The Cove

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  Chris and I went to The Cove Training Center in Asheville last night for a Christmas event with Charles Billingsley. Charles is an amazing christian singer who always lifts our spirits with his songs and humor. He was accompanied by Adam Lancaster on the piano and 3 other band members. They all were fantastic. Before the event Chris and I enjoyed walking around the cove admiring all of the wonderful gifts Dr. Billy Graham received from his many journeys home and abroad. One gift that caught my eye was a gorgeous nativity that he bought for his wife Ruth. It was a relaxing evening and a nice way to end a very busy week.

These are a few pictures from the Christmas program Olivia was in at her school. I was so proud of her. The last picutre is of her and Mrs. Holland her teacher. What a fun year she is having.

Very busy day

Olivia did fantastic with her speaking part in her school Christmas program this morning, all of the kids did. I cried; it was so sweet :-) I'm off to take cupcakes to her class party ... I'll post pictures tomorrow of all the fun from this past week.

Safe shopping and traveling. The fog here in the south has been crazy this week.

Be a blessing ...

Christmas Song quiz

We went to a Christmas party Sunday afternoon and were given the following quiz. See how many of the song titles you can come up with. I'll do the first one for you. Hit comments and give me your answers if you have time. I'll have answers late tonight or in the morning. Have fun :-) If you have to know an answer before tonight just email me.....

1. The lad is a diminutive percussionist : Little drummer boy

2. Decorate the entry-ways: Deck the Halls

3. Sir Lancelot with laryngitis: Silent night

4. ABCDEFGHIJKMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ : Noel

5. Present me naught but duel incisors for this festive Yuletide: All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.

6. We are Kong, Lear, and Nat Cole: We 3 kings

7. Boulder of the tinkling metal spheres: Jingle bell rock

8. Parent was observed osculating a red-coated, unshaven teamster: I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus.

9. Have hither ward the entire assembly of those who are loyal in their belief:

10.Vehicular homicide was committed on Dad's mom by Rudolph or one of his mates:

11. Expectation of arrival to populated areas by mythical, masculine perennial gift giver:

12. Jovial yuletide desired for the second person singular or plural by us:

Can you smell the fudge?

I have made a pan of fudge and baked 36 chocolate chip cookies and it's just 9:15. wow... I am loving this season of baking and giving. I hope to deliver my baked goods later today. I'll go see my hair stylist and leave cookies in the mailbox for our mail carrier. Tonight we'll take goodies to Olivia's Awana teachers at church then her school teacher and piano teacher. There are so many people who "serve" us all through out the year; let's remember them this Christmas. If money is tight you can give out candy canes or a simple note that says, thank you, is always appreciated. People like to hear encouraging words and affirmation that they are needed and what they do matters. When we taught 5 year old Sunday school we received the best homemade gifts and I still treasure them today. It's not the cost; it's the thought.

So as you go through out your busy day as I am running through mine. Keep the reason for Christmas in your mind and share it through your heart. Merry Christmas.

Go be a blessing....

No sign

For weeks now there has been a sign with a orange flag waving telling us that on Dec. 16 a certain busy intersection will become a four way stop. Right now people on one road stop while the others fly down the other road. Well, on the way to take Olivia to school this morning I told her today was the day of the new 4 way stop; we wondered how much better the traffic would be. Well .... to my surprise there were no stop signs yet for those of us who don' t usually have to stop. We witnessed a white two door truck almost being hit because he was sitting at the stop sign that clearly says 4 way stop effective Dec. 16 (today). He assumed that because he had a sign that the people coming the opposite way also had a stop sign BUT they did not. I am so thankful he did not get hit. I came home and immediately called the county and the lady took my name and number and said they'd get right on it. I don't understand ... I told her in a very nice way that normally the signs would already be in place and covered with black bags until the effective date, but that's not the case. I pray no one gets killed in the time it takes the county to follow through with the 'effective date' of today. Ok, that's my soap box for now.

I am off to help my mom who is not doing well. On top of health issues and dizzy spells a transformer blew behind her house on Friday and she lost her TV, microwave, washing machine and it blew up her electric blanket. Right now my brother has bought her a new electric blanket and microwave and she had a spare TV (very tiny, but it works). I brought her laundry home with me yesterday and took care of that for her. Her homeowners insurance covers those items, but she has a $500 deductible ( on a fixed monthly check that seems like a ton). Pray for her as she deals with the stress of her health and the inconvenience of everyday necessities not being readily available. Also she doesn't like depending on us kids, but that's what we are here for. None the less this is a busy time and I have commitments EVERY day this week some days I have to be in 3 different place at 3 different times so ....

Have a blessed day. Be thankful, pray for those less fortunate and be safe out there.

My red Christmas book

Today I want to tell you about my red Christmas book. When I was in the 9th grade my favorite English teacher, Mrs. Babb, gave us an assignment to buy a book with empty pages. She wanted us to write about our Christmas experiences from birth to 9th grade. I can remember really enjoying that project and have continued to write about each Christmas since then. It was a lot of work in the beginning, but now it is one of my most prized possessions. I not only write about each Christmas and how I celebrated, but I have tucked memorable cards, pictures, church bulletins etc., in my book. So it is a scrap book of Christmas memories. When I opened it a few moments ago I was surprised to see that I had not written in it since Christmas 2005. I didn't realize that I had ever missed a year, but since daddy died in 2006 I suppose it was to difficult to write that year. I'll be sure to sit down and fill in the last two Christmas experiences so I can keep my tradition alive and going this year. Let me encourage you to start your own Christmas memory book. It's worth the time and something for you, your children and grandchildren to cherish.

Have a blessed day and Merry Christmas.

Blogger to busy to blog ....

I'm a school volunteer, chauffeur, cook, cleaner and dress maker; so to speak. I am too busy to blog today, but will write again when time and a good topic comes up :-)

Have a blessed day and be a blessing to others.

Birthday fun :-)

Jewelry, games, calls, cards, e-cards, cookware and a red purse to boot :-)what gifts, what fun, what a birthday !!! Every year in late July we have a combo birthday dinner for my childhood best friend Karen and my hubby Chris since their birthdays are close together. Well, in December Keith (Karen's hubby) and I both have birthdays so we get to have a combo dinner celebration. Last night they came over and brought pizza and wings and the best chocolate layered cheesecake I've ever tasted. We sat around the fire and played Mad Gab ( the gift Olivia got me for my birthday). It was so much fun. Us girls beat the guys :-)We had a nice evening and in the tradition of the Pajama day at school us girls decided to keep our PJ's on and be extra comfy. I know some of you are thinking how could cookware be a good gift? Well, I love red and when I saw that Paula Dean 12 piece cookware set I just had to have it so ... Chris who loves to eat and knows I need new pans bought it for me. My sweet mom picked out the red purse for me and Karen and Keith gave me the boxed set of Honora pearls (Karen's a QVC girl and I love her for it :-) I also got a beautiful silver watch necklace from Things Remembered from my sweet Chris. He is so good to me. Thanks again for making my day special.

Have a fun weekend.

Pajama Day, Birthday ...

Olivia's school is having Pajama day today and boy is it fun. I wore my PJ's to drive her to school and honestly I could get used to that. Her principal had on his PJ's and robe as he greeted the students. I laughed as I watched all the pink, purple and camo prints walk down the sidewalk. The students could also bring a blanket and small stuffed animal. Olivia wore penguin p.j.'s so she took her penguin webkins with her ( it's all about matching these days...). Anyway, it's amazing how much fun a day can evoke on people; just by calling it Pajama Day.

Another day that brings happiness is a birthday and today is mine :-) Now that is a FUN DAY. My first happy birthday wish came from my sweet Chris. Next my brother sent me a text greeting, then my Livie sang me a happy birthday song, then my friend Lisa called and sang happy birthday (all this happened before 7:15 a.m.). You see why I like birthdays? can you tell I was the baby of the family and ONLY girl? I wasn't spoiled with material things because growing up our family never had any money, but I sure was showered with love and I'll take that every day.

I thank God for my life and for allowing me to enjoy 39 years on this earth. My husband sent me an e-card and he said "Suki is looking fine at 39" :-). So what more could a woman ask for? I am blessed with a precious husband who still thinks I'm hot after 13 years and some extra pounds. We have an amazing daughter and a bounty of loving family and friends. The Lord is to be praised for his blessings on us.

I have many wonderful things planned today. Starting at 9:00 to 10:00 praying for my church for our 600 hours of prayer campaign. Then at 10:05 I'll be reading at my daughters school as a volunteer. I am meeting Chris for lunch then will see my family after school. Later we have dinner plans with some friends. I'll post pictures tonight. What a grand day! This is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Have a blessed day.

Family Write Night

Olivia's school had family write night last night & she, Chris and I went. One of the teachers read a story then they gave us the topic of "gifts" to write about. We were to write about a special gift or anything we wanted that had to do with gifts. Well, considering my birthday is this Friday, December 5th I wrote an interesting story about how much fun gifts were. I shared about how my husband always gets me a cake, flowers, card and gift because he knows that I make a big deal over birthdays. I don't care how old I am that is MY day and I love to celebrate it. This year I will be 39 and I am proud to say that. I once read that; "if a woman will tell her age, she'll tell anything." Well ... I don't know who came up with that because it is not true; I wouldn't tell you my weight for anything :-)

I do have a point to this story. In the midst of my selfish, "me" moment last night several others at the write night decided to stand up and read their wonderful stories. It was so sweet to hear how one little girl said her baby sister was the best gift and another person said getting a special locket was the best gift. A sweet older gentleman said that receiving a smile from a particular person was his most special gift. Wow!! Talk about my selfish story. Well, to redeem myself today I want to blog about a very special gift I received two years ago. I started to write about it last night, but it was personal and I thought I'd be emotional so I didn't share it, but since you are my friend I'll share it here.

Two years ago at the end of October I was over visiting mom and dad. Mom and I were talking about going shopping and she said "we don't need to go, we'll just buy something we don't need". I spoke up and said that I needed a new pair of black shoes to wear to church. Well, I left the room for whatever reason and came back to find that my dad had fixed one of the birthday cards mom had on hand for me and put cash in it (he always gave us kids cash so we could buy whatever we wanted). He said it's early, but I want you to have those shoes. Well, on that October day I bought a red tablecloth at Target and a week later I found the black shoes I was looking for ( I bought them both with the money he gave me). Who knew he would die 2 weeks before my birthday? Jesus did. When Dec. 5th 2006 rolled around my daddy was in Heaven, but because the Lord allowed I had an early birthday card from him to cherish and display. I keep it close by all year round and thank the Lord for that special memory.

We are not promised tomorrow so live today to the fullest. Do a kindness for someone else. Love your neighbor.

Love you,
Susan