i write about my mother often in my posts. one reason is that as a mom, i can relate most of my experiences to her. it's no secret that men and women process events, problems and even joys in different ways. however, i don't want anyone reading my blog to underestimate the vast impression made upon my life by my father. it is hard for me to put into words the intense feelings of love that i have for my father. but i would like to try.

this morning as i was cleaning the house i was humming/singing as i usually do. and a special song popped into my mind. it was wide open spaces by the dixie chicks. my daddy once told me that this song reminded him of me and i have never forgotten that. i can't listen to the song without my heart welling with love for my father. and there are a few lessons in the song that hold true for me and my father.

who doesn't know what i'm talking about? who's never left home, who's never struck out? to find a dream and a life of their own. a place in the clouds a foundation of stone?

anyone who knows me well, knows that i am a home body. i love to be at home with my family and rarely do things without my family. i lived at home through college. i tried twice to live on campus and returned home within one week each time. the first time i moved from home was when i went to seminary in new orleans. my father, mother, sister and grandmother drove down with me and helped me unload everything into my dorm room. then we ate at popeyes. i didn't eat. i sat there crying the whole time. i cried for hours when they left. but this time i made it. and i fell in love with a boy going to seminary in fort worth texas. so at the end of my first quarter, i packed up my car with my belongs and i headed to texas - the wide open spaces. texas. now i was 9 hours away from my family instead of four. but the foundation of stone had already been laid in my life. my father made sure that the foundation of our lives was that of God because God's foundation stands firm (2 timothy 2:19). i was finally ready to leave home, to build my life on my foundation. God's foundation.

she needs wide open spaces, room to make her big mistakes. she needs new faces, she knows the high stakes.

mistakes. wow, i've made a lot through out my life. and i know of several big mistakes that were very painful for my father to witness. but he loved me enough, and trusted the Lord enough to let me make those mistakes. you see proverbs 22:6 tells us to train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. as parents we want to protect our children from mistakes. but if we protect them from every mistake, we prevent them from learning from the consequences. and we prevent them from learning how to rely on God. because as much as we might want to protect our children, we are human and we will fail. but God . . . He is faithful and just and ever present. and He loves our children more than we do.

as her folks drive away her dad yells check the oil.

when my daddy left me he always said, "remember whose you are". at the time i just assumed he meant my mother and himself. as i grew older and matured in my faith i realized he meant God. and because of the Godly rearing my father and mother gave me i have never doubted whose i am, nor have i doubted His love for me. i also never doubted the love of my daddy. and when it came time to chose the man to join my life with, i looked for someone like my daddy. a Godly man, devoted to living a life pleasing to the Lord, a man who would lead me and my children to love and serve the Lord.

daddy, you are more precious to me than words could ever express. i am thankful for your Godly example, your patience and support throughout my life and inspite of my mistakes. i love you with all of my heart.

let me set the stage. it's 1980/1990 something (i'm too lazy to do the math) and my mother's 35th birthday was approaching and i wanted to get her a gift. with a limited budget of a youngster's allowance, i set out in walmart in search of the perfect gift (this was back in the day when you could let your child go to a different department of the store without worrying about their safety). i have always been a practical person, which has generally been reflected in my gift choosing throughout my life. so i made my way to the domestics department. yep, household goods. for her birthday. and i find what i think to be a suitable gift. and it's funny. to me. and i, in my childlike innocence, think it will be amusing to her as well. the gift? a blue pot holder with the saying, "middle age is when you hear snap, crackle, pop and you're not eating cereal". wow. she was 35. knowing what i know now, you know we get wiser with age, i certainly hope that 35 wasn't middle age for her!

flash forward to the current day and time. i walked into the kitchen last night to finish cleaning up and i saw sarah's baby (a little lamb given to her at birth by my mother) on the counter. she sleeps with "baby" every night and i couldn't believe she had gone to bed without her. i also knew that if she awoke in the middle of the night unable to find "baby" that i would be awakened to find "baby". so i took "baby" and headed to her room to place her safely next to sarah. i take one step into the hallway and immediately realize that ethan is still awake. he's supposed to be asleep and if he sees me he will cry. so like a ninja, i take a step backwards in the hallway to hide myself from his view. unlike a ninja, my knee pops. and loudly. and i see ethan whip his head around as i am stepping backwards, knee a-poppin, and hear him say, "what's that?". i'm standing there in the hall way amused at his keen hearing (i mean my knee couldn't have popped that loudly, could it have???) and wondering how i'm going to get "baby" in bed with sarah without ethan seeing me. i peek around the corner and see ethan pick up his bunny and start looking at the tag. i decide this is my chance to accomplish my task. i lean forward and toss "baby" into sarah's room and smile as it lands perfectly next to her sleeping body. then i go to step out of the hallway into the living room and my other knee pops. i snicker to myself as i realize that age has not only brought a small amount of wisdom but noises i used to hear from my parents. and immediately i am thrown back into time - to purchasing that aforementioned pot holder and giving it to my mother.

i hope she sees the humor in this that i see. as a mother, i am sure that i am old in my daughter's eyes. she has told me so. and it's not so long ago that in my young mind my parents were old. so, i'm sorry mom. i hear the snap, crackle, pop too now. and i hope it's not middle age for me either! i love you!

children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. honor your mother and father, which is the first commandment with a promise - that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. ephesians 6:1-3

where has the month of august gone? it's september 1 (tomorrow) and it seems like just yesterday we were ringing in the new year. time flies when you're having fun. not that this has been a totally fun week. we think we finally have our air conditioner problems solved, expensive as it was to solve them. but the house is now nice and cool and we're praising the Lord for that. the new dishwasher is installed, after two days of working on it, and it works wonderfully. her name is joy, because she brings me joy.

ethan is up to his old tricks again. today when he asked for his third sippie of milk within 10 minutes i told him no. he looked at me, pointed that little finger at me and said, "don't tell me no". i had to bite my lip and look away to keep from laughing at him. he's so spunky. the house three doors down from ours caught fire today. there were four firetrucks and police cars everywhere on our street and in front of our house. they had the road blocked off and people were congregating in the yard. so we walked outside to chat with a neighbor. when ethan saw the firetrucks he was so excited. he said, "yay! then started going woooooooo (the sound of a siren). it was so cute but kind of embarrassing. we went back inside soon after that.

sarah is enjoying first grade. her fundraiser walk is thursday morning from 9am until 10am. ethan and i will be going to cheer her on. i'm so thankful the weather is cooler this week and that we will be able to enjoy being outside.

no insightful posts tonight. just wanted to update everyone on what's been going on in our lives.

today was sarah's first day of first grade. as we were getting her supplies ready last night she commented on how heavy they were. i reassured her that i would help her carry them in the morning. then she hit me with the words that no mom wants to hear. "i don't need you to walk me to my room because i'm a first grader now. i'm not a kindergartener, you know". i did my best to not look defeated. i did my best to laugh it off. but if i am honest, it hurt. i knew this day would come. i just didn't know she'd be six. as we arrived at school this morning i convinced her to let me walk her to the door of the school and help her carry her things. she relunctantly agreed. but as we crossed the threshold of the door, she promptly took her supplies and spun on one heel to go to her class. no kiss, no hug, not even a goodbye. i had to call her back for a quick, and i do mean quick, kiss and picture. it's humerous. it's hard to be sad when she's so excited. but it does happen all too fast and it's not something you can understand until you've been there.

as i reflect on sarah's declaration, "i don't need you . . .", i wonder how many times i've made that same declaration to my heavenly Father. whether audibly, through my actions or by my attitude, i have said that many times. and thankfully, He knows what i as a parent know. in fact i do need Him, just as sarah needs me. and while the physical limitations of this world prevent me from being ever present with sarah . . . leading her to make good choices, protecting her from harm, and supporting her through each and every step of the day . . . our Father has promised to be with us both. because we do need Him. thank You Father, for Your presence in my life and in the life of my daughter. and thank You for being there even when we think we don't need You.

and surely i am with you always. matthew 28:20

ethan cracks me up. i don't know if what i'm laughing at is supposed to be laughed at, but he is so funny. my parents recently got to enjoy some of his humorous behavior. my mother and i were doing something on the computer and he came up to me out of the blue and said, "mama, timeout". he gets sent to timeout on a regular basis. i guess he is trying to see if he has the same power. the next night at dinner he had been counted and sent to his room several times because he wouldn't quit jumping in the chair. so when i told him he couldn't have coke, he told me, "that's three. go your room". i can't help but laugh. he's so adamant about it.

saturday he made both donald and i laugh. we were heading to the store and he wanted music. surprise, surprise. but i'm sick of hannah montana and jonas brothers (i know, blasphemy), so i put on rascal flatts. a few notes into the song he firmly says, "aw, come on". if i had coke in my mouth i would've spit it out. he's growing up way too fast.

we're still waiting on our friend to come and fix our leak in our master bath. we have at least narrowed it down to a tub problem so we're only using the shower in the meantime. we're also hoping that he can give us a good deal on a fence as we really need one to keep a certain little boy in OUR yard and out of the street. i love my house, but there is going to be a longer list of must haves at our next house.

just a little over a week until sarah starts first grade. i know that she's ready. but i hate having to be at home and at the bus stop at 3:00pm every afternoon. it's really annoying to be on someone else's schedule.

i'm trying to develop a new recipe: chocolate cupcakes with oreo frosting. perhaps today will be the day. if donald gets home from the doctor in time for me to go to the store.

today was a wonderful family day. we got up and spent the morning cleaning the house so that when we all return home it will be clean. then we ran to louise's to get a cake board and box for matthew's birthday cake. and what day would be complete without a trip to walmart? a good day. but we still went. thankfully we were only gone a couple of hours. a miracle in birmingham. then it was home to bake and decorate a birthday cake.

donald cooked new york strip steaks for dinner along with baked potatoes. delicious. he's such a grill master! it was his birthday dinner, but he graciously cooked it.

matthew's cake came out so good. i was very pleased with it. i hope that he and his family liked it as well.

ethan is doing good potty training. well, i guess i shouldn't say potty training. but he asks to go potty and he will tt on the potty. he'll come up to you, pulling at his diaper, and say, "i want take it off". then if you ask him if he wants to go potty he will say, "i want to go potty". and he will! he's gone several times a day for the past four days. every little bit helps.

goodnight family and friends.

my husband loves peanut butter and chocolate. so naturally you think of reese's peanut butter cups (or at least i do). so i decided to make him a birthday cake based on that theme. i baked a devil's food cake and added 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips. then i whipped up a batch of peanut butter frosting. once i frosted my chocolate cake with my peanut butter frosting, i cut miniature reese's peanut butter cups in half and arranged them around the bottom layer of the cake. i also crumbled some and sprinkled it on the top.

the result: a beautiful cake, a tasty combination and a very HAPPY husband.

since he will leave for camp on his birthday, i wanted him to have the cake to enjoy all weekend. i'm pretty sure he will continue to enjoy it. we even shared a few pieces with a handful of people we are thankful for. happy birthday, donald. we will miss you next week.

ethan has been asking to go potty for weeks now and we've been telling him, "you don't know how to potty". he finally asked one day this week and donald put him on the potty. and he went! four times in one day. he went again today. i think he goes just so he can throw toliet paper into the potty and flush it. but whatever works!

sarah is starting to get excited about first grade. i don't know what's so important about first grade, but i've heard that a lot of kids think it's a really big deal. she is no exception. her teacher is going to be mrs. shackelford. i've heard from several friends that she is very sweet. we've been praying for her since may and will continue to pray for her throughout the year. hopefully as we get to know her throughout the year she will share specific requests with us. but if not, we will pray for her wisdom, patience and loving spirit. that's what i think i would need as a teacher.

tomorrow i am baking a cake for a sweet little boy, matthew. i taught him in choir this year and i just love him. i'm so honored that his mom asked me to make him a cake. the plan is to make an 11x15 sheet cake and frost it with green grass. then make a 3d soccer ball out of fondant. i hope i can do this! i've already done a trial run on the soccer ball so i feel confident about that. it's the grass i haven't tried. but i seem to figure out piping really quick and i bought the right tip, so it should be a piece of cake.