FREE Music, and it's good.

Sometimes free music is offered and it isn't even worth being free. Today, this is not the case.

You have one more day to download Owen Pye and The Sunday School Band's album...and it is free...and it is definitely worth being free...it is worth more than free.

Go here or here.


Oh, and you may want to continue following them if you don't already. You wouldn't want to miss out on something big, would you?

Thanks for supporting Owen and his band!

Finding Fall

I used to waffle between two seasons - which was my favorite, spring or fall? Today I officially claim fall as my favorite season, spring a close second. The problem is, there is not much of a fall in the panhandle. I often say that one of the things I miss most about the Midwest is the change of the seasons. I am especially missing it this year. It is still hot, still humid and the a/c is still humming away while the windows are tightly shut. I'm ready to turn off the a/c and throw open the windows but if I did that now we'd be one hot, stinkin' mess.

I suppose you could say I am lamenting fall. I'm just ready for sweatshirts with flip flops and for Addie's cheeks to be pink with cool instead of heat. The leaves don't turn colors here. As Sabian says, everything just turns brown and dies and then comes back green again. It's true, there isn't much of a transition and about the only sign I see of fall is that our grass is turning brown. That could also be for the lack of rain in these parts but I'd like to believe that if it is a sign of fall, then cooler weather is behind the brown.

Another sign of the season lately, and one I really like, is the full moon we've had for the last few nights. Tuesday night we had a few kids from church over and we were outside playing around when I saw a flutter out of the corner of my eye. An owl had flown to one of our neighbor's trees and was watching us. I'd never seen one so close and it was mesmerizing. Sure, that might sound a little cheesy, but it really was. The way it moved its head, blinked its eyes, and blended in to the surroundings was very cool. Addie could even see it and kept saying, "Ow, ow!" However, I did not like how it eyed my daughter as though she was potential dinner. I've been assured it would not have swooped down and attempted to grab her but as she was the smallest of our bunch I don't doubt that the thought ran through its mind. Unfortunately, I have no photos because it was too dark. But trust me, it was something to remember.

Hopefully next week we'll get to experience fall as we head (slightly) north. Our vacation plans have changed and we're now leaving earlier than planned but I am excited to get away. I'll share more as our plans unfold!

I am thankful for a productive errand day with a well-behaved girl and for the arrival of my friend Nicole this weekend!

Since I have no relevant photos for this post, how 'bout a flashback to Addie from last September?

Bedhead

It is the calm between the storms. I'm knocking things off of my "to do" list and it feels good. Although my morning plans changed last minute the switch allowed Addie to sleep in until 10 (after she decided to wake up a few hours earlier and hang out for a bit. Sigh.) and have a slower morning until we went to church to have lunch with the Golden Agers (our senior adult group), run around church and then accomplish an errand before coming home for nap time.

This is where we are now. I was about to lay down before I thought I might be able to get some things done before the next event takes place tonight. We have kids coming over to hang out and get geared up for getting up early tomorrow morning for See You at the Pole. Funny, having them over the night before they have to get up early, but the plan is for it
to be a short hang out. We're not even sure we'll have many, as it is also Homecoming week and there are umpteen other activities taking place.

So, in the midst of these, I thought I'd sit and share some Addie bedhead photos. Who can resist a good bedhead? This is what ensued:








Man, I sure do love this girl!

I am thankful for our upcoming vacation! Details to come.

Mixed Bag

Is it really Thursday already? There are weeks that I wonder how much longer it can feel and others that speed by, like this one. We haven't been doing too much of note, but it seems to have moved right along.

One last note from the past weekend - after a busy Friday and Saturday we had a somewhat leisurely Sunday. It was Pastor Appreciation Day so I did not have to cook due to a church lunch after Sunday morning service AND we had no service that night. If you know me or have read this blog for any length of time, you know how I feel about no Sunday night service. (!!!!!)

That afternoon we were invited to a birthday party luau, where Addie wowed the crowd with her limbo skills. Unfortunately, due to a sudden rainstorm, the party was moved from a park to the church, but all the kids still seemed to have a good time.


We then went home, ate bbq leftovers from the party (again, no cooking!) and enjoyed a night off.

This week we resumed our "normal" activities. I don't think I ever thought my normal routine would involve visiting goats on a regular basis.



















We're on the threshold of another busy weekend. And, in talking to Sabian this morning, next week is a packed week. I don't want to think about next week yet! The silver lining in all of this busyness is that we are planning a vacation for next month. By the time it rolls around I do believe we will be ready to get out of town!

I am thankful for the cool breeze we had yesterday, which made playing outside bearable.

Marvelous Miscellany

I guess I worked so hard on Monday I decided to take the rest of the week off from posting.

We stuck to pretty much our normal routine this week but still had plenty to do. I was feeling a little less ambitious when it came to coming up with outings for Addie and I so we spent a lot of time outside, milling about around our house. We drew on the sidewalk, dug in the dirt, blew bubbles, played in the water, swam in the newly cleaned pool, enjoyed a play date with Ivory, Micah and Lee Ann...and ran some errands and did all of our "regular" stuff. I even snuck in a couple of naps. It wasn't even really too hot to be out. Today, however, it is pretty warm and there is not much of a breeze. In an effort to summon Fall, I bought these:

So far, it isn't working. Maybe I need to make another pot of soup.

This week also heralded the arrival of these:

Cornhole. Do you play it? These boards are a belated Father's Day gift for Sabian from Addie. A friend of ours, Larry, has made some of these sets and I requested a set for Sabian. They turned out great and he was surprised and excited to see them. Well worth the wait!

Here are a few photos from the week's antics. Notice anything lurking on the chain in the last photo?






When I started this post I was just about to get Addie up from her nap so we could run help some friends before we needed to get to church to feed a band that was playing a youth rally we were having tonight at church. Crazy afternoon/evening, but a good time. And no, I do not make it a habit to wake Addie up from naps. In fact, it is one of my mom rules - never, as long as you can avoid it, wake a sleeping baby. But, every now and then there is an exception. Needless to say, she went right to bed tonight. It was either her 11 o'clock bedtime last night (Sabian took her to a youth rally at another church with our kids - I went shopping!), her early wake up call at nap time today and her 10:30 p.m. bedtime tonight that also helped her sleepy self drift off quickly tonight. Hmm, you think?!

I am thankful for a good, part relaxing, part productive, week.

A Laborious Labor Day

Laboring on Labor Day seems somewhat cliche, but that is what we did. Well, not all weekend. We had to have some fun.

Friday we met up with some friends, Todd and Angela and their son Brett, who were in the area for a few days. We know them from Illinois but we've all since moved from the Land of Lincoln. We had lunch, popped into Carter's for our kiddos and then walked them back to their car. Addie and Brett had fun running around - rather, Brett chasing Addie as she ran every which way - but she did slow down long enough for Brett to hold her hand a bit. This photo was taken just as she was tiring of being tied down.


And this one was taken when she was just plain ol' tired.

Friday night Sabian and volunteers from church were holding down the fort at the concessions stand at the football game while Addie and I chilled out at home. After the news the day before of a new ear infection it was time for some down time. We did end up missing a win for Wewa but it was good that we were home keeping some semblance of a schedule.

Saturday morning we got up and took off for a couple of hours at the beach. We wanted to get there early enough to avoid any potential Labor Day weekend crowds and it is always a good idea to go either before or after nap time so we chose before. Plus, Sabian was committed to setting up a television later that afternoon for a couple from church. Have I mentioned before that he is the unofficial Glad Tidings Geek Squad?




Sunday was Sunday. Addie was a little on the whiny side, which I attribute to a stuffy nose and the aforementioned ear infection. We ducked out of a youth outing after church Sunday night to again head home and get her fed, medicine'd and into bed.

Today we'd planned to do some work around the house. Work that needed to be done but that was a bit dreaded as well. As a result, both vehicles are crumb free, all tires are pumped up, the pool is clean and filled with fresh water and the house is clean. And, thanks to Mr. Miller, our lawn looks great. We rewarded ourselves with dinner out with some friends and a view of the sunset from the pier in Port St. Joe.

Oh, and Addie helped clean, too.


So, there we are. I am thankful for a relaxing and productive weekend and I am very thankful that Addie's stuffy nose seems to have disappeared almost as quickly as it came.

Wanted: Working Brain

As of the first of the week I intended to recap the rest of last weekend and now, here we are at a new weekend.

I do want to mention that we were able to celebrate Addie's friend Ivory's second birthday at her party last Saturday. Lee Ann asked me to make cake pops, which I did, but I am sorry to say they did not turn out like I had pictured them in my mind. Lessons learned, I now know what melting chocolate to use and what doesn't work and I now know 100% that the pops need to be smaller. Thanks, Ivory, for letting me learn through your cake pops! Nevertheless, here they are:


We enjoyed hanging out with Ivory and her friends and family.

This week started almost the same as last week, begging the question, "What will we do and where will we go this week?" The only thing that was different was Addie's runny nose, the one that literally developed over night. We were keeping an eye on her to see how she was doing but that didn't mean we were to be cooped up inside. Here in the Panhandle the temperatures were a little cooler this week so we tried to spend time outside whenever we could. See, you never know when the oppressive heat will choose to wreak its havoc!

Monday morning, a little last minute, I planned on taking Addie to the park. I wanted to take her to Under the Oaks, a park near Panama City that is, well, under a lot of trees. Hence, the name. I also had an errand to run out that way so I figured we could also swing by the park and maybe to McDonald's, as I remembered it was $1.99 happy meal day.

Usually, as I have mentioned before, a trip to Panama City usually takes planning and strategy since we try to accomplish quite a bit when we are there. On this particular morning I did not do any of that, which also meant we were leaving just an hour before normal lunch time, which is typically followed by a nap. I knew this, but pressed on anyway.

We hit the bank first and then the park. We started out really well and the weather was wonderful. It helps that the park is on the water, too. We played, we ran, Addie climbed and she went down a slide all by herself. Then, came the swings. Lately she's had a love/hate relationship with the swing. What she once loved now seems to be a source of frustration. I don't get it. I put her in because she wants in, I start pushing and the screaming begins. I stop. More screaming. So I push. More tears. We usually end one of two ways - either we forget the swing altogether or she calms down and remembers she likes it. We did the former.









It was after this that I decided we would leave the park, head for the drive-thru at McDonald's and make it home for a nap. That sounded great until I realized I'd lost my car key. I had my keys clipped to my belt loop but my car key, which is attached on another ring, had come off. Great. Forty minutes from home, lunch time and I'm stuck. I stayed calm and started retracing my steps through the sand, the leaves and the woodchips and prayed the whole time. I was searching maybe five minutes when a man came up to me and asked if I was looking for a key. Yes! He had found it. Oh, happy day. I was so thankful.

The rest of the day went off without a hitch. We made it to another park later in the week, helped out at church one day and made a visit to the doctor to check on Addie's ear. I feared she had another ear infection and she does. This one isn't as bad and she is on milder antibiotics but I can tell you I am over the ear infections. I am sure Addie is, too. On the same day we went to the doctor I drove off from the bank drive-thru without our money and had to go back an hour later (when I remembered. Thankfully we were still in Panama City and not all the way back in Wewa.)

Oh, and then there's the me getting pulled over Wednesday night as I was taking some of our girls home from youth service. Yes, yes I did. Again, thankfully, the policeman let me go with a warning but not without that feeling in the pit of my stomach leaving too soon.

So, if you see a working brain, let me know.

I am thankful we've made it through this week. Not a bad one, just a little nutty.