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