By the way...

I know some of you are about to fall out of your chair right now for the sheer number of posts that have occured in the last 24 hours...remember, I made no promises, but I am trying.
(Love you AJF.) Enjoy!

Guess what?

If you're reading this...then I was successful in my attempt to post from school. There is good and bad news in that! The good news is...it worked. The bad news is that I haven't been posting this entire semester because it wouldn't work from my NEW classroom on my old coputer. Well, I think the conclusion is that my computer really is too old. I'm currently borrowing a friends computer.



Anyway.



With the changes in the life of my family just around the corner, many of you have asked when we can get together before we go "across the pond" as my young son likes to say. Honestly, I don't know. When the summer rolls around and once our house sells...we'll be homeless and our time will not necessarily be our own. If you're headed our way...please stop. If not, just drop a line or pick up the phone whenever it suits you. I don't care about Daylight Savings Time or Time Zones or minutes on my cell phone.



Soon, I will not have your "presence" or the easy opportunity to talk so freely with you, so I'm filling up my love tank as much as I can. You see, you're a treasure to me. God has blessed me abundantly beyond what I could ever think or imagine. Think on that from your perspective. What can you be grateful for today? I have more than can be articulated with mere words.

Thanks be to God.

Be blessed today.

Simple Pleasures

This will be my kids next year! We LOVE chips and salsa! Can you imagine the joy to finally get these!!!!?

Can it be?

What a difference one year makes. Isn't she beautiful? When they left, they were still children. Now I see glimpses of the man and woman they will be. It takes my breath away. (By the way, I think my SIL should have been a photographer!!!)
Love and miss you guys!

Mom likes ME best!

At Thanksgiving, mom gave us these shirts. She always says she like "me" best...but she means the "me" with her at the time. Well, we were short one "me". She hand delivered his to him in Africa. Now, it's a complete argument all over again. Every time I wear my shirt someone asks to borrow it for a family reunion!!!

Well, what do you know??

I've been gone, gone, gone, I've been gone so long. I've been gone, gone, gone so long. (There's a song in that!...for those of you who know everything reminds me of a song!!!)

Wow. I decided to randomly try to pull up a picture (This happens to be my parents in Africa with my niece and nephew at Christmastime '07.) and it worked!!! It really has nothing to do with the things going on in our lives right now...but it worked!!!

Let's see...

* we're busy...who isn't?

* my son will turn 13 on Friday. We had a "Blessing" ceremony for him on Saturday. More on that later...maybe. :)

*my husband will turn 40 on Friday....yep, same day as my son. We tried a surprise party for him the same day as the blessing..he's hard to surprise.

* my daughter is READING!!! and she loves it. Whew. As an AVID reader myself (hence my email name) I have been praying that she would be a lover of books. My son is, I am, we've converted my husband, and now my daughter is. It's sweet to hear her. Does this teacher's heart good.

* my teammates 25 year old daughter has breast cancer. Walking that road. Such faith. She's a fighter! And she's winning!

*Children's Choir musical coming, UIL Band Contest for son, THIRST conference at church, 3-day Science camp at school, etc. All within this next week.

SO MUCH more. These are just snippets of why I'm not here as much.

Thanks for stopping by and checking on us. Know that you are loved and appreciated. It looks like I'm posting once a month, but maybe....well...no promises, but I'll try for more often. :)

I'll leave these encouraging words of "Blessing" from the book of Colossians: "we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with knowledge of his will through spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strenghthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light."