Bass Pro Shop

This afternoon we decided to go and see the new Bass Pro Shop. Have any of you been? This place is HUGE! Eddie and his friends call this the Redneck Disney World, and I'm sure I looked like a redneck walking around taking pictures, but I just could not help myself. The scenes they set up were just so cool! Check out the pictures. The picture to the right is actually a painting on one of the walls.

This was a scene set going from the 1st floor to the 2nd. They had animal scenes, and fish scenes all through the store.

This is the stairs, they almost look like they are in the woods.

Okay now one of our main reasons to go was to see Santa. They had a cool set up with BB guns, crafts, letters to Santa, trains and of course Santa himself.

Bri wrote a letter to Santa while dad kept telling her to ask Santa for a bass boat for him. She told him he needed to do that himself, but since he just would not stop she asked him. Eddie took a picture of the letter while she wrote, I found it very funny. If any of you still have not seen Santa, as it occurred to me today that we had not, I would recommend this place. The line did not take that long, and you get to drool over bass boats and pontoon boats while you are in line. Personally the pontoon boat with leather couches is more to my liking, but Eddie likes the faster than light bass boats. Now, when you fish aren't you supposed to sit and wait? So why do you need a big fast, fancy boat?

In addition to getting to see the big jolly elf you get a FREE 4x6 photo and you can take all the pictures you want while the child is in Santa's lap. The picture is good quality and on the back of the card they put your picture in is a number. You can get on their website and put in the code and see your pictures and of course buy some if you like. You don't have too, but you do have that option. The prices are not too unbearable either. While we wondered around this store checking out all the things there we found an area where they were giving away basically a trip. It is in the Outdoor Traveler Center. For $59 you have one full year to take a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC; Smoky Mountains; Orlando; Las Vegas; or Charleston. You can pick one destination, there may be more, I can't remember all of them. The $59 is for a 3 day/2 night weekday stay and you receive a $25 gift certificate to the Bass Pro Shop. Okay, what is the catch you ask, well you do have to go to a sales pitch about time shares, I actually thought this would turn Eddie away, but it didn't. They told us less than an hour, unless you show interest, so unless you plan to buy DON'T show any interest. You do have to book it between a Sunday - Thursday, but you could book it on a Thursday arrival and get the weekday rate for Friday night as well, you could also book additional nights at a discounted rate. We chose to take the deal and plan to go to the Smoky Mountains either in the Spring or Fall, we have 30 days to book our trip so we will need to make our plans over the next few weeks. The only out of pocket expense for you is you do have to pay the taxes and any other hotel expenses you incur. Of course, the trip expense is all yours too, but the place to stay is pretty cheap. To qualify you have to be over 25, and make 40+ a year. They do not check on the salary or your credit, it is an honesty thing, if you tell them you make that they will take you on your word. He told us if you tell them you make less they will turn you away. We spoke with Steven Hall, he is the manager and he is a very nice guy. He told us that anyone who came and signed up for the trip and told them we referred them then we got an additional $10 gift card, so if you go up there and qualify please give them mine and Eddie's name. If your interested and want to talk to me about it just give me a call.

Okay end of the sales speech, just thought some of you may be interested.

Blessings,

Lisa

Christmas Time

Okay, this pictures is just to show you that yes, Alex is still around. He just rarely lets us get pictures! This is after the Tide Rolled over Auburn 36-0. He really is happy and so is Dalton, they just HATE pictures!

I even completely understood the obnoxious problem Alex had with Auburn fans. While waiting for his lab class Wednesday two obviously Auburn boys walked up, Alex knew them, I did not, and just started in on how awful Alabama was, "they were going to the National Championship, but they lost, how great are you now?" I saw Alex getting mad, but he handled himself very well. I reminded them they lost to Alabama 36-0, and then their coach quit. One just nodded and went on, the other one kept going he refused to give up. I told him they were good last year, but this year his team really stunk. We lost one game, so far, but we beat Auburn, and that was all that mattered. I guess he was just upset because his team REALLY stunk this year, so bad that his coach even stepped away. Okay, so maybe I was a little hard, but he would not let up and after 6 long years we have the bragging rights back, so look out. If you start something with us, we will finish it! Alex, by the way was very pleased. "I told you they were obnoxious", "I really don't like those guys, but for some reason they look for me and Dalton every time to hangout with us." ROOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLL TIDE!

These girls were invited to decorate a tree in an 1800s cabin by the Jefferson County Historical Society. They are sitting in front of their completed tree. They did a great job! Ms. Grunge was so surprised, she did not expect so many ornaments made by the girls, we even had to place ornaments around the rest of the house because they just would not fit on the tree. Good job girls!

I love a Christmas Parade! We went to the Gardendale Christmas Parade last week. It was beautiful. We met some friends and had dinner at Chik-Fil-A and then went outside to watch the parade. It as FREEZING. We had no feeling in our hands or feet until we were nearly home. Yes we had sock, shoes, and gloves on. It was just really cold. Bri even asked if she would get frostbite on her fingers. Okay, I thought it was funny, but that was how cold it was.

This is a masterpiece by Ms. Brianna. She did an awesome job I think! She did this all by herself! Her elves left her a gingerbread house kit and she went to town with it. I did not post the pics of dad eating the leftover icing, or the dog begging under the table. This is the house that the elves nearly ate up this week. No she is not mad, she thought it was funny. Like I said, I REALLY believe they had help!

Well that is pretty much what we have been doing so far during this holiday season. Yesterday we went shopping with Granny. We had a great day. It has been a VERY long time since we have had a day to hangout with her. We pretty much wrapped up our Christmas shopping too! The kids got a few things early for Christmas in the form of Christmas outfits, PJs, and just a few fill-in clothes that were needed. I told them they needed to let me wrap them and put them under the tree or they would not have much Christmas morning, but they said they did not care, they knew what it was already! Well with two posts in one day, I fairly used up my "busy looking" time. The natives are starting to hunt me down, so I guess I should go and get things moving for the day. One of which is most likely a visit to Santa. I realized this morning we have not seen Santa yet and 2 weeks left before the big day, well I have one very anxious girlie!

I hope each of you have a very blessed week, as you prepare for the celebration of the birth of our Saviour.

Lisa

Christmas Elves

I'm still around, we've just been so busy with the preparations of Christmas and the wrapping up of school activities. I'm happy to say next week is so quiet, at least from a school standpoint, that crickets are actually chirping on that part of my calendar! Of course it is Christmas, and as Eddie so profoundly put it, "I'm sure you'll find something to do." Oh yes honey, I already have!

So I know you noticed the Christmas elves title, and as a tradition in our family, as many of you know, we have two little elves that spend time with us at Christmas time. These little elves have provided many hours of fun and laughter to all of us. They came this year and started out a little slow, they made a few messes, and left a few gifts, but they were fairly quiet. A couple of nights they did not even leave their beds. So I guess they were tired when they arrived here. Boy, have they rested up. Over the last few days they have eaten ALL of the candy off the Gingerbread House that Bri built so carefully. Of course, I think Bri and her friend Dae ate a few pieces of the candy and just let the elves take the blame. They built a ski ramp on our stairs and sprinkled their snow all over the stairs. Last night they even tried to take credit for giving Bri and I earrings that we bought for ourselves yesterday. Yes sir, they put mine in a box complete with bows, and put Bri's earrings in their ears. Then they drew a mustache on sleeping Brianna. I guess they were fairly tired after their day, so they made themselves a marshmallow bubble bath in the sink and were found lounging in there this morning, complete with soap stuck in their clothes. Yes they have truly been stinkers lately!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas Season!

Thanksgiving and kids

GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving, I know we did. We enjoyed the day just hanging out with each other and of course eating. See the picture of our turkey? Its rather creative don't you think? Brianna made that to hold our bread, and it did hold a bunch of rolls too. We thought she did a great job on it and she was quite proud to have made the centerpiece. Papa had a good time asking her about her turkey too. We really enjoyed just hanging out together and talking about different things, from the presidents past and present and future. Papa told us Agnew had mafia links, which we never knew and found interesting. I enjoyed Papa sharing his naval mechanic days, and Alex found it very interesting when he talked about how the planes landed and took off on the aircraft carriers. Afterwards, Papa wanted to do some work on the garden getting ready to plant in the next few days through February, and you thought the garden work was done didn't you? No way, we have cabbage and broccoli, maybe beets, and I'm not sure what else, but I know it has to be planted during the 12 days of Christmas and I'm sure I'll know what he has in mind by then. Anyway, he has been gathering leaves to mulch and put on the garden. Bri and I spent the afternoon picking up pecans. The pecan trees just started putting out a few years ago, but this is the best year yet. I have 2 five gallon buckets of pecans right now, and that is just from 5 trees. There are probably5 to 6 other trees I have not spent a lot of time with, but Papa has, I just have not had the time really.

In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving the kids have been diligently working to complete their studies so they can have a long Thanksgiving and Christmas break. Bri succeeded and finished up Tuesday and has been given the reward of no book work (I plan to sneak learning in other ways, shh, don't tell), and Alex has decided he would really like to continue with his math and chemistry up to Christmas. They both have worked very hard this year. Alex has one more chemistry lab at McWane and then we will be done with that for the year. He and Bri also have one more art appreciation class each at the museum. They really are enjoying the art appreciation classes, Alex was certain he would hate this, but Bri was giddy with excitement over it. It has been a very much anticipated class each month, wow, could it be I was right? Nah, not possible.

During one of Alex's labs, Bri decided she was going to ride this. I was so surprised as she was much too scared in the past. Once she was certain she was not going to fall or tip over she decided to do it, thankfully I had my camera with me! She would only go halfway, but it is more than I'm willing to do! Shoot my heart was in my throat the whole time she was on it. Anyway----Way to go Bri!!!

Bri and her American Girl buddies have been invited to decorate a cabin by the Jefferson County Historical Society. So we got together this past month to make Victorian era ornaments for the tree. The ladies of the the Historical Society were so impressed with our girls on a visit to some of the homes that they asked them if they would be interested and the girls were. In their honor the ladies have planned a tea for the girls next week and then they will get to decorate the tree. We are really looking forward to this! On the day of the making of the decorations we also had hot apple cider, hot chocolate, and a cookie swap, did I mention I'm really struggling with the diet thing lately, way too much temptation.

We have also been enjoying the fall color. We went on a fall color hike in Decatur with friends, it was a little rainy, and gray, but it was a good hike. At least I'm getting some movement in with all the eating. I have to say the color seems really awesome this year, don't you think?

The kids also tested for their next belt in karate this week. They are going for the yellow belt. I could not get a better picture of them without being a distraction and I did not want to distract. They did a great job on their kata's and I think Bri may have made a 100 on her written test, I did not see Alex's test before he turned it in though. Sensi told them they passed the kata part of their examine though. Way to go guys!!!

Well that is a little wrap up of what we have been up to. For those who may not know Eddie's car engine had to be replaced over these last couple of weeks and we have been playing musical cars. Today his car was ready to be picked up so we got it back and Eddie and I did a little shopping to finish the kids Christmas gifts up. We found some good prices that were not listed in the sales papers on some things we were looking for so we were very pleased. We even enjoyed a lunch together. Its nice that Alex is old enough to look after Bri for a few hours while we get away and enjoy each others company for awhile. I really thought the crowds were down though, it was like a busy Saturday for the most part to me.

Now its Iron Bowl time --- ROLL TIDE!!!!!! Then the Christmas season and decorating can begin....

Until next time I wish you many blessings and peace.

Thanksgiving

Wow can you believe Thanksgiving is right here on us? This year has really flown by. In fact time has flown so fast lately. Today realized it has been a while since I was on here. I have so much to tell you about and I will probably catch you up somewhat tonight, just depends as the kids have testing tonight and I'm not sure how late we will be out. They have been working so hard so hard for their new belts, not only do they have to know their Kata's (karate forms), but they have to know a lot of the Japanese language that their commands are called out in, they will take a written test tonight on that as well.

Today I have had Thanksgiving on the brain, probably because I have been preparing for it as much as possible today. In fact Thanksgiving has been on my brain since Saturday pretty steadily. We have been talking about what Thanksgiving really means in our house, and in Sunday School our lesson was about being thankful and the question was asked to each person what they were thankful for. Of course I usually say my family, but then I was asked to take it deeper, what are you thankful for with your family so I have been really thinking on that. I've been thinking about each member of my family and what I'm thankful for. As I thought about it, I realized I'm also very thankful for my Savior because without him I would truly have nothing. I'm thankful that God loved me enough to send His Son to die for me. I'm thankful that in God's infinite wisdom he put me with Eddie, who is truly the love of my life. I was watching a movie the other night and the question was asked how do you know it is true love and the answer was when the other person knows all your faults and failures and still thinks the sun rises and sets in you. I believe that is true about me and Eddie, we each know the faults of the other, but we still overcome them and love each other in spite of them. Are things always perfect and wonderful? Of course not, but I do truly believe I have the best husband for me, he is my best friend, my confidant, my safety net, and my true love.

Brianna asked me the other day what was so bad about teenagers, she had heard something on the television about life with teenagers and it was all negative. I had to tell her I honestly did not know. I guess you can tell from the question that we love our teen. Eddie and I had a very hard time having Alex, we thought we would never have kids. With the help of fertility drugs we did. I have been thankful for him everyday from the day of conception. I think that is why I struggle to understand women who hate being pregnant or just don't want their kids. I'm thankful for everyday I have mine, but what is it about Alex I'm thankful for? Well he makes me laugh. Last night I was cracking pecans and watching a really cheesy chick flick, which I was about to turn, the plot was just to predictable and then in walks Alex. He stayed and watched the movie giving me commentary all along the way, "look out here comes the crazy woman", "what is wrong with her", and several other things. Like I said the movie was bad, but I really enjoyed it with Alex, we laughed all the way through it. Alex is so smart and many times he helps me with things that I just don't understand. Yes, he knows things I have no idea where he learned it, but he is very computer savvy and technically inclined. If I need to get something going and Eddie is no where around, Alex is right there and always eager to show me what he knows. Alex is very trusting, to a fault, but I love that he still has a sense of innocence about him. He is just an all around good kid, oops, teen. He still gives me hugs with his friends around, and tells me everyday, several times a day that he loves me. I get several hugs throughout the day, randomly, just when I seem to need it most. We enjoy hanging out together. Of course he can become a moody teen sometimes, but for the most part he is a great young man.

Then there is little Brianna, she is definitely a child we never thought we would have, almost from the time I had Alex we tried for Brianna, even the fertility drugs were not working. The doctors started talking about invitro and Eddie and I just decided to stop trying. We agreed if God wanted us to have another child then we would. Alex was 3 when we made that decision and we had all but given up, but God, don't you just love that, but God did not. When Alex turned 6 I found out Brianna was on her way, of course I did not know at that time she would be Brianna. Alex told me the whole time I was pregnant it could not be a girl because girls have cooties. I still remember being in labor and the labor nurse laughing at that and saying circle circle dot dot now you've had your cootie shot. So when we told him he had a baby sister, we told him about the cootie shot, I had not thought about that for years until then. Remember doing those? Alex loved Bri from the start, it was only when she got older and started getting into his things and generally interfering that there was trouble, but he is a great big brother that is another thing I'm thankful for with Alex. He has spent the last 2 weeks helping Bri polish her forms for tonight. Anyway, back to Brianna. She is the child that comes up with things you would never think about, she tells you like she sees it and makes no bones about it. She has made me laugh until I cried many times. She is also my sensitive child really, she can cry at the drop of a hat. I have to be very careful when I correct her, not to sound too harsh or she will just crumble. She is the child that loves to have girlie days, go to lunch, get nails done, shop, watch little girlie chick flicks. She loves to do crafts with me and to bake with me. She is my pal. Yesterday we made cookies and she was right by me, today we made 2 pies for Thanksgiving and she was there again. She has been planning the meal with me, gone shopping with me, planning the table decorations which include a paper bag turkey that will hold our bread that she will make tomorrow, and she plans to cook the meal with me. She loves to help me, make me laugh, and never wants me to be lonely.

These people are a blessing sent from God, and I'm thankful to have them in my life each and every day!!

So its Thanksgiving, go beyond the food, what are you most thankful for in your life? I would love to hear from you!

Our Nation

The election is past, almost a week now, and in this house things are calming down over it somewhat. Eddie and I definitely had opinions about the election, but not really any candidate stood out as a great one, one that could really take the reins and bring this country around. Alex, who will be voting age in a couple of years, watched EVERYTHING and had some definite opinions. He was very knowledgeable about each and every candidate and like myself he liked the independents better than the bigger party candidates. I'm really proud that he takes an interest in the election process and can really form his own opinion. When I was his age I still looked to dad for an opinion on candidates, never researched them myself. So in the last election Eddie and I did not tell Alex who we favored, we made him research each candidate for himself, beyond the television, and papers, really dig and form his own opinion. He did just that, so it was really no surprise that he would do it during this presidential election too. I'm really proud of him in that regard, he seems to have a good head on his shoulders for the most part. Sometimes though the teen does come out, and when the man he was rooting for to win did not we heard all the negative about Obama you can ever imagine. He has painted some very vivid scenes for all of us on what the next 4 years may hold. It got so bad one afternoon, as in Bri was crying and convinced we would all die as soon as Obama took the oath of office, that we had to put a stop to it. The scene he was painting had to do with a machine guns and doors being kicked in. Maybe he watches too much science fiction with dad. In true teen fashion he blames me for a lot of things, and he blames me for Bri getting upset. How I asked, well you were talking about the election too. Of course Eddie and I both have concerns and we do talk among ourselves, obviously Alex does listen sometimes, huh. Bri on the other hand is only 9 and completely absorbed in her own world, not the state of our country. In the end she was the one most upset by any of the talk, while Eddie and I kept it toned down, not Alex. So I have been praying about how to help Alex accept the fact the Obama will be the next president for better or worse, only time can tell. It has been hard because for me this is the one candidate that ran so counter clockwise to everything that I believe. God told me just to tell him exactly what I have been praying and fasting about. So I sat him down and told him that I prayed God's man would be put in office, and for reasons I don't understand, this is God's man for the hour. Just like he and Bri do not always understand why his dad and I make decisions we make, we don't always understand God's plan, but he sees the big picture and we have to trust him. This is where faith comes in. So in true God fashion he kept giving me scripture on what we should be doing instead of talking down about this man. We should pray for him.

"I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men: for kings and all who are in high places; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-4.

So now in our daily devotion we will talk about praying for our next president. Is he a Christian, I truly don't know, but just based on the fruit I see I would say no. Always look at the fruit is what we tell the kids. So if he is not a Christian then pray that he becomes one, pray that he makes the right choices for this country, pray for out country and the people in it. As a whole our country needs a lot of pray. I also pointed out to Alex if your life was put under the scrutiny that our public officials are put under would everyday of your life come out smelling like a rose? So pray my dear son, just pray.

So that is what this household will do, pray for our president. You have to admit he does have a daunting task ahead of him!

What's Up?

The last few weeks have been FULL. Since we returned from Ft. Morgan we have been on the go. We had a DUI course for Alex one morning. While he learned about the dangers and consequences of drunk driving, Bri got to skate. Can you tell she is happy about that?


This is Alex in his "car" with goggles that give the distorted vision that a drunk driver may have. This was a very good program. They had to walk the white line, touch their nose, and drive around the track, and through the cone maze. If they hit the side it represented the ditch, and the cones were people. Alex kept his car on the road, but he killed three people. In the kids defense, I asked the man who set this up if it was truly possible to navigate the cones and he said yes, as long as they did not hit the first cone, which means they would have to be the first one through the cones. The cones were really tight. It did make the kids think about how your balance, and vision are affected. I wish I had brought the video camera because they were so off balance with the goggles on. One of the boys started talking to me, but he was looking way to the left of me and I had to grab his hand and tell him this way. Great course!

The American Girl Club went to Wilson's Florist and Wedding Chapel. It was a very interesting tour. The girls got to see where they keep the flowers in the refrigerator, a big walk-in refrigerator, which was amazing to them. She showed them how to make a bouquet and gave them each a rose, and the mom's got one too! Then she took them to the Wedding Chapel part, we saw the groom's room, the bride's room, the chapel, and the outside wedding area. The girls loved it! They even fixed a "reception" for the girls.

We love science in this house! For Bri it is the most awesome subject ever to study!! In this picture she learned how to make a balloon shish kabob. She learned about polymers and the lesson was brought home with this little experiment.

Here she is showing her dad a science experiment from earlier in the day. The question is can electricity be conduced through fresh water or salt water best? Salt water is the answer because salt has positive and negative ions which are needed for electricity to conduce. Duh!

Then there were birthday parties, fall festivals, Halloween parties, art, piano, scouts, lab class. Of course for Alex no Halloween time would be complete without a visit to at least one haunted house. So in that keeping he got together with about 6 other friends and went to Atrox. They had a blast! They asked me why I did not ever go through the haunted houses with them. I told them life was scary enough without paying someone to scare the crap out of you. Just watch the news! Or better yet, learn about Obama, it will scare the snot out of you!

Family Time

After a couple of really crazy weeks of everyone going in different directions Eddie and I got up Sunday morning and decided to just shove everything off the calendar and just go play. We decided to take a drive to Desoto State Park and Desoto Falls in Mentone, AL. The drive up was absolutely beautiful. The park was so pretty with all the color. This picture looks like a postcard, the leaves and the boathouse reflected off the water, Bri even asked if the water was glass.

We packed a picnic lunch which we ate at the top of the falls, which is just behind us in this picture. After we ate we explored the area. On the way home we went home through Guntersville and ate dinner at Top Of the River. It was such a nice day spending time together and just hanging out, no rush to get here or get this done, or meet this person. Alex is growing up so fast and our days like this together are getting fewer so I really treasure the days we have.

Election Day November 4-Vote Wisely

Election Day is Tuesday. For me this is one of the most important elections I can ever remember. We are living in dark times and we need not forget that. I don't know who all of you plan to vote for, but I do ask for you to vote wisely by educating yourself on the people you are voting for. It amazes me how some of the same people who keep screwing the American people over keep getting voted in time and time again. I have been on a bit of war path with Christians who want to vote for people who are absolutely against Christian values. This week I asked one how they could vote for one the presidential candidates when he was completely for changing the laws on abortion, and not only change them but make them federally funded. I continued to tell this person how he wanted to make it legal for a third trimester abortion to go forward, partial birth abortion would absolutely be legal in the U.S. This one thing changed this persons mind. She was going to vote based on charisma and personality. It is imperative you know what your candidates stand for! Who are they really, go beyond what the television and biased media is telling you, search deeper, and pray daily about! The future of our children is in our hands and our country is on a slippery slope.

I found this today and wanted to share with you, maybe help you think about it!


WE OR THE POLITICIANS -STUPID OR WHAT? It makes you wonder ....... This email comes in three parts....Make sure you read all three parts!

Part 1 In just one year. Remember the election in 2006? Thought you might like to read the following: A little over one year ago: 1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high; 2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon; 3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%. Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen: 1) Consumer confidence plummet; 2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $4.10 a gallon; 3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase); 4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses); 5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars; 6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure. 7) Food prices skyrocketing over 30% in 1 year.

America voted for change in 2006, and we got it!

Remember it's Congress that makes law - not the President . He has to work with what's handed to him.

Quote of the Day .........'My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it.' -- Barack Obama


Part 2: Taxes...Whether Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening and amazing. [size=http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.HTML ]
Taxes under CLINTON -1999 Taxes under BUSH -2008
Single Earning Single Earning
30K - taxed- $ 8,400 & nbsp; 30K - taxed $ 4,500
50K - taxed $ 14,000 50K - taxed $ 12,500
75K - taxed $ 23,250 75K - taxed $ 18,750

Married earning: Married earning:
60K - taxed $16,800 60K - taxed $ 9,000
75K - taxed $ 21,000 75K - taxed $ 18,750
125K - taxed $ 38,750 125K -taxed $ 31,250

Barack Obama promises to return to the higher tax rates if elected. It is amazing how many people that fall into the categories above think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was the greatest President ever. If elected, Barack Obama has already promised that he will repeal the Bush tax cuts, and amazingly, a good portion of the people that fall into the categories above can't wait for it to happen. This is like the movie 'The Sting' with Paul Newman; you scam somebody out of some money and they don't even know what happened.

PART 3: You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much? Read this: We have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror bankrupting us. Read on for the reality of how the illegals are bankrupting our beloved United States of America: The following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until they are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them. URL's for verification of all the following facts.

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments.
Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77
2. $2..2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. Verify at: http://www.cis..org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://wwwcis..org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English! Verify at: http://transcripts.CNN.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.HTML
5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. Verify at: http://transcripts..cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers. Verify at: http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html
9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html
11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border and as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border. Border patrol has still not been given authority to control these illegal crossings into the United States. Verify at: Homeland Security Report: http://tinyurl..com/t9sht
12. The National Policy Institute, estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period. This is cheaper, much cheaper, than allowing the illegals to remain in the United States. Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf
13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION of American monies in remittances back to their countries of origin. Verify at: http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm
14. 'The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States. Don't forget our young girls in high schools, middle schools, grade schools, being attacked by illegals, with the schools not taking corrective action in the young girls' behalf!!! Verify at: http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

The total cost is a whopping $338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR. Are we THAT stupid? Or is it the politicians and the wealthy elite leading our country down the lane to bankrupt taxpayers and this country??? Organizations and politicians call us 'racist' if we complain about what the illegal aliens are costing taxpayers - US the taxpayers - and refuse to remedy this situation!!!

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU VOTE FOR IN NOVEMBER 2008!!!

Happy Fall or Happy Halloween

I hope you all had a great fall celebration this past month. If you participate in Halloween I hope you had fun with that too. We personally do both and we always have fun with it! We went to a party with a group of our friends again this year, and as expected we had a blast!!

Here is a picture of the kids in their costumes. Bri was originally going to be a Southern Belle and she had a really cute costume, but at the last minute decided she wanted to dress as a 70's girl. Thankfully much of the fashion from the 70's is back in style so I went through her closet and came up with some things. Alex wanted to a be a PotHead, he loved the play on words. He made himself a pot for his head and walked around all night with it on his head. He made himself a name tag saying hello my name is PotHead. He made a paper mache pot, he formed the base out of a wire hanger and once the paper mache had dried he covered it in duct tape to give it more support.


The kids always go on a trick or treat hayride, the crowd gets bigger every year. The kids used to fit in the back of the truck, then the trailer and this year the trailer was full. I think there were 14 kids total this year. Some of the houses tell the kids they are the only kids they get every year. We did see some other trick or treaters out though. One little boy was really cute, he had on an Alabama hat and we all shouted Roll Tide and he sat up in his stroller and told us he was Alvin the Chipmunk. We really got a laugh at that, he waved to us every time we went by them! Remember we are in a truck he and his family were walking so we passed them a few times.

This picture is a little blurry, but it gives you the idea of what people saw when they came to the door. This house was really funny. She opened the door and looked at the group and said "Wow, ya'll multiply every year don't you!" Of course the kids all said yes ma'am. Some of the houses the people looked back and then told the kids to wait, they had to get more candy re-enforcements. They kids favorite houses were the big bowls of candy just sitting there for them to get what they wanted. You would hear them shout from across the street, OPEN BOWL!

After the trick or treating we all go back to the house for a little refreshment break. If we did not eat chili before heading out then we usually grab bowl then. If we did then it is just snack time. The bonfire is lit and we all sit around it for awhile before another hayride with the big kids. I usually opt out of this ride because this is the ride through the woods to scare the heeby jeebies out of the big kids, and well I don't really care to get scared and sometimes they will scare the unsuspecting adult with them too. Bri decided she was big enough for this this year, so she went. She came back with big brown eyes telling us about the rustling in the woods, and that it was not Mr. David, Mr. Ralph, or Mr. Keith. Bless her heart she is so innocent, they told her they were in another part of the woods. Of course they were in the woods, making noise and watching the kids scream. They usually stop the truck in the woods for one excuse or another, the kids know it is coming they just have no idea what the dads have planned. Keep in mind they are in the country woods so it is VERY DARK. You cannot see your hand in front of your face, so the kids are just sitting in the truck waiting for whatever the adults have planned. It varies every year, and every year they get at least one teen to scream and one year they even got a mom to scream.

After the hayride it is more bonfire time, ghost stories, and ninja tag. Ninja tag is a combination of freeze tag, flashlight tag, and hide and seek. It has a lot of rules, which I lost track of all but two which are if you are tagged if you have to sing I'm a Little Tea Pot, and run around the house three times.

All in all it is a good time had by all!!

Halloween Pumpkin

So what do you think? Pretty cool huh?! Eddie totally rocks!! He carved this the other night. Alex wants to try his hand at it so today I plan to get another pumpkin so he can try, if he succeeds I'll post a picture of his. Bri believes she has the coolest pumpkin on our street, and I think she is right. Of course I've not really seen any other pumpkins except the plastic variety and there is no comparison there! She wishes I would decorate our yard like the Parkers have, but I just don't have the time or energy right now for that. Christmas is coming and that is my big decorating holiday. We even have an awesome new blow up for the yard. Papa got a real kick out of it last year when we bought it, Frosty on a motorcycle.

Well guys that's it for now, I need to go take care of some other things. I plan to update you all real soon on the goings on in the McAnnally household, things have just got me hopping right now. For now I hope all is well with each of you!

Shelby, I hope you had a totally AWESOME, COOL birthday! I'm sorry I missed it, but I knew your #1 from this family was Bri! Your growing up so fast, I can't believe your in DOUBLE DIGITS already! Wow!!!! Happy Birthday Sweetie! I love you!!!

May the God of mercy richly bless each of you!

Lisa

Gulf Shores Camping

This beautiful sunrise over the bay of Mobile greeted us as we came out of our tent our first morning. Our campsite was on the bay of Mobile and it was simply gorgeous, and the sunrise every morning was just beautiful! Of course the first morning we had to get up real early so we could witness the birds being banded. So I guess you could say we were up with the birds. ha ha

Several of our kids were able to release the birds once they had been banded. Bri looks a little unsure in this picture because the bird before this one bit, not her, but it did bite the man who is helping her. She got to release a hummingbird. They caught the birds in nets that are so thin you can't see it until you walk into it. The birds fly into the nets and fall into a pocket where they are taken out and checked over and banded. Some have bands from other banding areas and that is noted too so they can see how far the bird came from.

Another new experience, at least for Bri was fishing. This is a picture of her fish, she caught 3 by they way. This is a pin fish and she was very proud! She was not sure she would want to fish, but she found out it was a lot of fun, but she has no interest in eating it. One of the dads there was a big fisher and told them we could fry them up for dinner, Bri thought that was horrible. Luckily none of her fish were big enough to fool with. She used squid for bait which I thought was gross, but she actually did not. She told me, "mama, all you do is cut up the squid and hook it". Okay Bri I'll let you bait my hook with the squid. Of course one of the teens was down there with the little girls and came back saying Bri had her eyes covered saying I don't want to see you kill it, no blood please, and the other girls crowding around trying to see and nearly pushing each other into the water. Since we had a pier onto the bay at our campsite every night was fishing time, then campfire and s'mores. Since we usually walk the beach and go crabbing at the beach this was a new experience and was a lot of fun for everyone!

Okay one afternoon while we were at the beach Barbie and I went for a walk. I left my camera behind and the teens grabbed it and played around. I'm not complaining, I got pictures without asking, begging, or chasing them down. In this picture they have buried Kaitlyn in the sand, but I think they may have gotten a little carried away since I can't even see her.

This is my favorite picture! Alex actually tried to put Dalton on his shoulders, but he could not hold him up. There are also several more of them doing various poses on the beach. This group of teens were quite entertaining at any given moment.

There were tons of shells that were whole on the beach, so of course Bri went shell hunting. This is her showing me one of her shells. She even found a whole sand dollar, but as hard as we tried to keep it from getting broke, it still broke three times. Next time I'll take a shoe box just for the delicate shells.

We also saw this ship that washed up from the last hurricane. It as huge! They say it was a Union ship burned during the Civil War, it definitely looked like a ship that had been burned. If it is from the Civil War era it is amazing that the wood has not rotted and there are no barnacles on it. It was absolutely cool to look at though. We found several pieces along the beach and further down the beach found some in the water still. The State of Alabama does not have any money to deal with it so they plan to just let it wash back out.

This picture was taken from the top of Ft. Morgan on the bay side. Way in the distance is the Dauphin Island bridge. Standing on top of the fort you could see why this was such a good spot for a fort. You had a perfect view of the bay on one side and a perfect view of the gulf on the other. We had a very informative guide for this tour. He told us that the government still has a clause that if they ever need the fort again that it would have to be surrounded to them. That is why nothing is built close to the rode going down to the fort so that the street could be widened and the necessary equipment brought in. Another interesting thing he told us really brought home how hard it was for women many years ago. He told us that the army had laundry women, but they had to be married to an army man to do the laundry. If her husband died she had 3 days, 1 to mourn, 1 to bury him, and she had better be married by the 3rd day or they threw her to the street with her kids. I'm glad I don't live in those times. He also showed us the sleeping quarters of the men, the had 12 bunks, but 24 men lived in the room, which meant they slept 2 to a bed, and it was a twin size bed. Of course he told us that the men in this fort did not really adhere to that because of the climate of the area, so some of the men slept on the floor because it was just too hot to share a bed. Remember they had no air conditioner. We also saw the killing field and murder room, which was kind of creepy to be told you were standing in the middle of the killing field.

On Wednesday we drove down to Pensacola to the NAS Museum. This museum is on the naval air base. It is a great museum, Eddie and I had actually taken the kids several years ago, but they did not remember it so I took them back on this trip. They had a blast checking out all the airplanes, helicopters, and even a replica of an air carrier. There were many new things added since my last visit as well. They had a really moving POW display, it actually brought tears to our eyes to read some of the things. One picture actually did make me cry. The kids got to climb in a lot of cockpits and they enjoyed that immensely!

Before heading home on Thursday we went to Mobile to the U.S.S. Alabama. When we went into the gift shop we found a POW from World War II in there. He spent several minutes talking to our teens about the war and life. He was such a nice man. He told them that lying never pays and they should not ever do that. He lied to get in the army at 16 and at 17 he was a POW. He told them that it took him 30 years to forgive the Japanese for the things they did to him and his fellow POWs, and that he forgave them 23 years ago and it helped him finally heal from the war. He realized that he was hurting himself physically and emotionally by not forgiving them, that the Japanese were not suffering at all. He said he had even recently gotten a Japanese car. He was selling a book about his experience and we got an autographed copy of it. Alex spent the first 2 days home reading his book and really enjoyed it. He said it was quite gory sometimes, but he really saw the war in a different light than any textbook he has read about it. If your interested his website is http://www.hellsguest.com/.

It took us several hours to tour the ship, which the kids found very interesting that the fort they men slept 24 men to a small room and the ship had several sleeping areas with wall to wall bunks, of course the officer quarters were where they would have rather been. The ship held 2200 men and was like a city on the water. Then they toured the submarine which only slept 65 men. They found the difference very interesting. We went from the top of the ship, as in as high as they let you to the lowest level, as in engine room low.

I think this was a great trip! We learned about birds, ships, forts, war, etc. When we got home Bri said after camping she really appreciates her home, "its the most beautiful place in the world". Of course she also said she wants to camp again though! Myself, I enjoyed camping, especially with the dads that went. They would head back to camp to start dinner each night and the mom's would come back with the kids around dark to a cooked dinner and a fire. It was great!

I hope you all have a great week loving and learning!!

Lisa

October 10, 2008

I have not had a moment to post in awhile. When I finally get a moment, I've caught up on email, paid bills, or fell asleep sitting up! I've been so busy I'm not sure when we are coming or going. A few people asked me what I have been up to, and even some who have not seen us asked me if I'm becoming a recluse. Well the following pictures tell it all! Our okra is still putting out like crazy, I had 10 gallons of okra a couple of days ago. The freezer is full. The rattlesnake beans are putting out too, there was also 10 gallons of them on the same day. It took me 4 hours to completely get it all picked that day.

The picture below shows a few of the jams I've put up, and some peach preserves. I have a pantry floor full of canned goods, as well as floor space in the dining room. I had a friend ask me if all the boxes along and up the wall were full, and yes they are. It just looks so pretty I had to show it. Eddie says my Suzy Homemaker self is showing through, but I really do enjoy canning. Papa says I should take pictures when it is all sitting in the floor waiting to be processed. That is really true. Seven quarts of green beans is actually 1 1/2 buckets of beans. The peas took over the floor this summer and you had to literally step over them to get to the kitchen. Then there were the tomatoes, speckled butter beans, okra, squash, cucumbers, blueberries, peaches, strawberries and plums which at any given time were living on the floor and counters waiting to be put up. I'm sad to say we ate the plums and they never got to be made into jam, the same with the muscadines. But, I did make peach jam, strawberry jam, and blueberry jam. I have also made bread and butter pickles, stewed tomatoes, jalapeno's, chow chow, relish, green beans, and pickled okra. Then in the freezer are the peas, okra, squash, butter beans, corn and a few blueberries. It is very satisfying to know that we have been blessed with all of this to enjoy all winter. It has really shown up in our grocery bill, and at first I just was not sure why my bill was lower, but I was sure it was because I forgot something. Well I started watching and 90% of the veggies we have are coming from our garden! Tonight for instance, we had meatloaf, okra, squash, green beans, peas, the only thing I bought was the meat and seasonings. Papa was talking with someone about how well the garden did this year and they asked what he did when so many others did not do so well because it was still rather dry. He said he really did not know. Well in Bible Study this past week we talked about drink offerings I had never heard of them. Basically, we should pour out our blessings because keeping them to ourselves makes us bitter and stops the flow of the blessing. From our garden Papa has fed every widow woman he knows, honestly he has, not to mention his friends that may have gardens, but they did not have something we had, or it did not grow, he took it to them. Then Eddie and I gave to some friends of ours who have been really hurting and their garden would not grow because of the soil in their yard, and several other friends just because I can only do so much before I start losing the food and I don't want anything to go to waste. Because of all the giving I think God kept giving to our garden. It is the same every year, we get a fair amount out of it even though it has been dry for the last couple of summers. If it rains look out!

Okay moving on....The kids still have school work and trips associated with that. We still have piano, scouts, karate, and art every week too! Bri and Alex are coming along really well with piano. Bri had left her music at home for Away in a Manager, but I did not know it and I was busy working on an Alabama Elephant, which are going like hotcakes around here I might add...I can't keep them made up before I sell or give one away! Anyway I never looked up when I heard the song being played, but I thought wow Bri is doing really good with that song, I'll have to get her to play it this Christmas! When we got home I complimented her on how well she played that song, she looked at me and smiled, then said "Mama that was Ms. Judy, I never played it today." I'll have to pay closer attention next time before I compliment her I guess. She did play Jesus Loves Me in a Depot has Talent talent show last week, and did quite good. She would not use her keyboard though and the piano was badly out of tune so it threw her off.

In karate the kids are gearing up to test for their next belt. Alex is looking really good! Bri is doing good to, she is just still getting a few katas mixed up, but Thursday she looked like she was really starting to catch on to it!

In art Bri is still drawing faces and I think she is coming along really good. One of the young ladies in the class drew a picture of her niece and it was really good! She said her sister wanted it, but she told her no she had the real thing so she was keeping the picture. Ms. Abbey is the sweetest young girl I have ever met, and when she said that she said it with more gusto than I have ever heard from her and it just made me laugh. For those of who went to Bri's ballet performance Abbey is the girl who drew the picture of the ballerina that was put up in the church. She is really quite an artist and she is just 17! She has started a beginning sewing class for young girls 8 and up because she thinks that it is something that young girls will need in light of the current ecomonic outlook. I think that she has such a good head on her shoulders, and she is such a Godly young lady. Even her mother says she is so much more together than most kids her age it is truly amazing.

The picture below is from the Southern Museum of Flight. They are working on a new wing to the museum and it is so cool. These are manuquins they have set up with different scenes throughout. There was one plane where they asked the kids to turn the propeller so when the little girl who volunteered did, the plane's engine started and it scared her. The plane was not going anywhere it was just a sound effect, but it was really cool. He was showing how those planes used to be started and he told them how they had it set up to do that. We also saw a plane from WWII that was pulled out of a lake in SC, I think it was a WWII plane. We had to hurry through that part because we had a McWane Lab to get to.

This is a model of the Leonardo flying machine that he drew. We had gone to the Museum of Art to see the Leonardo exhibit that morning and then we went to the Southern Museum of Flight to see what they had. This was really neat to see, but I would not make a special trip there to see it. The picture does not really do it justice though.
Check out this cake! We went to a birthday party Tuesday for one of Bri's friends. She has been learning cake decorating and made her own cake. I thought for a 10 year old she did a really good job! I did not get a close enough picture of it, but she did a really good job on the edging shells, the other things you see are flowers, and in person they looked like flowers. Like I said she did a great job I think. I told her she could do my next cake and she just beamed.

Well, that is a little bit of the things we have been up to this week. The kids did go and visit a friend's church this Wednesday since our church services were cancelled. They absolutely loved this church. Bri loves the kids group, and Alex has not quit talking about the youth group. I have sensed that his youth group is not getting it for him and for this reason I have been seeking God on what he wants me to do. I ran into a few people I have not seen in ages this past weekend and they just started talking to me about the importance of a youth group, out of the blue. I really felt that God was talking to me through them, but I'm still not 100% sure which way to go. I am thinking for the next few weeks I will take Alex to this church's youth group though! I met this youth pastor last year and I really like him. The pastor of this church talked to me about visiting one day, then he said "you were talking to me about it weren't you". I wasn't, I was just talking to God about it though. I came home and was sharing this with Eddie, who thinks I have a direct line with God, and this just sealed it for him. Anyway, that was out of the blue I know.

Monday we are off to Ft. Morgan to learn about bird banding and tour the fort. We will then do some siening, maybe, fish, swim, and see the U.S.S. Alabama. We will be home at the end of the week. We are really looking forward to our long distance field trip this week! Though we will be camping and I'm not 100% sure about it since my back has been keeping me awake at night in a bed, but with God's help I'll make it through. The kids are very excited. Alex loves to camp, and Bri has never camped and can't wait to experience it. Next to sleeping in the tent, her next big deal are the S'Mores we are going to do at night! Just pray for no rain!!

Well that's it now I promise, until next time.....Love you guys and I hope you all have a great week living and learning!

Lisa