From Our Family To Yours...

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I Have a Serious Confession To Make....

You may not ever think of me the same way after reading my confession about what I did today. And since many of you have told me on more than one occasion what a sweet, thoughtful, sincere, caring, good mother and good wife I am...it makes it even HARDER to write this.

I had to tell Dirk first since it involved another man! I just really can't believe that I did something so unthinkable. I am hoping by writing it out tonight that many of you will pray for me and help me as I seek for forgiveness.

Clearing my throat..........

Okay, here goes.....

Friends, after being married for almost 19 years now, I have never said these words to another man (other than my dad, Dirk's dad, and my Grandpa)!

Auto Zone Guy: "Yes, Mrs. Reeves, we have that part in stock."

Me: "Great! Can you tell me what time y'all close tonight?"

Auto Zone Guy: "Sure, we close at 11pm."

Me: "Great! We'll be by to pick it up before you close."

Auto Zone: "We'll be here."

Me: "Okay, thanks! I LOVE YOU, BABE"

Auto Zone Guy: "Huh?!?"

Me: "Oh, I thought you were my HUSBAND!!"

Auto Zone Guy : lol "Oh, okay. Well, I love you too, babe."

I CAN NOT believe these words came out of my mouth to this, this, this, this stranger!

See, you think of me differently, huh?

I know, I am soooooooooooooo ashamed of myself.

I do have good news though! Dirk has forgiven me!!! I promised him that I would NEVER do it again.

I thought you all would get a kick out of this!! We did!

Hope everyone is doing well and is swine-flu free!

Have a great weekend!

A Picture Post...

I don't have a lot to talk about in this post... but I've been wanting to share some of my favorite snapshots taken over the last several months. Sorry friends, my snapshots do not include some nice getaway or some scenic area...they are just mainly of ME!!! lol!

Don't worry, I won't write a long story about each photo.


This is me and my coworker, Nell.

Another coworker, Tonya.

This is the girls' first day of school this year. Hmmmm...I hope this isn't one that I've already shared since it was back in August. lol!

No reason. I just like this pic.

Morgan's first day behind the wheel WITHOUT US IN THE CAR....

Me with my niece, Madison.

Morgan and her bestfriend, Tya. I am noticing that ALOT of girls make this silly face when taking their picture. I have attempted this and look totally retarded. Seriously!!! However, I think Morgan and her friend look adorable!

I have some REALLY exciting news to share here!!!

I AM OFF WORK FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK!!!! Woo hoo! Other than going to lunch with a dear friend tomorrow, I have absolutely nothing planned!!! It was kind of last minute... I have a lot of vacation days accummulated. I really don't take time off unless we're (the family) doing something, but today I thought and decided quickly.... WHY NOT CHILL ALLLLLLLLLLLL BY MYSELF!?!?!?!?

As I was sharing this news with a friend on the phone earlier tonight, Jae overheard me and gave me a look with her mouth wide open. It was almost like she was thinking, "Uh...how can I find a way to stay home with Mom?" Morgan is working tonight, but I am sure when she finds out that I am off, she will think of something that Mom can do for her too.

Anyhoo, I am looking forward to getting caught up with every one of you in blogland during this time off, for sure. Woo hoo! It will feel like old times. Can you tell that I am excited about being off?

Okay, that's all folks!

I hope that everyone is having a GREAT week so far!

My Randomness...

Well, since my last post was only a month ago, this one will be a bit random so I can share some highlights of what happened in September.

First of all, it is so hard to believe that it's already October!!! Thanksgiving is next month and then Christmas after that! Wait... you already knew that. lol!

So, what's been happening on my side of the world?

To be honest with you, this has not been the greatest year for me. Life is way too busy and there's just a lot of sadness around us involving many people that we care about. Not necessarily with my immediate family, other than the loss of both of our grandfathers earlier this year, but there's been some great sadness with other extended family members and with some very dear friends of ours. I can't go into details on here, but just wanted to share that it's just really been a tough year for me personally.

And the randomness continues...

Remember the trip (Europe) that Morgan signed up for last year to go on with her class for the spring break coming up in March? The trip where she had our blessing to go on if she raised ALL of her money for it? Well, during our last big fundraiser in September, she did it! She has officially raised every penny in order to go. Now she's working on raising her spending money. She'll be gone for nine days!!! We're really excited for her!!!

Some of you have asked how Morgan is doing with her job and with driving. She's doing very well with both. She works 3 days a week usually, one week night and on Saturday and Sunday (after church). She loves having her own money... we LOVE her having her own money. She recently got her own debit card. We have it set up to where she gets a text when her account gets below a certain amount. She came in the other day freaking out that she'd already reached that certain amount. Dirk and I were talking about how interesting it was that she has learned that it really does take a little while to make money and then after you have worked so hard to make the money, it goes sooooooooooooo fast. The fact that she gets a daily reminder of her balance in her account and especially when it drops to a certain amount will be a great thing for her to see. Yes, Morgan, buying donuts and a cup of coffee each day does take away from your money! lol!

We had lots of rain here in September. I thought about complaining more about all the rain we've had, but after after hearing and reading about all the rain and damage in Georgia, there's no comparison.

Jae, our youngest daughter, is doing well. She's at the age where there's not much drama just yet. Whew! Thank God! She signed up to play a lead part in our church's Christmas Program. Since she's a very shy girl in front of one new person, it will be interesting to see her acting in front of the ENTIRE church. lol!

Dirk is doing well. Tomorrow night, we are having dinner with our Bible study group and he made another buttermilk pie tonight. I think my last post mentioned that he was making me one. I will share the recipe with you later. It may be a month before I do, but I promise to share it. Anyhow, I plan on getting up in the morning before going to church and making my dessert. We signed up to bring two. I am making an Italian Cream Cake. Oh, by the way, I won 2nd place with this cake in a contest I entered at our church last month! YEP, it's that good!

I really didn't want this to be a long post, so I'll end with some photos of Morgan's Tea Party I spoke about last month.


Morgan and Jae with their cousins, Katrina and Patricia

Morgan and her cousin, Patricia are 12 days apart. The Tea Party was actually for both girls!

Morgan with her Nana K

It was a very sweet and happy time for Morgan. Thanks again, Nana K for having this!

Friends, I'll try to do better with blogging this month. I do miss you all a great deal!!!

Wow! It's now after 1am and I am still WIDE awake. Hmmmm... I guess I can read some some blogs for awhile.....

Until next time, be blessed friends!

Yep, I'm Still ALIVE!!!

There's been wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much going on around here. I just realized that it's been almost two weeks since my last update. Don't worry... I won't dare write about everything that's been going on. This will be one of those random sentence or two posts.

My girls went back to school on August 27th. Jaelyn is in 3rd grade and Morgan is a junior! It's so hard to believe that I have a JUNIOR!!!! April, I think of you often knowing that you have a SENIOR this year!!!

Morgan turned 16 on August 29th, got her license on Monday, August 31st and started driving all by herself the same day. I was having a difficult time on Monday with her driving without us there to guide her. I will still continue to be concerned as long as she's out there driving. However, she has done exceptionally well so far. Praise the Lord for calming me down in this area! I think I was not only wearing myself out but also wearing my poor hubby out as well with all my worrying. Mind you... Dirk doesn't worry about anything. Is my hubby the only one in this dept... Worry free!?!??!?! I kid him all the time that he will surely live longer than me.

Do any of you totally forget how old you are? Don't laugh... I'm really serious. For the life of me, I cannot seem to remember my age. I have been telling people ALL year that I am 38. This coming Tuesday is my birthday. Dirk and I were talking earlier this week and he said, "Quick, tell me; how old are you're going to be?" I quickly said, "39!" He just looked at me and shook his head...."Daphine, you're going to be 38." I seem to do this every year! I guess I am just one of those abnormal people. Who in the world would say that they are older, especially when they are no longer a teenager???? Seriously!

Dirk is in the kitchen right now baking a buttermilk pie. Have any of you ever had one of these???? I love me some buttermilk pie!!! He recently mastered a recipe for it and this is the 3rd one he's made in less than two weeks. I took one to work and shared with the ladies there, so we're not totally that ridiculous around here.

We have absolutely nothing going on this Labor Day weekend and I AM SO HAPPY about that!
I can't wait to pop in and see what you all have been up to. Though I am not on as often as I used to be, I do think of you all often.

On my next post..... I'll have to share some pictures of Morgan's Birthday Tea Party that her Nana gave to her. It was a real treat!

Okay......that buttermilk pie is calling my name!

Have a great weekend, all!

Friends Are Telling Me That is Only Gets Worse....

before it gets better!

What am I talking about now!?!?!?! Teenage Drama......

For the last several months, we've been having a little bit of teenage drama in the boyfriend department going on at our house.

Morgan broke up with her boyfriend back in May. It's not like they were dating or anything. Morgan's not allowed to date until she turns sixteen....which is this month! YIKES!!! We've tried to change our minds on this, but it has only caused more drama if you know what I mean. It's like when you think of your barely sixteen year old dating, it's just scary and doesn't give you a nice, warm feeling inside. Anyhow, back to the boyfriend. After a year-and-a-half relationship, Morgan decided that she didn't want to "date" the same guy all through high school. My first ridiculous thoughts were....What??? Why not???? I dated the same guy the whole time!! Then I came to my senses....yep, I dated the same jerk all through high school and then broke up with him a month or so before I graduated! As you probably figured out by now, his name was not Dirk.

Anyhow, I must be honest in stating that we were not happy with her decision. Why? Because we thought we knew him very well and thought (and still do) that he and his family were just great people. It didn't take long for God to show me (more so than Dirk) that it was time for the relationship to take a rest for whatever reasons there was. It was like He gave me this peace about the whole thing. I felt that we didn't have time nor the energy to get to know some new guy all over again. Let me tell ya, it's been very draining.

We've had lots of suggestions/comments from friends we've shared with. The one comment that really bothers me, but is LIKELY true was that we needed to get used to it because there was probably going to be several guys that she meets during high school and will date. Are you kidding me???? Is this what all the parents before us with teenage daughters were referring to? It was also suggested that we not get so close to the "boyfriend" and his family in the future. Again, are you kidding me? I still can't see just allowing her to go off with some boy we really don't know. I think I know now why God only allowed me to have just one teenage daughter at a time. Though I wouldn't change my mind in being a Mom, this is HARD work!!!!

So you know how I REALLY appreciate all of your comments/suggestions and advice, right? So, tell me, friends with teenagers, are you going through any of this? And for those of you without teenagers yet, did Mom/Dad allow you to just date and go anywhere (legal that is) when you were of their approved dating age? Also, can you also share what is/was the age you allowed your teenager to date and what age were you allowed to date? Seriously, I could really use some feedback on this one.

As always, THANKS!

And The Car We Got Is A.............

Hey friends!

It's been a while since my last post!!! WOW! Life has been B-U-S-Y!!!!

THANK you all so very much for all your feedback on my last post. You were ALL a huge help in more ways than you know! After looking for the last couple of months, we finally bought a car for Morgan.

I must admit that the car we ended up with would not normally have been our first pick for several reasons. However, there were certain things that were in our favor;

It's a car that is not too small or too big for Morgan to handle.
We didn't have to go over our set budget to buy this car.
In Morgan's favor....it's RED and a bit sporty.
Also in her favor...the insurance....full coverage is VERY affordable.

Let me briefly tell you that the things that we were able to do with this car before purchasing it are remarkable.

Dirk and I went to look at the car first without Morgan. The was the plan all along whenever we actually found a car. We didn't want to take her because....well, we all know how dramatic teenagers can be. Anyhow, Dirk and I went to see the car and just fell in love in love with it. The next morning we took Morgan out to see the car. Before we could even come to a complete stop, she was panicking for us to let her out to see the car.

Okay ready for this? The owner let us have the car for the entire day!!! We test drove it again. Morgan drove it. We asked the owner's permission to take the car to a local mechanic shop. Since it was a used car and we don't know diddley-squat about cars, we felt that we needed to have it checked out by a mechanic. It passed the test of being a good car to buy.

Soooooooooooooooooooo, we bought it!!!

For the most part, we all won. Morgan is a very proud car owner.

We had a couple of friends ask if we were worried about her driving a sports car....
Morgan's personality is not speeding. Though we could be wrong, we're not worried about her speeding. There were a couple of reasons why we first ruled out a sport car....insurance and budget. Well, after checking the insurance before buying it, that excuse was taken away. And since it didn't cause us to go over budget....well, that took away the other excuse.

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..... we bought her a Dodge Stealth!!!

What do ya think??????

We Never Dreamed It Would Be This Hard....

picking out a car for Morgan!!!

She will be turning sixteen next month. She has already taken Driver's Ed and is impatiently waiting to get her license.

I must be honest here.... I am REALLY not doing well here with just the thought of her driving to begin with. She seems to be a good driver when we're in the car with her, but there are so many distractions for these young teenagers. For one thing, her phone is CONSTANTLY going off. We have pretty much threatened her that if she ever texts while driving, there will be HUGE consequences to pay. And how are we going to watch that??? Well, the mobile phone providers have finally gotten it right....we monitor most of the calls that come in and go out and the time of the day/night it is happening. I know that this sounds a bit controlling, but sorry....these days, they (teenagers) just flat out have more things easily accessible to them than we did years ago. I guess we try to justify our control streak by also reminding ourselves that she's still a kid who is still working her way to maturity. I know....pretty lame excuse, huh?

Anyhow, the most recent issue that we're facing is picking out a car for Morgan. Our priorities and her priorities are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!!! We want a car that will be safe, the right price (cash only), and a car that she will be proud of. She wants a car that is sporty, red, convertible, shiny and let's not forget.....her words exactly...." that I will look good in." She even said at one time when we were first looking...."the car has got to match my outfits!" PLEEEEEEASE!!! So, as you can see....this has not been an easy task.

We've set a budget that we will not go over and we really don't mind her having a car that she will truly love, BUT....there are way too many disagreements on what her car will be. Oh, and on the rare occassions that we have found a car that we ALL like, it's already sold by the time we call on it.

We actually read an article on the best cars for teenagers. Honda Civic(s) were rated at the top of the list. And if you wanted to spend a little more money, BMW 325 series were rated at the top for luxury cars. We actually considered looking at BMW (1995-1998), but were convinced by friends to stay away from them because when they finally do break down, we could possibly pay more for repairs than what we actually paid for it to start with. And YES, believe it or not, we found a lot of them in the budget and the insurance for Morgan was very, very reasonable. Anyhow, it doesn't matter...because it won't be a BMW for sure.

My first car was a 1978 baby blue Buick Regal. lol! I just loved that car! I was SO proud of it!!! I guess I didn't know any better. To me, that Regal suited me just fine! I was just happy to even have a car even though I had to pay for myself! lol!

So friends, I need some advice...
First, what was your first car? And if you have teenager that is already driving, what was their first car? Was this a hard decision to make in your family? Morgan will be required to pay her own insurance and her own gas. Do you pay for your teenager's gas and insurance? It's okay to be honest with me; Morgan has already made it very clear that no other parents require this from their teenagers. lol! Heck, if we're paying for her car in full, the least she will do is pay for her insurance and gas. Okay, for all of you that are really tripping out on us for making her do this...her insurance and gas should cost her roughly $100 a month. She is making almost $600 a month now and will still make almost $300 when school starts back. Uh......we're thinking for someone who has free rent, free food, and other necessities provided to her can definitely fit these two needs into her budget. lol!

Sorry! I have really talked a spell here. But, all kidding aside....let me know your thoughts, opinions, and suggestions on the above questions. I would love to hear what you all have to say on the subject.

Whew!!! I already feel so much better getting some of this out in writing! WOW! This blogging really is good therapy that way, huh?

Okay....I'm DONE!

test!

Test!

A Special Day Spent With a Blogging Friend!!

After months of planning and anticipation, me and my blogging friend, Heather, were FINALLY able to meet yesterday. It was a very special day!

Ya know, Satan always tries to rear his ugly head. Boy did I have a time trying to get ready and get out of the house to meet Heather yesterday.

The first thing that happened was that I could not find my camera. What!???!?!?! Yep, we have two cameras, a big one and a small one. I wanted to take the small one so it would be a little more discrete. I practically turned the house upside down and still could not find it. After about an hour of looking, I called my neighbor to see if they had a small one that I could just throw in my purse. Luckily, they did and were kind enough to loan it to me.

Second, I attempted to put my makeup on......I had forgotten that I ran completely out of mascara the day before. Unfortunately, the teenager is at Grandma's house this week. So, I couldn't borrow her mascara. Soooooooooooo, I started digging under the bathroom sink to find an old tube. I did. It was awful and was just about dried out.

Third, I wanted to curl my hair and look beautified. My stupid curling iron STOPPED WORKING!!!! I am not kidding you!!!!! I literally had to stop and ask the Lord what did He want me to learn from all of this. So, I had to pull my hair back and put it in a ponytail.

BUT, none of this stopped my special day ahead. I met Heather around noon and we spent the day visiting. We went to Mimi's Cafe for lunch, then we went shopping. Heather introduced me to a neat, neat jewelry store that I've never heard of before. I was amazed at how well she knew the area (actually better than me!!! lol). The jewelry store was called Compass Trading Company. This store was FILLED with all kinds of fun and inexpensive jewelry. I will definitely be going back! Thank you, Heather!!!!!

After our shopping spree, we went back to Heather's mother-in-law's home so that I could meet Ella. Little Ella is just as cute in person as she is in all the pictures I've seen in blogland.

It was just an awesome day spent getting acquainted with a blogland friend in real life. I felt very blessed that we were able to make this happen.

Today is also another special day for Heather, it's her birthday! Happy Birthday, Heather! God bless you my friend! And thanks for being a blessing to me!!!

I wanted to share just a few pictures with you. I am believing that I will have more opportunities to meet more blogging friends.

I hope that you all are enjoying your weekend!

Blessings~

I'm SO EXCITED!!!

I am really excited thinking about my BIG day tomorrow. I finally get to meet one of my blogging friends; Heather at Family Forever. She's visiting family here in Texas about an hour away from me. Sooooooooooooo, we planned many months ago to get together while she's in town.

We plan on going to lunch and doing some shopping and after that... we'll just have to see what else we can get involved in.

I am REALLY, REALLY excited!!!

Not to worry, I am almost positive that we'll take pictures and post about it.

Until then....................................stay tuned!

I'll be visiting blogs in the morning before I leave. It's late and I have to get my beauty sleep so I can look good tomorrow. lol!

It Was an Honest Attempt...

After repeatedly hearing from several friends of mine about how much money they save when using coupons at the grocery store, I finally decided that I would give it a try. I had it all planned out. I would just stop and pick up the Sunday paper with alllllllll the coupons in it each week.

One of my "professional coupon shopper friends" also recommended that I clip the coupons for about a month (stock up) and then try going shopping with them. I didn't really understand this, but she's the one who saves anywhere from $100-$200 each week at the store. So, I thought I'd follow her advice.

To be quite honest, I thought I would do even better (lol). I have clipped coupons for almost two months now. Ready for this??? Some of them actually expired because I kept forgetting to take them to the grocery store with me each and every time I've gone in the last few weeks.

I now have not only my coupon clipper friends making fun of me, I have one of my coworkers and my own husband laughing at me. But, wait it gets worse.........

This past weekend, I was really going to do good! I made my grocery list out and made a special attempt to REMEMBER my coupons on my visit. I was soooooooooooo excited! I went through the store picking up what I needed and also the things that I knew I had coupons for........I get to the register......I get my total.....I write my check.....and I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO USE THE STINKING COUPONS THAT I HAD TUCKED AWAY IN MY PURSE!!!! I was so MAD!!!! I asked the cashier how could I correct this and be able to use my coupons. She smiled at me and pointed for me to go the the customer service line. Talk about a lot of work here to save a few bucks! lol!

I did go the customer service line and I did get cash back on the coupon items that I had purchased. So, it all worked out in the end, but my goodness!

I'll definitely give it another try, but I don't know if this coupon clipping is for me or not. lol!

Soooooo, are any of you coupon clippers? Any pointers for me? If so, please don't hesitate to share.

I hope that you've all had a great week! I am looking forward to seeing what everyone has been up to!

Have a great weekend!

Our 4th of July...

Our plans for the 4th were very low key. We kind of wanted to invite some friends over, but then kind of wanted to just be alone, ya know? My mom had to work and one of my sisters just got back from a month long vacation....so we decided not to do anything together this year.

We allowed the girls to invite friends over. Unfortunately, Jae's little friend (who ended up spending the night last night) got sick at 6:30 this morning with a bad stomach ache and had to go home. Jae was a bit bummed about that.....so she quietly invited her way in with Morgan and Morgan's friend.

It's been a great weekend so far. I took the day off on Thursday, so I've actually had a long weekend. I worked in my flower garden both Thursday and Friday morning. I was out very early both mornings and I am telling you, I thought the heat was going to take me completely out. Oh my goodness! I didn't get completely finished, but it's looking good.

I hope that you have all enjoyed your holiday weekend. Now you know before I sign off and start visiting everyone, I HAVE to leave you with some pictures.

The pictures that we took outside today didn't turn out so good. No matter which way we tried to take them, the sun was wayyyyyyyyyy too bright!

Oh one last thing, I HAVE to share this......
For the last two days I have not even worn makeup. So today, I at least wanted to dress up just a little bit. So, I just put light makeup on and then a dress that I had purchased while on our trip to Jamaica. Ready for this??? When the teenager (Morgan) saw me in it this morning, she said, "Mom, you look really good! I think I will put on my dress too." Two things here... I hardly ever get compliments on my attire from the teenager anymore. She thinks that my style is not only boring, but too much the same all the time. lol! Second, I could not believe that she actually wanted to wear her dress on the same day as me because it's just not cool looking like her mom, especially in front of a friend. lol! She's a real trip!!!

Our menu was also very low key....

We had ribs, smoked sausage, mac and cheese, and a salad. For dessert, we had a good ole' piece of SWEET watermelon. I usually don't buy them because I can never find one that is really, really sweet. Hubby picked this one up this morning while he was out and let me tell ya....it was DELICIOUSLY sweet!!!!

Okay, I'm finally done rambling.....

Happy 4th to all of you!





YES, we like eggs in our salad!!! You couldn't tell that already, huh?

Morgan and her best friend, Tya.
Jae and her best friend, Olivia (taken last night before she got sick)




We normally don't feed Gooch table food often....but we had to let him in on some of the fun today!!! lol!

Have a great week ahead! Be blessed!