Halloween Night!!!

Here's a few pictures of the girls in their costumes. Jae was dressed as "Funky Mod"...seventies girl. Morgan was dressed as Nascar girl. They couldn't wait to wear them tonight. We actually had some awesome weather here!!! Yippy!! The temperature was about 70 degrees the entire time we were out.

Dirk stayed home to hand out the candy. I took Jae out with a neighborhood friend. I actually walked to the other side of the neighborhood to see another friend and by the time I made it back home with Jae (2 hours later)....I was aching all over! I am so out of shape. It's ridiculous!!Anyhow, the teenager (Morgan) had her own set of plans. She had previously asked permission to invite some friends over. For about an hour, we had twelve teenagers in the house. I don't know why it surprises me every year...but I am just surprised that so many teenagers go trick or treating. Here's a couple of pics of the group.

Jae had a blast going from house to house. I had mentioned to her before we left that I wanted to hear her say "Thank you" to the people who were giving her candy. Well, actually what I said was that if I didn't hear her saying "Thank you" that we would come back home. At most of the homes, I was standing at the end of the sidewalk and would just let Jae and her friend, Alyssa go to the door alone. Each time I would her Jae say REALLY LOUD, "THANK YOU!!!"

Here's a few pictures of Jae and Alyssa.

The girls got a special treat tonight from one of the neighbors. They saw a talking parrot. The parrot said, "Hello" and told them his name.

I took a lot of pictures, but by now I am sure you saying, "Enough already." Jae was happy to get home and eat some of her candy. This is the ONLY day of the year that mom and dad won't make a big deal out of her having what she wants.

Thankful Thursday ~ 5 Senses

This week Iris has chosen the topic 5 senses. This will be fun!

I am thankful for;

My sight ~ I love being able to see and study God's Word for myself. I love watching my girls turning into wonderful and beautiful young ladies. I love the fact that after wearing glasses for almost 20 years my teenager taught me (just this year) how to put contacts in and then spent an hour a day with me for 2 weeks in making sure I could take them out. I enjoyed seeing her put her contacts in so quickly and saying to myself..."One day, I will be able to do that." I did eventually learn to put them in a month later.

My hearing ~ Dirk has never hung up the phone or left home without saying, "I love you." There have been times that I've taken these three words for granted. I am thankful to hear these words several times a day. I love being able to hear Praise and Worship music. I love being able to hear my pastor, teachers, and other ministers teach from God's Word.

My sense of smell ~ I burn candles almost daily. I love being able to smell one of my favorite candles buring throughout my home. I love the scent of a clean home and floors freshly mopped. I love the smell of Mexican or Italian food.

My sense of taste ~ I LOVE the taste of either the banana spring roll dessert at PF Chang's or the chocolate molten cake at Chili's!!!! I will take either one any day of the week. Love 'em equally the same. I love me some good ole' Blue Bell vanilla ice cream. It may be hard to believe after listing the desserts, but I love the taste of a good chicken casaer salad.

My sense of touch ~ I am a hugger by nature. I love hugging Dirk and the girls especially, but I love hugging friends as well. I wouldn't have a problem with hugging a stranger (preferably a woman) if I was in their presence and it would obvious that they needed to be comforted. Let me not leave out that I also love to be hugged.

For more thankful posts, please visit Iris.

My Bucket List

Dirk and I watched the movie, "Bucket List" a couple of months ago and REALLY loved it. My friend, Liz, recently saw the movie and came up with this great idea for us to post our Bucket List. I promised that I would go along if she started it, so here goes;

This was fun, but was also hard;

~~I want to know and be completely satisfied that I did my part as a good and faithful servant. Sometimes, I feel that I lack in this department when I ask myself questions like; Should I have been bolder in talking to a specific person about Jesus? Why won't I take the time and go into the prisons? Should I have volunteered even more of my time insteading of doing something else?

~~I want to own my own little hamburger stand (and I'm not talking about a Sonic or something other chain like that). I know this sounds crazy, but Dirk and I have talked about doing this for the past couple of years. We are not talking about giving up our full-time jobs, but we thought this would be something fun to do in my hometown since there's practically no restaurants there. Well, maybe two or three in the whole city. Seriously! We've already named it..."D&D Burgers" lol

~~I want to go on a month long cruise with my family. We took our first cruise last year and it was truly one of the best vacations we've ever taken. The only problem was it was too short!

~~I want to buy my mom a home that she could call her very own and for her to not rent someone else's. Unfortunately, my mom has never experienced the joy of being a homeowner.

~~I want to open up an endless bank account for my mom so she would never have to worry about money and would never have to work again. Some of you know that my mom was a single parent to me and my two sisters. I don't ever recall a time where she wasn't working hard at one job (if not two) to make ends meet. We didn't have many of our wants met growing up, but we always had everything we needed.

~~I want to make sure that I have written letters to my two girls for several special occasions in their future; their graduation day, their wedding day and the birth of their first child.

~~I want to stand in front of my church and sing, "My Redeemer Lives" by Nicole C. Mullen. Okay, some of you may find this hard to believe.....but I don't talk in front of groups of people. I do EXTREMELY well one with one or just a handful of you. I could totally see myself passing out in front of the church with me trying to get up and sing a song for sure!

Of course there's a lot more...but I'll end it here.

Thanks Liz for starting this. I had fun with it.

Alrighty, anyone who feels like it, please join us and post your Bucket List.

Top 10 Truths...No Matter Who Wins The Election:

I have been a little more on edge (nervous like) about this election than in previous ones. I received an email from a friend a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to share, but for several reasons I decided not to. I just printed the email and laid it on my desk at home.

Well, after getting into the office today and opening my email, I received this same exact email two more times TODAY!! It was totally clear to me at that moment that I needed to post it. So, here goes:

Top 10 Truths... No Matter Who Wins The Election:

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.

And God approves this message.

ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS STILL IN CONTROL?

I don't know about you, but I keep having to REMIND myself of this each day.

Homecoming Game, School Dance & Church Lock-In

I tell ya, I am soooooooooooooo glad this week is over!!! I'll spare you most of the details of our running around this week, but last night was the final kicker for me.

Morgan had a homecoming game, a school dance and a church lock-in ALL IN ONE NIGHT!!

After working all day yesterday, I came home and immediately started my second job.

Timeline:

5:30 ~ I picked Morgan up at the front door and headed to the mall. On top of everything else, what was I thinking to agree to this last minute request from her???

6:30 ~ Came home from the mall and styled Morgan's hair for the school dance.

8:00 ~ Dropped Morgan off at the football game. The dance was immediately following the game. So, luckily Morgan only had to walk from the football field to the main school building to attend the dance.

8:30 ~ I was finally able to grab a bite to eat.

9-10:15 ~ I actually had time to visit with Dirk and Jae before taking a quick nap. lol

10:20- 11:45 ~ Totally knocked out!!

Midnight ~ We went to pickup Morgan from the dance

WAIT...there's more;

Morgan came home to get ready for the church lock-in. It actually started at 11pm and was going to last until 7am this morning!

Todd(her boyfriend) was able to attend the lock-in, but since Todd's dad was the D.J. for the school dance, Todd had to help tear down the music equipment......

Finally at 1:30, we took Morgan and Todd to the lock-in.

Got back home at 2:15AM and crashed until 6:30AM!!

April (if you're reading this), I now feel your pain when you are running like this.

If I can be honest??? I was NOT happy last night. We had known about all of this for more than two weeks now. And since we do not allow Morgan to ride with her friends (who are all new drivers), we also knew when we agreed to let her go to all of this that we would have to shuttle her back and forth. I should have been more prepared and totally okay with my night being interrupted but, being honest again...I was extremely tired from a long week. I just wanted to get off work and be treated to a nice dinner. I know....stop whining, huh?

As I look back on all the chaos of last night, I am more appreciative today that Morgan not only wanted to participate in all of her school functions, but she also wanted to attend the functions at our church.

Isn't it something how much clearer we can put things into perspective when we've gotten our rest in?

Whew!!!! Glad I got all that out. Now I totally feel better.

So, I'm Actually A Kreativ Blogger???

I was given this award by a special lady that I hope to someday meet in person. April, I truly value the friendship that we've made in just a few months. As I mentioned before, you and I have sooooooooooooooo much in common that it's not even funny! I look forward to reading your blog everyday. Thanks so much for this award!!

As with every award received here in blogland, there are rules that apply. You need to list six things that make you happy, and pass this award on to six creative bloggers. So, here it goes...

Six Things That Make Me Happy:

1.) Being a blessed daughter of God
2.) Hangin' out with my husband and girls
3.) Drinking a COLD can of Coke!!!!
4.) When the house is cleaned and the clothes washed and put away
5.) When I've encouraged someone who needed it
6.) When I accomplish all the tasks on my daily to-do-list

Now, I would like to pass this wonderful award on to other creative bloggers. Some of you, I've known for years and some of you, I've known for only a short period of time. In any case, I feel very blessed to know you at all. Now with that being said, I award;

Chameleon
Thinking Out Loud with Jen
Jessica&Matt
Family Forever
Windlebugs
The Kings Table

Enjoy!

Thankful Thursday

It's hard to believe that Thankful Thursday has already rolled back around again this week. Though I am new to Thankful Thursday, I really look forward to sharing what I am thankful for as well as reading what others are thankful for each week.

Without futher ado. This week;

I am thankful that God promises me a life of purpose.

I am thankful for the cross.

I am thankful for having more than enough.

I am thankful for gas prices finally dropping.

I am thankful for cooler weather.

I am thankful for a wondferul time that I had with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law on a recent girls' night out.

I am thankful that God promises me a sense of security.

Deuteronomy 31:6 ~ "Be strong and courageous. For the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

And as always, I am thankful for Dirk and our girls, Morgan and Jaelyn.

For more Thankful Thursday posts, please visit Iris at Grace Alone.

My Blogging Personality is...

I saw this posted a couple of days ago on Melodie's blog.

I thought it was pretty neat and worth taking the quiz myself. I wouldn't have put it so boldly, but hey, it made me feel good!! lol I agree with the first three sentences anyhow. The last sentence....I've seen nicer looking blogs than my own.

Here are the results: Kind and Harmonious

You're an approachable blogger who tends to have many online friends. People new to your blogging circle know they can count on you for support. You tend to mediate fighting and drama. You set a cooperative tone. You have a great eye for design - and your blog tends to be the best looking on the block!

What's" Your Blogging Personality?

Photography by Morgan

Many of you wanted to see some of Morgan's work using our new Photoshop program. For each picture, I have posted the original taken and then the exact same picture with her using Photoshop. Personally, I like the original pictures better, but Morgan has made it very clear to me that I know nothing about having a photographer's eye. Anyhow, she picked out some of her favorite ones that she wanted me to share with you.

The is a picture of baby birds that were living in a wreath on our front door. Morgan would go out and take pictures of them every day until they eventually got big enough to fly away. She shared this one with her Photo Journalism class and her teacher just raved over it. Okay, I didn't get it. But, again....I don't have the "photgrapher's eye" according to Morgan. lol! Note that these are not necessarily improvements in every case, just an attempt to explore the program.

This was sitting on one of the table at a close friend's wedding. Morgan thought it would brighten up the picture if she added a drop of water to the rose petal. It actually turned out pretty good, huh?

This was taken in our front yard.
This was taken at our neighborhood park.

This was taken at the Dallas Arboretum.
This was taken at another wedding we attended. This is one of my favorites.

And another wedding that we attended. Beautiful couple!! Morgan was taking more pictures than the hired professional photographer was taking. lol!

Okay, so you may be asking like I did, "what was changed with Photoshop in this second picture?" Look at the first picture again...see the the window pane appears to be coming out of the bride's head. With using Photoshop, Morgan was able to go in and take the window pane completely out. Isn't that neat?
I LOVE THIS ONE!!!! How beautiful, huh?


This is what our Morgan is up to with Photoshop. She definitely has talent with photography and has big dreams to hopefully use it one day.

Happy Sunday!

I am behind on posting several other posts that I want to share, but will post them another day. Today I felt like I needed to post this song instead.

As we were driving home last night, this song (one of my favorites) came on the radio. It's been a while since I've heard it, but as I was listening to it, I was reminded just how often God truly raises me up.

Enjoy and be blessed today!

And The Answer Is...

WOW! I actually had two readers (Melodie & Elizabeth) who guessed what the title was. I am not only shocked, I'm actually pretty IMPRESSED! Melodie, you may have a newer version than we have which would make a difference in what page you would find this on. Our version of the book was printed in the 60s. Without further ado...




This was FUN!!!

I've Been Tagged and It WAS/IS Hilarious!!!

I was tagged this week by one of my great blogging buddies, Liz. Liz is such a wonderful person and it's such a blessing for me as I am getting to know her more each day. Thanks again, Liz for thinking of me to participate in this. This turned out to be hilarious! Read on...

At the time that I read the rules for this, I immediately grabbed a book off of Dirk's bookshelf and set it aside so that I could play fair in doing this at a later date. In other words, I didn't purposely go and pick out one of my lovely, peaceful, godly and perfect books. Love my man dearly...but the weird (mainly horror, spy/military, and mystery) books that he reads aren't my cup of tea.

Okay, I HAD NO IDEA what I was about to type on page 56 until I got there. I had to come back up the page here to let you know that I had the hardest time typing this. You would think that by me being black, that it would have been easier. Now I don't talk like this, but I've definitely heard of ebonics before, aww-ite??? This is HILARIOUS!!! You're going to have to guess the name of this one friends. Okay, I've never read the book, but I've seen the movie. And I can promise you that most of you have read and/or have seen the movie! LOL! Oh and by the way...it's not a black folks book/movie either. And it's not one of genres listed above.

Here are the rules;

Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your journal/blog along with these instructions. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST. Tag five other people to do the same.

Pg. 56
"Dey jes'knows whut dey thinks dey wants. An' given' dem whut dey thinks dey wants saves a pile of mizry an' bein' a ole maid. An' dey thinks dey wants mousy lil gals wid bird's tastes an' no sense at all. It doan make a gempmum feel lak mahyin' a lady ef he suspicious she got mo' sense dan he has."

I know. I said the same thing you just said after reading this. "HUH??"

So what is title of this book and the name of the character???!?!?!?! Dare you to guess!

Now I tag;

Thinking Out Loud with Jen
Chameleon
Windlebugs
Family Forever
Darlene's Days

Have fun with it ladies! I know I DID!

Thanks again Liz! This was so much fun!

Thankful Thursday ~ JOY!

After reading other blogs that participate in the Thankful Thursday posts, I have been inspired to follow along.

This week's theme for "Thankful Thursday" is JOY!

I am thankful for God's grace for me even when I don't deserve it and knowing this brings me great joy.

I am thankful that very recently, the Lord gave me not only peace, but also boldness to face my fear of animals head on. It's going to be a joyous day for my family in this area real soon. More to come on this at a later date/post.

I am thankful for the peace of knowing that no matter how bad the economy gets that it all belongs to God anyhow. This should bring us all joy!

I am thankful for new friendships that I am gaining here in blogland. I totally thought blogging was not my cup of tea. There are so many wonderful ladies who bless me daily with their comments which, in turn, brings joy to my heart.

Last but not least, I am thankful that the Lord has blessed me with two amazing daughters and with a best friend that I can also call my husband. This alone has brought me the joy I dreamt about when I was eight years old.

What a fun thing to participate in each week. For more Thankful Thursday posts, please visit Iris.

Does "Cancelled" Mean It's Cancelled???

Okay, so most of us know that it was a holiday (Columbus Day) yesterday. Government offices and banks were closed, right?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was off, but Dirk had to work. While on his way home, I asked him to stop at the ATM to get some cash. He called me back just minutes after we'd hung up. "The ATM kept my debit card," he said.

In a panic, I asked, "What do you mean the machine kept your card?"

In a calm voice, (and as usual...I tell ya this man will live longer than me) he slowly said, "The ATM did not return my card." He tried to settle my nerves by saying that he had stayed behind to watch the next person to see if perhaps it would come back out to them. It didn't. Okay, we've never lost a card of any type. So needless to say, I had no idea what the ramifications (other than being robbed silly) could come from this. All of sudden, I had this sick feeling and the thought that, if we waited until morning, that we wouldn't have a penny left in our account.

As I was dialing the bank's number and already knowing that it was going to be impossible to reach a live person at a closed bank, I started freaking out on the inside. No one answered. So, I tried calling their 800 #. You know as well I do that anytime you call an 800 #, you're going to go through 15 prompts before hearing the one you actually need!

I was given the option to cancel the card, so I cancelled it. Due to me being so anal and compulsive about things, I called back two more times to cancel the card.

Wait! It's get worse (I mean better). LOL!

I didn't trust that I had already cancelled this stupid card three times now, so I went online to get a differnt 800 # to the bank. I called it...listened to it, and this time when I pressed zero for an operator, I actually got someone. She (the bank rep) probably thought that I was a total idiot. I explained to her what the urgency was. After looking at our account, she said, "Yes, Mrs. Reeves, I show that you cancelled the card several times. It is cancelled."

I went on to ask why the machine decided to keep the card and what happens if the card eventually comes back out.

Though she couldn't explain why the machine would keep the card, she did reassure me that if a machine keeps a card, it's normally shredded. I could sense in her voice that she was probably thinking I was a loonie!

You would have thought that I had a million dollars or something, huh?

Columbus Day ~ A Day Off

So, today I was off work for Columbus Day. Dirk had to work, but the girls were out of school. It was a great day well spent with just me and my girls.

I slept until 9am!!!! This is LATE for me!

I actually had a hair appointment, but it was cancelled. I was a little upset at first because I'm so ready to go back to my straight hairdo. I'm tired of the curls now!

Anyhew, all turned out well....

Jae and I went outside around 9:30. We both had our own plan. She wanted to ride her bike, run up and down the driveway, and play with her baby dolls. I wanted to CLEAN out my garage. For the last month, I have gotten sooooooooooooooo annoyed when we pull into the garage. It was a pitiful mess and pretty embarrassing. Oh, there's no one that really saw it...the thought of someone possibly seeing it was an embarrassing thought for me. I know....crazy, huh?

So, I got the garage completely cleaned out and it looks fabulous. I would post a picture of it, but my sister-in-law will start making fun of me again for taking pictures of unusual things. I thought that I would post some more entertaining pics of Jae instead.

One of my wonderful neighbors shared with me this fabulous recipe for the Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies. I actually bought all the ingredients last week, but didn't get around to making them until now.

So, with all this free time on my hands, I decided to make them with my girls today! Before looking at the pictures below, Morgan requested that I let you all know that she did not look her best because she'd just gotten up at noon and only brushed her teeth and washed her hands so she could be in on making the cookies. Whatever! LOL! I didn't look too hot myself, but I'm past the point of trying to look good every time the camera comes out.

Without further ado, here's a few pictures of us making the cookies this afternoon.

Jae was patiently waiting for the first batch of cookies to come out of the oven! She thought if she watched them, she could let me know when they were done. LOL!

Okay, look at these! Morgan (the photographer of the family) took several shots of them. They all turned out so well that it was hard for me to pick which shot I liked best. Soooooooooo, I posted my best four shots. Don't they look AWESOME?!?!?!?!

The girls claim that these are the best cookies they've ever tasted.

I also scored BIG POINTS with Jae. The whole time we were making the cookies, she kept jumping around in the kitchen. At one point, she said, "Mom, you're a perfect mom." I knew why she was probably saying this, but because she always has such a way with words for a 7-year old, I asked why was she saying that I was the perfect mom. She said, "I just think that you are." I asked, "Are you saying it because I let you help with the cookies?" She said, "No, I've been wanting to tell you that for a long time, but I always forget when you and Daddy are talking." LOL! Though I am far from perfect, I would like to hear my teenager say these words. Hey, I can always dream, right?

Back to the cookies....they were absolutley delicious! After having more of them tonight, I must agree with the girls, they are the best homemade cookies I've ever tasted too!

One last thing, Dirk just asked me if these are my four best shots, how many shots were taken. Some things are better left unsaid.