VBS 2009

I am always the one behind the camera so it seems weird when I see a picture of myself. A good friend of mine snapped this one of me when I was doing a mission lesson with the kindergarten class during Vacation Bible School at our church a couple of weeks ago. We had great attendence & it went really great.

We were discussing some of the way's to teach the Aboriginal's about Jesus. They do some of it through pictures. Here is a picture I was using that I found on the internet.

Aboriginal art

No housework

This has been my last 2 days.

Still feeling under the weather with this bronchitis stuff.

I did harvest some crops on my sister's fiance farm on Facebook Farm Town.

Got the book

After the rain stopped yesterday I got the chance to run to Reed's Bookstore & got the book. No it is not a reflection! Get it..Reflection. A play on words. The Book "Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia". I got an extra one for my sister that writes.

Time Away

Been spending some time away this week. Be back home shortly.

Meet a great couple in the next condo.

Be sure & visit her Caring Bridge site.

Facebook Updates

It seems I spend a bit of time on Facebook. The thing is I know it. Here are the last few postings I have had. It goes from newest to oldest.

Katrina Potter Patty is off to bed!
Katrina Potter Patty is off the ball games!
Katrina Potter Patty has another busy day. Planning scouts for tonight, working on my Kindergarten Wednesday night lesson for Mission's, contemplating going to the pool company for shock, working on Operation Christmas Child stuff (that's right no typo). Well maybe not a busy day but I could fit a couple of more things in. EVIL EVIL Facebook
Katrina Potter Patty Now how about this one. Nobody puts Baby in the corner!
Katrina Potter Patty Grease is the word is the word is the word.....
Katrina Potter Patty just got back from Operation Christmas Child kick off.
Katrina Potter Patty just watched the local 155th leave from Tupelo. It was so sad. Cars pulled over on the side of the road for them. Motorcycles & Police Officers were leading, following & escorting them.
Katrina Potter Patty is headed to the ball fields AGAIN!
Katrina Potter Patty is headed off to lead a bunch of kindergarteners make Mother's Day crafts. FUN FUN FUN.....really!
Katrina Potter Patty dang I am gonna miss my friends tonight while they are supporting LeBonheur. Think of me while I am sitting at the ball fields.
Katrina Potter Patty Women rule the world...men are just here for the company. Just heard it on a commercial.
Katrina Potter Patty has to take her overweight dog for yearly shots, drop off a riding mower with the trailer, get some mulch, spread it, get ready to teach kindergarteners tonight & hopefully have a Mountain Dew somewhere in between.
Katrina Potter Patty is headed to work on new empty bowls for next years Salvation Army Empty Bowls Luncheon.
Katrina Potter Patty is headed out to a baseball game & then to Boy Scouts.
Katrina Potter Patty is back from a wet & cold baseball practice.
Katrina Potter Patty is relaxing & watching movies with her guys tonight.
Katrina Potter Patty What do you think the purpose of life is? To be useful & make a difference in life.
Katrina Potter Patty Wants everyone to know that you can get you some good seats for Alan Jackson tonight. I just checked online & the good seats that have been held back are being released. Section 102 Row 3 near the stage came up.
Katrina Potter Patty wants to update her blog but can't seem to get the gumption (is that a word) up to do it.
Katrina Potter Patty now has an official Boy Scout in the house. Chris did a crossover ceremony at church tonight. It was really special.
Katrina Potter Patty is waiting on word from family that had straight line winds come through Scottsboro early this morning. Tore the town up pretty bad. Alot of people with no electricity. My sister has power so she took my mom that had no power a pot of coffee. All is well in their life now.

Tupelo sendoff for the 155th

READ MORE ABOUT THE SEND OFF'S AROUND THE AREA

Friday, May 1st: Tupelo sendoff and flag presentation for the 155th Headquarters Company.
Staging at the National Guard Armory next to the Air Traffic Control tower at the Tupelo Airport on W. Jackson St. at 7:15am. The unit will be leaving out between 8am and 8:30am.
RC will be Butch Card (cell 662-523-8948)

I took the boys to school this morning & heard my friend Kelli (who is a Co-Host of "Your Hometown Morning Show" WIZARD 106 in Tupelo) talking about our local 155th leaving Tupelo.

Well I had my camera with me but really just headed over to the Armory to see the goings on. In route I passed the buses, big trucks, motorcycles (Patriot Guard Riders), Police cars & family in a convoy. Cars were pulling over for these guys. RESPECT. That is what came to my mind. These guys need it. I heard they are on their way for training for 2 weeks & then headed out of the country. Some for at least a year. I could not imagine. As I have said in previous post I have great respect for the servicemen & women. I have a ton of family serving.

Keep all these guys in your prayers as they serve our country & protect us.

CLICK ON PICTURES FOR LARGER VIEW

Made from my rear view mirror

When the moon hits the sky like a big pizza pie...

Came out of church tonight & seen this over the top of the back side. It was like a bright shining spot light over top. Isn't God amazing?

Current Temp

Current Temp

Tupelo, Mississippi

22.7 °F
Overcast sky

We have a projected low tonight of 9° F

Now I am sorry but for the South....THAT IS STINKING COLD.

Here is what my sister has in her front yard in Northern Indiana

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.

My little Elves

I am an eBayer & I went on & watched a few items. I ran across these & love they are vintage/old/used. They have history. It says they were bought at an estate auction.

I can't wait to get my little elves in. I may see if my daughter wants to start her tradition with my granddaughters using one of these. I don't mind telling you I only paid $17.50 for all 5 of them.

Nothing

At home today doing..................NOTHING. My sinuses are crazy. Stayed in bed really late. My hubby brought me some Tylenol to the bed when he got home from work. Hyped up on that right now. I hope I shake it by next weekend. Got to much to do between now & then.

Sitting on the couch watching TV.

sniffle, cough, hack, saying oooooohhhhh, pity pity pity. I hate being sick.

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.

M&M's tonight

For our M&M's (Music & Missions) class tonight at church we had a party before we break for Jesus' birthday. All the kindergarteners had a great time. Double chocolate chip cookie, chips, grapes & drink. We had a great time. Since I do the mission & craft part I had little coloring books made for them to take home & bracelets that said Happy Birthday Jesus on them. We ate, talked, laughed & Kathy the one who leads the Music part shared her Nativity barn with them that her father made for her many many many years ago with some figures she has. She read The Crippled Lamb to them. A touching story about a disabled lamb who finds he has a special purpose and place in this world.

Thank you Lord for such sweet people you put in my life that love you & honor you.

Life is Good

Shoeboxes & Scouts & Dinner

Monday started off the Collection Center in Tupelo for Operation Christmas Child. We all have such a great time together talking, laughing & packing boxes. The table & floor is what 2 churches brought in. The boxes are starting to come in. Today was to be a slow day so a couple of us took it as an off day. I did go by to drop off some things (drinks & snacks for the rest of the week) & found out we are running low on cartons. Pat (regional coordinator) started calling around & a box company was gracious enough to donate some cartons to us to pack shoeboxes in. That will be a lifesaver. I ran & picked those up & headed to Wally World after to finish getting things for my dinner for the China guest. While out 3 people mentioned to me they seem us/me on the news. No--- no one was arrested, shot or drug deal gone bad stuff. It was OCChild getting the attention it deserves. I didn't get to watch the news so I didn't get to see it.

Monday night (last night) the Boy Scouts at church hosted the Cub Scouts at church to come outside & join them in activities. We had a nice camp fire but it was so cold outside. I am sitting here now clearing my throat because of it being sore. It was so cold. Did I mention that it was really cold? Jeff & Chris left earlier to go to a store & get some hunting stuff. Here is what Chris got. Minus the scout pants he still has on from earlier.

Well I am about to go to bed so I will finish it with a picture of hubby & myself with our dinner guest on their way to the door. We had such a great time. We talked about kids, husbands, wives, family, jobs, & cultures. Poor Jennifer sat & listened & did not understand a thing. I did have the guys translate some things but I believe they got sick of that after a bit. We had so much fun. Of all places to make a picture was a worst room in the house. The boys playroom.

Jeff, Ken, Toby, Jennifer, myself

Into the week

So much goes on in the week. Not just loading shoeboxes Monday but one of my son's had a check-up Monday with his Ear Nose & Throat doctor. Several weeks ago he had some tiny knots show up in his neck. A parents worst fear. Well after a good thorough exam the doctor seen no real concern. None of the things are present that made him all to concerned. As a parent we still question ourself but I had to trust the doctor & the Lord to watch over my son. Now for the family that follows my blog...Guess which child it is that has given me the concern?.........You have it! Matthew....he does not do anything simple. After all of this it seems to be allergies. He was constantly clearing his throat. We thought it to be habit but it seems to be something else now. He is on a nose spray & pill at night & it has made a big difference. Had to get from the appointment to school & pick up Chris from Chess Club, get home, take a breath, eat a bite & get out the door for scouts. Just a normal Monday.

I am in a bible study at the moment on Wednesday mornings. My SSClass teacher is leading something she has written. Forgiveness. We have done this in class but she has added some to it & put it as a Bible Study. I wish everyone could have the teacher I have. (Sorry K but it is the truth.) Next week is the last week of it & it seems to come to fast.
Chris had a science project due the next day & after church that night we had to hit it hard. It turned out pretty good. It should after buying a hundred dollars of supplies from Hobby Lobby. It is a Decidious Forest. Can't you just tell? Click on the picture & find the deer eating apples from the orchard.

Thursday came & this week my church has a ministry that we got involved in a couple of years ago. It is called Courthouse Ministry. We have the entire week from 9 am to noon each day that we serve coffee & cookies to the people that are waiting for the judge & their lawyers on the second floor. The cookie dough is donated & our kitchen staff cooks them up fresh each morning for us to pick up before we go. Me & another lady from church have to find at least 10 volunteers each time our week rolls around every 3 months. Most churches have stopped doing the ministry so our time rolls around alot more. If you have ever tried to fill volunteer positions then you know it is probably easier asking for a kidney than their time. Sorry but its the truth. So sad to see alot of the cases that come in. People waiting seem to have their nerves shot just a tad. Talking with them, giving them a cup of coffee & a cookie & sharing Christ with them seems to put them a bit more comfortable. Anyone who knows me knows I can talk. I once carried on a lenghty phone conversation with an information operator. She was quite nice. My husband was not shocked.
Speaking of talking- I talked to one of my sisters Thursday night for 134.02 minutes. That was a short conversation. She has taken a 2nd job so she works all the time now. Don't really know much we talked about, just life is all. Something special is shared between sisters. I have wanted to choke her sometimes & she me but in the end we are always sisters.
Friday---Had another date night. My church has once a month Parents Night Out. We take full advantage to have the time together. Couples need that. The boys had fun. They had scheduled a guy to come in & do little tricks & balloon art. Matthew loved the balloon dogs. It popped within an hour of being home. What a surprise!

Happy Anniversary

Boy this day to day stuff on a blog is alot of work. I hate so much I do not get to share my day to day things. In just one week I have been so busy with things. I really want to share the really important things.

The most important was one week ago. Jeff & I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary. The first picture of us is on our wedding rehearsal day. Alot thinner & alot younger. Hard to believe 22 years later. Alicia (our daughter) came over with her husband & our granddaughter & stayed with the boys while we went out to eat & to a movie. Felt nice not having to rush back to a sitter. Still though the wild & crazy couple we are....... made it back in by 10:30 pm.

Last Sunday at our church we had our Operation Christmas Child Shoebox dedication. It went really well. At last count we had up to 485. Boxes are still coming into church for the people that did not get to make dedication night. I believe our count should go over 5oo total. Our Minister of Music & his wife was over the program & ask if I would want to say anything. At first I said no but the more I thought about it I changed my mind. I guess I thought it may be rude not to at least thank people for all they did. I was so nervous I thought I would be sick. I am used to being behind the scenes & not right out in front of everyone. Monday I ran by the warehouse that we will be using as the Collection Center to be collecting all the boxes. I picked up some cartons to load all our boxes into. We have a great staff at church & they have already took all our full cartons to the warehouse.

Gotta go cook some dinner now......be right back.......I hope

Weekend is here

I had a busy week but tomorrow & Sunday will be really nice.
This morning I was thinking that I would never get everything done. Even if I had 5 more hours in the day I would still feel the same.
Before I took the boys to school a lady I do alot of projects with at church called & asked if I had done something I was suppose to 2 weeks ago. Remember my previous post: "I need to write these things down". Well that was one of those moments. I had to pick up some donated cookie dough for a Courthouse Ministry we do through our church. I got home to shower & dress. I had to e-mail my scout parents. We are working on several things from our scout book so I had to get them prepared what to bring for the meeting Monday. check! done!

Our church has a Christmas Traditions Brunch tomorrow. I had signed up to do a table. In other words to decorate it. I am what you could call a procrastinator here lately. I had not gotten my stuff out of the attic. My silk ponsettia looked ragged so I ran to Hobby Lobby to get a different one. Picked up some shiney fabric, new gold rope for the centerpiece wreath & grabbed a few teacher ornament gifts. Ran short on that time thing. Cut my trip short.

Here is a picture of what the table starts as.

A clean slate.

Then you have to come up with something fabulous. I am not a decorator so fabulous is not in my vocabulary. I did pretty good. You have to decorate with something you do in your home at Christmas. I love Nativity scenes so that is what I used. The church provides the china so that will be added tomorrow. Got my table done.

Check! Done!

After the table was done I had to be home for the school bus to run & get my last born off it. Chris gets off the bus next so I had to have his camping bag packed & have hime at the church by 4:30. Thank goodness it was only an overnight trip or I would not have gotten his bag packed. The Webelo 2's have a big day tomorrow so Chris was pretty excited to do all that guy stuff. The scout trailer & leaders pulled out of the parking lot on time & with all scouts accounted for. Matthew & I have been taking it easy tonight. Matthew has been playing with a hunk of play dough & is quite content. Since the time has changed it gets dark early so when my door bell rang tonight it sort of startled me. Jeff is, as I am typing this, driving from the airport in Memphis home. He had been gone on a business trip this week. Well Mormon's were at the door. I had seen them earlier riding their bikes up on Main Street. They really get around. Really good Christian guys but they can't convert a die hard Southern Baptist woman. Sorry! Check! Done!

Practiced for the Operation Christmas Child program at church Wednesday. Our dedication is Sunday night. Both Chris & Matthew will be singing in their choir groups. Both hate to sing. I guess I keep hoping they will just have a light bulb come on inside & fall in love with it. I think I am pushing it. Pray for everything to go great. I have butterflies in my belly. Before the kids come in to sing I will be introduced as the person who lead this years OCC collection. In front of the whole church plus some. I am always the one behind the scenes not right out in front in full view. That seems to make you a target.

Well my husband is expected in a few minutes so I better clear him a path to get through the house. After the brunch tomorrow we are going to be getting some stuff done to the house again. We keep wanting to get it sold but if it is not on the market it isn't going anywhere. Be sure & read my other blog & see what I did yesterday at the land.

I NEED TO START WRITING THESE THINGS DOWN.

Well I thought the day was starting out great. I had a one on one teacher conference at my youngest one's school. Conference was great. I left the school & ran over to the church to make copies for tonights kindergraten lesson. (More on that later). I got my copies done & made more coloring sheets for kids to put in their OCC boxes of "About Me". Well I went walking up the hallway & looked over at the side down toward my SSClass room. A sign hanging on the door frame. Bible Study on "Forgiveness" was in session. OOOOPPPS. I had signed up for that. My SSClass teacher (who was going to be leading it) had given me my book last Thursday & I had just talked to her this past Sunday that I would be there. I NEED TO START WRITING THESE THINGS DOWN. Sorry Kay!!! Do you forgive me?

Well no sooner I get home I have a card in my mailbox that I missed my dentist appointment! What appointment? Oh man I NEED TO START WRITING THESE THINGS DOWN. When I stopped working outside the home in 1997 I gave up my appointment book. I didn't need it any longer. WRONG. You need it more. Things come up & you have to write them down. "My sharp is not as mind as it once was." I heard that somewhere once.
Well you can be for certian I will make my apointments tomorrow. Matthew has a dentist appointment & I have to be at the church at noon for a group that is "Praying for America"

Click on either of the links (I hope both) to get involved.

Oh heavenly father, please give America and its leaders knowledge and wisdom to know and do your will and grant them protection from their enemies in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.



or



America has turned its back on its rich spiritual heritage that once encouraged a fear of God – respect and trust of Him – and a life of morality directed by the conviction that the Bible is the Word of God and should be honored as such in all matters of life.





Got to go get ready for M&M's tonight. (Music & Mission's)
We are going over Jeremiah 29:11. Here is what goes home to the parents at child pickup.

"Tonight we talked about sometimes in someone’s life they can get off track but the Lord has plans for them so he gets them back on track.
He has plans for you so he forgives you.
We crumple the paper up on the bad things that can happen & then we are reminded the Lord has plans for us so we straighten the paper out.
We tear the edges away for the sins in our lives.
It can then be matted & framed for their bedroom or bath.
I have one in my boy’s bathroom for them to see each morning."

The week so far

My week started out pretty good. The current thing at the moment is Facebook. So many of my friends & family now have this. It was kids & students but now mainly adults are there now. I used to hate things like this but you can keep your profile private & only friends you add can only view your info. I have a total of 85 friends. (87 now while tying this.) It is a great way to keep up with each other day to day. You add little lines back & forth to one another & can even add pictures to share with your contacts. All totally free. Come take a look. You can find my facebook link to the left side.

Well my week....Monday was my fun day. I would like to tell you what we talked about but then I would have to kill you. Just kidding. Working on different things around I make alot of friends. We have called ourselves the exclusive "Ka" club. (sound out the k) Me (Katrina), Connie H, Kathy O., Kelli K. & Connie's daughter meet for lunch Monday in an undisclosed location. Just kidding. A new place that opened here. Old Venice Pizza on McCullough. It was my first time there since it opened. It was really good. We are a group of ladies that get together & laugh & talk & have fun. Connie is a Regional Rep for LeBonheur & Kelli is a Radio Talk Show hostess for a radio station here in Tupelo for a morning radio talk show. They are both so funny. So fun to be around. We have other members of our group but they couldn't make it Monday. Maybe I will tell you about them next time.
After lunch Monday I had to get home. Tiger scouts was that night & I had not even gotten the plan together for them. I try to do at least 1 or 2 things from our scout book each meeting. I had gotten a book from the scout office of all about the US flag named "Your Flag - Everything You Want to Know About the Flag of the United States of America." So I thought I would go over that with them. It worked out great. We do/practice the Pledge of Allegiance each time we meet. This time I threw something else in. We went over what is disrespectful to the flag & flag code violations. Anywhere from laying it on the ground to tearing it in pieces & wearing it. 1st graders really understand this stuff & they actually listened. Each week I hope to add to it.

Booth set-up

Well our booth at Celebration Village is finished. We hope to get some attention to Operation Christmas Child to get the word out how important this is.

Here is how Samaritians Purse describe's it.

"Sending a message of hope to children around the world"
"Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in different types of situations around the world through gift filled shoe boxes and the good news of God's love. This program provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple hands-on missions project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas - Jesus Christ.
Operation Christmas Child is another way to reach out to local and global communities; just by filling a shoebox with age appropriate items, we can give hope to children in over 90 countries."