Thankful thoughts. . .

I saw on facebook this month that everyone is posting thankful thoughts, I have not.  I am very thankful but, I do not see the need to post something everyday just because everybody else is doing it.  That to me is adult peer pressure.  I will not fall to that, however, I am going to post some things here and talk about how thankful I am.
I am thankful for my family and that my parents have been able to see their grandchildren grow up.   My grandparents all passed away before I was born except my grandmother on my Mothers' side.  She passed away when I was in elementary school.  I do remember going to her house and playing and seeing her on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I remember  her house and playing in the apple trees in her yard and this huge weeping willow tree.  The willow had the best branches for climbing and swinging.   I also remember how much I loved her dressing she served on Thanksgiving. 
Thomas and Jack are very lucky, as am I that they have their grandparents to spend time with.  When we go to Moms' they go to the barn with Poppy and Gee and help feed the horses and kitties and play with them.  They also get to see the goats at my sisters' house.   This year Thomas was sitting at the table having lunch with my mom and he saw three deer run through her back yard.   We usually see some deer, turkeys, raccoons, foxes and an albino skunk all while sitting at the kitchen table.  
I am very thankful for my family.  I am also thankful for how the Lord is working in our lives.  So many little things that have happened and I see the Lords' hand in all of them.  I am thankful for the great conversations that dear hubby and I have had with our kids about the Bible and God.  I love to see these things through my kids' eyes.  They see things that we as adults do not and in different ways too.   I learn something new every night as we read devotions and the Bible.  Some nights after reading we just have great conversations about their day and what happened at school. 
For all of this and so much more I am truly thankful!!

More Thomas isms. . . .

I was talking with a friend at Church the other day, that is also in charge of our Grateful Choir, she was telling me about their latest adventure.  Our Grateful Choir is made up of our youth and they go around to local nursing homes and sing.  They also sing for our congregation too.  Jack loves to sing, Thomas on the other hand, not so much.  Thomas does not like to sing in front of people.  He says he is shy, I am not real sure about that one.  They have made Thomas a roadie for the choir.  He totes the instruments and he also takes pictures while the group is singing.  He has become quite the little photographer, so I have been told by my friend.  She said the other day he took over 100 pictures at their last event.  She did have to delete several.  They had his thumb in them.  Luckily our Church has a digital camera and it is easy to delete his mistakes. 
I asked him the other day about going to the Nursing home and singing.  He said, I don't stand up there and sing.  I do sing while I am taking pictures though.  That could be why my friend is having to delete some of those pictures.  He said he likes going and visiting with the "old" people.   He said he goes around and talks to them.   He seems to be gaining some confidence about himself by doing this.  I know he takes pride in his picture taking, it is very serious business to him.  Even though he does not get up there and sing with the group he still feels like he is a part of it.  That is important to me too.  He looks forward to their events.
The Grateful Choir will be singing at our Thanksgiving Eve Lovefeast  this year too.  Maybe Thomas will get his nerve up and stand up there and sing as well.

Christmas and Dave Ramsey. . .

No I am not spending Christmas with Dave Ramsey but I am using his principles this season.   Dear hubby and I have tried to save each year for Christmas and pay cash.  We have been doing that for around nine or ten years.  We would take $20 each week and put it in a cup and that would be our savings for Christmas.  There were always weeks we did not put that money aside but for the most part we stayed on schedule.   You don't have to follow Dave Ramsey to follow how that works out.   I feel great relief at the end of the Christmas season knowing that I did not blow our budget out of the water.   There are always things that come up and we end up using our debit (NOT CREDIT) card and that's ok because we had been using our cash up to that point.  Another good point of paying cash for everything is, you don't have to worry about those unscrupulous folks out there trying to steal your account numbers.  One couple in my Dave Ramsey class had their debit card number stolen while they were at the Beach.  A waiter where they had eaten was using it to pay for his car repairs.  The gentleman has friends in the police department and they were able to trace it back to their waiter.  They tracked him down and found he had a notebook with many other credit card and debit card numbers from other people just like you and I.   Another good reason to pay cash when eating out. 
Now back to Christmas, we have been saving this year for our Christmas giving and I hope we don't have to dip into the old checking account.  If we do though, it won't be that big of a hit.  Dave also has a special Christmas budget work sheet he has put on his webiste.  You can down load it for free.  www.daveramsey.com   and no I am not getting kick backs for recommending him, I just believe in what he is doing and want to share with everyone how great it is when you don't have huge debt looming over you all the time.   He has great articles on his website too.  If you are interested in his books you can find them at your local Library or at used book stores.   I am hoping this year will be a wonderful Christmas for all and a debt free one as well.   Christmas is only a little over 5 weeks away.

Nightly devotions. . .

Mark and I have always gone up together to say prayers with the boys and say good night before they go to bed.  We have also been doing nightly devotions with them for many years.   The first devotion book I bought was "365 days of Devotions for Boys."  It was great and the devotions were geared toward things boys face growing up.  I have repeated many of those devotions as things came up with the boys.  My friend Cheryll gave me a little monthly magazine that her Church gives their kids that has devotions.   These are great too and are so relevant to what is going on with my kids lately.  They have talked about bullying and being mean to others and we are dealing with that right now in our neighborhood.  My kids don't get bullied at school they get bullied in our own yard.  It just amazes me that parents do not pay attention to what their kids are doing at home.   Well, that is a whole other list of blogs for later.
The devotion I read last night to the boys was about Church.  The little boy was telling his Mom riddles and so she gave him one.  "What is CH_ _ ch?"  The little boy studied it and finally came up with Church.  But what the Mom was trying to get across to him was that Church is only Church if U R in it.  I know it's corny.  I loved it though.  These devotions have allowed me to touch on some very serious subjects with my kids that I may not have otherwise been able to discuss with them.
Mark and I cherish these little nightly talks that we get to have with the kids.  We have discussed things like salvation, Heaven, Hell, bullies, missionaries, ect. . .  I know that soon they will be too old or at least think they are too old for us to tuck them in and say prayers with them but as long as they will let me I will.    They are growing up so fast and I am so proud of the young men they are becoming. 

The Dentist

Since the boys were out of school yesterday I had decided that would be the day for their dentist visit.  This is a new dentist for them and Jack was not happy because it said "Pediatric Dentistry" on the sign.  He said I am too old to be going to a pediatric anything.  He said 0-12 was a child but that since he turned 13 a whole almost month ago he is now an adult.  Jeeeeezzzz!!!  They do not go to a pediatrician and never have.   They have always gone to a family practice physician so the whole pediatric thing never came up till now.  I tried to tell him that he could go to a pediatric dentist till he was at least 18 maybe even older.  Not sure about the dentist part on the age thing.  Anyway he was not happy and sat with a scowl on his face in the waiting area.
They called us back and they put the boys in the same room, another sore spot for Jack about going to the same place as Thomas.   The room was quite big and had two dental chairs and flat screen TV's suspended over each chair.  The hygienist set Jack up with head phones and started "Shrek 2" for him to watch while she worked on Thomas.  Thomas got to watch "Horton Hears a Who" while she worked on his teeth.  The boys had good check ups even though they had not seen a dentist in a while. 
These ladies at this practice were great!  I really liked the office and the staff the entire set up was great.  Jack was even ok with it after everything was said and done.   They took a picture of the boys with their dentist and gave it to us to take home.  I have to say it was a good experience for us all.  I even got a phone call this morning to make sure the boys had a good experience and we did not have any questions.  That is customer service. 

Report cards are in. . .

I am so proud of both my boys.  Thomas made all B's, two very close to A's.  Jack made 2 B's and the rest A's.  These boys work hard, play sports, study, and help out around the house.  They also have more than enough time for the X box.  We are hoping for all A's from both of them next session.  They both are already on their way.
Jack is starting basketball and Thomas is finishing up with football.  Jack tried out for the Middle School Basketball team and did not make it.  Forty some kids tried out and they only took 13 kids and only 2 seventh graders.  I told him the odds were not in his favor.  I am very proud of him for taking the shot though, so many kids never try.  If you don't try, you just never know.   He was ok with not making it when he found out who they kept.  He said both the seventh graders were really good ball players, so his feelings were not hurt at all.  He will be playing in the County league again this year.  Thomas doesn't really like basketball that much so he usually takes basketball season off.  This suits his dad and I just fine.  We don't push our kids to do sports they just like being active. 

I do push my kids when it comes to school work though.  It's not really their grades as much as it is the effort they put forth.  Their dad and I expect them to do their best and study like they know they should.   I do come down on them when they are slacking off and not putting forth their best effort.  Thomas had a bad case of that last year and some of it was that he didn't get the math.  We did get him some help and he has improved a great deal this year.  Jack is finding out this year that he actually has to pay attention in class and study at home for a change.  I think 7th grade has been a little harder for him than he thought.

Love my boys so much and I thank the Lord daily for allowing me to raise them. 

Election is over. . .

I am so glad this election is over.  I really hate all of the mud slinging on both sides.  I voted and did my duty and I am sad my guy did not win.  I do know however, that God has a plan.  We are not privy to that plan yet but when he is ready we  will know.  I have faith that God is in control and that he will guide and protect my family and others that have that same faith.  Last night before bed I prayed and gave it all over to Him once again.   It is hard to see our great country in such turmoil and to have to read it all over Facebook.  I do know that God will bring us to our knees to remind us that we still need him and maybe this is the case this year.  We have forgotten, as a country, that there is only one in charge and he is in Heaven waiting for us to wake up.
I have seen a lot of posts on Facebook about freedom of speech and freedom of expression ect. . .   Yet these same people want to crucify the President of one fast food chain for his freedom of expression.   Why is it ok for them to express their feelings and beliefs and yet it is not ok for him?   One side has become overly tolerant and the other side has become intolerant.  Where do we go from here?
I will be spending a great deal of time on my knees in prayer.  I am not only praying for my family but everyone including the President.  I hope that he will take the next four years and actually do something to bring our country back to the Great Nation it once was.

Dave Ramsey class update

Finished the Dave Ramsey class and loved it.  I highly recommend it to everyone.  Dave is a very accomplished man and a good speaker.  He is not afraid to tell of his mistakes in the hopes that others do not fall into the same traps.  He has gone from millionaire to bankruptcy to millionaire on more than one occasion.   I realized I had made many mistakes myself when it comes to money.  My favorite quote from Dave is, "live like no one else, so later you can live and give like no one else." 
I am a big believer in giving to the Church and other reputable charities.   My dear hubby and I have always  given, since we were married.  There were times in the early part of our marriage that we struggled to make the ends meet but, we never changed our giving.  I firmly believe that we are where we are today because we give.  I guess that is why I like Daves' philosophy so much.  He wants to help people grow their wealth so that they can share their wealth with those in need.  Imagine what our world would be like if nobody was in debt and could share what they had with others.  WOW!!  How cool that would be.  I have been a fan of Dave's for many years but, was only able to take his class this year.   I will tell a tale on myself today, in all my years I have never balanced my checkbook.  I know, how dumb is that?  I am very proud to say that I now balance my checkbook and I do a zero based budget every month before the month begins.  Thank you Dave!!  Those little steps just give you so much power over your money.  The budget allows you to tell your money where to go, instead of saying at the end of the month, where did all my money go.   With the help of Daves' class and Craig our teacher we have no credit card debt and are paying like crazy  on the car and next is the house.  We are on our way to being debt FREE!!!!!!  Check out Dave's website       www.daveramsey.com   Just a little tip from frugal me, you can check his books out at the library and you can also pick them up at the used book store sometimes.   The first Dave book I bought was from the used book store.  Here are some of his titles that I like:  The Total Money Makeover, Financial Peace Revisited, and The Complete Guide to Money.