I found this tag on Suzanne's blog, who got it from Tina's blog...so, anyway, thought I would play along...

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the questions....they have to be real places, names, and things...and you can't use your own name for the boy/girl questions....so, here I go:

What is your name?  Donna

• 4 letter word: done
• Vehicle: Dodge
• City: Denver
• Boy name: Dillan
• Girl name: Denise
• Movie: Dances with Wolves
• Occupation: Doctor
• Something you wear: dress
• Celebrity:  Doris Day
• Food: Dip
• Something found in a kitchen: dishwasher
• Something found in a bathroom: door knob
• Reason for being late: driving too slow
• Cartoon character: Dagwood
• Something you shout:  Drats!
• Animal: dog
• body part: dislocated shoulder

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Tonight is the last night we will spend together at our first house.  We don't move until Tuesday, but the kids are all spending the night at friends tomorrow so we can do both closings and moving on Tuesday, and they can play.  So, I wanted to make our bed time special tonight, making sure we read together and all prayed together.  As I prayed, I thought of so many great memories of our family in this house....and a few not so good ones too.

I remember looking at this house, almost exactly seven years ago, with a little 14 month old boy, and thinking, wow, this house is so big for us!  And then, two weeks after moving in, finding out we were expecting another baby.  And bringing that little girl home, only two have to take her back to the hospital not even two weeks later because she wasn't breathing.  This was the house my son became a big brother in, and we became a family of five. 

I remember Bekah's first step and Caleb calling her Gekah.  I remember birthday parties, play dates, and telling Mike we had a third on the way. (way before we were ready)  I remember getting the news of Mike's grand dad's death, and Mike's grief.  I remember bringin another little girl home, and recovering from sugery. I remember many long winter months with three very young children, cooped up because I didn't want another baby with RSV.  And I remember Elisa's first steps, and that she could climb on our dining room table before she could walk.

This is the house my kids learned to run in, skip in, jump.  This is also the house I started my homeschool journey in, three years ago.  This is the house I taught my children to read , add and subtract, and much of the bible.

This house has trees out front, on the side, and in the back that bear my children's names.  It's the house my mom taught me how to plant tulips and iris'.

Here, Mike and I have laughed and cried.  We have watched many a tv show and movie, had so many conversations, invited friends over, and grieved over the loss of a baby. 

And so, my prayer was one of thankfulness.  These are memories that I cherish, and will always hold in my heart.  So, as we move on to a new house, and new memories, I just say, "Thank you, Lord.  How could I ask for more?"

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After seven months of wondering if we would ever sell our house....

We did!  We got an offer on Wednesday, not long after Mike and I had discussed going ahead with the ceiling and floors in the basement, and hours before I was going to stain the stairs to the basement to make them look better.  Now, I only have to paint at our new house!

We signed the contract yesterday on ours, and made an offer on another one, which was accepted...

So now, packing up seven years of memories...oh, and waiting for the home inspections....

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Home again, home again, jiggety jig...that is what my mom always says after coming home from vacation.  We got to spend five days in Mt. Vernon, WA last week with my sister, Amy.  We landed in Seattle around 3 p.m., to sunshine and 46 degrees.  Sunshine is pretty rare in the spring so we felt real lucky...

until we traveled about 10 miles north...then we hit a winter wonderland. 

I called up to my sister's and she thought I was joking because it was beautiful where she lived. And, once we got there (after traveling 40 miles in 2 hours) she was right.  It was beautiful.  Caleb, however had a hard time waking up and it didn't even faze him that a suitcase fell on him while asleep...

The reason I wanted to go to Seattle in the spring was because of their annual Tulip Festival up where my sister lives.  It is absolutely amazing, the acres of tulips in all colors.  So, Saturday, we headed out for the street fair.  And it was cold.  It had spit snow that morning, but cleared up, and as we were finishing up at the fair, Amy looks ahead and says " Hail in three seconds."  It was hysterical.  It hailed for 25 minutes, and once again, it looked like a winter wonderland.  But that was nothing compared to waking up Sunday morning and hearing my nephew, Zachary, say "There is at least 2 inches on the ground." 

It snowed all night and was still snowing Sunday morning.  And I am talking big snowflakes.  So, my kids, who haven't seen a good snow in  a long time, got dressed and played in the snow.  They said it was the first time they had snow like this in April. (Did I mention we were in Nashville during an earthquake before we flew out?)

Two hours later, the snow was gone, the sun came out, Danielle drove up, and we went to the tulip fields. 

I don't know how to even describe the tulips.  I am sure Smallworld would have a poem, but all I have is pictures....

Aside from the highlight of the tulips, we had a great time as a family, especially just spending time with my sister and her family.  this was one of the best times I have had with Amy in a long time. 

Tuesday, Mike, Caleb, Scott, and Zachary got to go back down to Seattle for a Mariners game.  It was a fun night for the boys, and the girls got to stay up and watch Enchanted.

Wednesday came to soon, with tears and goodbyes, but what memories I have of this time together!

Our trip home was LONG to say the least.  We got caught in a storm in Dallas, and couldn't take off because of a tornado warning. (note the weather theme of this trip)  We sat on the plane for 3 1/2 hours before taking off.  We landed in Nashville at 4 a.m. Knoxville time, and drove up to our house at 6:45 a.m.  But, hey, we saw the sunrise!  And now, time to catch up on our sleep...

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Ok, I stopped even reading everyone else's blogs because I got sick of seeing mine with nothing new on it.  So, after much procrastination, and laziness, I am back :)  So here's a bit of me the last two months...

This little girl was one of my lights in a very dark time...and she still prays for the baby every night.

My Bekah turned six, and had a fun High School Musical Birthday party...

Caleb turned eight, and Duncan joined us for the second annual Chic- fil -a birthday lunch

Danielle came for a fun girls weekend, and trip to IKEA!

My four favorite people on Easter...

And, Caleb, earning his Wolf badge and giving me my mother's pin....

What I wished I had a picture of, is the day I forgot to put the emergency break on in our stick shift car.  Mike thought it had been stolen, but no, it was stopped by our neighbor's deck....yikes...that was February 29th, leap day, and I am so glad it is now spring...

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Glory Baby

by: Watermark

Glory baby you slipped away as fast as we could say baby…baby..
You were growing, what happened dear?
You disappeared on us baby…baby..
Heaven will hold you before we do
Heaven will keep you safe until we’re home with you…
Until we’re home with you…

Miss you everyday
Miss you in every way
But we know there’s a
day when we will hold you
We will hold you
You’ll kiss our tears away
When we’re home to stay
Can’t wait for the day when we will see you
We will see you
But baby let sweet Jesus hold you
‘till mom and dad can hold you…
You’ll just have heaven before we do
You’ll just have heaven before we do

Sweet little babies, it’s hard to
understand it ‘cause we’re hurting
We are hurting
But there is healing
And we know we’re stronger people through the growing
And in knowing-
That all things work together for our good
And God works His purposes just like He said He would…
Just like He said He would…

BRIDGE:
I can’t imagine heaven’s lullabies
and what they must sound like
But I will rest in knowing, heaven is your home
And it’s all you’ll ever know…all you’ll ever know…

Thank you, Smallworld for blogging words that I can't put into words right now and for understanding how I feel.  One day I hope to get my thoughts written down.

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Last night I was supposed to be online searching for "activities for the letter N" to get ready for my Monday fun class, when my fingers made it over to another web site that led me to the exciting news of my NKOTB.  When asking my parents this morning what they thought my earth shattering, life changing news may be, my mom said, "the bad boys in the hood or something like that must be coming."  I'm so proud, they know me so well, just not the name of the group.

So this has led me to ponder all day long about my journey with NKOTB and my best friend from high school, Bernadette.  Upon reading the news, I had to email her and let her know that I would fly to Orlando to see them in concert with her one more time, granted I am not about to go into labor.  Bern and I met in the 7th grade through her cousin, Eileen, but it wasn't until sophmore year of HS that we formed a life long bond and sickness over the New Kids.  Her favorite was Donnie, mine was Joe.

We lived, breathed, and dreamed NKOTB.  As soon as the new Tiger Beat was out, we got it.  New album, it was ours.  Baseball cards, shirts, pillow cases, posters, dolls, key chains....they belonged to us.  We skipped school to stand outside the Orlando Arena and hope for a glimpse of them.  We had front row seats (on the side) and, thanks to Bern's beauty, we got "after show passes"  Of course, we soon learned that you had to be 18 to go to the after show party, at their hotel, but I won't get into all that...we were only 17 and denied.

We did get to meet Joe, Jon, and Jordan when we were 16 at the Orlando Airport.  My dad found out they were leaving on Delta (good ol' dad worked for the company) and so, we got to talk to them for a few brief minutes.  We also stalked them waited around for them at the Dolphin hotel when they were staying there after a cruise.  I got to meet Joe's dad, and have my picture made with him.  I was sure to let him know I was Catholic, since Joe's family was, and was sure I would be whisked away to marry Joe.  Did I mention we went to Boston after graduation and lied to misled our parents about who we were staying with?

Sadly, our freshman year of college, they broke up.  No more concerts, shirts, dolls, posters....sadly, Bern's and my friendship started to drift apart as well.  We lost contact after I got married, but she found me again about five years ago when she heard I was pregnant with Elisa.  Now she is the only friend from high school I really get a chance to talk to.  It's not often, but we fall back into a good rhythm.  Excpet we don't talk about NKOTB.  We talk about our kids, our houses, how sloppy we are, how we both wished she lived here.  I haven't seen her since 1995, maybe NKOTB will be the bridge that brings me back to Orlando, and we can have a Hangin' Tough reunion (sorry, that was cheesy...)

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Wow, dreams really do come true....and I got rid of all my NKOTB stuff.....

New Kids On The Block Stage Comeback

After months of speculation and rumor, the Kids are coming back. A well-placed source tells PEOPLE exclusively that New Kids On The Block are indeed getting back together.

The band's Web site, www.nkotb.com, which had been dormant, is now back up and running in anticipation of the official announcement, which the source says will be made in the next few weeks.

The site currently features a television graphic with a fuzzy, flickering photos of NKOTB in their heyday, and a link inviting fans to sign up for info.

The boy band, which made legions of tweens swoon in the early '90s, selling more than 50 million albums, became a worldwide phenomenon before calling it quits in 1994.

Eighteen years later, they're still "Hangin' Tough." The oldest "Kid," Jonathan Knight, now a real estate developer, will turn 40 later this year. Since the band's demise, former members Donnie Wahlberg, 38, and Joey McIntyre, 35, have seen acting success, while Danny Wood, 38, has worked as a music producer and Knight's brother, Jordan, 37, has continued to record.

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So, how exactly do I go about being Party of Five to Party of Six?  The title doesn't exactly have the same ring to it since I took my name from the Fox TV show from the 90's.  But it does sound good around here....six Williams.

I got a post Christmas gift  on December 27th.  I found out that I am going to have another baby.  While Mike is still recovering somewhat (!), we are excited around here to think that late this summer we will welcome another little baby into this home.  Well, hopefully not this one, hopefully we will sell before then.

And so, after four years, I get to hold my own baby again, be sleep deprived again, change diapers again, and paint a new nursery again.  What a joyous gift.

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I know I should have taken my break from school to blog every day.  Oh well, there's a lot of things I should do.  So, I am going to do a little catching up with pictures...

Christmas eve, right before church.  We always dress up, although most of the church is real casual. My kids recited the Christmas story from Luke and the girls sang Away in a Manger while Cleb played it on the piano.  The Sunday before Christmas, Elisa did the recitation herself at church which was so special.

Putting out our stockings...

Need I say more?

I was so excited to get the Hairspray Soundtrack because I loved the movie so much....then we cranked it up and I read the lyrics...Elisa went around the house singing " I'm the ladies choice"

My Tennessee boys....I had to sneak this hat past Caleb to surprise him....he kept begging for it and it hasn't left his head to much since he got it....although Mike is still wearing my TN sweatshirt...

 Ok, since this has taken way too long, I shall just end with this, so I can get on to my next post....

Happy (belated) New Year!

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The other day my kids were watching Little House on the Prairie, and, in that episode Charles returns home after being gone for however long.  And he gets a grin on his face as he holds something in his hand for Caroline. He says, "I got something pretty for a pretty lady."  And puts a necklace around her neck.  To this Caleb says, " He must have gone to Jared's!"  I laughed so hard I thought I would cry, and Caleb, thinking I am making fun of him said, "Elisa said it first."  I told him it was a good joke and I was giving him the credit.  He said," give the credit to Elisa..."  Either way, it was real funny.

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My mind has wandered a lot to Christmas' of the past lately.  I loved Smallworld's blog about her first married Christmas, and so, I decided to blog about one of my Christmas memories. 

It actually wasn't very long ago, and I can't believe I remember much because it was the year Elisa was born, and looking back on the pictures, my eyes weren't opened much in any picture, most likely because of sleep deprivation because she was only one month old.  That, or my cheeks were just that big from all the weight I gained after the c-section...

After Elisa was born, I vowed to keep her inside as much as possible the first two months since Bekah had had RSV, and was in the hospital as a newborn.  And so, for two months, I stayed at home. All day.  With a 3 1/2 year old, 1 1/2 year old, and a new born.  I couldn't wait until 9 a.m. so I could call another adult and talk.  I had my list.  First, I would call Joy, if she didn't answer then Maria, if she didn't answer....it was a joyous time in my life.

About a week before Christmas, I got a chance to take Caleb and Bekah out to the mall to see Santa, and Mike stayed home with Elisa.  This was the first time we tried this.  When we got there I noticed there were a lot of animals in line but no kids.  Strange, I thought, but stayed in line anyway.  By the time we got to the front, the woman asked me where my pet was.  I said, "I don't have a pet, just my children."  To that she said, "well tonight is pet night, no children can see Santa."  Huh?  Unfortunately for her, I had many hormones still racing through me, and had been locked up in my house now for over 4 weeks.  And so, the tears began to pour, and my voice got a little loud. 

"I just had a baby," I yelled.  "I can't leave my house with her, I had surgery, and this is the only chance I will get to take these kids out to see Santa."  It was about that time I see a familiar face coming out of another store.  To my embarresment, she heard me, and asked what was going on. Then she looked at the lady I had just yelled at and said, "Mom, you have to let her kids go talk to Santa."  After picking myslef up off the floor, the woman looked at me and said, "They can talk to him, but can't sit on his lap because of all the pet hair.."   Ah, yes, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

 Here are the kids with the Santa they couldn't touch....Bekah is still afraid of him...

this was also the year Bekah had many scars on her face from all the mosquito bites...and she chose Veggie Tale bandaids...

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Most years, our tradition is to put up our Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  But this year, our tree and all our decorations were sitting in a storage unit about five minutes from our house.  We were hopeful that we would be in our new house by Christmas, so it was the first in the storage unit.  I finally got excited enough to tackle this, and so last Thursday we all went to the storage unit and got most of our decorations. 

This was my first look at all we have in storage, and wow, we have a lot in storage!  Now I am wondering what to do with it all.   Mike easily found the tree and was ready to leave with just the tree, but I lovingly reminded him we needed ornaments.  So, as he set to work finding those, I looked for the presents I had bought through the year.  After lugging and pulling and ripping tape, we got it done and here is the result....

We ended up decorating on the 6th , which is St. Nicholas Day, and a tradition in my family for as long as I can remeber. I also found my Christmas cd's, much to Mike's dismay, but, I put on Emmanuel first, which is our favorite, and it felt like Christmas.  (just don't ask me how many pictures I had to take to get this last shot...)

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Yesterday was a great Thanksgiving for us, and one like we have never had before.  My brother in law is a police officer.  About three months ago he arrested a homeless man (Wayne) who turned himself in on a warrant for a revoked license because he was hungry and knew that in jail, he could at least get a meal.  Jeff saw something in Wayne and offered to help him if he wanted it. Not much later, Wayne came looking for Jeff and has since kept a job and an apartment.  The rest is in the article I posted at the end.

Jeff invited Wayne to Thanksgiving with our family.  It was so neat to have him with us.  It's the kind of Thanksgiving or Christmas I had always envisioned, having someone there who needs our help, who has no family, who is truly grateful just to be here, and to be alive.  He is a very kind and gracious man.  When he first came in, Jeff asked him what he would like to drink and Wayne said, "Wine would be great, I get nervous around white people I have never met!" (he is a black man)  He was very open with us about his life, which has been rocky, his addictions, and how he is so thankful to God for turning his life around and bringing Jeff into it.

It made me very aware and very thankful that I have a house to live in, a husband who works so hard to provide for us, and God who never gives up on us. Wayne was homeless in my little town, and I mean little, about 800 people. It really opened my eyes to the fact that this is all around us.  And thankful too, that my husband, fyftn, has a heart for helping people just like Wayne. It was one of my favorite Thanksgivings. And I hope we get to share more of our blessings with Wayne in the future.

Alcoa officer answers call to help transform a life
Mark Boxley
Published: November 21, 2007
Hanging up a pay phone at a gas station on Alcoa Highway, Luther Wayne Kennedy stood impatiently on a warm July morning, waiting for a police cruiser to pick him up and take him to jail. And the only thing he could think about was getting there before the jail stopped serving lunch.

 But it wasn't all bad: He was within walking distance of the crack house where he got his drugs and he was far enough away to stay out of trouble if the police came. And that was something that happened more often than not.

 But because his 22-year habit took every cent he came across, Wayne - as he was known by his friends - hadn't eaten in three days.

 He had gotten up that morning to a grumbling stomach and with no food in sight, and he remembered he had an active warrant for driving on a revoked license. Jail's not great, he thought, but at least he would have food to eat, clean clothes to wear and he wouldn't be sleeping under a tree.

 So he called the police and turned himself in.

 "I would rather be in jail than live like I was living," he said. "(In jail) I got food, I got shelter, I can take a shower and they've got clothes. I know it sounds crazy, but that's how bad off I was."

 When the officer did arrive just before noon that July 12, instead of the gruff police officer Wayne was expecting, he was approached by Alcoa Police Patrol Officer Jeff Parsons.

 "Jeff got out of the car and there was an air about him," Wayne said. "Like he really didn't want to put the handcuffs on me."

 Wayne is 58 years old, and when Jeff Parsons first saw him, he could tell the man had been living a rough life.

 "He just looked horrible," Parsons said. "He looked like an old gentleman who life had just beat him down."

 The two made a connection, even with Wayne handcuffed in the backseat of the cruiser. Jeff could see there was something different about the way Wayne talked about his life and how he wanted to change.

 "On the way to the jail, he just kind of poured his heart out," Jeff said.

 It was the sincerity in Wayne's voice that moved him to give the man his police department phone number. And for Wayne, that one gesture was what occupied his thoughts during the next 12 days in jail - the thought that someone would be waiting to help him when he got out.

 "He said on the way on up (to the jail ... 'If you want help, if you truly, honestly want help, I'll help you,'" Wayne said. "And all of a sudden I felt - I had a feeling like, man, I don't know, I just wasn't scared any more.

 "I said, 'When I get out of (jail), I'm going to have help. I'm through with drugs.'"  But that wasn't exactly how it happened.

 Walking from the jail with nowhere to go, Wayne looked down Lamar Alexander Parkway.

 "When I was in jail, I said I was going to make a left turn (in life) instead of a right turn," he said. "If I go right, I go into the hood - straight into the drug world."

 And he went left, literally. Ending up at First Baptist Church in Maryville, Wayne explained his problem to someone at the church, how he couldn't get in touch with Jeff.

 "They sat down and said, 'Just a minute,'" he said. "She came back in about five minutes and said, 'We have a room for you at the Executive Lodge for one night. ... This should give you time to get in touch with him.'

 "Man, I was so happy."

 But again, the next morning Wayne still couldn't get Jeff on the phone. Wayne had left the jail with a Bible someone had given to him, and he was angry - at Jeff, at God, at everything.

 "I wanted to tear that Bible up, man, I really did because I said, 'This guy lied to me,'" he said. "So, I just tore the cover off the Bible.

 "(And) I went back to the drug world."

 "I did drugs for 10 days - for 10 days I went back to where I was at before I met Jeff," he said. "I was living under a tree, man - it was a tree.

 "I was actually, actually homeless."

 But one day, he remembered what it was like in the back of that police cruiser, and the hope Jeff had given him. So he made the decision to try one more time.

 "So, one morning ... I was determined, I said I'm going to see Jeff," he said. "So, I got up and started walking."

 He was in Rockford.

 "First I went by the Days Inn, because they have a breakfast there," he said with a laugh, explaining how the staff at hotels don't always know who had stayed there and who didn't. "When you're homeless, you learn how to survive."

 He made a call from the hotel to the Alcoa Police Department - Jeff was out on a call, but just knowing he was working that day was enough for Wayne.

 "(The person on the phone) said, 'Do you have a number (for Jeff to call him back at)?' ... I said, 'No, I'm at a phone booth.'

 "And she said, 'Why don't you come in?'"

 During that long walk from Rockford to the Alcoa Police Department, Wayne could not help but think about the past 10 days.

 "I wanted to be helped right then," he said. "And I guess God wanted me to go back and just see (one more time what being a drug addict was like), so I wouldn't wonder."

 He grew up the son of working-class parents in Rockford, and the strongest drug he ever used early in life was alcohol. But even that got him in trouble.

 He got married at 17 and was divorced and remarried by 21. He moved to Dayton, Ohio, with his second wife in 1969. But after 12 years, that marriage fell apart as well.

 "She said I was an alcoholic," he said. "And looking back, I guess I was - I drank every day."

 While he was married, Wayne said he had a home - a nice three-bedroom house - cars, money, and anything else he might need.

 But after the divorce, he fell apart. He took his $6,000 divorce settlement and, on the advice of some of his friends, decided to make a different kind of investment.

 "So everybody told me, 'Man, you can really make money off of coke (cocaine),'" he said.

 "So I came here, I came back to Tennessee ... to buy crack."

 "First I bought a quarter ounce, then I bought an ounce."

 It went downhill from there.

 "I started using - I started experimenting with it," he said. "And that's when I really acquired an addiction to crack.

 "I guess I used it, now looking back, you know, to fill the space," he said. "I lost my home, I lost my wife, lost my car."

 Wayne got married again, quit his job of 18 years at Dayton Power and Light as a gas and electric serviceman and moved to Las Vegas.

 Soon he was working only to feed his addiction. "I was like three hours away from being in the soup line in Las Vegas," he said. And after leaving his wife and moving back to Tennessee in 1987, it continually got worse.

 "I was doing great until I met Mr. Crack and it just started taking all my money," he said. "By the way, I guess I'm still married to that woman, because we never got a divorce."

 He got a trailer in Rockford and started working for the Tennessee Highway Department. That is, until he got a DUI. "And I just didn't go back to work on that job," he said.

 New crack users - or rookies - are the ones who get hustled, and by this point Wayne was the hustler.

 "When I lived in Rockford, I had a trailer and they (his customers) would come and I would take them to Alcoa to get drugs," he said. "I wasn't a drug dealer, I was a user. And I was doing this to support my habit."

 The hustle was easy and Wayne always took his cut as the middle man.

 "I would go to Alcoa, get out of the car - they were white, all my customers where white - they would go to Kroger, turn around and come back. And I would walk into the hood (to get the drugs)," he said. "Say they gave me $50, well, I could get a better quantity than they could. So out of $50, I would probably get maybe $20 worth of crack - they were satisfied, I was satisfied.

 "A lot of times they would sit at my place and smoke it, we would smoke it."

 "I was just off into the drug world," he said. "You know, drugs draw women, and women draw men and I had a little old business there I guess - had a little crack house, I guess.

 "The police thought it was, too," he said laughing.

 "Well, I got caught," he said. "A guy wore a wire on me four times - a guy I thought was a friend of mine. And I ended up doing 26 months in the state penitentiary."

 It wasn't the first time Wayne had been arrested, but it was the first time for a drug charge. And it was by far the hardest time he ever served. Between 1996 and 2007, Wayne has been in and out of the Blount County Jail 17 times. He was in jail three times just this year.

 But while at Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, it was the real deal.

 After he got out and returned to his drug-addicted lifestyle, his adoptive mother - a retired school teacher, who taught him when he was younger in a two-room, segregated schoolhouse - died in June 2006. "And that's when I became homeless and didn't know it," he said.

 "At the time, I wasn't working, there was a mortgage on the house and taxes were behind," he said. "We were almost ready to lose the house."

 But before they did, someone bought it. And while they were remodeling, they let Wayne live in a tent on the yard to look after the place. He stayed warm by burning trash discarded during the remodeling job.

 "I did roll over into the fire one night," he said somberly. "I slept by a fire, a trash fire."

 "By then, I was selling drugs," he said. "I was hustling drugs to get high, to stay high.

 "I got hungry, man. I got so hungry at times I would just get weak," he said. "The thing about the drug world - I call it the devil, because it is the devil - the devil will get you high, but he ain't going to get you a sandwich."

 It was the same for other drug addicts. "You'll starve to death, but they'll get you a beer," he said. "But they won't give you a sandwich, man. I'm talking about people you know, friends, you know?  "Because they ain't hungry, they're getting high."

 That was a turning point for Wayne.  "This is the point that I think God brought me to, to show me what not having is - not having water, not having food, not having clothing," he said. "When I hit the bottom, that taught me a lot that I didn't learn in 50-something years."

 Walking up to the window at the Alcoa Police Department, Wayne asked for Jeff. The woman behind the glass asked if Jeff would be expecting him.  "I said, 'Oh yeah, he's expecting me,'" Wayne said.

 Talking to Jeff, though, he would tell you that the man in the lobby was something he wasn't expecting at all. He had given his number to people like Wayne before, but no one ever called him back. And when he walked into the room and saw Wayne standing there, it was a bit of a revelation.

 "(Wayne) goes, 'I'm here, I need some help,'" Jeff said. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is for real now."

 The first thing Jeff wanted to do was get Wayne something to eat. Unfortunately, they stopped at a gas station where Wayne had a history.

 "I said, 'Man, I got caught stealing food out of there,'" Wayne said. And sure enough, when the two of them walked in the cashier remembered the man who tried to leave with a can of Spam under his shirt. Wayne doesn't blame them, how could you forget a guy who said that bulge was actually a pistol when they tried to stop him.

 But Jeff doesn't hold that past against Wayne.

 "At the time he did what he did (use drugs), he had nothing," Jeff said. "He was in survival mode."

 Jeff got so upset about the way the workers at the station reacted, the two of them left. Food wasn't really the most important thing for Wayne right now anyway, Jeff said. It was finding him a place to stay that night.

Jeff didn't have much luck at first at a nearby homeless shelter - there weren't any rooms available. But there was a couch.

 "I said, 'Can he please sleep on the couch tonight?'" Jeff said. And the person in charge agreed to let Wayne sleep there, but just for the night.

 "The very same night - and this is how God works - a guy moved out," Wayne said. "The very same night. "I felt like I was in the Hilton Hotel."

 At that time, Wayne only had his small suitcase and the few pieces of clothing it contained. And he almost didn't have that.

 While Wayne was in the Blount County Jail, Jeff had gone back to his tree to get the bag. But the owners of the property were cleaning up the yard and had already thrown it in the trash pile. If it had been taken to the dump, Wayne would have lost the few possessions he still had. Jeff was able to pull it out of the pile before that happened, though.

 "It was by pure luck," Jeff said. "In another hour it would have been gone."  There were a few other things Wayne needed at the homeless shelter - basic toiletries mostly. He gave Jeff a "wish list" of items - but it contained things that most people didn't have to wish for. And it made Jeff, and later his wife, cry to read it.

 "It was a long list - toothpaste, toothbrushes, just things like that," Jeff said.

 He took the list and went to the store.  "He said, 'Let me see your list,'" Wayne said. "He just took the list, man. He came back, not with two bars of soap (but with) a 12-pack of soap, toothpaste, deodorant - I mean two deodorants.

 "Everything on that list, he brought me," he said. "Him and his wife got it for me."

 On top of that, the manager of the Alcoa Wal-Mart, Boyce Smith, donated shoes and some clothes for Wayne.

 "The change that I've seen in Luther (Wayne) is his spirit," Jeff said. "He's just happier; he's bubblier."

 A week-and-a-half after he moved into the homeless shelter, Wayne had gotten himself a job at Buddy's BBQ on Alcoa Highway. And with that, he finally felt at least a little self-sufficient.

 "I got 10 hours the first paycheck," Wayne said. "Ten hours the first week.  "I brought home my $57 and man, that felt like $570 in my pocket."

 Jeff would take Wayne to the bank every week to cash his check, and just as things were really looking up, "Bam, child support hit," Wayne said.

 Wayne has five children - four girls and a boy. The oldest was born in 1967 and the youngest is in his 20s. None of them kept in contact with their dad while he was on drugs - Wayne hasn't seen his son since 1988.

 "I didn't want them to see me like that," he said. "They didn't want to see me like that."

 Along with not seeing them, Wayne also did not pay to support them. And over the years he fell $27,000 behind in child support. And when he finally got a legal job, the government stepped in and started taking the money back, $50 at a time.

 "You know, times in the past I would have used that as an excuse," he said of the garnishment. "I'd say the hell with it, I'm not going to work and pay child support - I'm going back to drugs."

 But that's not what he did. He kept working, he kept paying child support and after a few weeks was able to get an even better-paying job detailing RVs at Chilhowee RV Center in Alcoa.

 Jeff went to Blount County Circuit Judge W. Dale Young and convinced him to remove the attachments for contempt. He told the judge, "If you put him in jail now, he'll lose his job." And in that, he would lose everything he had worked so hard to gain. Wayne certainly knows what would have happened if Jeff hadn't stepped in to help him.

 "If he hadn't been my friend, I would have been homeless again and I'd have been back on drugs again. I know I would," he said. "I'd have said, 'What's the use? I'm doing everything right and I still can't make it.'"

 The only condition is that Jeff had to promise Wayne would be at his next court hearing. "And he was - I took him," Jeff said.  It turned out to be a clerical error, Jeff said, "It wasn't even his fault."

 Wayne walks to work every day from his own apartment near Chilhowee RV Center. Danny Stahl, the shop foreman at Chilhowee RV, said he remembered the day Wayne came in looking for a job.

 "He seemed really sincere about coming to work," he said, explaining how he went to his boss about Wayne after meeting him. "I told him that there was something about this guy that I had a good feeling about.

 "I told him I would really like to put this guy on (to work)."   When he offered Wayne the job, he started the next day.

 "He was here early," Stahl said. "He's been here early ever since.  "He's just a really, really dependable guy."

 Stahl said he would never guess by looking at him that Wayne has gone through the things he has, but everyone deserves a chance regardless of their past.

 "Everybody has to have a job," he said. "I personally don't care what his past is.  "I'm just glad I found Luther (Wayne)," he said, quickly correcting himself. "Or that he found me."

 God's hand

 Both Jeff and Wayne agree on one thing, if things had happened differently that day in July, Wayne would still be on the street or possibly dead.

 If it hadn't been Jeff who arrested him that day, "I would still be over there in crack city," Wayne said. "I would probably be dead, more than likely."

 "He'd still be in the street," Jeff reiterated. "There's no doubt in my mind.

 "That's how wonderful God is: He did this, He planned this," he said. "Until the day I die, I'll believe this is God's work.

 "We'll be friends for life, there's no doubt in my mind," he added. "He'll be someone I'll never forget."

 Wayne is thankful for that friendship, and the fact that Jeff cared enough to try and help a down-and-out crack addict.

 "What if Jeff had looked at me and said, 'Oh, look at him. He stinks, I don't want to bother with him, he ain't never going to straighten up," Wayne said. "But he didn't, he looked at me as a human being."

 For the people struggling with the same demons Wayne was battling only months ago, he says you have to make that first step away from a life of drugs.

 "I try to tell them, 'You can, you can, you can,'" he said. "But you've got to get out of there, you've got to get out from under that tree."

 Still a long way to go

 Wayne has only been clean for about three months - two months shy of his longest drug-free stretch, the 5½ months he was clean in the late 1980s. And he'll tell you he's not a saint.

 "I'm still weak," he said. "I struggle every day."

 But there are things, people and God in his life that help him stay clean. "I can look in the refrigerator and I've got me something to eat and I've got a clean bed to sleep on, and I know if I go over there and start smoking that (crack), I'll bypass the office (and not pay rent) and I'll be homeless, just like that," he said. "And I ain't going back, I'm not going back.

 "I'm not going to say I'll never be homeless again," he said. "But it won't be because of crack. I promise you that."

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Here are just a few of my many blessings....

1.  A husband who loves me so much and says when I walk by "ooh who's that she's pretty."      

2. Three beautiful and amazing children who love me and want to spend their days with me even when I am not the funnest person to be around.

3. Living in Tennessee.  

4. So many friends in so many walks of life.  Living here wouldn't be the same without them.

5. A house to live in.  Even though I would like the new house, we have been so blessed to have this house.

6. Thanksgiving at my moms' and me only having to bring the pumpkin pie.

7. A better relationship with my sister Beth.

8. Mike having a new job and coming home afterwards a lot happier

9. The health of my family.

10. Being forgiven for when I fall short everyday.

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You Are The Stuffing

You're complicated and complex, yet all your pieces fit together. People miss you if you're gone - but they're not sure why.

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While looking over the options for our next semester of Monday Fun classes, I saw this class listed and thought it would be fun for Caleb.

Grossology: Icky sticky science. Lots of fun and lots of experiments. Find out why you have bad breath, what’s in your poop, what’s in your throw up and why you don’t want to eat your boogers.

Sounds like a good boy class to me.  So, I ask Caleb about taking it sand said, "Then you could tell Bekah and Elisa why they shouldn't eat their boogers."  And Bekah says, "Yeah, especially me."

So, on the way to Bible study that night, Caleb says, "Yeah, pretty much I don't eat my boogers anymore."

I can't wait to here what he learns....

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Last Thursday was Elisa's fourth birthday.  It's hard to believe my "baby" is four.  I mean, by the time Caleb was 3 1/2, he had two younger siblings.  But here is Elisa, with no younger siblings, and growing up so fast. 

Unfortunately, I was not feeling well that day, and wasn't the most pleasant person to be around, but it was a great day for her, complete with a trip to Chuck E Cheese, and a new princess laptop.

Elisa was, in a way, a surprise for Mike and I.  After having Caleb and Bekah 24 months apart, we thought we would spread out the next one.  We found out Elisa was on the way right after Bekah turned one.  So, Caleb was 3 1/2 and Bekah 1 1/2 when Elisa came along.  I really thought I would have to resusitate Mike the night I told him I was pregnant. 

But what a joy she is.  This little blonde hair, blue eyed dimpled beauty still makes our hearts melt.  The first thing she wants to do in the morning is come and cuddle with me.  While she has been my biggest "turkey", she brings me so much happiness, and I feel so blessed that God gave me this precious little girl.    Here she is, after being 5 days late, and in labor all night....she performed her first gymnastics stunt and turned transverse, and was delivered c-section.

And so it is fitting that she is a good little gymnast and wanted a gymnastics party this year...

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While looking at the High School Musical cd cover, Elisa starts asking me what their "real names" are.

Elisa: "Mommy, what is Gabriella's real name?" 

Me:"Vanessa Hudgens"

Elisa: "What is Troy's real name?"

Me: "Zac Efron"

Elisa: "Chad?

Me: "Corbin Bleu"

Elisa: "No it's not, It's Chad.  Chad Anooga."

On the way home from swim lessons today, she asks me, "Mommy, have we done the letter O in our ABC class yet?"  "Not yet." I say.  "Good because I have a great idea for an activity for the word OV."  "OV?"  I asked.  "Yes," she says.  "can you use that in a sentence?"  I asked.  "Yes, she says, OOOOOVVVVV.  It's a type of tree."  I told her we would have to let Dr. Hibiscus know.

Did I mention this precious girl turns four tomorrow? 

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Whose idea was it to move anyway?  Why did I find a house I loved so much more than mine that I wanted to put me and my family through chaos for the last two months?  I have asked myself those questions everyday for the last two months.

We weren't even looking to move.  We were happily finishing our basement and I was one weekend away from a trip to IKEA to furnish the basement, when I found the house online.  Since that day, our basement has been on hold.  New ceramic tile was laid in my entry way and 1/2 bath downstairs, new carpeting in my bed room. 

This is the new tile and the view is entry way going into our 1/2 bath..I really like the design in the doorway...

 I spent two weeks sanding and repainting the kitchen cabinet doors to try and make them look better than they did thanks to the lady who lived here before us and painted them in ONE DAY.  Oh yes, we also replaced our ugly kitchen counter tops, which look amazing now. 

Here is the old counter top, which had a pink undertone to it, and wasn't attractive.

This is what we found when we took the old counter tops off...the ugly wall paper that used to be all over my kitchen...it was my first project when we moved here...

These are the new counter tops, which don't cover the ugly wallpaper, so we are putting up some tile for the backsplash...

We have had two couples come through who "loved the house, but hated the back deck."  I guess everyone but me knew my back deck was about to fall apart.  The last couple that came through wanted to get an estimate on the deck, and then would "subtract that from the amount of their offer."  That was last Thursday and we haven't heard anything.  So, Mike and I decided that since he is off this week, we would replace the back deck too. 

I have been really pumped and high some days (not literally, although, that may be an option) and low many days.  And I am now wondering what in the world are we doing?  No, it doesn't make me want to stay in this house even though we have done so much to it.  It makes me want to enjoy the big family room in the other place, get a new dining room table to look awesome in an actual dining room, and watch my kids get to ride their bikes in the street at the end of a cul-de-sac.  But, that is not up to me.

So, for now, I will enjoy that my husband is outside doing all sorts of handy man things,   (I bet he isn't enjoying it) replacing the back deck while on the phone to our friend Robbie asking what part needs to be done next.  Mike isn't exactly the handy man type, but I am proud of him for all he is doing to help us get into the new house.

Here is my handy man hard at work...

Yikes...and I am afraid of heights...

And here is the view from our back deck...we are probably crazy to leave...but that nice big yard back there...it goes straight down hill and is only good for snow, which we apparently don't get in TN anymore...

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