to itch his face and daddy was in Austin so he wasn't going to be home soon and so we washed it off...but not before I got a pix of him!