I just love Date Night.  We don't get to have them as much as we would like. But when we plan them, I really look forward to them. I had heard so much about Fireproof. I knew I really wanted to see it when it came out. We hardly ever go to the movies, but I thought that we should support such a movie. So I asked my mom to watch the kids, she said yes, and the plan was on.

Fireproof  is very well done. We laughed, cheered and cried. There were moments when the whole audience clapped their hands.  It's inspiring movie about marriage that you just don't ever see on the big screen or TV. I don't want to give too much of it away. But if you liked Facing the Giants, you will love this movie. It's the perfect date night movie for both husband and wives. This is one we will be buying to add to our collection.

Afterwards we walked on over to Starbuckies and enjoyed our pumpkin lattes and just talked about life and marriage. It's been a challenge lately with life. DH's new job has his working so many more hours than the old and he still has yet to make the money he was making before. But we both know that God will get us past this and to tell you the truth, it has made us closer.

If you have not seen Fireproof, plan a date night and go see it. It's very much worth it.

One of my goals this year was to learn how to make my blog to make it more unique to me.  Since I started blogging, I wanted to figure out how to make it "mine" but HTML code simply elluded me. I looked into buying something from a designer, but I really wanted to learn it for myself. I tried and tried again, but felt I was wasting time that could have been better spend with family or neglected chores.

This week, with FIL visiting I have been able to find that time after the kids go to bed. While DH and FIL are bonding over football or politics, I have plenty of time to try my hand at this. I can't tell you how excited I am to take these little steps to make it mine. I have long been wanting a bookshelf to keep track of the books I/we are reading. And I am so happy with my new template with autumn leaves that I was able to do myself. Took me a while....but I did it.

So, if you are thinking of doing it your self, try it! There are very good tutorials out there.

Oh, I know, that doesn't sound like such a fun title. Really, if I had seen such a title a while back, I would have never read the entry.

But I have to tell you how much better I'm feeling. With our insurance changes, I went to see a new doctor who recommended among other things, that I really watch my refined sugar intake. OOOOOooohhh, is it hard! Really hard for the first few days. DH is in on it too. He has started to visit an accuputurist for food allergies. Seems to be helping rather well. But she told him to get off the refined sugar too. So here we are, two sugarholics trying to get rid of our addiction.

By most accounts, we don't eat alot of processed junk. You won't find soda in my fridge. I rarely buy potatoe chips or candy. We eat regular oatmeal for most breakfasts. We have a great garden and I make our own bread. We try to eat healthy so it won't be so bad when we want our sugar. But we sure make up for it with our  ice-cream and homemade baked goods. And I love to make these things too and eat them on a daily basis.

Since I was a teenager, I have always been tired. I had a busy schedule as a teenager. Once I got married and changed to being at home more, I thought I would regain my energy. Wrong. But I have noticed this week that I'm not nearly as tired during the day. Could it be part of giving up sugar? If so, for me, it's a great trade off. I'll have to give it another week to see.

I saw this at  Jen's Blog and thought it looked like fun. 

1. Who is your man?
~My DH was born in Dallas, Texas and was raised all over the South. He is an only child. He is one of the best listeners I know. He loves the Lord.  He is so talented. He can beautifully remodel a kitchen and bathroom from the studs up and then turn around and fix a computer. Then turn around and explain finance and investments. He is a great husband and wonderful father. He is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. He loves to spend his evenings with the kids either with Tai Kwon Do or Cub Scouts or just hanging out at home.

2. How long have you been together?
~We will be together 17 years this last April and married for 15 this past April.

3. How long dated?
~2 years

4. How old is your man?
~He is 37 years

5. Who eats more?
~I think we eat about the same.

6. Who said “I love you” first?
~He did. I didn't say it right back either.

7. Who is taller?
~Him!  He's 5'11'' and I'm 4'11''

8. Who sings better?
~Me. He is talented but not with music.

9. Who is smarter?
~Depends on the subject

10. Whose temper is worse?
~Mine, he is very even. Good complement.

11. Who does the laundry? 
~Me, but he will help fold and put away.

12. Who takes out the garbage?
~The kids

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
~Me

14. Who pays the bills?
~He does, he has it all on the computer

15. Who is better with the computer?
~He is.

16. Who mows the lawn?
~He does, along with DS

17. Who cooks dinner?
~Mostly me, but he will help in pinch. He is a very good cook.

18. Who drives when you are together?
~He does usually, but I will if he is tired.

19. Who pays when you go out?
~He does!

20. Who is most stubborn?
~Me, but he can talk me into almost anything. Almost.

21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong?
Me.

22. Whose parents do you see the most?
~Mine.

23. Who kissed who first?
~He kissed me first

24. Who asked who out?
~He asked me out first.

25. Who proposed?
~He did at a beach with a lighthouse as the full moon was coming up. Very romantic.

26. Who is the most sensitive?
~It depends

27. Who has more friends?
~We both have a lot of friends, but he's my best friend.

28. Who has more siblings?
~I do

29. Who wears the pants in the family?
~He does……;)

30. How did you meet?
~We were set up on a blind date. 

Thanks Jen, that was fun!

Last week, our church had their annual VBS. Each year our church has nearly 1,000 kids who attend. It costs alot of money and time to put on this huge production. Last year, our church made a committment to give 50% of whatever we took in offerings and donations and give it to other various ministries outside of our church. This is the second year and in doing this our church has had to seriously make some big decisions and cut back our budget. This year, we did Backyard Bible Cluband we all had a blast. The theme was serving others means serving Jesus based on Matthew 25 and we did the whole thing in one of my neighbor's backyards. We had 11 kids, ranging from Kindergarten to 5th grade.

In teaching to serve others, our mission was to raise money for Zoe International. The goal was to earn $15 per child for Zoe.  My two decided to do a lemonade stand and charge .25 cents for each cup. The house that hosted our VBS had a huge lemon tree and we all picked lemons and went home and made homemade lemondae.  Yum!!!

Over two afternoons, the kids collected a little over $30 dollars from neighbors, friends and others who just drove by and were kind enough to stop. T poured while AG collected the money. Both kids told the customers that they were doing this to help kids in Thailand have a new life after being rescued from slavery.

I'll post pictures soon.

It's been almost two months since I posted in here and so much has gone on. It's either that I don't blog because I'm not inspired or I don't blog because I'm way too busy. Well, I've just been way too busy. But I hope to start catching up on all of that slowly in small entries rather than one large one.

The newest bit of news around here is that DH got a new job. After 12 years of Verizon and 8 years of going to school, he finally made his career change into finance!!! I'm so excited and proud of him. It's nice to have a DH who is excited about his job and feels like he's doing what he was created to do, help people manage their money and be wise stewards with it.

The kids are doing well. A lost her first tooth tonight! T has his piano recital on Sunday. I'll post more soon.

About a month ago, I finally found the Washing Soda for making my own laundry detergent. I added it to the Fels Naptha Bar and Borax. The recipe is:

1 bar of Fels Naptha, grated

1 1/2 c of each borax and washing soda.

Mix these well. I mixed them in a ziplock bag. I have seen recipes for making the liquid detergent with these ingredients, but I decided to try it dry. I said I'd try it for a month to see if it really was worth my while. I like Tide, All, Surf and Cheer. Tide is my favorite. I just feel that my clothes are really clean with Tide. So if I was going to make this stuff, it had to work as well as Tide.

And it did!!!!! It really did!!!!!!  I think it worked even better than Tide. I use between 1-3 tbs per load depending on soil content. I used the same amount of Tide. I have a front loader and a soft water filter. Also my clothes seemed a bit softer. I had read somewhere that soap rinses out easier than detergents.

Best of all, I save about  4-7 cents per oz making my own vs. buying the name brand stuff.  And it's fun for the kids and I to make together.

We are certainly moving on in the remodel of our downstairs room. This weekend was a messy weekend. We got the insulation in, and then the drywall. And then we had to mud and sand the drywall. Now, I realize that it may sound easy. But it is the messiest job ever to sand that mud. The dust gets everywhere and you must where a mask. If you're not careful, the dust gets all over the house. DH set up a vacume system to pull the dusty air outside rather than throughout the house. It worked! And it was much less of a dusting job for me. So tonight we textured the walls. Splat!!!! It was pretty easy to do. Tomorrow we paint! Then we put up the crown molding, and then we'll start on the floors. I'm very excited.

We're a bit ahead of schedule but this weekend DH has a meeting with his Civil War buddies. They are going to be talking about swords. I actually find that interesting. But I'll be home with A. Maybe T will get to go. We have VBS this week too. I need to be there from 8:30-12:30. I am so not a morning person and my kids are not morning people. So this will be different for us. It promises to be a busy and hectic week all culminating to T's birthday this Sunday! Might be nice to have the floors down by then but that might be a bit of a stretch.

I just can't tell you how excited I am. After 10 years of living in this house, we are finally putting in wood floors downstairs. I remember when we moved in and our wonderful friends volunteered to help paint and spackle this dingy home. I can remember a friend accidentally getting paint on the "rock floor" and apoligizing. I answered that it was no problem because we would soon be putting new floors in. That was 10 years ago!

So on Saturday, my DH starting ripping the walls out. This house was built without insulation. We have now redone 4 rooms, taking off the old drywall, putting insulation, and then putting new drywall up. Then mudding, sanding, and sanding some more. Then texture, primer then finally paint. It's a long process, but it's well worth it. Slowly this outdated house has become our comfortable home. You might as well do all this work before you put in new floors.

But the moment I have waited for has finally come. Beautiful wood floors will finally be in my home. I'll be taking pictures. So far it's nothing but a big, wonderful mess.

I took the pictures below of A a little while back. She is in what T, my Belarusian friend, calls "Slavic Dress". I just love the way these pictures came out. It was a cloudy and overcast day. I love the natural lighting in these pictures.

I can't believe that A is already 5. Where has that little, chubby toddler gone? And now I have a very busy and very talkative little girl that is constantly peppering me with questions. Tonight I had to drop off a package at a friends house.(I should mention that this good friend gave me, yes gave me, all of her California history stuff, thus saving me lots of time and $$$.) So I drove the 40 minute trip to her house to drop off a little gift. A begged to go which is big surprise because she has always preferred to stay with Dada. But she actually wanted to go with me! I was looking forward to listening to a sermon on the radio, but let her come with me. Oh, the questions: Do butterflies make you fall asleep? Do animals talk to each other? How does the moon stay in the sky? How is the moon getting smaller? How does it follow us? Tell me about trees. If animals don't have beds with covers, how do they stay warm at night?  Where does God live? Tell me again how I belong to you.  I was almost dizzy from trying to find answers to these questions from this very inquisitive girl. As a homeschooling mom, I really do enjoy the quiet times I can steal away. But I really enjoyed the special time with her. I think slowly she may becoming a Mama's girl too? I can hope. A brings so much joy and love into our home and lives.

It has been another bit of time since I last updated this blog. So much has kept our family quite busy. But there have been so many exciting things that have happend in these last few weeks and it seems our family has taken many new and exciting turns. A few of these events seem to need their very own posting.

What a beautiful day we enjoyed outside. Earlier this week, when it was raining, the news forcast warm weather for this weekend.  I just couldn't wait to enjoy some of the warmer weather. And that's funny for me because I like the weather to be seasonally appropriate. I can't imagine a cold 4th of July and I just hate it when we have a warm Christmas. But lately I had been missing being outside, playing with the kids, and getting my fingers in the dirt, that I just could't wait.

Just a few weeks ago we had very cold tempetures for where we live. So cold that we had frost warnings and many of our plants died because of the frost.  Of course, a few days after the frost came through we then had high winds. Our neighbor's ficus tree, which  was damaged from the frost, spilled all of her old, brown leaves all over our yard. So yesterday the kids and I raked up all those old leaves. The tree is still hanging onto quite a few whithered leaves. I know that within the next few weeks I'll be back out there raking again....

Our back yard had some frost damage too. We lost two of our "temple bells" plants. I was really looking forward to their little flowers this spring but they are all gone. A few others had some damage but I think they will come back with no problem.

And the nicest thing was last weekend DH surprised me with three blueberry plants. Yes, there are some varieties that can thrive in our climate. So today, before the Super Bowl, DH rototilled the yard and planted my blueberries. The first year you have to pinch back the fruit but next year we should be able to enjoy lots of blueberries. Something yummy to look forward to.

I have a dear friend named K. K moved a way and it has been a challenge keeping in contact. But when she lived here, she was just one of those friends who you could tell her anything and everything and she would never judge you. She had this knack for asking questions to get right to the heart of the matter and then giving it over to Christ. Wow, what a friend. God has blessed her with such a rare gift.

I've been dealing with some stuff emotionally, and I called her today. How wonderful it was to hear her understanding voice and for her to share her godly advice and then pray for me.

True friends are such a gift from God. Thanks, K for listening to me and letting me trust you.

Happy New Year 2007! Ok, I'm a little late but I have been spending more time with my family and less time on the computer. Today I find myself visiting my FIL and his wife up in the San Fransisco Bay area. We have not been here in two years and I can't believe how much this area has built up and grown. So many new houses and stores!

We all went into San Fran on the BART train, their subway. The kids were so excited about this train. They loved the anticipation of waiting for it, looking out the windows, and wondering where it would take them. We arrived and FIL showed us his office and T was excited to see where his Papaw works.

Then we went down to find something to eat and we found ourselves in a Carls Jr. Those of you who know me well know I don't eat fast food and have not in many years. But today I had to go along with it. I ordered a salad and then I remembered why I didn't like fast food anymore. It was awful and tasteless and the quality was lacking.

After our meal we went across the way to Pier 1 to give the kids a good view of the bay. We went into Pier 1 and it was overflowing with people and so many lovely  decorated booths  and stores of gourmet and organic foods.  The bakery of fresh bread, the cheeses, the fruits and vegtables, so many beautiiful things and they all smelled so good. My stomach was so mad at me for betraying it! There were many beautiful flowers and lots of things people did with lavender that gave me some ideas of what to do with mine.

We walked around a bit more then rode the  very crowded BART train all the way home with A singing every Christmas song she knew. It was cute.

The kids had a great time with their grandparents and enjoyed visiting a new city. Tomorrow, FIL has a surprise for the kids that I know they will like.

When we get back, it's back to school, so till then I'm enjoying vacation mode.

I have a dear friend, T, who lives in Belarus. T and I have been writing in e-mails for about 3 years. We got to meet in Belarus and she has become a dear friend and so much more than a pen-pal.

Anyway, I just realized that in the grass on this particular template is Russian writing. I have no idea what it says but T translated it for me. Here is what it says:

Looking for endless summer

As many of you know, B works full time and goes to school full time. He is a very busy man. Right now, he has three weeks of vacation from school.

Oh yes, we are certainly in them. I have always heard that expression for very hot days...the dog days of summer and wondered where they got the expression. So of course I looked it up.

You can learn it about it here: http://wilstar.com/dogdays.htm  Pretty interesting.

Summer just seems to be flying by. It seems we barely finished putting our pencils down and now it's just weeks till we'll start again. So far we have enjoyed the summer, in spite of the heat. Last week T had VBS and he really enjoyed himself. A has becoming quite a little fish in the various pools we visit. But we have enjoyed a quiet and stress free summer. Last summer I was very busy so this summer is much more relaxing.

I still have plenty to post about. I really need to play catch up. But I first need to get my photos ready for posting...and that's where my computer skills are lacking.