Before I Was a Mom

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether
or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on.
I had complete control of my
mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming
child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom

May you always be overwhelmed by the Grace of God rather than by the cares of life.

I have a new granddaughter

Annabelle Lillian LeBlanc

born April 6th, 2009

6 lbs 15 oz.

19 inches long

Red envelope project

I have received this e-mail from a few of my friends. Something really easy to do that makes a statement.

Be sure & visit the web site after you read below with more info on this.

Dear Friends and Intercessors:
This afternoon I was praying about a number of things, and my mind began to wander.

I was deeply distressed at the symbolic actions that President Obama took as he began his presidency.

Namely, that he signed executive orders releasing funds to pay for abortions, permission to fund human stem cell research, and federal funding for contraception.

I have been involved in the pro-life movement for nearly 20 years, and it pained my heart to see a man and a political party committed to the shedding of innocent blood. This man, and this party lead our country, but they do not represent me or the 54% of Americans who believe that abortion is wrong and should no longer be legal.
As I was praying, I believe that God gave me an interesting idea. Out in the garage I have a box of red envelopes. Like the powerful image of the red LIFE tape, an empty red envelope will send a message to Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue. It will be quiet, but clear.

Here is what I would like you to do:
Get a red envelope.
You can buy them at Kinkos, or at party supply stores.

On the front, address it to...

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Washington , D.C. 20500-0001

On the back, write the following message:

This envelope represents one child who died in abortion.It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world.Responsibility begins with conception.

Put it in the mail, and send it. Then forward this email to every one of your friends who you think would send one too. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died before having a a chance to live. Maybe it will change the heart of the President.

Tell me that this is not a baby------

My 2nd granddaughter Annabelle Lillian that is coming in April may disagree. Here she is at her last appointment. She was caught napping with her hand on the side of her face & under her chin.

Before I was a Mom

Before I was a Mom, I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.


Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.



Before I was a Mom, I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.



Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.



Before I was a Mom, I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.



Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.



I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.



My kids in a church photo a few years ago. They are now 22, 11 & 7 years old.

What a blessed life I have!

On my way dropping off the boys for school this morning I always listen to my favorite local radio station. Wizard 106 from Tupelo, MS. For the last couple of weeks they have been giving away tickets for the Brad Paisley concert in Southhaven. My daughter has been listening to every give away trying her best to win tickets.
They ask the question....You may know Ricardo Montalban from his Fantasy Island role but what was his character name in his Star Trek role? He also played in a couple of movies of Star Trek. I can't beleive I even remembered the name of the movie. I threw that in but that didn't get me anything extra.
Well get to the point already!
I won 2 tickets to the concert in SouthHaven along with his CD.
The answer was Khan & it was Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan movie.
I am no Treky but I did pretty good. I immediately called Alicia to see if she was listening for tickets. She said yes but time has passed & they are about to announce the winner. I told her to turn the radio back up! She said but they already did it. I repeated turn the radio back up! All of a sudden a lady came on that called & her answer was Darth Vader. WRONG. Then my sweet (cough cough) strong southern accent came on. I had the answer. I am still in shock I won. Well Alicia said have fun but I told her I wasn't going. I was giving the tickets to her. She was so excited. They are getting ready to leave as I type. Have fun.
Now if that had of been Rod Stewart or Toby Keith or Trace Adkins I would not have given those tickets to my own mommy.

Elves watching

I had to go to my church Wednesday morning to make some copies for my M&M's class that night. While there I ran across a little surprise while I was on my way out the door.

See me previous post of Christmas Traditions about the Shelf Elf. I just think this is just the cutest thing. The tradition not the elf. He is kind of freaky looking.

It was at the door where all the little kids are picked up from day school. I told my boys while I was snapping a pictures (Yes...I had my camera with me) I thought I seen him blink. Just funny to tell my big boys they better be good because elves are always watching from somewhere.

My daughter & I (with my granddaughter Abbi) went shopping today for Christmas presents. We hit a few stores & did get some gifts. Seems mostly for Abbi. Well honestly I am the grandma/nana. That's my duty. We stopped back by my house to drop off some things before I took them back home & I gave her the Christmas Pickle I had found for her. I found pickle ornaments at a local store here. Village Green on Main Street had them but when I asked if they had a spider they looked at me weird. Come on...you have a pickle & you think a spider is wierd. They were all sweet but it was funny.

Baby News

My daughter is expecting her second baby.

She found out Thursday it is another girl.

My granddaughters first picture.

Boy what a day

Well another Halloween has come & gone. I say good riddance. I usually get the house all spooked up. We put out some decorations put not many this year. We are the house with fake spider webs on the porch with spooky music playing in the window. We don't get much of a chance to hand out candy. We usually take the boys around the neighborhood to trick or treat & by the time we make it back the biggest crowd has already come. We get some die hards still out late but by the time they come I am in my PJ's & warmed up from being out. The late ones do rack up on candy because to keep from eating it all myself I grab a large handful & dump it in their bags. Not the boys haul though. I don't have a death wish. As a kid I used to be really excited over my take at Halloween because we didn't get alot of candy other than Halloween. My boys are just spoiled from getting it all year. They have gotten into it some but not real bad. It is so weird how when they put it all in a tub together there was lots of little chocolate goodies. But when they go back it seems to have diminished. Weird! Right! wink. wink.
Well the door to door stuff was pretty good BUT....always a but.
Earlier in the day I noticed my toilet & washer acting funny. For treat or treating people in our neighborhood ride 4wheelers, golf carts or mowers around. Saves alot of steps. One year we decorated our mower to look like a train. This year not as elaborate.

Well get on with the night. Hubby came home from work, the boys were dressed up & it was getting dark. I had hitched the wagon to the mower. While in the front yard the boys & I heard a loud POW. we all went & looked toward the garage door. I thought at first someone had egged our garage door. We live on a cul-de-sac. No one had came in & not from the side. We would check the inside when we got back. Hubby driving the mower & the boys & I were in the wagon. We started out of the yard & the tire was flat on the wagon. We turned around went back to the garage to get some air in the tire from my husbands shop. We hit the remote & the door would not go up. (Remember the POW sound.) Well he went around to the side door & tried from inside. It would not go up. Deal with it when we get back.
We made our trip around the "Hood" as we call it. We get back home & pull the mower & trailer to the door. We get inside & put our stuff down & turn the lights on to alert trick or treaters "We Are Back". One the my boys comes to me & says " Why is the cats feet wet". Oh no, Did the little snot turn his bowl over? No, not something simple in this house. The toilet had erupted & had flooded my laundry room. Great! It seems at times all I do is clean messes. I always get stuck with the dirty work. Well the garage door is jammed & so is the toilet. Hubby come in & starts calling garage door places at night. He does talk to someone who promises to come out the next day & look at it. No problem! WRONG! Hubby has to be at work the next day & both the boys have a b'day party to go to. Ok, what is the problem? Both vehicles are stuck inside the garage. Well this great man comes & gets our door up in between jobs. He comes back later & replaces our springs & we are sprung.

While he is here, the plumbing guy is here also running a snake through our drain line outside. Since the half bath is not really used chances are something went through my line from the washer. Still can not be sure. We are always missing a sock here & there so I am convinced that is where they are going. I have a stash of socks that are missing a mate hoping the mate will come back some day but that ship has sailed. But as sure as I throw it away I will find it.

Well I have used the garage door several times, washed a few loads of laundry, ran my dish washer & all seems to be ok. Never gonna get this house back on the market. At this rate we will have all new pieces in this house.

Here is how my granddaughter got from house to house in the "Hood". What a life!

My daughter went for her ultrasound today....All is well & we will have another baby girl soon. Not sure of the date. I know...bad grandma. That will be another story later.

Jump back a day!

Well can I actually get two post in one night?

I posted about my day but now the weekend.

We still have Cub Scout popcorn sell going on & had another 3 hour shift at Sam's Club to sell. The boys actually did pretty good which was my two & one of my Tigers from my den. They stalked errr...waited outside the exit door for customers leaving & ask if they would like to help support the cub scouts by buying popcorn. Some people ignored them but some nice people actually stepped over & bought. One guy actually said "he did not recognize the Scouts". Don't even get me started. That's another post in itself. Well we were tired & cold & finally got home about 9:30 that night & we were T-I-R-E-D. The boys want to know can we do it again Saturday............NO NO NO. All my two did was fight & punch each other the whole time & run everywhere not paying attention. One of my sisters has two boys & I ask her ALL the time "please tell me it gets better." I miss baby dolls & doing nails! Boys are not wired that way. Thank God.

Hubby was home all weekend. Before the weather turns to cold we hoped to get the 4 wheelers out & take to the land. Chris' had been acting up for a bit. Hubby got it out early Saturday to do a quick thing to it but nothing here is simple. He was stumped so it is off to the repair people. Here we go again! He gave up, we got the other one loaded & headed to a friends house to pick up his big 4 wheeler. Wait, we need to switch the little one to the back of the truck because both will not fit on the trailer, get gas in a can, air in the tire, the boys are hungry, We are never going to get there. We are trying to find a place in Pontotoc to pull the trailer in safely to get gas & guess what blue lights behind us. Yes, a city cop. We must have attracted attention looking for a station. No my husband was speeding. He didn't argue. He was. Proof of insurance. Guess what not in the truck. It was our leased vehicle we were turning back in so all of it was removed from the glove box. We decided to buy it instead but none of the papers were put back in. I guess the officer thought we looked honest enough & let that part slip. I now have it at my side ready to go back in the truck tomorrow. Well we try to proceed onto the land. We get there & are met by some wild turkey crossing the driveway in. Pic attached. We are now at the spot we will call home hopefully soon. All is well in the Pa'tty World. All three guys got muddy. Chris even had muddy underwear from riding. That is some serious mud riding. I weed eated around some trees, cleaned off my cats grave who I still miss something fierce, played with my toy (Nikon camera), road a 4 wheeler through the woods & back out & took a deep breath because by that time the sun was going down. Turned out to be a good Saturday ticket & all.

At church the next morning with Operation Christmas Child in full swing I have had things I have had to do. We picked that day to give out the empty boxes that Samaritans Purse provides. Only about 250 were passed out. We had a really great time doing it. Pic attached. Hopefully they come back all full to send over seas.

Shelley Farmer (Director of Childhood Education)

(me) Katrina Potter Patty (OCC coordinator for HBC)

Dale Taylor (volunteer for OCC)

Kathryn Walden (volunteer for OCC)

Rev. David Langerfeld (Associate Pastor)

Rev. Tim Alexander (Minister of Education & Single Adults)

Our 2 boys both have b'days this month & their grandparents sent them some money that was burning a hole in their pockets. Sunday after church we went to Wally World to spend that hot money. The boys both got toys since you know they don't have any. The pitiful things. S-P-O-I-L-E-D to the bone. Man time is passing quick. The boys are 7 & 11 this month. Our daughter turned 22 this past summer. Different seasons of our lives. Changes come. We deal. Me not as much. I do deal with it but in some ways I look back & wish for the old times. People are what I miss the most. Father, mothers, sisters & nephews that have passed. Time heals wounds. A blogger friend is having to bury a nephew soon. What I read of him all says he was a great guy & you wonder why was it his time. But it is God's time not ours. God has plans for him & he needed him now. My heart breaks for the family having to say their goodbye's. Patty I will be thinking of you. Please keep this sweet family in your prayers.

Well it is getting late. I have bible study tomorrow. I still need to finish the booth tomorrow. My husband comes back from a quick business trip that he left early this morning on. My oldest son has a b'day & I need to get a fire lit under me to get some painting finished around here. Got to get this house sold. Now I will try to download some pics for you to view. Click on them for a larger view.

Happy Birthday Alicia

~HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY TO MY FIRSTBORN~

ALICIA

Seems like yesterday that these photo's were took. Now she has her own baby in her lap. Happy birthday to my daughter. We love you.

Mom, Dad & your brothers