It's Those Little Things

Since Thanksgiving is day after tomorrow and I will be busy baking, cleaning, and planning my game for Black Friday from this point on, I thought I might do a Thanksgiving post a couple of days early. Of course, this time of year always brings the traditional gratitude for all the best things in life. My relationship with Jesus, my amazing family and friends, my home, church, and dinner on the table all are at the top of my "BIGGIE" list.

But, what about the things that never make it on "the list"? I always feel sorry for the stuff that tends to go unnoticed. Don't they deserve to be mentioned, too? So, my thankful list this year is dedicated to those things.

OK, here goes:

1. Mineral make-up. Great coverage for those less that perfect complexions like mine and it totally shaved 5 minutes of my make-up application time. No putting on foundation, blending it in, and then powder. Just slather this goo on and go! Great stuff!

2. A candy dish almost empty. Is your dish half full or half empty? At this house, I prefer the half empty kind because that means it's almost gone and there will be no more drive-by-nibblings on my part! Way to much temptation!

3. Fuzzy-wuzzy sockies. I live in these things in the winter time. I LOVE my 3 pairs of them. My dog, Sundae, has a fetish for them as well, so I have to protect them with my life. I could have a basket full of one hundred socks and she will search until she finds one of these beloved cozies and then hides it. (Notice that she didn't make on "the list" this year.)

4. A bloom on my orchid. Yes, I am serious! I have had this joker for over 2 years and it has yet to bloom. Finally, after all that time, I actually am seeing two little shoots that I am assuming (hoping, praying) are going to be flowers one day. (If you haven't figured it out by now, it doesn't take much to get me excited.)

5. Flowers from Da Hubby for no reason. I don't typically get flowers for my birthday or Valentine's Day. I get them for just because! And frequently! I LOVE that! It's one of the many reasons he's on my "BIGGIE" thankful list.

6. Adjustable waist pants for the kids. If you know me, you will also know I don't buy kids clothes that are new (usually). We shop at some amazing consignment sales in the area. I love when I find a nice pair of pants with these little babies in them - makes a pair of pants fit for a couple of years longer and saves $$$ in the long run! Also, when you are in a hurry to church because you are running late for rehearsal and just don't have time to put a belt on the boys, you have comfort in knowing that your beanpole shaped kids won't be mooning the congregation 'cuz their britches are falling down. :)

7. A locked door. If you have children you will understand the significance of this picture. Enough said.

7. Pajama day at Balentine Academy. There are lots of advantages to homeschooling and one of those is a rule that is strictly enforced once a week. All those attending and teaching school on that day must come to school in their PJ's. I am happy to report, we have had not problems with compliance in this area.

8. A 12 year old truck that is still running strong. OK, this one should be on my "BIGGIE" list, but I thought I would bring it up here, too. She may stink of old McDonald's french fries and she might not heat that great, but our 4-Runner, "Lefty", is celebrating her 12th birthday this year, and continues to faithfully serve my family everyday. She's brought home two out of my three babies from the hospital. In fact, she drove me while I was in active labor all the way to the hospital with a flat tire. She's carried home almost every Christmas tree Dewayne and I have had. She's purple, she's noisy, she pulls to the left so hard you have to use both hands to keep her on the road, and I love her.

10. Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser. I can not say enough about this thing. Takes any scratch, scuff, spot, rub, and mark off of pretty much anything. I once kicked the back door of my house with my boots on. (Yep, I kicked the door. Well, it deserved it! I was late for a doctor's appointment and the stupid thing wouldn't unlock! I know, totally mature way to handle the situation, wasn't it?) Anyway, I left this horrid, black scuff mark that would not come out. That is until Mr. Baldy took it out for me. That's when our love affair began. We have been together ever since.

11. At least one clean room after the kidos go to bed. Where's the picture? There isn't one. This rarely ever happens.

12. Lastly, my Daily Devotional Bible. I have enjoyed this Bible immensely this year. It is a read through the Bible in year type, and I LOVE the devotions written in it. It is written from a worship perspective and I have so enjoyed my times with Jesus in the morning this year.

That's about all that I have time for. I hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you take time to recognize the abundance of blessings (Big and small!) God has given to you, too!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Anniversary, Mimi and Papaw!

Today is a very exciting day in the Balentine Kingdom! Why? Two very important reasons.

First, it my mother and father-in-law's 50th anniversary today! We are so happy for them. They were adorable as teenagers weren't they? Maxine's parents weren't overly excited about D.C., a rebel complete with cigarette's rolled up in his tee shirt sleeves, a black leather jacket, and a Harley dating their very pretty, proper, and poodle skirt clad daughter. (Hmm, sounds like a familiar movie? We go together like rama lama lama ke ding a de dinga a dong, Remembered forever like shoo bop shoo wadda wadda yipitty boom de boom.)

Anywhoo...so D.C. goes to pick up Maxine one evening for date. As he was pulling out of their driveway, he backed right into Maxine's dad's car. What a great way to make a good impression on a future father-in-law. Somehow, he finally convinced Maxine's dad to let him marry her. Well, maybe convinced isn't exactly the right word, but the important part is that they did get married and 50 years later here they are!

It's also a very fun day because Mimi and Papaw decided they would spend the day at our house assembling the trampoline they bought our kids!!! (You have to love grandparents!) The kids, of course, are totally pumped about this new contraption and Da Hubby and I love the idea of wearing them out on it!!

Dewayne and D.C. braved the 40 degree, gloomy weather and had it up in a couple of hours.

Here is my littlest man exerting a little energy (YEE-HAW! Some one's going to bed early tonight!!)

I love how this trampoline further confirms my kid's personalities. Daylor, my reserved and careful child, jumps straight legged, arms down, and directly over the "target." Go back up and look at Duglin's jumping. Can you guess what type personality he has? Gotta love it!!

Perri having a "hair-raising" moment. Cold weather + trampoline = a great blog photo!

And, of course, I had to check out the trampoline to make sure it was safe. Yeah. That's it. Seriously. I mean, what kind of mom if I didn't?

David Crowder, Craftiness, and Babies!

Last night Da Hubby and I took our oldest son, Daylor to go see David Crowder in concert. He received tickets for his birthday. Just two words - Awe-Some! We had a blast and had great seats so we all had an amazing night worshipping together just the three of us and about 1000 others! It's such a blessing to see Daylor growing up desiring to please God and already making a commitment to following the path that has been portioned to him by his Maker. I love watching my kids worship! Really there is nothing more to me exciting than that!


I love this picture because I love the silhouettes of the hands raised up. (Goosebumps!) Wow, if worship is this good here, can you imagine what it will be like when we are right there before the Father? Can't wait!

Also, recently I joined a "craft circle" with a bunch of friends. I used to be crafty before my kids came, but since then I have just not had time to do anything. My friend Jennifer invited me to come one night and I have been hooked ever since! These are a couple of the things I have made so far. It's so much better when you have friends to chat around with while making stuff!

This was my first project and was so much fun. I wish I had made the letters of "grateful" in black so that you could see them better. Ya craft, ya learn!

I really like the way this turned out, but let me say it was a BOOGER to do! Not so much hard, but time consuming. All the leaves are cut from various types of paper and take FOREVER to cut out. However, I do have a new BFF. Glue guns - they are ubber-awesome!! You can glue ANYTHING with a glue gun...including your fingers. (Did I mention they are hot? )

Jenn totally wins the award for Crafty-Queen as she found all these ideas and has a million more she is doing. I just copied. She does have some fun (and cheap) stuff on her blog to do, so you should go check it out!

Speaking of Jennifer, she and David are at the hospital today having their new baby boy, Charlie. Just wanted you guys to know we are praying for you and that we are looking forward to meeting the little dude!!

(This is Jennifer's picture that I stole from her blog, but since I took this picture of them, it's technically not stealing, is it?)

I've Been Tagged!

My sweet friend Kelly tagged me and I thought this was an easy one to do.

Here are the rules:
1. choose the 4th picture folder on my computer.
2. choose the 4th picture.
3. explain the picture.
4. tag 4 people to do the same.

I love this shot. It was taken back in January of 2007 when my Great-Aunt Rose (my kids call her "Great-Great") came from Texas to visit. We had an amazing time. I totally love this woman - she is hysterical, acts like a teenager, and is completely crazy (in a good way) like me! I love you, Aunt Rose! Isn't time for another visit?

Now I'm going to tag:

1.Barbee

2. Sparrow

3. Ari

4. Kris J.

Hi! Remember Me?

Hello, from the land of the living dead! It seems like forever and I feel like a stranger, but I think I am finally on the road to recovery. Where have you been, you may ask. You know the word that strikes fear in the heart of every man, woman, boy, and girl? The word that every mother screams at the very thought of and fights with every ounce of strength and ability she has?

Let me spell it for you. F-L-U. We are not talking the cough, sniffle, down for a day or two kind, either. I'm talking the coughing so hard kind that you break the cappularies in your lungs (literally), the fever is so high kind that you can't roll over to answer the phone or for that matter even talk, the aching so bad kind you literally feel every joint in your body, the kind that makes you so dehydrated your blood pressure drops 15 points, and you lose 10 lbs in a week because you just don't have it in you to eat. Sounds like a mini-vacation, huh? Almost 10 days later, I am starting to feel normal-ish again. YAY!!

Oh, I had conjunctivitis (pink-eye), too!!! It was quite humorous to at my doctors office to watch all the people stare at me. I think the Haz-Mat Team came as soon as I left and burned the place down. Now, putting pictures up like this is a test in pride for me, so I am going to be completely vulnerable showing this to you. But, I also know the human nature's need for a good laugh, so here ya go!

Even though I was already aware of this, Da Hubby was totally amazing this week. His AWESOME boss (I LOVE her!) allowed him to take most of the week off to take over here at the house. Now, I know there are husbands out there who would be completely lost when their wives fall ill, but not mine. Bear with me a sec and allow me to brag on him for a minute. He was my substitute teacher so the kids would not fall behind at school. He washed all the cooty-fied towels and clothes everyday, picked up my med's., and drove me looking like this to the doctor (See above picture.) The house stayed mostly cleaned. (Let me just stop here real quick and say that this is an almost IMPOSSIBLE task to do with three children and 2 adults to help clean, much less by yourself. My kidos can do some serious damage!!)

He cooked every meal, (even baked cookies with the kids 2 Saturdays in a row), washed all the dishes, and gave the kids baths. And poor baby, because I was so contagious I had to be "quarantined" in our bedroom, he had to sleep on the couch for 8 days. He's such a catch! ***Side note - Only a SERIOUS blogger would get up with a 103 fever to get a picture for her blog later.***



Notice his very own roll of TP - He has been doing some hacking of his own this week.

I also haven't been able to hug or smooch on my kidos in over a week which has probably been the most horrible part of this whole thing. I miss that - still can't touch them too much - hopefully in the next day or two I will and I just might not let go! One night this week, I had a mini-meltdown because Perri began to cry after being told, yet again, that she couldn't kissy or hug her mommy ni-night. It broke my heart. To make me feel better, my precious boys brought their stuffed animals to keep me company until I could start spending time with them again. "Panda Bear" and "Snoopy" have been most excellent and gracious guests.

Hmmm, what else? Oh, yeah! I am a druggie! I am taking so much medication it is almost funny. My favorite is my cough medicine. First, it works very well and second, it looks like tiny little pearls! So adorable! I know. Sorry, again I am still a little medicated.


So all and all, life is improving quickly and I am grateful to have only had the flu and not something more serious. I can't imagine what that must be like to have to deal with on a daily basis. I am sooooo grateful to have a wonderful family who has jumped right in there to help.

Thanks, to my mom, "Go-Go", for risking the her life with the funk and coming over and helping a couple of days with the kids, and to my in-laws for watching the kids while I was at the doctr's office. I love you guys! Most of all, thank you to my amazing husband. I love you with all that is in me. Thank you for all you have done - I can't imagine my life without you. I am so thankful for you and for our family...(insert the make your closing comments, there is an upcoming commercial, so you need to stop your speech or you are going to get cut off music here.) Oh, well, OK then. I better run - it's good to be back...mostly.

Vote Prayerfully

So, in light of the upcoming elections, this will be my one political post I am going to do before this coming Tuesday. I just ask that you pray and seek wisdom from God over your choice for our next president. Morally, who is ready to make decisions that affect the God ordained sanctity of marriage and the life of the precious unborn? Who is ready to FIGHT to protect our country and support and honor those who are doing so now and have given their life to this cause? Financially, who has the skills and ability to say no to government dictation over your money? Who will appoint judges that uphold the values and character of those of forefathers?

Being so somber is not really in my personality type, but friends, this is dead serious. Truly, if you do not believe that your way of life is at stake in the after-effects of this election, you are deceived.

What to do? Just pray. Pray. Listen. And then vote.

Oh, and watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4fe9GlWS8 .