Walk with me as I "Follow the Fish"...JESUS!!!

Despite our year of difficult instances and circumstances this year...I was determined to still make this a GREAT Christmas. In November I got an idea to take my husbands 130 poems that the Lord gave to him in 2003 & 2004 and make them into a book. I thought we had lost all of them because the computer they were on had crashed but I was able to find hard copies that he had in his office. I began researching free publishing software and settled on www.blurb.com - Heather and I designed the cover and I got to work typing away. It was difficult being so giddy with this awesome secret and not being able to tell him. The first order I placed I was a bit concern because after I was half way done with the book, I happened upon some pretty negative reviews concerning Blurb , I was all bummed out but decided to continue with what I was doing and to just Trust in the Lord with it. I only ordered 5 to see how they would turn out and they were PERFECT. They were delivered within 2 weeks of be...

Not sure WHO reads my not-so-much posted blog but for anyone who looks here I'd like to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas! "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

After stopping for lunch in Springfield at "Lambert's Cafe" We went to Branson using our Bluegreen "points" timeshare at the Wilderness Club @ Big Cedar Lodge...we had a FABULOUS time.If you have never been to Big Cedar Lodge, I HIGHLY recommend it...it's GREAT fun! We stayed at the Kings River Lodge on the Bluegreen side Our studio room was really nice... We arrived on Monday - despite the rain that thankfully stopped about an hour out of St. Louis...we had dinner and Heather swam at the indoor pool. On Tuesday it was still slightly rainy and overcast so we played some games, watched a movie, did some shopping and ate at the Truman's cafe...it was a good day. Wednesday was the best day with the sun shining and it being 61 we hit the outdoor activities - we went on a 2 hour hike, went swimming in 1 of the 6 or 8 outdoor pools, ate at the Truman Cafe & Worman's House, we played miniature golf and went to a wagon ride/bon fire...we had SO much fun!...

We usually go over to Eckerts to get our pumpkins but this year Larry and I went to Aldi and they had them for $1.99 each...WOW - we snatched up 2 of them for the kiddos to do...thankfully we did cause with all the rain and other things going on right now, we didn't make it over to Milstadt. It's ok, we had a GREAT time carving our Aldi pumpkins!

Well - Over at Organizing Junkie there was a challenge to tackle the drawers that are hiding all kinds of "disorganization" - This has been driving me CRAZY for quite a while...since my mom got sick and died things have been "accumulating". So I took the challenge and dove in and tackled 7 drawers and 3 cabinets. I didn't really have any containers to organize the drawers and cabinets but I think they turned out ok for now. Boy did I find some interesting stuff. I forgot to take before and after pictures of "all" the drawers but I've got enough photos to show that I've been busy for a few hours this morning. I have one grocery sized bag going to goodwill, 3 grocery sized bags of trash, 7 decluttered drawers (though from the photos they may not "look" decluttered, TRUST ME, they ARE!), 3 organized cabinets, a bug and a bucket of toys. (more on the last 2 later :-) I began my endeavor on the drawers in the livingroom - nearly all of th...

A new friend from our new homeschool coop invited me to attend Rams University with her. Her husband works for a local company that supplies different things to and for the Rams and his company gave him the tickets. There were 5 of us who went. When we got there Amy told us that we had access to park in VIP parking...AWESOME. We start to get out of the van and she tells us that we get VIP seating...none of us had ever been to this or anything like it before so we weren't quite sure what to expect. The VIP seating allowed us to go into a different area to check in and get some AWESOME goodies then they walked us out past everyone to the other VIP area where we would sit...NO WAY!!! It was SO cool...we got the table that was front and center and closest to the stage/players...WAY COOL!!! Thanks Amy for asking me to go...I had an AWESOME time!!! WOO HOO - Go Rams!!!

Last Saturday we decided to go spend the day in Alton, IL. We want to try to hit a few places that are close to home that can be used 1) as a day trip away from home & 2) as a school field trip. Alton served both of those interests for us. We began our day there by eating at "My Just Desserts" . It had that country decor thing going on that I just love and they serve MUCH more than "Just Desserts"! My hubby got a chicken salad sandwich, I got a Honey Turkey, Bacon club and Heather got a ham & croissant sandwich. All of our food was SUPER yummy but Heather and I topped our meal off with a Toll House Blonde Brownie...that made the day already for me!!! We had a tour scheduled for 12:30 at The Beall Mansion - While I don't think it was worth our $25 that we spent...the lady who did the tour was really fun & friendly and shared alot of information about the 1903 mansion that donned the middle of "Millionaire Row". Our next stop was to visit th...