Sunday School out takes!

So the boys were back in our class today!
They are a wild and crazy handful but so fun.  Their minds are so open but they really have no background in Sunday School at all and it is really obvious at times.
This morning I was teaching about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, and these 7 and 8 year olds sat there with all the skepticism of grown men.  As I told the story I heard "he wasn't really dead," and "he was faking."  As I tried to convey the power of our Savior to these young minds, one of them said, "well I don't believe in Jesus."  Of course I deal with children much the same way I deal with adults and told him that was certainly his perogative but he was going to learn about him in Sunday School anyway.
After a yummy doughnut break we sat (or tried to sit) down to watch a cartoon video on the miracles of Jesus.  After flipping over in their chairs a few times and exclaiming "he kicked me in the nuts," we finally got settled in...there was of course a brief interlude where we discussed why we don't talk like that or act like that in church.
The video followed Jesus as he healed the child with Palsy, had the woman with the issue of blood touch his garment and the resurection of the sick girl who had died before Jesus' arrival.  During the scene of Jesus raising the girl fromt he dead, the same disbeliving little boy said, "well I guess I do believe in Jesus."
For all the moments that make me want to pull my hair out that moment makes it all worth it.
Donna and I are going in a bit to procure some supplies...
paper towels...boys spill things.  Girls are to prissy for that.
building stuff...boys don't do crafts, they build things.  There is a very big difference.
snacks...doughnuts make little people big time hyper.  We need something in a mild sedative flavor.
and I am sure there was something else.
Every week is an adventure and one that we have been looking forward to for a long time!  God answers prayers for children, and he will give patience and guidance to Donna and I teach what they need to hear.

Fashionista time!

I am not now (or at any other point in time) a fashion diva.  I have friends who are.  They always look amazing and their closets look like full on malls...this is not me.  I am a girl who wears black, gray, brown and navy pretty much every day with a pair of solid shoes of the same basic colors.  In college I was a bit more free with my clothing choices, but lets face it, all who knew me then would agree there is no need to return to the days of my lego pants and men's Hawaiian shirts.
I am working to break out of my box due in much part to the constant protest of a couple of lovely people.  I mentioned a shopping outing earlier in the week and I made another one today.  Here are a few of the not so black brown or navy options now haning in my closet...ok so one pair of shoes are black, but come on!  They're cute!

Teal zipper purse with my yellow pompom scarf

Um, so I guess these shoes are technically brown but they are Sperry's soYAY!

They are sitting atop my new button up BRIGHT pink shirt with roll up sleeves.

Super Happy!

Photography is bad, but the shoes are cute!

After my Mary Janes blew out in church a few weeks ago i have been on the look-out for some new black flats.  These are precious, and comfy too!

There are more shirts, but I am no fashion photographer either and the pictures look dopey so alas you will just have to wait to see me in them. :)

Happy Surprises....

...from what was to be a disapointing night.
Tonight was supposed to be an fun night out with Paul, Cynthia and Robin at the Wofford basketball game.  Then they all bailed on me.  Every one of them.  Last time I procure free tickets from work for them.  Until the next time they offer them of course. :)

Ok, so instead I am doing my normal Thursday night bit of eating pizza and getting ready to watch Survivor.  Not to mention trying to rebuild my iTunes library on the new PC (they should make a better way to do this.)  Well I have received 2 little gifts for my evening in so far.

1.  I found the Reba Live album from 1989 on iTunes.  When i was a kid this was my favorite cassette tape for a couple of years.  I played it until it wouldn't play anymore and then kept it anyway because I loved it so much.  I still have the cassette in it's case somewhere around here.  Now I have the whole thing on my iPod!  YAY!!!  This is a brilliant moment for me!

2.  This was even more amazing.  My little Cassidy has grown up.  The baby girl I used to rock to sleep and sing lullabies to...and take on dates to see Winnie the Pooh movies hit me up on Facebook chat to say hi.  Be still me heart!  She may not be the oldest of my neices and nephews but she was the first to call me aunt, and now my baby boo is all grown up and on Facebook.  I feel old, but mainly I feel nostalgic.  That little girl did alot to grow me up why I was trying to help her grow up, and I forever love her.

Anyway, the mush pot Aunt Jezzy is going to curl up and watch Survivor now and be greatful for all the amazing kids in her life, and the great music that fills all the silent moments.

I'm a PC...

It stands to reason that the first blog written on my brand new laptop should be about my brand new laptop.  After a little waiting and alot of looking my fabulous Christmas present from my nana and Lucy is now at my fingertips!

I went yesterday after work and spent some time with a lovely fellow named Corey and his sidekick Sue at the BestBuy and now I have my very own HP Pavilion with an Intel i3 processor.  She is sleek and gorgeous!!!

I must say that as a veteran of Windows XP and having never converted to the thing that was Vista, I am having to adjust a bit to Windows 7.  I feel like an old lady trying to learn a new trick!  The menus are different and I keep having to find things.  This may of course be due to the fact thatwe just haven't had enough bonding time yet.  This situation will be alleviated soon, and I'll be starring in a cheesy commercial where I announce to the world that Windows 7 was my idea.
I am a newcomer to the world of webcams and I like to play with it right now...although I have no clue how to do anything truly productive with it.  It does do some pretty hillarious things like today at lunch.  I took my new friend to work to show her off, and did a little playing in the break room with Suzanne and Harriett.  It has this amazing feature (which other more technologically up to date probably know the proper term for) where you have an avatar of sorts that moves it's facial features and mouth along with the person it is filming...we made Harriett Barack Obama...seriously the funniest thing I have ever seen in my whole life.
Although I do not have Obama Harriett on video I do have a little snippet of our silliness:

She said no Facebook...does my blog count??
Oh and my computer needs a name...my phone, Ipod and car have names.  I think the PC should too.  All suggestions welcome!

The Weekend Tale

First of all, my uncle Billy had major surgery to remove an anuerysm from his liver on Friday.  The surgery ended up going really well, and although he is in alot of pain he seems to be doing well all things considered.  Please keep him and his wife Jeannie in your prayers, as they still have a long road to go down with his health.

Secondly, I spent my Saturday morning with Nikki selling concessions...AKA, she danced around to some cover band singing Mrs Robinson, and random Michael Jackson songs and I laughed alot.  I have an amazing clip of her dancing but Donna says I can't publish it for the world...your loss, I promise.

This still picture just does not do all that action any justice!

Then I went on an amazing shopping adventure!  I went to Old Navy and went crazy.  Many of you will be thrilled to know that nothing I purchased was black!!! (or brown either, for that matter.)  I did buy a new pair of jeans and a gray skirt (pictured), and lots of bright colored tops and a new yellow scarf that I promise to have a picture of in the next couple of days. 

(Sarah, you would be so proud!)

Yesterday morning I was feeling super cute at church and wanted to take pictures but no one would play with me except Marisa, so here we are being fashion divas together.  Gotta love little girls!
Oh and my hair...I have been putting up because it is so long it takes a life time to flat iron all of it.  I think it looks like Sarah Palin....Jerry Hoover was, of course, the first to tell me it looked good!  He would be the one to love my Republican hair...to bad for him, the Democratic brain still lives below :)

Speaking of little people...I had 5 kids in Sunday School yesterday!  So excited to see growth in the children's department at church!  I'm not so entirely sure Marisa and Elise are all that thrilled about thw new additions, since they are boys, but give em 10 years and it will be all good!
I however, know absolutely nothing about boys!  Even in Asheville, all I ever had was girls in my class.  This will definitely be a learning experience for me, as with the girls I can do pretty much whatever and they are good with it, boys however take alot more planning due to alot shorter attention spans.

I promise to have more pictures this week of my new clothes and as the calendar is chock full of items with adventure potential, it should prove to be an intresting one!

Lil' Miss Paxton

As I was completely derelict in putting up pictures of my little church sister for Valentine's she gets her own special photo collage entry.  So here she is in all of her classic poses being the most amazingly fun and fabulous little sister in the whole world!  Not to mention she is the only person I can call when I can't sleep at 2am because she is always awake!
I love you my Nikki and I hope you don't shoot me at church tonight for this :)

Calvary Valentine's Banquet 2010

By noon on Saturday the snow had given up it's hold on the roads and the Calvary Valntine's planners got in gear!
The food was spectacular, the entertainment superb, and the fellowship as always, was the best to be had anywhere.
I can't put it all in words so thankfully I had my camera on my wrist for most of the evening and have some great pictures to share!

We went with chocolate and pink decor and after much debate on best shade of pink I think we definitely made the right choice!

Cupcakes, Cupcakes, and more Cupcakes!!!

This was the most beautiful dessert buffet ever!  Not to mention the yummiest!

In addition the chocoalte and red velvet cupcakes we had chocolate covered strawberries, dark chocolate mint petifores, heart shaped cookies, red velvet white chocolate balls and chocolate strawberry tarts! YUM!

Sir Robin Grillmaster putting the birds on.  The chicken breasts were huge and after he marinated them over night they were wonderful!!

Paul "buttering" the steaks.  A much better way than last years pouring butter on an open flame and trying to set his whiskers (and the church) on fire!

Robin teaching the master class on how to properly place the steaks on the grill.

Greg and Donnie look like such attentive students! Hahahahaha!

Anybody wanna play HOT POTATO?!?

Beth and Brenda on salad assembly duty...yummy salads, but this is my least favorite job...which is why I was behind the camera ;)

Donna filling up our tea pitchers...which went WAY better than Robin and I trying to put the tea up afterwards!  Can we say spillage?

The Edge, Waters, Mickey, Gilbert table....except I lost Donnie somewhere!

The coolest girls at the whole shindig!

Nikki, Abby and of course me!

Mrs. Sylvia with her friends, Linda, Darlene and Tammy

The "White Head Club"

:)

They came up with that themselves!

Weather's and Edge's

And of course "The Edge's" :)

Mimi with her babie's and me with her babies...they made me the SWEETEST valentine ever!

Scott and his baby :)

(This should totally make up for the Super Bowl picture, Scott)

The Robin, who loved his chocolate fish :)

This of course after his run home wardrobe change...dork.

Papa and Mrs. Higginbotham.  Two of my favorite Valentines!

Favorite conversation of the night:

Cynthia: Go get Robin, I can't make this work.

a few moments later

Cynthia: How'd you get it to work?

Robin: I plugged it in.

CLASSIC!!!!!!!!

Snow Storms.....

The Bank in the Snow...

This was about an hour before we closed on Friday night.  By the time we left I had to brush off a couple of inches off my car before I could go anywhere.  The roads were awful and it took me 2 hours to get from Reidville to Chesnee.  Of course 45 minutes of that were spent sitting on a hill in Whitney watching fire trucks slide sideways down hills and ambulances skid off the road.  My friends wanted to come get me, but they couldn't have gotten anywhere near me.  After a mild panic attack on the phone with Robin I finally got off the hill and inched my way the rest of the way home to snuggle up, watch a movie and watch the snow continue to fall.

Valentining at the Bank!

We are raising money at the bank for Jr. Achievement of Spartanburg, and the brilliant Mrs. Jo Alyce came up with the idea of selling Valentine's Day balloons for $2 a piece.  Yesterday the whole lobby looked as if it might take off on a helium vacation.  We only have a few left which I am sure the fellas cashing their checks will snatch up today for their honey's.

We did have a little fun with them before we started selling!

  

Suzanne and Harriett peering through the ribbons.

Finally a picture of Debra that doesn't involve the back of her head!!!

She is a crazy awesome balloon saleswoman.  Amazing!

Our manager Donna looking out from her office into the lobby of balloniness.

Valentine's drive thru decor.  I love these little heart clowns and the kids do too!

I'm the dork posing with the Valentine's Coke can...this is Debra's obvi.  I am a Pepsi girl!!

Valentine's is Coming!

I have what will no doubt be a spectacular Valentine's weekend ahead of me.  For now though I thought I would let those much wiser than me say a few things worth repeating.

Happy Birthday Sherrie Lee!!!

Dearest darling, oldest friend you are in fact getting quite old. I can say this as I am, and always will be 2 months and 13 days older than you. :)

We have had quite the adventure you and I, from 11 year old girls to 28 year old women.
From the old days shooting looks at each other across the church sanctuary that could speak volumes to these modern times when we text a novel across town during church.
We have gone from me watching you play in the band at high school football games to driving to Cola for Gamecock football.
We have stood on the sidelines through one another’s most joyous moments and also stood to bear witness to the saddest times.
We can quote deleted scenes from Juno and dance to Sandstorm.
You are in fact my opposite on so many things and yet you are always equal to the task of being there for me.
We have shared many years of friendship, a few years of geographical separation, many pepperoni and mushroom pizzas, and even a car. (Maxie sends her regards.)
Dearest, I wish for you many more birthdays because in the words of the great Winnie the Pooh if you live to be 100, I want to live to be 100 minus one day (or in my case minus 2 months and 14 days) so that I never have to live a day without you.
Thanks for everything and everything to come!

Calvary's "Souper Bowl" 2010!

Last night was super fun!!!!
I love our church's Super Bowl party and it was Souper with lots of different kinds of vegetable soups, chili beans and some amazing chicken and rice soup that took fisrt place inthe cook off that my pastor's wife Barb made.
Cynthia made onion rings and I got to help (sort of like"Shake and Bake" LOL...although I got both hands going in the flour mixture and the butter milk and made everything soggy including my fingers...I know better now.
I have never seen so much junk food ever.  I didn't eat all day so I could pace myself through all 4 quarters and eat some of everything.  I think the total tally on the tables was 7 crock pots of soup/chili, 5 pizzas, 3 bags of wings, 2 cobblers and ton of brownies and cookies and ever ground hog meat served up with crackers (I skipped that!)
The game was fun too!  I pulled for the Saints.  Everyone else else in my circle of friends pulled for the Colts...yay me for having better picking abilities!!! :)
During the game I also worked on a certain birthday present and got the friends to pitch in and help.  Will post pictures of that later once madam birthday girl has recieved her gift.
For now here is my favorite picture of the night.  My pastor in his flip flops sitting back watching the game yelling "GO PACKERS!"  Bless him.

Oh and here are my fellas all engrossed.

I don't remember what was happening at this point but Paul sure is thinking it over awfully hard.

I didn't take the camera out until the 4th quarter so alas that's all I got.  Oops.

Beauty Products Commerical

Here lately my skin and hair have gone through some sort of strange metamorphoses. Usually when the seasons change, I have to change products but this has been insane. My hair got this really bizarre greasy spot at the crown of my head and all of the scrubbing in the world just couldn’t get it clean. In addition, my skin has been more dry that usual especially at the hair line. All of this is totally TMI, but this has brought me to find some great new products to my beauty routine.

First in the hair department.  A change of shampoo was in order.  After trying a couple different brands I have fallen in love with Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship.

It really get's my hair CLEAN but doesn't leave the ends all dry and crunchy.  Now that my hair is getting long again this is a fabulous product for me!

My other new favorite I have to give props to the Rachel Ray Show for.  She had a stylist on talking about the best types of hair brushes for a woman to have.  One that she showed was a teasing brush.  I grew up in the 80's and teasing hair brings back nightmarish images of the ladies on Dynasty and Dallas, but I succombed and found a Conair Teasing brush and comb set that I really love.  Actually I don't know what the comb is for.  The teeth are to far apart and my hair just falls through it, but the brush is great for volume at the crown of my hair where mine tends to lay flat and lifeless.

On to my new facial routine.

Loreal has a new facial cleansing product line featuring the "scrublet."  Now I know this sounds like cosmetic propoganda, but I have been using the deep cream cleanser and I love the little scrublet!  It pops out of the center of the bottle and it feels great on your skin while you are using it.  Not only that but my skin has looked and felt alot better since switching to this cleanser.  Even in the dry winter weather I'm not flakey anymore and my complexion is brighter.

Last but not least is my new foundation love!  Everyone who knows me knows I am not much of a make-up kind of girl.  I actually have to force myself to do more than a little mascara and some Blistex on a regular day.  However, Loreal's True Blend compact make up is really fabulous!  It is like a liquid compact make up with great coverage.  All of my old teenage leftover acne reminders are gone with a little of this makeup.  It is very smooth going on and light enough for me to actually wear it.  Now I still have to make myself put it on because I am lazy, but when I do it is totally worth the effort!

That's it for my beauty routine commercial.  Thanks for shopping :)

My New Ami Doll

Many of you know that I have new found love in the crochet world called Amigurumi.  In simple terms it is crocheting toys in rounds with no connectors.  You make each piece and then sew together to make a stuffed animal or doll or what have you.

My newest creation is this little doll who has yet to tell me her name...and I have yet to sew her feet on (which might explain her reluctance to tell me her name)

The pattern is the "Shelly Doll Pattern" from http://www.lionbrand.com/.
I improvised the hair because I really disliked the way it was done on the original pattern.  Many websites I looked at suggested a "wig cap" to latch hook the hair into.  This seemed redundant to me so I sewed the hair line to give myself a place to color in, and then starting at the neck working the hair in rows with latch hook.  I think I got it to thick LOL... I used over half a skein of the brown!
She was alot of fun though and the hair was easy to latch hook on while watching movies on a snow day.

...and I promise she will have feet very soon!