10 days with the grands

Day 1....I did my bible  study early this morning.  I  took pity on the kids and let them sleep late, 8:00 because of last nights chaos.  Set them up in different rooms to do their school work and checked  on them.  Mark and I took all morning pricing stuff from the trip and doing schedules and end of trip report.  When  we all got through with our work, we ate a late lunch and headed to Monticello to stock store .  We  stopped by the grocery store for mini hamburger buns and spent $65.00 before getting out of there. When we got home home we went on a hike.  We turned right before the pecan orchard and found a new route.  It was around  the back side of a pond with beaver huts and dams.  Because we have not had much rain, the pond was almost dried up.  So, we went boggin in the mud.  Each step was an adventure.  Riley  lost his shoe and Becca  lost her boot.  We noticed a slight role reversal with Riley.  He started going first and jumping over the  gully. Then he would turn around and tell us which way to go and to be careful.  Becca  giggle a lot and kept saying this is fun.  They were both disappointed when we finally found dry land with no mud.  Needless to say Mark and I were glad to find that dry land.  We got home and made sliders with our new cooker that we bought last week.  Mark and kids played on computers while I folded clothes.  We all went to bed early....

we're back and we hit the ground running

We got back Monday night and thanks to Drew, we were able to have a family supper.  Tuesday morning, I began our new Beth Moore bible study and picked up Olivia.  Mark went up town to get new glasses, service the van and go to the grocery store.  We knew the Becca and Riley would be here in time for supper, so Mark prepared everything so that it would only take 15 minutes when they got here.  Drew, brought the kids in around 6:00 and Riley ran into the back room saying that he had to do two test before he could do anything else.  We had not heard from Clint and Anna about picking up Olivia. Mark did not know when to start cooking.  Should we try to eat before or after the pick up of Olivia.  Riley's test were taking a long time.  I did not know how much I could help him, if any. The house was a mess and I had not even finished the mountain of clothes from the trip.  I felt like throwing up my hands and saying" Calgon, take me away" (old commercial for you young folks).
Any way , it all worked out, Parent came and got Olivia,  we had a nice supper, talk to Phillip to find out more about  this virtual school thing, and put the kids to bed.  Tomorrow is another day.

computer control

When my son Clint sits in front of a computer, He is in control.  If a problem arises, he can analyze the problem and fix it.   When I sit down at a computer, I know that the computer does not like me and can come up with all kinds of ways to drive me crazy.  Things  appear and disappear a will.  I am not in control and I can not fix it.

Studying James with Beth Moore

Our Bible study group finished the year by studying the book of James, Now we are studying James with Beth Moore.  It became obvious in the introduction class that  we will be studying about the man James and his family ties and comparing them to our family ties before we study the Book of James.  I love bible study and the group of ladies that come together on Tuesday mornings  to study and pray and talk.  We all seen to love to talk, especially me. Beth has challenged us with 5 levels of study.  If you read this and would like to join us, it is not too late.  Go by FBC and pick up a 15 dollar work  book from the front desk. You can start on page 15,( week one), doing 5 days of study and a bonus at the end of the week. You may watch the  introduction tape at the church during the week, but that is not necessary  to join. Then come to the conference room next to the church library at 9:00 A.M. on Tuesday morning  . Hope to see you there.

12 men

We ate breakfast at a local diner near our hotel. In the center of the room was a long table with men sitting around drinking coffee and  talking.  When the last man came in, they bowed their heads and the man at the head of the table prayed.  Mark  and I bowed our heads and felt like a part of the group for just a moment. 12 senior men with obvious affection for each other and love for the Lord.  In the center of the table was a jar full of money with a sign that said, "for the church".  What a testimony.

The coldest morning of the year, we happen to stay in a hotel where the heater went out during the night.  The solution of the management was to bring us an extra blanket and a fan for noise.  So, I woke up a little grouchy and cold.  Sitting at the next booth was a couple and I spoke to them. The man said, what a great day...I woke up, it's a nice cool day and the sun is shining.  He stood up to leave and his wife was sitting there trying to clean the table before leaving.  He kept saying come on honey, it's alright, they can clean up the mess.  She was saying," I know, I just can't help myself."  He looked up at me and smiled and said,"I have the sweetest wife in the world,  have a nice day."... my day was already better by that brief encounter .  The couple happen to be black, and I thought to myself, what if every child had that kind of male influence in their life.  What a different world we would have.

Genesis

I finished reading Genesis today on the way home.  It was kind of like reading a novel.  This year I plan to read the Bible through and to study different books and do Bible study with the ladies.  I have decided that I will not live long enough to read and understand as much I would like.  But I am going to die trying.

Home Again, Home Again

I know that it has only been two weeks since we left home on the 26th of December, but after all, that was last year and a lot has happened, So, it seems like we were gone for months instead of weeks.

There is a  very nice bonus to having my son Drew, the chef home. All I had to do was call him this morning and ask him to please cook, so that I could ask all the kids to come over for supper.  Wow, he out did himself, supper was great.  We really enjoyed the noise and chaos of having the three grands over and our kids sitting around the table, once again discussing things that we did not understand.

I love traveling and I love coming home to family.