Maybe He'll Be a Preacher Afterall.

So this is something that I forgot to share yesterday when I posted. A week ago yesterday when we were leaving church after the Wednesday night prayer meeting, I notice the church sign. It said, "Congratulations Jody Jenkins, elected co-pastor". I ask Wade if he saw it. Andrew in the very back of the van, pipes up, "What does it say?" So I read it to him and explain that the prior Sunday night while he was in his program for his age group, the church voted Mr. Jody in as a co-pastor. I explained a bit of what that meant. He says, "I'm going to be the next preacher." "Well, that sounds good to us," we replied. Then he adds, "And you better still be going there! Daddy, I may call on you to pray sometime." LOL That boy! Before we were home, he was asking us "How do you get a crown in heaven?" He may very well be the next preacher at our church. I hope so.

Elizabeth has her moments and talks and all but it's Andrew who is full of wit and questions about life that just leaves Wade and me in awe. Next story. Sunday morning, Andrew was dressed in a plaid button down shirt. Wade was brushing his hair in the bathroom when he said, "Look Andrew, our shirts are similar. Yours have stripes that go this way and stripes that go that way and mine does too." He looks at him and Wade said he looked a little insulted as he said, "Daddy, that's horizontal and vertical." Duh, Daddy. He told us that Mrs. Shelley had taught him that. Smart boy! We asked the first and second graders at church if they knew what those directions were called. Blank stares. See, smart boy. ;)

Last night was church. We started having the kids, oh, probably three or more years ago, thank God for two things every night when they pray. I am happy that every night when Elizabeth has been at church that it is one of her two things. I want them to love church and want to go. Wade and I want to foster gratitude in their hearts. We all have so much to be thankful for afterall!

No photo today but here is a video to bring a smile:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_oc1j5NakY

Lots of Photos of the Last Two Weeks (or More).

Another week has gone by and catching up is just not possible! Some of the things that have been going on here and lots of pictures! :)

Last Wednesday night - I believe it was - Larry, my brother, wrecked his motorcycle (dirt bike) while driving on the dirt track on his property. He flipped over his handlebars. He broke his collar bone, a shoulder blade and cracked a rib. When he went to the ER, they did a CTScan and discovered a "nodule" on a lung. So now he'll be seeing a pulmonary specialist. The wreck may have happened so the nodule could be found. We don't know if it's cancer or not yet. He's smoked for many years so it could be, even though he's 35 years old. Mom had called me on Thursday to tell me about it.

Also on Thursday, Wade finally went to the doctor to see about the headaches and other symptoms he has been having. He has been keeping a headache almost constantly for over three weeks. They doctor took four vials of blood to test and met with him for well over an hour. He did a head ex-ray with no luck on what the problem could be. Then he sent him to get a brain MRI. That showed clear as well. Well, not completely clear - there is a brain in there. ;) Yesterday he saw his optometrist. Right now, I think his doctor and optometrist think he is having chronic migraines. This scares me because I had a friend whose husband had the same thing. He had to quit work and get on disability. He basically sleeps all day and cannot function. So PLEASE be praying for us - for Wade and his pain and that the doctors will have wisdom. Also pray for Larry and the pain he's still having from the wreck as he recovers and for the spot on his lungs.

Phillipians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Some catch-up:

From waaaaay back on September 8th. Andrew begging. LOL

I think he begging us to do this - shoot cotton candy with his BB gun. Yes, believe it or not, that IS cotton candy - left over from the fair and very, very hard. Mmmmm. ;)

These photos are from on September 11. It was raining this day. Our first rain in several weeks. Wade and the kids love to go out on our front porch and watch it rain. (I do too.) When Andrew got home from school, he asked if he could go out on the porch. I let him. He put on his boots and cowboy hat and headed out. Around 20 minutes later, I realized I hadn't heard him come back in. I went to check on him and this is what I found! He was pushing his dump truck out in the rain alongside the road. Grrr! Not happy but I did make sure I got some photos. ;) He had grass seed all over him. His cowboy hat was dripping. Notice the red mark on his leg? That was also the day he came home with marker all over his legs. Boys!!

My friend, Crystal's new baby girl, Kaleigh. She was only 11 days old here. I had gone over to help Crystal alter some letters for Kaleigh's room. I caught her in a stretch. Too cute!

The letters . . . nothing special. Crystal wanted to keep them simple. We used My Mind's Eye Confetti line.

Here's a photo of Elizabeth that I took at the soccer games Saturday before last. She put on my sunglasses. I can't decide if I like it better in color or B&W. I used an action I recently purchased by Renee Oakenfull for the B&W photo (BnW Bite) and for the color (Glow). Her other site where she sells her actions - just click here.

We woke up Sunday to see someone had half-heartedly tp'ed (toilet papered) a bush and part of our tree in our back yard. I figured they didn't know us or it would have been done good. Expectedly, there were a couple other houses in the neighborhood that had some of the same type of tp'ing - not enough to wipe your hiney with. Which of course, I'm glad of! Andrew was excited to go clean it up. LOL Before he and Wade went to get it, he asked, "You don't think anyone pooped or peed on it, do you?" By the way, I had heard the neighbor's dogs barking around 4 am that morning and were thinking a lot of evil thoughts about them. I told Wade next time I hear them bark like that, I'm going to get up and turn on our flood lights. Do you see our drought-ridden grass?

So that's been my life! I really want to try to blog better. I do. :) By the way, the photos on the top right is for an Autumn Photo Challenge I'm taking part in. We are challenged to take photos of 50 things that are autumn themed. It's been fun. I'll update my Slide as I take more.

More Wild Animal Adventures.

Yes, I've had more wild animal adventures. Yesterday I was a workhorse cleaning the bathrooms. I had hand scrubbed the two upstairs' bathroom floors and toilets and went downstairs to start on that one. I cleaned one side of the toilet then went to clean the other side when what did my little eyes see but a FROG!!!!
Oh my goodness!! Again, a shriek pierced the air of the Farmer household!! LOL I called my friend/neighbor, Lorrie, who was sad she missed out on the owl adventure. She is a brave woman. She came over and got it for me and put it in a fish tank so I could show the family that afternoon. (I know they were disappointed they missed out on the last adventure so I didn't want them to again.)
This totally grossed me out because I keep my house clean BUT Lorrie and I think it's leg was hurt. My cat probably caught it and had brought it in, and it found the way to the wettest place downstairs - the bathroom. I got him a little grasshopper for dinner. I don't know if he'll eat it but I tried. That DARN cat!!! Grrrr! Before I left to get the kids I checked in on him. It appeared he was trying to drown the grasshopper; he was on top of it in the water part of the tank. He seemed much perkier than when Lorrie first put him in the tank. Last night after Elizabeth's soccer practice, we put him back in the yard. Andrew made sure Daisy didn't come around while we let him go.

Per Andrew's usual request, I made baked spaghetti Monday night for dinner. I made ciabatta bread and a cranberry spinach salad to go with it. I have to share the recipe for the salad. I adapted it from an Allrecipes one, and it is just delicious! I've eaten one for lunch the last two days. Mmmmm!

Cranberry Spinach Salad

1 tablespoon butter
¾ cup almonds, slivered
1 pound spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
½ cup white sugar
2 teaspoons minced onion
¼ cup white wine vinegar
¼ cup cider vinegar
½ cup vegetable oil

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook and stir almonds in butter until lightly toasted. Remove from heat and let cool. In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the toasted almonds and cranberries. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, onion, white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, and vegetable oil. Toss with spinach just before serving. 8 servings.

I tried another new recipe last night. It was okay. Wade and the kids liked it but I won't be repeating. It was Rosemary Chicken. I made broccoli cheese casserole to go with it. Tonight is leftover night, and tomorrow I'll be making Cuban Pork.

Today, I came home from working out and actually took some time to scrapbook. Wow! The first time I've sat down to scrapbook at home in a while - well over a month or two. This is the layout I made:
Here are two recent cards I made for birthdays (Temple and Tyler). Guess who's was who's. ;)
And I took some photos of layouts I made while at the scrapbook retreat in Pigeon Forge last month. Here are a few of them:
I had to ask Andrew's teacher, Mrs. Shelley, something yesterday after school. I also wanted to check and see how he's behaving. She told me that he was just "so creative". She said the first week of school they were talking about or using aprons and he took paper and stapled it all together to make his own apron. It went all the way around him. She took a photo of him. She said she had never seen a student make clothes out of paper and she was impressed. (She's been teaching for well over 20 years too!) I was proud of course!! She made several more statements about his creativity. I knew he was creative in his building and drawing and the ideas he shared with us but Elizabeth is as well so I thought it was pretty normal. I guess not. I was labeled as creative by several teachers growing up - mainly in my writing (stories I made up) so maybe they get part of that from me. Wade says he wasn't creative as a child, but I think we all express some form of creativity in our lives. I think Wade's is how he thinks through and solves problems at work. He's very good at his job - better than most - and is known throughout our area because of it. Look, I have a whole family to be proud of!!! :) I know the Lord has blessed us all.

Here are two quotes I want to end with. They are from the e-devotional I get daily.

He who is not contented with what he has would not be contented with what he would like to have. ~Unknown

A man is about as big as the things that make him angry. ~Winston Churchill

First Game. First Goal.

Andrew had his first ever soccer game last Saturday. He only had one partial practice last Saturday (cut short because of the heat) and then he practiced for about 30 minutes before his game. Well, his team did not win but our son scored one of the two goals!! He scored the first one. Wade and I were so proud of him! His coach was VERY proud as well and picked him up and twirled him around. :) It was sweet. Then he had him give him five. I about cried. LOL

The team he was playing against had some good players - not your average K4 and K5 players. He had two boys vying for the ball when he kicked it between them and into the goal. Yay Andrew!!

It was time for the rotating substitution right after so he got to come out to rest. We were all having him give us five. He was beaming.

His game was at 12:00 and Elizabeth's was at 1:00. Most of the games except this one and one other will be played at the same time. That's good and bad. We won't be at the soccer fields all day but we won't get to watch all their games. Elizabeth played a great game too. Her team won! She probably played the best I've ever seen. This is her second season playing soccer. She's improved so much since last year. (I edited this photo like this so you could see Elizabeth kicking the ball. It was a quick edit job! ;))

I love this photo of her and her new friend, Aubrey. Aubrey has the prettiest blue eyes! They were out of the game at the same time. They were sitting together in this chair and I thought looking so cute. Just being girls! (Used my "glow" action on this photo.)

I was supposed to be at an all day crop on Saturday but just didn't feel like going. I really didn't want to go the night before but thought I might after the kids' games. On the contrary. I felt tired and sort of bad so I laid down for a bit. I woke up and discovered I was very sunburned on my neck and chest. Ugh! It still hurts today but not constant as it has up until today. It worries me a bit. I'm afraid it'll mess with my skin cells and I'll get melanoma again.

Elizabeth and Wade are at soccer practice right now. I have to finish giving Andrew a bath. I need to post about my latest wild animal adventure that happened today. Maybe when the kids are in bed . . .

Labor Day Weekend in Pennsylvania.

I picked Elizabeth up at 11 Friday morning and we started on our trip. Well, not before a photo of us starting our adventure.

I bought Elizabeth and Andrew disposable cameras for our weekend trips. Andrew and Wade were going to Pikeville to the annual dove hunt at the farm. Andrew has been wanting a disposable camera since we bought one for Elizabeth for school. It was on her class supply list.

Elizabeth insisted I pack her lunch instead of us stopping somewhere so I had picked me up something before I got her. We drove probably four hours before our first stop. That was only because I needed to use the bathroom (not her) and we needed gas. We drove through five states counting, TN: Tennessee, Virginia (the bulk of the trip), West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. All up interstate 81. Yep, Elizabeth and I took photos as we drove down the interstate of all the welcome signs. :)

Traffic was fine until we were about 20 miles from our exit and some crazy guys were tailgating me - cars beside me, ten cars in front of me, no where to go. This is one of my pet peeves. I think sometimes I would love to have one of those running digital signs on my back window to give nice little comments to drivers behind me such as "there's no where to go, back off!". I'm sure I've thought of other things to put up there too. All nice, of course. ;) Anyways, Elizabeth was gabbing away at this point and I told her she needed to be quiet and pray for mommy because I was getting a little stressed and starting to shake. Eventually, my anger got the best of me and I slammed on my brakes. That worked. The crazy guy was holding up his hands like "what was that for?". Again, I needed the sign to answer his question (nicely!).

When we got off the exit, Ben and Stacy's townhouse was easy to find - and not far. Elizabeth was excited to see the dogs - Sixtus, Pounder and Tanner. They were excited to see her as well and one jumped up on her and scratched her face and neck. She didn't care though - she had her "cousins" for the weekend to play with her.

Ben and Stacy moved to Pennsylvania last month (from Alabama) to start law school. They are both going. They have started a new chapter - possibly entitled "Our Adventurous Life". Add to the mix that they are having their first child - due October 4th (if I remembered right). Obviously, God had other plans though for his delivery. With their busy lives, they haven't had time to fully get ready for the baby. Stacy had even had a scare the weekend before I came and she still hadn't packed a bag. LOL

So when I arrived, I saw a need. I had to get these two busy people ready for this baby!! I unpacked boxes, washed blinds and windows, moved furniture, washed the baby's clothes and Stacy and I put together the bassinet. Their townhouse is three stories counting the basement downstairs where the washer and dryer were. I probably lost a pound or two while I was there. ;)

Ben and I cooked breakfast and dinner the days I was there. We went to lunch at the Chocolate Cafe on Saturday. That was a neat place to eat. It's an old church. The smell of it inside reminded me of Granddaddy Clemmon's house (Wade's grandfather) - the old wood smell with almost a hint of moth balls! LOL Elizabeth had voted that we eat outside but she got too hot and didn't feel good. I didn't find out what was bothering her until we were back at their place and she had cooled off. I don't think she wanted to admit that her choice to eat outside caused her to feel bad.

A happy girl and Sixtus:

We had a great visit with them. Elizabeth said she wished she could stay for a week by herself with them so she could be with the dogs. She loves them that much. She doesn't like Nana's dog, Lily, this much which I haven't figured out yet. Maybe Lily is too hyper for her.

I've been playing with the new actions I bought for Photoshop Elements. I used the "glow" action on these two shots of the dogs. This is Pounder.

This is Sixtus:

Unfortunately, I didn't get any good shots of Tanner. She's the "baby" of the family. She's six years old but a smaller breed of the Airedale Terriers.

So here's a pregnant Stacy:

And here's baby Benjamin Stone Farmer:

Yep, he was born two days after I left. He was born a week ago today (the day of my owl adventure) around 6 pm. He was 5 pounds, 6 ounces and 18 inches long. She was taking medicine to stop contractions after the incident over that one weekend but her water broke around midnight Tuesday and he was born the next day. I guess it was a good thing I came and did what I did! I was just happy to help and visit with them. (Oh and watch the Sound of Music three nights in a roll! LOL)

We plan on going in a month to see him IRL (in real life). I can't wait! :) I'm hoping to make that our weekend to go to a pumpkin patch too. I thought it would be fun for the family (and hopefully Ben, Stacy & Stone - I think that's what they're calling him, at least, Stacy is - will come).

Tomorrow is grocery day, work out day and Bible study day. I've enjoyed the book we've been studying, Created to be His Help Meet by Debi Pearl. I sincerely think it has helped me in the few weeks I've joined. If it works out then I hope to start a study of the book with a group at our church when I'm done. We have a lot of stay-at-home-moms who could come. There are a couple of groups already that meet at our church but they are seem to be older groups. I would love to have a group more my age (twenties and thirties).

Now I'm behind on the last two weeks of my life!! I guess I will try to catch up soon.

My Adventures in Wild Animal Rescuing.

This story has already debuted at SBO last week, but it's a good one for those who haven't heard it and it's the FULL STORY. Not all the details here were given at SBO. ;) I have to remember it ALL for when I scrapbook this adventure. :)


Wednesday of last week, I had started a good morning - took the kids to school, worked out, showered, came home and was ready to get some housework done. I walk downstairs to start a load of laundry as soon as I get home and see Andrew had closed the blinds. I go open them and see Daisy peering in and wanting some food. So I go to feed her. I have learned (after stepping on a dead mouse - ugh!) to slowly open the door to Wade's workshop and look before I step in. Thankfully, I did on this particular day because I open the door to this:


I shrieked and quickly closed the door. I walk outside and unlock the door from there and leave the door open for a bit, hoping the owl will fly out. No such luck. I posted about it at SBO to sort of think out loud, wondering what to do. The owl is hurt but very much alive. It turns it head to look at me - only one eye working.



Per SBO sistas' request (and not knowing what else to do), I called the local animal shelter/animal control here. They directed me to call the local Wild Animal Rescue Center, so I do. I tell the man what's happened and ask if that is something they help with. He says, "yes, and we care for the animals and nurse them back to health free of charge." Great! So let me give you directions to my house! Ha ha ha! Nope, *I* take the owl to him. This requires sort of touching the owl, right? Well, not me. I use a box and turn it sideways and use Wade's shoe to push him in. I told that man I was afraid of it. I could just envision it deciding it's not too hurt after all and making me his next meal.


The man tells me he's in a city (Elizabethton) about 30 minutes away but after he's given me the directions, I realize it's more of 45 minutes away (Stoney Creek!!) AND when I drive it, it was exactly 39 miles away! I hope the owl feels loved! Before I took the turn on the road the man's center was on, I started noticing all the roads were called either "_____ Hollow" or "______ Branch" - yes, folks, I was in the backwoods! LOL I didn't have ANY cell phone reception. My phone said "no service." Thankfully, I had called Wade to inform him of what I was doing and where I was going so that "if I get kidnapped or killed, you will know where to start looking". Yes, I said that (just in case!). After I turn off the main road, I have another road and then another that turns into a gravel road - gravel, one lane, no other turns - a "hollow" as he had put it. Exhibit A:


The gravel road is about a mile. I even pass one of those things that alerts people that someone is approaching. Great! They're either hiding the marijuana or getting their guns out. Hmmmm . . . maybe both! LOL


So I pull up to see this man with an old floppy hat, overalls, and several dirt bikes, a couple of four-wheelers (quads for those who prefer that word), and a backhoe laying around. I see a woman there as well so I feel sort of safe. (BTW, I took a few others photos for reference just in case something bad happened. I guess I've watch waaaaaay too many CSI episodes.) I fill out info and the lady takes the owl back to examine. The man tells me there are only 30 wild animal rescue centers in TN and some of them only take certain animals such as just turtles or reptiles. Despite his looks, he was very intelligent. Rescuing wild animals was obviously their life's purpose.


They had a board with lots of photos of animals they'd rescued. There's one of the lady feeding five or six fawns at one time with some contraption they've made with six bottles all stuck together. He said they average 30 a year they care for. Plus, there were foxes, opossums, more owls, wildcat, etc. He tells me they get "no funding" twice. I think that was his way of putting the tip jar out there. ??? I didn't have any money to give him though and I had just paid $10 in gas to drive there.


Trying to be health conscience, I had drunk a bottle of water on my adventure and after that bumpy gravel road had to ask to use their bathroom. Even though we were the only three people in a three room modular type building, I still locked the door! Ha ha! Wade had instructed me to call him when I left but it was a while before I could because my cell phone had no reception.


So THAT was my adventure with the owl. I had that baby seatbelted in to Elizabeth's booster seat (in the box) b/c I knew lots of curvy roads were ahead and I wanted him to be safe. Oh, by the way, he is a SCREECH OWL and was full grown. They said he was probably hit by a car and on the ground when Daisy got him.

I thought about looking into more info about their rescue center and see if the kids' school want to do anything for them. I know they took up a LOT of supplies and stuff last year for the local animal shelter. It's called the Wynn*Wood Wildlife Rehab. I found out later that the man (Keith) and woman (Geri) are married. He never referred to her as his wife, so I wasn't sure. She drove back and forth to UT (in Knoxville) to complete 400 one-hour sessions to become a veterinarian technician so they could care for the animals. (Found this info per this site.) They take in and care for well over 900 animals a year! National Wildlife Refuge Week is October 7-13, 2007 so I thought it would be a great time promote this wildlife rehab center!


I've been instructed to get information and submit it to the headmaster at the school. I'll update how that goes.


Next, I need to post about my trip to Pennsylvania and what's been going on here of late!