Boy, am I glad this life on earth is but a vapor.

"These things I have spoken to you,
in ME you may have peace. 
In the world you will have tribulation;
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."  ~John 16:33

Sometimes you just have to laugh to keep from crying. Or at least I do.  And then sometimes I wind up crying anyway. But this verse always makes me smile.... when the stresses of life seem to be overtaking me, I just get a good giggle at the end when HE reminds us----"hey, don't sweat that stuff, I overcame the world and I'm still in control....so smile through it all, because you know the ending."

I bet Mary Lou Retton only wishes she looked this good in a leo....

                                                                     

Seriously....how'd she get so stinkin' cute? 

Baby Girl had another meet this past weekend and did well again.  Highest score came on beam where she scored 2nd place with a 9.325.  She fell on her back handspring during her floor routine so it threw her all around score off a bit. However, I couldn't be prouder of my little gymnast!

You win some, you lose some.

That's just how life goes. 

My high school team lost their game on Friday night.

My college team won their game on Saturday afternoon. 

I'm a fan every day, regardless of the outcome.....but it feels so much better to win.

Basement Updates

Several years later, we are beginning to finish out our basement.  Everything in due time, dear.

We started earlier this year, back during the winter months, and boy, did we ever have some terrific helpers.

She works well alongside her Dad....it's the popular Hi-Lo method of painting walls.

Everyone was SUPER excited to be able to paint....it's always exciting to begin with, but sadly, that excitement was short lived. Very short lived.  So, we had some friends come over to help out.....and by friends, I mean men in trucks who own a construction company.  As you will see here, they whipped out the rest of the painting, finished up some electrical work Temple had started, put in the drop ceiling, made me some quaint little arches going from room to room, plumbed out the bathroom, built out crown molding on the windows in the bedroom, etc.

It's still in the process, but I thought I'd document the progress thus far.

Oh, look....a hole in the floor....in the basement floor....which means we can see the earth below our home....wonder if we could dig to China?  Not really, because the workers are here today to fill it up....it's actually the shower area for the bathroom.  Looks great, huh?

So, we'll have a family room downstairs, a kitchenette, a bedroom, a bathroom, a storage room,  my office/library and Temple will have his train room.  The boys are looking forward to helping their Dad out when this room gets finished for sure!

Oh, and I forgot to mention....Baby Girl has her own "secret room" as well. 

Hopefully in the next few weeks I will be able to update even more! We are so excited!

The cookie that brought my sister untold FAME (but sadly no fortune) back in the day.

I know it doesn't look like much....and to be honest, it isn't much.  Throw a lemon cake mix, a couple of eggs, some cool whip in a bowl and mix it up. 

Roll a spoonful of dough in powdered sugar and line them up on a cookie sheet!

Stand in awe at the heavenly smell when you pull them from the oven.  Rejoice in the lightness you feel when you pop one of them in your mouth.  Don't take my word for it, ask anyone who was around during the late 80's/early 90's.  Why, even Court was pleasantly reminded of their yummyness just a few weeks ago, and promptly made herself a batch just because.

Seriously....they are that good.  My sister made COUNTLESS batches of these while I was in high school and college.  Even mailing them in large care packages to Auburn. All my friends loved me. There's lots of reasons to still want to be in college....Velcro Pygmies, anyone?....but lemon cookies are atop the list.  And Karisa, while you're at it, how about whipping up one of those chicken pot pies for the care package, too? 

Real men wear PINK.....

.....in honor of Breast Cancer awareness.   

A couple of weeks ago, many of our football players showed up on the field wearing PINK.  Obviously, they couldn't change their jerseys, but they could put in pink shoelaces, and pink pants strings, and pink sweatbands and such to show their support during October, this month of breast cancer awareness.

And they even share their laces with the ball/water boy on the sideline. 

DIY Project---or the fact that I spray paint everything black.

Hi, my name is Kimberly and I have a thing for black spray paint with metallic accents.  Maybe I can find a support group to join, or maybe I'll just keep hunting down furniture to transform. :)

So, I bought this piece from a consignment store for $20 a few years ago.  It's home is in our master bathroom, where it has the VERY important job of holding the extra rolls of t.p. 

I just wanted to give it a little lift, and maybe cover up the water stain where someone left a wet towel laying against it's base for a couple of days.....so out I went to the shop to dig around for the graffitti cans.

My boy, the football player.

Yep, that's my boy.  And he plays football.  Now, he may not be the best to ever take the field, but he looks good in his uniform. And I think he plays well no matter what letter of the alphabet he lines up as....I think he's a "z", but what do I know.  

Oh, I do know something else, he finished up his play on Junior Varsity earlier this week with their Championship game.  Nope, we lost, however, I have news to report, my boy made a nice tackle while playing defense.....and I've never been more proud to see him take a guy down.  Don't you just love football season?  I sure do.

Yep, that's my boy, the football player and oh, how I love him.

Halie's Wedding

My niece, Halie, (my brother's oldest daughter) had a small church wedding earlier this month.  And then the reception was held at our home. We had a lot of help pulling the reception together, but it was a beautiful day, gorgeous weather, a sweet bride, a new nephew-in-law and lots of fun family memories.

Oh, look, there's dear ol' Dad.  My father LOVES (dripping with sarcasm) it when he gets his picture on the blog.  Why, he almost loves it as much as he LOVES weddings.

Oh, look at these two beauties....two more of my nieces....sad to see them look so grown up!

Parking may have been an issue, but not so....thanks to these cute cart guys.

 

My brother says I'm the crazy one.....whatever, dude.

Congratulations Halie and Will.....we wish you love and happiness as you begin your new life together!!