Some Things I Love About My Dad

Today was my Dad's 85th birthday.  My sister and I, and our families, surprised him by going to his house to help him celebrate.  In honor of his birthday, I thought I would list some things that I love about my Dad.

1.  He is always happiest when he is with his family.

2.  He took us to church every Sunday when we were growing up.

3.  He is crazy about his 14 grandchildren and they are crazy about him.

4.  He does soooooo much for my Mom, who has really bad health..........from sitting in doctors offices for hours to giving her back rubs every night.

5.  His Bible is worn out.

6.  He dove off the diving board last summer while his grandchildren cheered him on.

7.  He sends money to my brother every year for Christmas and his birthday, even though he never gets a phone call or thank you note in return.

8.  When our family is all together, he waits until everyone else has been served before he gets his food.

9.  He used to work as a chaplain at a men's prison.  A lot of the prisoners still write him letters because he made such a positive impact on them.

10.  He has never been in a hospital (he was born at home) and he says he never will.

11.  He watches VERY little tv.

12.  He once walked out of a play because one of the actors was cursing like crazy.

13.  He has been trying to warn people about the evils of globalization long before Glen Beck came on the scene.........even though a lot of people think he's a kook.  :o)

14.  In 1965 he took a job as a counselor at a children's home.  When the children told him that they were being abused by the other workers at the home, he took the children's home to court and raised all kinds of stink.

15.  He worked his way through college and seminary and got his Master's Degree in Youth Ministry from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

16.  When it came to discipline, he was a softie with my siblings and me.  We never obeyed him out of fear.

17.  He enjoyed going on camping trips and other activities with us when we were growing up.  We have so many fun memories of our childhood.

18.  He would never tell, or laugh at, a dirty joke.

19.  He loves our country........at least what it used to be.

20.  He's a wonderful Dad and Grandpa!

The new love in her life is ..........

Tap Dancing!  

Last year, Carrington fell in love with her Drama class.  Her teacher is sweet, encouraging, and wonderful.  This year, she is taking Tap as well, and is having a blast.  They had a Parent Watch Day on Monday, so we could go in and watch the class.  It was so fun to watch her Tap class.  There are 4 girls in the class, and I was amazed at how in sync they were.  Carrington has only had Tap one other time several years ago, so I wasn't sure how she would do.  Her dance teacher is awesome and Carrington has definitely gotten the hang of it.  I'm so glad that she has her 2 classes every week that she enjoys so much!

The top 2 pictures are from Carrington's Drama recital.  I didn't get a lot of pictures because I was too busy videotaping.  Carrington recited "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement C. Moore.  It is really long but she did a great job. 

A favorite Christmas book

This is one of my favorite Christmas books that we have read together.  I found it at our local public library.  It is such a sweet story about a family who didn't have a lot of money, but they were rich in children and love.  It's a true story and the family ended up living in Loveland, Ohio which is close to where I went to highschool.  It's a great story to teach selflessness to your children.

Precious Things

The other night, I was working on putting out Christmas decorations.  Clayton was looking at one of my snowglobes on the mantle.  I had told him not to touch them when I got them out of the box a few days before.  With a very sincere look on his face, Clayton asked, "What's so fun about having a snowglobe if you're the only one who's allowed to touch it?"  Wow!  I felt so bad!  Clayton is a gazillion times more important than my 2 snowglobes.  He's more important than all the snowglobes in the world!  I took the snowglobe off of the mantle and told him to sit on the rug.  I showed him how to wind it up to play music.  He had a fun time listening to the music, and I was reminded that "stuff" is not to be treasured as more precious than my family members.  If it breaks, it breaks.  My children are so good at helping me to remember what is important in life!

No Other Mothers

I asked Clayton to show me how much he dislikes shopping, and this was his response.

These are some pictures from back in the summer.  We were shopping in J.C. Penny.  They have the cutest pink dressing rooms for girls!  Clayton doesn't like to shop, but Carrington does!

On Friday, I was working on some school work with Carrington.  She was giving me a hard time about something, so I said, "I am your mother."  (I had to remind her who was in charge.  :o) )  Clayton immediately piped up, "And you shall have no other mothers before her!"

Apple Picking

A couple of weeks ago, I decided at the last minute to take my children apple picking.  We have gone to apple farms to buy apples numerous times, but they've never gotten to pick them.  I have fun memories of my family driving into Wisconsin (from the Chicago suburbs) to pick apples.  We loved it! I especially remember an ENORMOUS round block of cheese in a walk-in cooler. It probably weighed a ton.   I wonder if my sisters remember that cheese.  :o) 

We drove up to a town that has several apple farms.  Only one of them would let us pick on a weekday.  And we all had to pay to be able to do it!  We walked up to the trees and there were no apples within reach.  I'm fairly tall at 5' 7"  and I couldn't reach any.  Clayton could only reach one or two apples while sitting on my shoulders.  I had already paid for the bag, so being the great example for my kids that I am, I told them that they could climb up into the trees and pick some.  They thought it was a great idea!

We managed to fill our bag and then rewarded ourselves with ice cream.

Then we listened to the Kit: An American Girl book on CD on the way home.  I don't know why, but we are all fascinated with the Great Depression and the Kit book is written in that time period.

More pictures from Biltmore

It takes me forever to post pictures for some reason, so I have to do it in small increments.  It drives me crazy to have to sit for long periods of time at the computer.  The grounds of the estate are so beautiful!  They, of course, have done an outstanding job with the landscaping.  It really takes a full day to enjoy everything there.  Clayton loved getting to pet the farm animals.  The goat didn't really love Clayton though.  :o)  We didn't go to a few places on the property, but I did have to check out all of the beautiful shops!  They have a toy shop, a book shop, a candy shop, and a gorgeous "Carriage Shop" with all kinds of beautiful things.  I bought a letter opener at the book shop that I will have to make sure Clayton doesn't use as a weapon.  There are several restaurants on the property and a large hotel. 

The Biltmore House

My crazy little man.



Clayton looking tough

I'm not sure why he looked so unhappy in these pictures, but he wanted to look mean.  He was in camo from head to foot.  This was a last minute costume for a fall festival we went to.
Clayton keeps me on my toes.  Yesterday he got red crayon on my pale yellow, new bedspread.  I need to call Crayola.  I know they have a special formula to get crayon out of fabric that involves WD-40.

We have a beautiful, fluffy white cat.  One day Clayton dunked him in a big mud puddle........just because.  He felt bad about it and gave him a bath afterwards.

I try not to take him shopping at the mall if I can help it.  He hates it.  The other night while Carrington was at dance, I needed to go to the mall.  He especially hates the store, New York & Co.  As we went in the store he said, "This store is my worst enemy!"

Recently one of my husband's employees was in town for a meeting.  He spent the night at our house.  Before he came,  I made brownies.  Unbeknownst to me, Clayton dropped 2 big globs of brownie on the floor of our guest bathroom and left them there the day before our guest arrived.  I had cleaned the bathroom, so I didn't bother to look in there.  The day after we had company, I went in there and saw the brownies on the floor.  I knew it was brownies and who the culprit was, but it didn't look like brownies.  I called Clayton to the bathroom and asked him if he did it, and he said yes.  I just busted out laughing.  I never know what he's going to do!

The least of these.........

We are reading the book Radical by David Platt in our small group at church.  It has really been eye-opening to say the least.  I just finished reading chapter 6 entitled, "How Much is Enough?: American Wealth and a World of Poverty.  It is sad to think that there is so much suffering and poverty in the world and yet we as Americans do so very little about it. 

One set of verses that really spoke to me was Matthew 25:31-46:

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.


34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

God is definitely impressing on my heart that my family needs to do something for "the least of these".  I'm willing and waiting to see what that will be.

"All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name"

We learned about this story in church this morning.  I just had to share it.


Reverend E. P. Scott was a missionary, living in India during the 1800s. At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, but against advice of his fellow missionaries, Scott set out alone to visit a remote village. He was determined to share the Gospel with a dangerous savage tribe.

Several days into his journey. Scott was met by a large group of warriors who quickly surrounded him, each one pointing a spear towards his heart. Expecting to die, Scott made a decision to use his last few breaths to glorify God, and to hopefully stir something within the hearts of his captors. He took out his violin (which he always carried on him), closed his eyes, and began to play and sing All Hail the Power of Jesus Name, in the native language of the warriors.

After singing the first verse, the second, the third, and then beginning the fourth, Rev. Scott realized he was still standing, and that all around him was a peaceful quiet. Opening his eyes he saw every spear lowered. There stood those mighty warriors, with tears in their eyes. Throughout the remainder of his life, Scott spent much time with this tribe, sharing the love of God.

All Hail the Power of Jesus Name has been hailed as the "National Anthem of Christendom." It was written in 1779 by Rev. Edward Perronet (1726-1792) The music was composed by Oliver Holden (1765-1844). The hymn has been translated into almost every existing language.



All hail the power of Jesus' name!

Let angels prostrate fall;

bring forth the royal diadem,

and crown Him Lord of all.

Bring forth the royal diadem,

and crown Him Lord of all.



Ye chosen seed of Israel's race,

ye ransomed from the Fall,

hail Him who saves you by His grace,

and crown Him Lord of all.

Hail Him who saves you by His grace,

and crown Him Lord of all.



Sinners, whose love can ne'er forget

the wormwood and the gall,

go spread your trophies at His feet,

and crown Him Lord of all.

Go spread your trophies at His feet,

and crown Him Lord of all.



Let every kindred, every tribe

on this terrestrial ball,

to Him all majesty ascribe,

and crown Him Lord of all.

To Him all majesty ascribe,

and crown Him Lord of all.



O that with yonder sacred throng

we at His feet may fall!

We'll join the everlasting song,

and crown Him Lord of all.

We'll join the everlasting song,

and crown Him Lord of all.

Some new treasures that we've discovered!

This was a great movie, especially for a boy.  Clayton loved it!



We've discovered several Bobbsey Twin easy readers at our library for Clayton.



A very sweet story with pretty pictures.  Great book for nature lovers.

This is the BEST book I've ever seen about Noah's ark and The Flood. 

Just so I don't get in trouble, all of these pictures were copied off of http://www.amazon.com/.  I hope it's ok to do that.  I order from that website quite a bit.  They have just about any book or movie you could possibly want.
 I didn't post a picture of the book, The Waterhorse, but it is great!  We rented the version on CD from our library, and listened to it, and it was fabulous!  The reader has a Scottish accent, so it made it even more fun!  The book is very clean and there is nothing creepy about it at all.  When I first heard about the movie, I thought it sounded creepy.  I can definitely say that the book is not.  The movie could be a little bit scary for some sensitive children, but Clayton loved it.  There is a scene where English soldiers are shooting at the waterhorse at night and it could be scary for a child for sure. The story takes place in Scottland during World War II.  The scenery is pretty, the cinematography is beautiful, the house that the family live in is beautiful (the wood floors are to die for!),  and of course I love the accents.  One good thing about the accents is that it makes it harder to understand the 2 curse words in the movie (hell, just so you know).  Clayton didn't pick up on them, but Carrington did.  I won't give away the surprise at the end of the book, but it makes the whole story even more interesting.  A true tale it is.......... :o)
I absolutely can't say enough good things about The True Story of Noah's Ark.  I love the fact that the story is not presented as a fairytale, but as a factual account of an historical event, which it is.  The pictures are beautiful and there is a lot of detail about how big the ark really was, including measurements.  It also mentions that there are flood stories handed down from countless cultures around the world.  It comes with a CD in which the author reads the story.  He has a wonderful radio announcer-type voice.

I've been decorating........ for less than $10!

I wanted to make a few changes in my house, so I went to WalMart and bought 3 cans of black spraypaint.  I have had so much fun painting things in my house.  I painted a basket first.  It turned out really cute.  The picture definitely doesn't do it justice.  It looks gray in the picture, but it is definitely black.  I also painted a candle sconce that hangs on the wall in my kitchen.  It turned out really cute too.  Then I painted these plate racks.  I think they look pretty good with these plates that I found at Hobby Lobby one day.  My favorite store, by the way!
My kids and I were doing a Science experiment the other day with water, air, and some plastic cups.  They decided to put on their bathing suits and play in the water for a few minutes.
My Aunt Emily came for a visit the other day and brought the above pecan pie.  :o)  She brought some documents about our family history for me to make copies of.  I love Geneology!  It is so fascinating to me to learn about our family's history.  One of the documents says that our ancestors owned a castle in Ireland.  It is still standing and I would love to see it some day.