We had a nice Christmas. The news is saying that everyone has spent less on Christmas. The headline in the Greenwood paper says that people are focusing more on Christ's birth. Imagine that...Actually celebrating Jesus's birthday instead of trying to buy more junk to impress people that you don't even like! ha

My favorite part of Christmas is the Christmas Eve service at our church. It is so beautiful with candlelight and communion and focusing on Jesus's birth. Not only his birth but the gift of eternal life that God gave to us on Christmas.

We finally did get a tree! I asked for a tall skinny one, but got a tall monstrosity! It is about 11 feet tall and 8 feet in diameter. We had to put it in front of the bookcase, because if we put it in the usual spot, you couldn't use the front door.

I cooked stroganoff for Christmas Eve supper. We watched Miracle on 34th street. I don't think that Santa arrived until about 7:00 am christmas morning, because the "little ones" would not go to bed until after midnight. Santa doesn't bring much to our house anymore, just fills the stockings and back up the chimney! ( or back in the bed! ) We really did scale down Christmas gift giving this year, but you know, I don't think anyone felt left out. We are really blessed.

I can't believe that it is less than 2 weeks until Christmas Day. We don't even have a tree yet! Maybe this afternoon we'll get one up. Sid and Jon are fast asleep. I have been up since 6, since I had to have Patrick at the school at 7:30 this morning so that he could take the ACT. We are so proud of the fact that The Lord has blessed him with such a sharp mind. He is one of seven 7th graders who are taking it today. He starts exams Monday and will be finished Wednesday at 9:25. Jon finished Wednesday and came home. Liz is finished, but won't be coming home until Christmas, I'm sure.

We attended the band concert last Sunday afternoon. It was wonderful! The Junior high band went first and I was so amazed at how much they have improved. We stayed for the high school concert, too and they are very good.

We have some little escape artists. I have been watching them out the window and they are trying to tunnel under the fence. They are so bad, but so cute!

well, short, but sweet, I'm gone to clean up, so maybe Sid will cut me a tree!

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is upon us! We had a nice Thanksgiving. Liz came home and spent 3 days with us! I don't believe that she has spent that much time home in several years! She gets bored so easily and we are boring people!

The deerslayer struck again! Patrick has killed his 3 does for the year, now for the elusive buck. I personally wish he would get rid of all of them. They have kept me from enjoying fresh greens for 2 years now and last summer they ate everything in the garden except the jalapenos.

Jon got a little work in while he was home for thanksgiving week. He only has this week and next and then he will be home for a month. I know that he won't want to go back in January.

Patrick marched in the Winona Christmas parade last night.! He said that the guy in the mustang in front of them had to be tired of jingle bells! They played it constantly for 30 or more minutes! He was well bundled up, underarmour, turtleneck, long-sleeved t-shirt and the band shirt on top and long johns and his khakis on the bottom! He said that he didn't get cold. I sure did! They are having their Christmas concert this Sunday afternoon and I am anxious to hear them.

The P-man is in the middle of the picture. I hope that Becky Dees got a better picture of him. I'll gladly buy all she'll take. Her pictures always turn out well.

The youth are cooking supper tomorrow at church. I was informed of this this morning when the youth director asked if I could make a dessert! My child doesn't tell me anything! He probably just hasn't gotten around to it. He'll remember tomorrow night about 15 minutes until time to go to church. ha

Not a whole lot else is going on here. Just the usual. Maybe I'll get into the Christmas spirit and start to put up some decorations before Christmas is here!

I love fall

Hasn't the last week been just majestic? The leaves are so beautiful. I love the golden hues of the hickory trees and the red, orange, yellow and purple of the sweet gums. I love the deep burgundy of the red oak and all the shades in between. The bright yellow fans of the ginkgo just prove that God loves variety. They are shaped like no other leaf and their bright yellow is so cheery. The deep red of the sumac with their darker red berries is wonderful. Am I easily amazed? Maybe so, but I know no artist like my God. He never ceases to amaze me.



I am better this week. I was deeply disappointed last week, but hang on to the promise that God is in control of everything. The sun has continued to rise and set and I just don't listen to the news or look very hard at the paper.



December is coming very fast! 2 more weeks and the boys are both out for Thanksgiving. Jon is also getting the whole week. Dec. 1 is the Winona Christmas parade and this will Patrick's first year to march in it since the Junior high band will get to march. That next Sunday afternoon is their Christmas concert which they have already been practicing for for a while. I can't wait to hear them perform. I only hear "part of the story" when he practices at home. They had an all day clinic last Saturday and each instrument had their own clinician. I hope that he learned a lot!



Tonie called me this afternoon, scheduling the "Knox family Christmas". I guess we'll go to their house on December 20 for that. I told her that I preferred to forgo gifts, therefore eliminating the stress of buying for people that can't be pleased. ( I didn't say that, did I?) I would love to visit with my family and catch up, but gifts for them puts gray hair in my head. None of them will read this!



I hope that everyone has a great week. It looks like we'll be getting a little rain tomorrow. I need to build a fire in the heater. ok that's better, it takes the chill off the house.

Today was election day. I guess we'll find out tomorrow who'll be our next president. I voted for the team that lined up more with my beliefs, pro-life, pro-family, and against the socialist. Our family has done their part, hope everyone else's has, too. I have to remember, though no matter how it turns out, God is still in control and he can even use a bad situation to accomplish his perfect will.


I don't celebrate halloween. The Lord convicted me of this when Liz was about 4. The Bible takes such things seriously, so we should too. this year, however, I dressed up. ha ha At work we had John McCain, Sarah Palin, and a hippy. they knew how I felt about Halloween, so they didn't expect me to do anything. I surprised them by showing up with purple hair and a punk rock tatoo sleeve, black clothes and lots of heavy eyeliner. I have since repented! and the punk rocker disappeared in the bathtub! ( I got lots of compliments on my purple hair, though!) That was the extent of my involvement! No parties, No trick or treat, no yard rolling, no egg throwing! No scary movies!

We all just wanta be big rock stars!!!

The Winona Tigers are district champs!~! Yay!!! They start the first round of the playoffs this week at home against Cleveland Eastside. Best of luck Tigers!!!

The Winona Junior high Beta club is sponsoring "Operation Christmas Child" for their Christmas project. I was proud that they are doing such a worthwhile project. We have been doing this at church for the past several years and we have received letters from children in Burkina Faso, India, and another place that I don't remember. It is so awesome how a little box full of inexpensive toys can mean so much to a little child. It is so wonderful to hear of their faith in Jesus and how in some cases they led their parents to the Lord because somewhere around the world someone cared. Someone prayed. Someone gave to the Lord.

I am still enjoying this wonderful fall weather. The trees are getting pretty and will soon be bare. I don't like winter and I don't like summer, but I do love fall and spring!

Had a great weekend. Since Sidney was off last week, He and I went to the movies Friday night. (Patrick tagged along, too!) We saw Fireproof, the new movie from Sherwood Baptist in Albany Georgia. It was so wonderful. I laughed, I cried, I'm gonna buy it when it comes out on DVD! I have the other 2 movies that they have done. They were great, too. God has really blessed them with a ministry to reach a widespread audience for Christ. This one was about the marriage relationship and how wives and husbands should treat one another. We ate greasy popcorn and drank coke, too. Gotta love movie popcorn!

Saturday was a mostly quiet, piddle around the house kind of day. Beautiful weather, perfect temperatures. Sid's brother and aunt arrived late Saturday afternoon. Patrick went to Starkville with the youth group from church to bowl. Jon went to a friend's house to work on his truck. Wow, alone at last?! We went out to eat, just the two of us and had a very enjoyable evening.

Sunday was our 175th anniversary celebration at church. It was nice. We didn't have Sunday School, but started registration at 10:00. Church started at 10:45 and I'm not sure when it ended. I really enjoyed the music and the historic moments and everything. I know it ended after 12:00, because my son let me know! ha We had a great lunch and ooddles of tempting desserts. I made a banana pudding and 3 lemon meringue pies. I saw just about everything you could imagine. After lunch we went home and slept it off! when we woke up, Liz had appeared. It was good to see her for a short time.

No, Jon is not praying, he's avoiding the camera!

Judd and Katie enjoying their lunch on a beautiful fall day

I have a little while before I have to go pick up Patrick today. He has a trumpet lesson this afternoon from 3:30 until 4:00. I am sure that he will be starving when I pick him up! He has to eat lunch so early, around 10:30 in the morning I think. He is always hungry when I pick him up.

I am watching the puppies playing outside in the back yard. We still have them all. They are so much fun. We've had them in the tradewinds for the last 3 weeks, but I guess no one is interested in a pup right now. Probably spending all their disposable income on gasoline. I am glad to see that it is coming down. Hope that it keeps on coming down! Sid told his brother that he probably saved a couple hundred dollars waiting 3 weeks to drive to Mississippi from Charleston, South Carolina!

Sid is taking a week of vacation this week. He usually takes a week in late October every year, because it is cooler and he does the annual firewood cutting for the winter. We heat primarily with wood, so unless he cuts, we freezes!!! ha He thinks that we have enough, so today he worked on his truck and headed to Artesia to help Jonathan with a plumbing problem on the camper. He spent the night, so I'm curious to see how it went with him sleeping in a camper with Jonathan. Jon says since it is cooler now, he only has about 2 minutes of hot water in the morning, not quite enough to get that head of hair wet, much less get it washed! I hope that they can figure out something. Maybe they can at least have a little father-son "bonding time!" Even though they fight like cats and dogs, I know that he misses him being around all the time. I know from experience that Sid likes to have someone around when he's tinkering, if for no other reason, to get a good argument going! I've learned to just leave the shop and head to the house and let him argue with himself!

Patrick killed a doe yesterday afternoon. Yay!!!!! I hope he kills them all. That wasn't very nice, was it? Well, I'm so tired of them eating up our garden, when they have plenty to eat elsewhere. For the last 2 years they have taken all our greens, and have not left us any to eat. This year they ate our okra down to the ground, and helped themselves to the tomatoes. They don't particularly like jalapenos or mexican sunflowers. Yesterday Sid and I built an electric fence around the garden. I hope that it works wonders. I cooked part of that deer for his breakfast this morning with fresh bisciuts. I thought the biscuits were good. I won't touch the deer. They can eat it all.

Had a call on the puppies yesterday. Someone from Greenwood may come this weekend and look at one for a Christmas gift for his father. I'm not liking this at all, but I know that we can't keep them all. Patrick's friend Josh really wants ole "wrinkles"! Sid started calling him that because he looks so worried all the time!

Made a pot of red beans and rice. Let the beans cook all day. I forgot to buy bacon when I was in Winona, so I stopped by Dollar General after Church tonight. I love DG! They had the bacon. It was a little higher than the grocery store, but I didn't have to drive to get it! I got the bacon cooked and put in the pot, got the veggies sauted and in the pot, and the sausage browned and put in the pot. Now I'll let it simmer til lunch tomorrow and it should be pretty good. Haven't had it in a while.

Not much else happening here. I have been concerned about Sydney Sims. www.caringbridge.org/fl/sydneysims She has been in New York taking 3f8 treatments for neuroblastoma this week and has had some pretty scary side effects. She really needs prayer right now, both Sydney and her mother, Michelle. It must be horrible to stand by and watch your baby go through so much for the past almost 5 years. What a struggle to wonder if the treatments are worth the pain, but for Syd, there are no other treatment options available right now. So, what do you do? I would have to take the chance with the treatments and hope that this time would be the cure. That doesn't make it any easier to face, though.

Fall is definitely in the air!

Wow, the air is cool and the sky is blue, well it is actually black right now, but it was so blue earlier! I think that fall is my favorite time of year because it is a refreshing season. The summer is so hot and smothering and the fall is light and crisp. I just love it.

Yesterday I picked up Patrick's report card. It was wonderful. I am so proud of his ability to learn easily. It is truly a gift and a blessing from the Lord. He had all "A's". We got his state test scores back from last spring as well. He did extremely well on those too. As a result of his doing so well on the state tests, he was asked to participate in the Duke University talent Identification and he will take the ACT in December.

Jon got a midterm report card today as well. He has a 4.0. This is the child that didn't know if he was going to be able to walk with his class until wednesday, May 21,before graduation on friday May 23! He was so fortunate to be able to attend a high school with a wonderful vocational program and he really excelled in Welding. (Unfortunately, he had to learn English and geometry, too!) As a result of this he is studying welding and fabrication at East Mississippi Community college in Mayhew. For the first time in his life he loves school. I am so thankful for the opportunity that he has been given. He has spent hours in prayer about what the Lord would have him do and he feels that he is going in the right direction. He may not weld for the rest of his life, but this is a starting point and I am so glad that he is excited about it.

Our mustard greens are coming up, but if we don't get an electric fence around the garden real soon, the deer will eat them all. They did last year. I cooked some "store-bought" mustard greens last week and Sid said they weren't very good. I told him, he better learn to like them, unless he managed to get a fence around that garden! I don't know what we'd do without our garden, because we are all so spoiled. We don't much like canned food!

Sid is off next week. He will do his annual woodcutting week. We heat exclusively with wood, so if he doesn't cut fire wood, we'll get a little cool!!! He is ready, with a new chain for the saw, a file to re-sharpen it and a chain that Crossroads small engine repair is sharpening for us. Just maybe he'll get that electric fence going, too!

Monday Already!?

I can't believe that the weekend flew by so fast! Saturday Jon and I got up and drove to Birmingham to see Dave Ramsey. He is so good! Jon really enjoyed it, but said 5 hours was too long to sit! He also froze to death. It was kinda cold in there. I did all the driving because Jon has been known to get lost rather easily.

We got home about 11:30 Saturday night. Sid and Patrick went to the fair. I can not believe he rode some of the rides that he rode. I wouldn't believe it until I saw the pictures!

Looks like he enjoyed himself! I couldn't do it, you'd have to shoot me.

Liz says gas is 2.69/gal. in Cleveland! Needs to drop a little more here. The cheapest gas that we saw this weekend was in Mathiston @ 2.90/gal. I paid 3.02 in Carrollton.

Patrick and Jeremiah have been working hard this morning. They cut several yards and came in Miss Sippy's to eat. They cleaned their plates, so they must have been hungry. They better enjoy the last few hours of their "fall Break" ha. Have to go back to school tomorrow!

Long Weekend!

It's Friday! A beautiful fall day. Last day of midterm exams for Patrick. We checked him out of school at noon today and we all went to Pizza Inn for buffet. It had been a while since we had done that and it was so good! He did great on everything so far. The only one that hasn't been posted was pre-algebra, so we'll find out soon how that went. Report card day is next Thursday and it is a short day. They are out this Monday for Columbus day or fall break, so a nice long weekend for the P-man! He'll probably want to be in the woods trying for that elusive deer! Last Wednesday coming home from church we saw a spike down the road from the house. He just stood there in the middle of the road. Patrick got out of the car and walked toward him and he just stood there. Patrick threw a rock in front of him and he just looked at the road where the rock hit. Finally Patrick ran at him and chased him across the neighbor's yard. It was so funny!

Jon came home today and started back to work at Anel. I haven't heard yet how that went. He gets off at 11:00 tonight. I told him that he better come straight home and go to bed. Better not stay out with his buddies, or it will be really hard to rise in the morning. He and I are going to Birmingham tomorrow to see Dave Ramsey. Can you believe it was his idea to go? Sid and I saw him in Jackson a few years ago and we really enjoyed him, but Jon called one night and told me he wanted to go. I said, good, then go, then he says, I don't want to go by myself. I said, ask a friend. He said, I want you to go with me! ha. If he wants to learn to handle money God's way, then I am all for it, even if we have to spend 8 hours driving there and back! He's pretty smart with money anyway, so we may create a monster~!

Talked to Lizzie this afternoon. She had 4 more puzzles to work for homework. She doesn't like them, so she knew I'd bite. She had a cryptoquote, a jumble, a sudoku and a numbrix. I solved them pretty quick. she had already done the crytoquote, except for a few letters, so I helped her with it. She got caught in a parade going to work this afternoon and was a little late! Cleveland is celebrating Octoberfest, so there is a lot going on this weekend there. I am glad that she seems to be sticking with her schooling this time. Maybe seeing her friends graduating, getting jobs and getting married, has lit a fire under her. Wow, when I was her age, I was expecting her! We had been married 3 years when she arrived!

I made it to the dentist to get my crown glued in permanently yesterday. I spent a stressful week waiting for that thing to show up! Kinda embarrasing, but it fell off Friday night while I was asleep and I found it Tuesday. The dentist said if it made me feel better, I wasn't the first one to have that happen to! Glad I can eat and drink and brush my teeth again painfree!

Sid and Patrick are planning to go to the state fair tomorrow. This is the last weekend for it. We haven't been a couple of years. I told him to bring home some taffy. They like to see the cars and look at all the stuff. Patrick likes to ride, but not as much as Sid does. Nobody, but nobody can outride Liz, though! I don't ride anything that leaves the ground, or spins very fast!

WEll, this weekend is going to be busy and fast! I wish that I had monday off, too!

Ouch!!! Ouch Charlie, that really hurt! And it's still hurting!!
Papa Jimmy is more than a little jealous!!

Jon, snuggling with a baby!

The Puppies will be 8 weeks old this friday. I don't want them to leave!!! They are so sweet and cute. I guess I will put them in the tradewinds for sale and I will worry that who ever gets them will love them as much as we do. Min pins are so much fun. They are fun to watch when they don't know that you are looking. They play tug of war and fight and nip each other on the ear or the tail and run!!! so cute. They make you laugh. They will jump in the air and spin around and fall on the ground. Jimmy and Gator will dance in a circle for a treat! The babies haven't learned that yet.

Happy Birthday Grandmother!!!

Tomorrow is Sid's mother's 80th birthday. We along with his brother surprised her by putting the flowers in her church yesterday. To really surprise her, Sid, Jon, Patrick and I showed up at her church for the 11:00 service. Afterwards we took her to the Crystal Grill for lunch. I baked her a cake and hope that she had a good weekend and an early birthday!

This week is first nine weeks tests for Patrick. Is seems so funny that I only have one child left in school. Well, the others are in college, but Patrick is the only one at home and I fast feel our house becoming an empty nest. I am sure that the next 6 years will fly just like the last 6 did. Patrick has all A's going into the tests, so I feel that he will do fine.

Jon is supposed to start back to work this coming thursday. He first dreaded starting college, wanting to stay at work, because it was comfortable! Now, he loves school and dreads going back to work. This time, however, work will be graded like school!!!

Liz is just doing her thing, working and going to school. She visited her brother last week and I was so surprised! She didn't much like taking a shower in his camper. Too used to a nice big bathroom, I guess!!!

I did a lot of cooking this morning at work. Made 2 batches of bread; one white and one wheat. I made a dozen cinnamon rolls and 2 dozen muffins, a batch of tomato and roasted red pepper soup, and started the baked potato soup. Tomorrow we have a group of "Red Hat" ladies coming. About 18 of them are supposed to come. they want to tour the Merrill museum and see the McCain stuff then come to our place to eat. I think that I will make 2 big chicken pot pies and an extra big bowl of brocolli salad!

Jeanette starts weekly chemo this week. She had been going every 3 weeks, but now they are doing it every week. She says that it is a different drug. She is scared because she doesn't know how this one will affect her. The last one was bad enough. She is tough, though. She hasn't missed much work because of sickness. She will have her surgery in January.

We have been busy, sorry for the lapse in updates! We had a progressive supper at church last night. Well, not just at church. We were one of the host homes. Needless to say, I have been cleaning for a week. I washed windows, swept, dusted, mopped, cleaned out the refrigerator, washed tons of clothes, mainly because of Patrick's room. I cleaned it up finally, since he wouldn't get in there and do it, but I charged him $25 because I had to clean it up. I guess I need to do these things periodically, since the dust bunnies don't normally bother me. The supper was alright. We didn't have as many people to show up as were supposed to, but we had a good time with those who did. We had the Burns and the Collins for appetizers, then we had the Wiltshires for salad. We all ended up at the church for chicken strips and dessert. It was fun, but I felt kinda cheated out of a weekend.

This is homecoming week at school. tomorrow is "Nerd day" Don't you think Patrick is a textbook example of a typical nerd! ha not really. He is not normally nerdy, just for the nerd day. Wednesday is Disney day and Patrick just has to be Little Arliss from Ole Yeller. It is perfect for him. We'll dress him up with overalls and give him a frog and a snake for one pocket and a rock for the other one!! Let's hope that he doesn't really throw it at anybody!! Patrick is doing very well in school. His progress report was very good and first nine weeks tests are next week. He was picked to lead the pledge of allegiance this week. I would love to hear it! He has a great voice! southern drawl to the max, and he is a little sensitive when folks make fun of it, but they can't help it!! He made it to second chair trumpet in the band this week. The jr. high band played at the jr. high ball game last tuesday and I enjoyed listening to them very much. They played so well together.

Jon was in heaven this weekend. He spent the weekend in Memphis watching the NHRA drag races. He even got a "souvenir" !!!! A tire. Yes, a huge 36 inch tall tire. Jon continues to love school and is planning on going back to work this friday.

Liz is hanging in there and checking in every few days with a math problem to solve! she is busy, though with 2 jobs and school. NOt much time for social life.

Sid entered the purple truck in a car show last weekend. He is so proud of her. I am proud of him for working on her and getting her going.

Me, I am tired. Poor baby, yeah, I know. I have no problems compared to so many out there. Life is good and God is awesome!

Where has the time gone? I posted on the first, now it is amost september 11. WE WILL NEVER FORGET. I will never forget that morning, home with Sidney, since I wasn't working at the time, when Sid's cousin called us and told us to turn on the television, something awful had happened. Well, she was right. It was awful, unbelievable, unfathomable that someone could devalue human life like that. Satan was working overtime that day, in those muslim fanatics. Who would have thought that we would have been attacked like that, on our own soil, no mercy. There were fathers on those planes, children, mothers, sisters, brothers, aunts, grandmas. It didn't matter to those men. I wonder if they were surprised that there were not 40 virgins waiting for them when they martyred themselves. I wonder if hell was hot enough. I am glad that our God is a just God, a God of mercy I am no better than those muslim fanatics, but I am FORGIVEN!! YEA!!!!!

Happy Labor Day

It has been a nice day. Very quiet, lazy. It has been cloudy all day and we have been awaiting the storms of the hurricane Gustav. The Lord is good, the storm went way west and we have not had the first drop of rain. Liz's friend has been trying to get his corn crop in and lacks a couple of days to finish, so if the rain would hold off, his crop would be safe. Had a nice visit with Liz and Jon this weekend. Liz went back earlier today, having class, plus working a double shift tomorrow. Jon will go back in a little while, taking his food for the week with him! He had filet mignon for his birthday and there was a little piece of it left. I smoked a boston butt today and it was so good and tender. I marinated some chicken tenders in louisiana hot sauce with some other stuff and they were pretty good! He also has some baked beans, birthday cake, spaghetti and other assorted goodies in his cooler. It is a short week this week. Sid has been working on painting his interior truck doors today. Haven't seen much of him, just when he got hungry.

Happy Birthday to Jon!

This afternoon at 3:37 pm our sweet middle child turned 19 years old. Can't believe it! Seems like he was just a baby, then a little toddler, then a kindergartener with tired hands from all that coloring! Then it was first grade, then fourth grade, new school, peewee football, jr. high, high school and then he was a senior. Then he graduated last may. Boy, the time flies. His little brother just started junior high, so I guess he'll be graduating in a couple of days! We went to church this morning, then came home and cooked steaks with the works and a homemade caramel cake for dessert. Grandmother came and ate with us and Liz came home and ate, too. Jon was tickled to get money from grandmother, new flip flops from Liz and a new tv from his daddy and me.

Tomorrow is Labor day and hurricane Gustav is due to make landfall in New Orleans in the morning. Last year on this particular weekend, we were enjoying a beautiful beach at Pensacola with Margaret and family. The weather on the coast this time is much different. We'll probably get rain by Tuesday, but probably tomorrow. All the hotels and motels in the state are booked with evacuees. Our neighbor has 10 in her house alone. Her family is from the coast and New Orleans.

Finally the weekend!

Jon made it through one week of school! He had to come home on monday night, but finally on tuesday he got electricity. The bldg. permit office misplaced our request for permission to hook up electricity, so they got on it after we called. Didn't really want to call and worry them, because it might give them reason to find fault with the service. He is so lonely over there. He does have television, and the landlord's grandson has come by to speak and is real nice. He even invited Jon to go to church with them. He was really glad to be home and see his "girl", meaning Candy, the camaro. I wasn't able to send much in the way of food with him last weekend, other than non-perishables, since we didn't know when we would get lights. Yesterday I made chicken spaghetti, cheese soup, and beef stroganoff in large amounts so he would have plenty to take back. He kinda likes school, just not being over there!

Patrick had a good week at school. Monday night was open house, so we went and spoke to all the teachers. He and Jeremiah and Howard cut grass at the church yesterday and also the other ladies' houses where they cut.

Today is the big 175th birthday of our church. There is a parade this afternoon followed by a party at the pavillion. Hamburgers, chips, ice cream and cake are on the menu. Tomorrow Dr. Jim Futral will preach the 11:00 service. Looking forward to that. Don't really like the idea of a parade. It looks like we are pointing to ourselves instead of Jesus. I don't think that we should be in the business of promoting Carrollton Baptist Church. I think Jesus gets lost in the hoopla.

Liz called and talked for an hour wednesday night. She was really wound up! Enjoyed talking to her. Seems like she is very busy with school and working every spare minute.

I have worked a lot this week. I am tired. Jeanette had her second treatment wednesday. She is doing ok. Haven't talked to her today. Last time she had her treatment, the weekend was pretty bad.

Sid is getting his carpet and seats installed in his old purple truck. It is so pretty. He has worked so hard on it. He and Jon were down there this morning working on their respective projects.

The puppies arrived last Friday! There are 2 girls and 1 boy. They are so tiny and precious. They are 1 week old now and are doing fine. Mama has gotten her strength back and will leave them a little more now. I can't wait for them to open their eyes and start playing with each other. They will be fun.

this is one of the babies on the first day. This is a little girl.

Today after Patrick went to school, Sidney, Jonathan and I went to Starkville. First we went to 4-County Electric to see about getting him electricity, then we dropped Sid and the trailer off at Jon's house site. Jon and I then went to the school to finish registering him. We waited in several lines and finally finished. Tried to get a coke at the 45 quick stop, but the clerk was so high, she couldn't check us out. Sid was so thirsty, so we just had to bring him something. She kept wanting to charge us $397.77 and then she would say, no, that's not right, then she couldn't make the cash register work, so finally I asked for a calculator and figured the price of 3 cokes, forgot the candy bars and told her to keep the change. We had to get out of there! Sid wondered why it took us forever. When we got back, he had the pole just about ready to go, but the hole wasn't quite deep enough, so Jon got to see some digging action! We got it all ready to hook up, it is up to the electric folks now. Hopefully they will get it going before monday, so he can stay in his trailer. Sid and Jon are both taking off tomorrow and taking the camper. They should take care of getting the water done tomorrow as well. I am glad that Jon has this opportunity, but I will be so sad, because I will miss him so much. He is apprehensive because of new surroundings, no friends around, no television. I think that Sid and I will get him a tv for his birthday, which is 2 weeks from Sunday. Maybe we'll get it and give it to him early. Jon is so precious. I hope that he will apply himself and do well.

We are going to Starkville tomorrow to finish registering Jonathan for school and tending to getting him some electricity to his trailer. God is so good. He just keeps opening doors that we never thought about. He is awesome.

Patrick and his medal from the tournament.

School is in and I never updated from our trip. Figures!! Well, rewind to the world series. It was so fun. We got there friday and had a banquet and opening ceremonies. The boys traded pins with the other teams. It was so neat to see boys from all over the south, all great baseball players. We played Saturday morning against the Jefferson Parish (LA) team and it was a great game. The score was back and forth, but ultimately we lost 8-7. We took the boys bowling that afternoon, because we didn't have another game until sunday morning and our motel did not have a pool. Sunday morning we played another LA team and lost 16-11. For a team that was not supposed to go to the state tournament, much less the world series, they played competitively against a state champion and runner-up! Since it was a double elimination tournament, we went home after our second loss. It didn't matter-they got to go and they had a ball., Literally! We also got to see the "Miracle League" play. Our team even gave them the gifts we brought to trade. The Miracle League was so awesome. They are teams of handicapped kids and adults, either physically or mentally handicapped.

Patrick up to bat

Giving the gifts to the miracle kids

Since Sidney was supposed to be on vacation that week anyway, we went on to Atlanta to spend sunday night. We visited the cocacola museum monday morning and it was well worth a visit. Monday afternoon we headed to Charleston to see Judd and Gloria. When they found out that we were heading their way (kinda), they insisted that we come and visit. Judd took off and showed us some really neat stuff. We visited Cypress gardens swamp, where parts of The Patriot were filmed. We got to ride through the swamp with a guide. It was very beautiful. Sid and Patrick even took their own boat out after the tour. They saw baby alligators in the wild. WE went to the beach a couple of mornings and went to see the oldest and largest live oak in the state, the angel oak. It was so beautiful, rumored to be 1400 years old, but how do they know? Stopped to get corn at a roadside produce market and visited the petting zoo there. Patrick still enjoys petting animals, even though he is getting so big! Judd and Gloria took us out to the Rosebank farms restaurant on Kiawah Island. Very good, and unusual. We went to the old market downtown and walked on the riverwalk. We had a blast. We had a great surprise on Thursday. Katie came up. We were so glad to see her. On our last night there Judd, Sidney, Patrick and I went to a charleston Riverdogs game. They are a "A" team for the yankees. The dogs won and Patrick bought a cool hat. We came home on Saturday. Had a couple of weeks to catch up until school started on the 6th of August. Patrick worked the last 2 weeks at the Rays, tearing down an old shed. It was good for him and it got him used to gettting up early in the morning. Last Wednesday, the 6th was the first day of 7th grade! He likes it pretty well so far. He says much better than elementary. Jon starts to school this monday at East Mississippi community college. He is nervous and not sure about leaving home. He has a camper to stay in on a very pretty farm out in the country just about 6 or 7 miles from the school. We will go this weekend to get things set up and try to get him some electricity. the spot has water and a septic tank, but we have to set a pole and they have to get some electricity to it. I know that I will miss him. He will be home on the weekends and on the days that he works. He won't know when that will be until he gets over there and his teacher sets him up on a schedule. I pray that he will stick with it and do well. Sid and I? well, we are just working!

Sid and Belinda at the Coca Cola Museum

Patrick and Sidney at Kiawah Beach

The Angel Oak

cypress garden swamp

The boys are getting so excited about playing in the world series this weekend. It will be nice to get away and a chance of a lifetime for the team. I just hope that he will get to play some. I know that we will see some very good teams there.
Poor Jonathan is working 10 hour days this week and is exhausted. Patrick and Jeremiah have been doing "destruction work" this week at Betty Ray's house. They are tearing down a little shed in her back yard and getting filthy.

I have been working a little more this week. Jeanette just found out that she has breast cancer. She has a good attitude and faith-but no health insurance. I am praying for her.

Patrick up to bat at the state Dizzy Dean tournament in Pontotoc. June 26-June 30, 2008

A lot has happened since I last posted. We came in fourth in the district Dizzy Dean tournament, so we weren't supposed to go to the state tournament. Hernando dropped out for some reason, so we were elected to go in their place. The tournament started at 9:00am Thursday morning, so Patrick went down Wednesday night with his coach and spent the night with them. Sid and I were able to get away for his Thursday morning game, and thought we would surprise him, but he told us,"I Knew you would be here!" That's funny, we weren't sure ourselves. They beat Mantachie by 10 runs that morning and Patrick got to play some. We got to see him hit the ball once and walk once. They played Columbus at 6:00pm and won that one, also 8-4. Since they won, they didn't have to play again until 9:30 pm on Friday night, so we had a long day to wait. They game against Grenada Youth didn't get started until after 10:30 pm, so we played until about 12:15 am! Latest that I have ever stayed at a baseball game. This one was a very sweet victory- one that put Grenada in the loser's bracket. We played Houston Saturday afternoon at 1:30. We lost that game, so we were put in the loser's bracket to play Columbus again at 2:00 Sunday afternoon. We won that game and had to play Starkville at 4:00. Starkville only scored 4 runs in the first 2 innings, but it seemed that we just couldn't get a break. The game ended 4-0 and we went home, claiming 4th place in the state tournament. Not too bad, considering we weren't suuposed to be there, and we lasted longer than the other teams in our district.

Since I last posted our oldest turned 23! Happy belated birthday for Elizabeth Anne Morrison on June 20! She was working and couldn't get away to come home for her birthday, so we mailed her a card. She didn't get a cake, but she doesn't really like cake, but I would have made her a pie, or something.

This last week home with no baseball practice every afternoon was kinda strange. I have been pickling cucumbers. I will soon have to start canning tomatoes. We need a good rain. We had a little one last night and this morning, probably just right to start soaking in. A hard rain would have just run off, the ground is so hard and dry. Cracks are appearing everywhere.

Yesterday we cooked ribs and drummies for the 4th of July. Liz came home but left kinda early. I figured she would have had other plans for the holiday with friends. Patrick spent the night with Justin and shot fireworks. Justin is coming home with Patrick tonight. I guess I'd better get some clean sheets out!

Jon and Sidney are gone to paint the camaro. I can't wait to see her, Jon has worked to very hard on her and I know she will be beautiful. Here she is, after the first priming.

June 18. Yesterday would have been mama's 80th birthday.

We had a good father's day weekend. We cooked steak for the father! We also made homemade ice cream which I believe that he enjoyed.

Last weekend we played another ball tournament in Carrollton. They boys won it. they finished their last game around 10:30 pm saturday night.

Tonight starts the district Dizzy Dean tournament in Winona (thank the Lord!). The boys play Water Valley tonight at 8:00 pm. Depending on the outcome, they will either play at 6:00 or 8:00 tomorrow. If they get in the top 3, which is very likely, they will play in the state tournament in Pontotoc next week. I already made reservations in Tupelo, so if they make it, we are covered, and if they don't make it, I can cancel.

Jon and I went to Starkville Monday to give him a look-see at East Mississippi Community College. He doesn't like change, so it will be something to get used to. Everyone was so nice and helpful.

Liz said she has finally paid off Delta state and re-applied for admission. She has been on the computer all morning looking at financial aid.

It has been so very slow at work. I have been leaving at 11:00 everyday and didn't even go this past monday, but still didn't get behind. Gas prices?

I can't believe that it has been a while since I posted. Sid did get Judd to the airport and back safely. I think Judd was back in South Carolina before Sid and his mother made it back to Carrollton. last week was pretty ordinary. Patrick had his last 2 summer league ball games. they won them both 18-8 and 16-1. He made allstars and they start practicing tonight. They had their summer league party last night at Pizza Inn. Chris printed all the boys' stats out for them. They were tickled to see and compare. Patrick finished as the team leader in rbis, stolen bases, and batting average. He had a 630 batting average, 22 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. There are lots more stats on the page. He also gave the boys some really nice gifts, much better than a trophy or a plaque. Some of the boys got posters of Albert Pujols and Jeff Francouer. A couple got autographed baseballs from Chipper Jones and Jeff Francouer. One got some baseball cards and another got a real major league wood bat. Patrick got a miniature bat signed by Chipper Jones. They had a really good time and sucked down a party size pizza in record time. The tournament team played in Carrollton all day Saturday. We had our first game at 9:00 and the last one wasn't over until 10:30ish. We did win the tournament, and of course the boys were tickled to get another trophy! All these tournaments should be good practice for the all star tournament coming up. they play their district tournament in Winona in a couple of weeks. If they do well in that one, then they get to go to the state tournament in Pontotoc at the end of the month. The state tournament sees some really stiff competition.
I am still enjoying getting off early. It is nice to be able to come home and cook lunch for my boys.
Sid helped Jon most of the day Saturday. They are putting a roll cage in the camaro. they are doing a really good job, but it is taking longer than Jon thought it would. He really thought that it would come in prewelded, but all he got was one shaped bar and a bundle of straight ones. It has come a long way and he is working so hard on it. He has his seats ready to go in and has a new dash pad and weather stripping ordered. He has decided on a color-Dodge Viper snakeskin green. It is pretty and different, one of those colors that kinda changes at different angles. He has gotten his body in good shape, so it probably won't be long until he is ready to shoot some paint.

I am so glad that this has been a short week. I was able to leave this week at 11:00 from work. Betty hired more girls to work during lunch. I have baked bread, bread, and more bread. Judd is still here, Sid will take him to the airport this Saturday. Jon has been working 10 hour days, or should I say nights? from 3.00 pm to 1:00am. He is not used to working 8 hour shifts, so it has been tough for him to get used to those long hours. Patrick is even working today. He is helping Jeremiah with his lawn cutting business. He is in charge of the week eater. I hope that he doesn't cut down some little old lady's prize day lilies! Haven't heard from Liz this week. It has been gloomy and raining all week, but today the sun is peeking out and it is HOT! The corn is tasseling and we picked our first squash. I have picked several mammoth jalapenos. The flowers have been so gorgeous with all the rain. God has so richly blessed.

We had such a good time at the tournament today. Our first game was at 9:00am and we won it 17-2 against Carrollton. The next game we tied Louisville 3-3. Louisville then had to play 3 in a row and we met them again in the championship game around 4:30. After a rain delay we won the last game 10-2. Patrick walked 6 times in a row. Did not get a hit, but never struck out! They got some pretty neat trophies. The boys were amazed because it had a spinning baseball nightlight in it! ha they are so easily amused! Above are the Winona Redsox first place winners along with the Louisville, Mississippi Mustangs, second place winners.

Graduation was last night. We have had a week of constant praying and studying. Jon had to re-take his geometry test because he didn't score high enough. He took it thursday morning and after much nail biting and sweating, he passed. He walked. When we woke up yesterday morning, it was raining. I prayed harder. By late yesterday afternoon, it was nice. They did graduate on the football field and it was beautiful. My heart swells with love and pride that he worked so hard and finished. Judd flew in from Charleston yesterday and Sid and grandmaw went and picked him up. We were glad that he was able to celebrate with us. I couldn't believe how packed the stadium was. We got there an hour early and it was filling up fast. I haven't heard from Jon this morning. He went to CJ's last night for an all-nighter. Liz stayed with Julie and Blaine last night. She figured there would be roadblocks! Good plan.

We are getting ready to play a tournament this morning. Going to Carrollton!

It is sad that a few words spoken in concern can cause such problems. I won't go into detail, because it just doesn't matter anyway. Liz is mad at me. Jon is mad at me. I never thought that someone that I love so much could talk to me the way he did tonight. What's funny, is that what I said apparently was turned around and taken the wrong way, definately not the way it was intended. He has such a chip on his shoulder and it really needs to be knocked off. He is mad at the world, and everything in it. I have cried for hours and now all I have to show for it is a swollen nose and red eyes. I really wonder sometimes if everyone would be better off if I were not in their world. All I ever did was care.

May sure is flying by. Last week Sid informed me that his uncle was coming to visit his mother. His uncle is a super neat freak and he really intimidates me! I worked like a trojan trying to clean up the house and neaten up the yard-then the weekend hit. by monday it looked not much better. Liz showed up on mother's day afternoon. She brought me a new pink "Ala Carte Alley" shirt and a big metal cross which I hung over the buffet. Jon bought me a pair of pink croc flops and took me out to the crystal grill sat. night. Sid bought me some croc sandles. We had a one day ball tournament on Saturday which totally wiped out the boys. they aren't used to playing so many games in one day, so they lost out to the team that they had beaten the previous weekend in Eupora. Jon started exams today. He took his English test and has geometry and economics on Tuesday. Patrick has been taking the MCT II this week. Tomorrow is spring fling at the coliseum. the t-shirts are cute, kelly green with mexican design. I can't believe that graduation is next Friday night.

Patrick had a ball game tonight. They lost 7-5, the other team was tricky. they walked all the good hitters and struck out the weak ones. oh well. we go to mathiston this friday. Last Friday we went to Mathiston and the boys won and had a great time. Shannon did his famous backflip.
Last thursday was his band concert. They really played well, you can see by the video!
This past weekend was the Gary Park classic which our boys won! We had to come back early Sunday and missed the championship game since we had Senior recognition night at church. It was nice, but Jon was hurt and disappointed that he did not get the church scholarship. The witch did. This Saturday they have a tournament in Winona and it is only one day, so that will be nice. Sid drove his truck today. He got some temporary liability on it, he is working on some classic car insurance. I made some pimiento cheese for sandwiches for the 6th grade teachers and I also made some cheese straws. Patrick really doesn't want to take it! He says that he will eat it himself.

patrick's concert

Take me out to the ballgame!

Well, we got to play ball tonight. The weather was perfect and the P-man's bat was hot. He went 3 for 3 with a triple, and 2 doubles. Anel defeated Carrollton 7-5, but it should have been by more. the errors killed them. Patrick's first hit was a beautiful hit to center field, nobody could touch it. His second was a high lob, but they couldn't get to it and the third was a fly that wasn't caught. Not even close to being caught. We celebrated the win with a trip to "mexico". We went to El Cabrito and got chimichangas. Enjoy the slide show from the few pictures that I took at the game!

Tomorrow is Friday! Yea!!!! This week has been busy, plus I am still tired from last weekend! Jon got a pretty good progress report this week, so hopefully we are on track to graduate! patrick's was excellent, as usual. Patrick's first ball game was rained out on Tuesday, so hopefully they will get to play tomorrow night.

It was a crazy weekend. Jon's prom was saturday night. I think that he had a good time. He looked so handsome as you can tell by the slide show. The gym looked so good and the food looked so good, thanks to Libby Carson! Her cake was just beautiful. Some of the kids thought that it was fake! When Jon was presented during the senior presentation, he got some cheers, so he had to raise both fists high in the air! then he really got some attention! Sid and I got home around 1:00 am and crashed. We were awakened Sunday morning by Jon's ex-mother-in-law looking for her lying daughter. Apparently she went to the after prom party at CJ's farm, instead of where she was supposed to be. She, of course, lied to her mother about where she was. Jon came home a few minutes later and told us that yes, she was there, and that he and cj took her out there, but told her that she would have to find her own way home, because he was staying the night. I hope Leanne found her precious child and punished her accordingly! Maybe a lifetime of grounding, removal of cell phone and any other suitable punishment! Send her to France for college, or Siberia! Bless Charlie and Patty, they stayed up all night and policed the drunks, locking them in until morning. I heard there was quite a bit of vomiting going on! Jon swears that he had nothing to drink and Kaitlyn backed him up on it. He got about 2 hours of sleep Sunday afternoon and then went to bed around 10:00. I think that the lack of sleep has finally got him. He went to bed at 9:00 tonight! sid and I didn't make it to Sunday school, but we got up and went to church. It was really hard to concentrate. I got about a 30 minute nap after lunch and went back to finish the clean up. I dropped Patrick off at baseball practice, then went to the school, finished up and got him, came home and helped JOn write his rough draft for his research paper.
I was really busy at work today. We had a lot to do to catch up from last friday. Tomorrow will be a good day because we are feeding 45 people at Tommy Goodwin's house. They are architecture students from Mississippi STate. I have a lot to do tomorrow, too. I guess I better get ready to go to bed. I'm not sure that I have caught up on my sleep, either!

Jon's prom

Twas the night before prom and all throught the school, mamas were scurrying to make the gym look cool! ha ha I'm a poet and don't know it!
I have been at the school since about 2:30 this afternoon. We decorated our food area and will start working on the food tomorrow morning at 8:00. The gym really looks good. The decorating committee has been working on it all week and they really have done a good job. I can't wait to see Jonathan walking through the big star and being presented! He looks so good in his all black tuxedo. I will post pictures from the prom afterwards. I really am getting a little emotional about everything. I am sure that he thinks that I am nuts, but maybe one day he will understand. probably when he has a little girl, all grown up and graduating high school.

It is only Thursday, but it should have been Friday twice. Whew, what a hellacious week. Monday was work, then baseball practice, Tuesday was the state Bible drill in Batesville. I left work at one and Sidney and Ruth Jensen went with me. I was so glad that Sid got to go see Patrick. ( I was really glad that I didn't have to drive!) All our boys did great. Some had a few more mistakes than others, but the important thing is that they knew the material. They have hidden God's word in their hearts and that will not return void. Scripture promises that. Patrick had absolutely no mistakes, which kinda surprised me since he didn't do all that great in practice Sunday night. He said that is was the new bandaid that he had to break in on his finger! plus he was just fooling around Sunday night. Thank you Lord for giving him all the abilities that you have given him, and please don't let him waste them! He has truly blessed Patrick with the ability to do whatever well. We give him all the glory. I am truly in awe of our blessings. That afternoon on the way home I got a text message from Jeanette saying our power was off. I didn't think much about it until we got to Carrollton and the power was still off and I realized that all the food in the cooler would have to be thrown out if we didn't get some power to the cooler soon. Sid prized the cooler over where we could reach the power outlet and Patrick prized the plug out of the outlet with a piece of metal I found in the mop closet. He tried to pull the cord out where we could plug an extension cord into it and get power from next door, but the cord was too short. We finallygot the cooler over far enough where he could reach in there and plug in the extension cord and the cooler sprung to life. Whew. We got power back that night and Mrs. Ray went over and plugged the cooler cord back into its home outlet! Of all things that could have been bad, guess what happened the next morning? Bill Carson sneaked in and gave us a health inspection. I asked him how he got in without me hearing the bell on the front door. He just grinned and said, "I'm a deer hunter!" ha Luckily, he was in a good mood and did his check and moved on. We got an "A". Whew, dodged a bullet that day. I just had to call Betty and fill her in. She said that she was afraid to answer the phone!
Yesterday I was so tired, that all I wanted to do was go to sleep, but I had to go to GA's last night. Jon had to go to Jackson yesterday for the start of the State VICA competition. They left school around 10:30 yesterday morning. He said that all they did yesterday was take a test. They had to be at school at 5:30 this morning to leave to be in Jackson at 7:30. It promises to be a long day. He didn't get home last year until after midnight. He has an outline due for his research paper in English today. I hope that Mrs. Perkins will be merciful, since he has been on a school trip for the last two days.
Today we had to cook for a North Mississippi Homemakers association. We cooked for 46. Catfish cakes with comeback sauce, broccoli salad, roasted herb potatoes, sour cream biscuits, and Key lime squares for dessert. This was in addition to our regular customers, so we had a pretty great day money wise. Tips were good! Pam Lee said that the ladies seemed to enjoy their meal, so that was good.
We don't have a whole lot to do tomorrow, which is great. I am ready for a break. I have to leave here in about 30 minutes to take Patrick to ball practice. I guess I'll read a book and watch. I have to read with one eye and watch with the other, just to make sure that I don't miss him doing something great! I watch with two eyes when he is pitching or batting!

It has been a while since I checked in here. Lets see.... last week Jon got his graduation invitations. I teared up just a little. I'm sure that I will do more than just a little on May 23. I just can't believe that my little tow-headed baby is a man now. Well, he has a man's body! He is working on his term paper and trying to pass geometry, or may 23 is moot.



Last Thursday Raphael came back through. I believe it was January 24 that I posted about him. Well it seems that about 2 weeks after he made it to Baltimore, the strike ended and he had to return to Los Angeles to sign a contract, so he flew. then he had to fly back to Baltimore to get his truck and drive it back across country. We were so surprised to see him. He called us today and told us that he is doing an article about Miss Sippy's and wanted to know how our names were spelled. He thought that it would run in the Baltimore Sun on Saturday, but he would let us know exactly when. Isn't that neat? We really get some interesting people in our little coffee shop off the beaten path in Carrollton Mississippi! I hope that it will be good publicity for us. Hmm. do you think that we'll get any Baltimore traffic in here? Who knows?????

Tomorrow is the state Bible drill in Batesville. I am to meet Pam in Batesville. She is getting Jeremiah and Patrick. I hope that they do well. They should do fine. I am proud that they are learning God's word, and I have to remind myself that that is what is important, not that they get a superior rating. The youth drill is so much harder for Patrick and Jonathan. The material is so much harder to find and in only 8 seconds. I am very proud of them. Connor really came in there as well. He will probably get a top rating. He really learned his stuff once he decided he would do it. He really did better on his own, than with me helping him.

spring is really in full bloom right now. The dogwoods are gorgeous and the azaleas are so beautiful. Our grass is really needing a cut! Patrick killed a copperhead in the woods last week. The garden is planted. It should be coming up before long. I need to go and buy my tomato plants and my pepper plants this week.

It is late and tomorrow is going to be a killer, so I am going to dry my hair and get in the bed.

Finally Friday!



We had an interesting guest at Miss Sippy's on Wednesday. Douglas Johnston from Naples, FL is riding his bicycle from Naples to Juneau Alaska. He came in and we fed him. We finally found a place that he could take a shower and sleep on an actual bed in Greenwood.. We got Susie James to come in and interview him and the story appeared in yesterday's Commonwealth. He is single, 45 years old, a veteran of Desert storm and spent 6 years in the navy. Very interesting.

Patrick went to a birthday party tonight. It was a campout, but he refused to stay all night. He has baseball practice in the morning anyway, so I went and picked him up around 10 tonight.

CJ came and visited Jon tonight. He had a new girl with him. A very young girl. Jon went with him to take her home.

Sid had to go to Greenville tonight. The mechanic over there took off tonight to take his family camping.

I wore my hair in dog ears today. It made Alanna so happy yesterday that I just had to repeat it!

The week is half over. yesterday was an extremely busy day at work. I barely had time to leave and get Patrick. Today was busy, not with customers, but with cooking stuff that we ran out of yesterday. I managed to leave in time to visit with Sidney before he had to go to work. He told me yesterday that he missed me. I felt bad. This was only supposed to be a part time job, and it is getting bigger all the time. I'm not sure what to do. I really enjoy what I do, but I do miss being home with Sidney, snuggling in the morning, getting up and doing stuff together. I also miss volunteering for Patrick's class parties and field trips. It would be nice if someone would come along and would work like every other day for me. What little money I make is fun. I feel like I can spend some of it without feeling guilty. I am surely not getting rich, by no means.

Today I had to go to pick up Patrick, go to Walmart, go to the library to get Jonathan some books for a research paper, go to Winona Printing to get Connor a gift for Bible drills, go to NAPA to get an oil filter, go to McDonalds to get me some lunch/supper and home!!!!!!!!! We had our church Bible drill tonight. The boys all did well. Connor shocked me and everybody else. He had very few errors. The last time we met he did not know the last 3 verses, plus the references for the last 12 and couldn't find the key passages in 10 seconds. I was shocked, really! Patrick did well. He had a few errors, but he had his finger on the correct passages almost every time, but did not step out in time. I told him to be sure to step out and let the judges decide if he was in time or not. He said that he didn't do as well because he had to pee really bad! I couldn't believe that he didn't go to the bathroom before time. Jeremiah did perfectly, of course. He always does. It was a good drill. All of them advance to the associational drill this Sunday afternoon at our church.

When we got home, Jon was working on his source cards for his research paper. I was proud that he actually did some work on it a day before it was actually due.

Where did last week go? The kids were out on spring break and Sid was off. He spent all last week getting his truck ready to paint. He got it painted and it is so pretty! My favoritest color-purple. Now he has a million other things to do to it before he can drive it. It needs seat belts, tail lights, headlights re-wired, wheels and tires, bed liner, and most importantly insurance. Jon worked every day except Wednesday.

We had the Auction for Annie this past wednesday. It was very successful. the kids raised $1935.00 for the mission offering. It was so much fun. Patrick made his own desserts this year, a lemon meringue and a fresh granny smith apple pie. His lemon went for $105, and the apple for $65.

Liz came home sat. night. We didn't know whether or not she would show up, but she did. We all crowded into church yesterday. After lunch we had a lunch of baked ham, deviled eggs, potato casserole, greens and green beans. We bought a dessert from the GA bake sale and it was not good. Way too sweet.

Today was back to normal for Sid and me. Liz had to work tonight and the boys go back to school tomorrow. Patrick is supposed to find out whose baseball team he got on soon. I had a very busy day today. I had to make 2 double batches of tomato soup. I had an order for a gallon of that and a gallon of vegetable. I will make the vegetable tomorrow. I finally got to come home this afternoon at 3:30.

Patrick's zoo trip

It has been a whole week since I last posted. Wow, where did that week go? The boys got report cards wednesday. Patrick's was very good and Jon is still failing geometry. I am trying to help him, but he is so depressed about it. I sure hope that he will not give up. He can pull this off if he will work really really hard. He is still upset about his broken engagement. His ex needs help, I believe.

Patrick's class went to the zoo in Memphis today. It was supposed to rain, but I asked the Lord to smile on the WES 6th grade and he sure did. Today was absolutely beautiful. He brought back some neat pictures and a coolie hat! We picked up a couple of pizzas and a few movies to pass the weekend with. The boys are out on spring break next week. Sid is taking off, too. I guess that I will work.

I am so proud of Jon. He tried to fix Jeanette's truck, since she has been walking to work. He said that it broke his heart to see her walking to work and no one to help her. He put spark plugs in it, but that wasn't the problem. He has a fuel pump ordered for it. She asked him how much she owed him and he wouldn't take any money. I was so proud of him. He really has a good heart. He knows that the cost of the fuel pump will be hard for her, so he got his buddy to get it for him at a discount. WE tried tonight to get it cranked to get it to the house, but we couldn't keep it running long enough to get out of the parking lot, much less to the house. The battery was getting weak, so we quit for tonight. Maybe Sid will help him get it to the house tomorrow.

I got a birthday present this week from my bestest friend, Sally. She sent me a book by Joyce Meyer and a sweet card. I told her she didn't have to get me anything, but I really appreciated it. Sally and I go wayyyyy back! We have known each other since the 9th grade. we took piano from Mrs. Wooten and our lessons were always on Friday. We roomed together in college.

No more Snow!

Well the yard was beautiful when we first awoke this morning around 7:00, but now there is not a trace of snow. Sid and I left the boys sleeping and went to the grocery store, I fixed them some lunch and they are in the shop, working on car/truck stuff. The ball tournament was cancelled around 10:00 last night, so we didn't have to get up so early. The reason the tournament was cancelled was that some teams from north mississippi had worse weather than we did, but we could have played today. It is a little cool, but the beautiful sun is making it rather nice! Here are some pictures from late last night and early this morning!

Patrick is scooping up enough snow to pelt Daddy when he got home from work last night.

The front yard this morning

the gazebo this morning

Snow????!!!!

Well, the week is over and it is snowing!!! It hasn't snowed in ages and it is coming down thick and white. Patrick is supposed to play in a tournament in Eupora tomorrow. The snow will probably be gone by then.

I had a great birthday. I heard from all my siblings. Bernard and Bro. Gary sang Happy Birthday to me! Mrs. Ray brought me some balloons and a card. I recieved cards from Judd and Gloria, Janice Watson, Mrs. Cooper, Linda Perkins, Bobby and Tonie, and Margaret. My precious Jonathan sent me flowers at work. It was quite a great surprise, and they are beautiful, all my favorite colors-pink and purple and yellow. My handsome man brought me flowers and balloons. He also brought me an orange cake and a card from his mother. She gave me an arbor for the yard. I think a Lady Banks rose would look quite fetching on it! My long lost daughter texted me a happy birthday. To top off the day, Jon took me to eat last night at Pizza Inn. they even had my favorite pizza, pepperoni and onions. I really felt special!

My flowers from Jon.

My flowers from Sid

Balloons from the Rays(flower and pink and green) and Sid,(the purple and yellow)

The boys have finished 3rd nine weeks tests this week. Report cards come out this coming Wednesday, the 12th. I am hoping and praying for the best.

"Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord, your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

That was our verse at work last week. Isn't it a great one? How often do we forget that we have a loving God that is with us wherever we go. I do forget and get terrified at times, and discouraged at times, but I need to always remember that He is with me, always and only a prayer away. Thank you Jesus! I can't go a day without you beside me. Help me not to be terrified of report card day!

Only nine more weeks of school. Boy, this year has really flown past. Patrick will soon be out of elementary school and into junior high. He will go through so many changes in the next few years. He is so smart. I am so proud of all he has accomplished in his short life. He can play the trumpet! He is a pretty darn good baseball player! He is a good student and a pretty well behaved boy. I am finding out that the more familiar he is with a teacher, the worse he acts. he has been with his visions teachers for the past 3 years and had not been showing them the respect that they deserve. I made him apologize, and stressed to him the importance of treating persons of authority with respect. I will find out wednesday if my little speech did any good. I told them that a long-handled wooden spoon works pretty well for me! I am so glad that he asked Jesus into his heart last summer and we will spend eternity with Jesus in Heaven. I am finding it hard to swallow that Jonathan will be graduating May 23. It seems like no time has passed since he came home from kindergarten, upset because they made him color and his fingers were so tired! I am so proud of Jon. He really hates school and would have probably dropped out if I hadn't "encouraged" him not to give up. I will cry tears of joy on the night he graduates. I love them all so much. He was really discouraged at midterm with 2 "F"'s and both classes are required for graduation. The English has really improved with the forced tutoring sessions. I am concerned about geometry. Hope he can still pull a rabbit out of a hat. I believe that he will.

Well, I guess I must do some more laundry. Patrick's red underarmour shirt needs washing for the tournament tomorrow, and the dog peed on my bed, so I had to change my sheets! I really felt sorry for the dogs, and wanted to let them in where it is warm, and she does that! UGGHHHH! Can you say, Snow Dogs????

It is almost my birthday. Happy Birthday to Belinda!!! Almost 47 years old. Look what my sweetie made me for my birthday!

I never thought about a pot rack until I got these nice pots and no space for them. They can't be nested, because of the non stick finish, so they took up a lot of room on my counter. I thought that a pot rack would be a perfect solution. Sid made this for me. I really really love it.

Wow, it is March.... MY month! ha. Yesterday was so sunny and warm, just perfect. Today is windy and raining. They say it is gonna snow tomorrow. Even if it does, it won't stick. It has been much too warm.

My poor Jon has had quite a week. Wednesday night his woman broke up with him again. I think that this is probably the 8th or 9th time. I had to cancel his tuxedo when I went to winona thursday. Luckily it had not shipped yet, so he got his deposit back. She already has a prom date, or so she's telling her classmates. I am so tired of seeing him hurt like this. She is bad news and he needs to walk, NO, run away from her as fast as he can go. I am still praying!

This weekend he was invited to a party and he and his friend were beaten up pretty bad, plus his friend's truck was damaged. All because Taylor spoke to a girl. I asked if she looked that good! I'd like to get my hands on the guys that were beating up on my baby. I'd take their heads and bang them together. Can you say, uh oh, here comes the mama bear? I'd like to do that to a certain girl, too, but that is another story.

This is nine weeks test week. Report cards come out next wednesday. I am praying for Jon. I keep telling him, only 9 more weeks of school! Less than 3 months! Just get through it! Spring break is week after next. The boys and sid will be out. Sid always takes off during spring break. He is planning to paint his old truck that week, that is, if the weather cooperates. I guess that I will be working... blah. I hope that it is warm and pretty.

I have a busy day tomorrow. We are out of everything, and tomorrow is chicken pot pie day.

Haven't heard from Liz since she got mad at us on Sid's birthday. I guess she is punishing us.

Well, not much else is happening in our world. Jon is the only one with the excitement.

Goodbye Bo

It is with sadness that I must say that Mr. BoJangles has left this world and joined his forefathers in the land of whereverdoggiesgowhentheydie. Sid left for work around 2:15 this afternoon and asked me to go down the hill and check out a dead animal, he thought it was a deer, but thought it could have been a dog. There wasn't much to make a positive identification with, but the "P" on his rear right flank proved it was Bo that met his demise on highway 82. Bo was given to Patrick by Mr. Wayne Nail the summer that Granddaddy died, 2004. He would have been 4 years old on June 1. Patrick picked him out because he was the best looking puppie. We said that he picked him out because he had the "p" marking on his back end-"p" for Patrick. Bo was a sweet dog, very loving, very playful. If he did not want to be caught, we would not be caught. He thought it was such fun to let you get within a few feet of him, then take off around the yard, looking as though he were laughing at you. He stayed in his pen most of the time, but lately we had been keeping him out, to keep the deer run off. He really enjoyed not being penned up. Sid said on Saturday that he had not seen Bo, but he had gone off hunting before and stayed gone a few days. Sid just knew that someone had stolen him. He was so friendly, that he would have gladly gone with anyone. Sadly, this was not the case. Patrick and I retrieved him from the highway and buried him under the sawtooth oak near the garden.




Bo and Patrick are rolling around in the grass. Patrick would lie down in the grass and then Bo would come plop down beside or on top of him.

I do not mind having my picture taken for all to remember. Notice the "P" on his side. That is why Patrick picked him out, plus Patrick thought he looked better than the other puppies. Bo did not ride well. He threw up in the car, in fact, everytime that he rode anywhere, he was going to throw up. We had to make sure that Sid tied him in the back of the truck when he was due his shots, because of that.

Another picture of Bo and Patrick enjoying a beautiful, warm February day. Those are few and far between.

I am about to take some pictures of Jon for the annual, when up comes Mr. BoJangles, so I took his picture.

Morrison's Mr. BoJangles

June 1, 2004-February 23, 2008