Chris leaving for Camp

It seems all we have been doing is packing for camp. Chris left for Camp Yocona Boy Scout camp after church today. Ususally big thing with all the boys that go. Here are just 6 of our newest Boy Scouts. (Chris last on right)

Outside the chapel waiting to go in as a group. We had Scout Sunday.

Lining up to hear last minute instructions.

Chris with his carry on. Heading to the vans.

The STUFF they can't live without. This was just the trailer
stuff. The truck was full also.

Really quite at home tonight with only one child.

Fallen off the earth

No! Not me. I have been asked though.

I am not hiding out!

I have not been sick!

I have not gone in the witness protection program!

I have just been really busy. I wish I could in a couple of lines catch you up on everything.

Here is a taste of our weekend.

China guest

What does a Southern guy do on the day after opening day of deer season for youth's?

Take your son deer hunting of course. After church today my hubby got a call from a friend that said the deer were on the move in the afternoon because of the warm afternoons. Hubby & Chris threw on some hunting stuff grabbed a gun & hit the door running for our land. Chris (11 years old) has been wanting to kill his first deer so bad. No luck last year. Matthew (7 years old) just is not to interested just yet. He & I took the time to stay home & stay warm. I cut labels to use at the collection center tomorrow for OCC. Matthew watched TV & played out in the playroom. Such a peaceful Sunday afternoon.

Hubby called around 5:00pm. They were leaving the land. No deer in site. No deer roast yet. They did however bring home food. They brought home a hot & ready pizza from Little Caesars.

Now for my title of "China Guest".

Jeff has had a few of his Chinese people from China in the past couple of weeks. They come here once every 18 months or so. Jeff is with Ashley Furniture. (NO-He can not get you cheap furniture. NO-He can not get you a job) They wanted to experience some southern culture while they are here. Yesterday we took them to our land just for that. Hubby had gotten a big 4 wheeler from a friend & took both the boys 90cc 4 wheelers. He took a couple of guns for target practice, rubber boots to hike down the trail & fishing rods to catch some bass. They seemed to have had a great time. When we were getting ready to leave we went to a little store up the road on HWY 15 to have BBQ (lunch, 午饭 wǔfàn or zhōngfàn). It is called Pam's Place. Stop by for great BBQ. It is cooked right out front in a barrel & they thought that was really something. Toby & Ken speak pretty good English. Jennifer does not speak any. Her being around me had to be a hoot. I just talked & talked. I had the guys tell her some things but as women we have our communication. I had looked up a 4 page list of things to say or rather have her look at the paper & point to the words.....It did not help.

Jennifer using Chris' little 22 Henry. Our lake in the background.

Jennifer & me/I (Yes-it was dang cold)

Jennifer, Toby & Ken

Toby, Jennifer, Ken & Hubby

Toby & Ken riding on the back of the truck coming out

Loading up to go eat.

Loading up the 4 wheelers to go eat BBQ

Our guest are due to go back at the end of this week. They have been staying in a local hotel. We will be having them as dinner guest Tuesday. I look forward to entertaining such wonderful friends from another culture. You learn so much.

Goodbye (informal)--
拜拜。 Bai-bai (Byebye)

Bless you--

Yi bai sui

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.

Scout Day at Huntsville Space & Rocket

Chris (Webelo 2 rank), Me, & Matthew (Tiger rank)

Pack 85 Tupelo, MS

Alot of our pack went to the Space & Rocket Center this past Saturday. The church vans transported alot of the group & several took their own cars. They left that morning & came back later that afternoon. I took my own vehicle & stayed the weekend back home. I am SOOO tired. I stay busy the whole time I am there. Since Jeff did not get to go my mom & sister went & spent Saturday with us at the Space & Rocket Center.

Later the boys & I ran by & spent some time with Jeff's dad (my in-laws). My baby sister called when I was about to leave from there & wanted to know if I wanted to run to Wally World with her. We went & did the Southern thing of shopping & running into people & talking & catching up. We left there & drove around & waited on my niece to get off work at the pizza place. We made her & her friends take us cruising around "The Square". We lead very pathetic lives to hang out with 19 year olds. We just had to see if it had changed any since we were that age. It has not just to let you know. By the way the only reason they let us go was because I let her drive my vehicle & it was my gas that made the many trips around "The Square" & town. The reason we finally went home.....the old people in the back seat was about to fall asleep (my sister & I). Boy were we tired & it was not even midnight.

Pastor appreciation was the next day at my sister's church & they were honoring their pastor that performed my wedding years & many years ago.

In my hometown they have a Trade Day the "First Sunday" & "First Monday" of each month around "The Square". Not much was going on but it was still fun walking around & remembering a place I walked for as long as I remember. If you go & don't run into someone you know you must not be looking. I seen my husbands neice & her little family I rarely get a chance to see while back home. We tired of walking & went after lunch. Then back to my sisters to pack up & leave town finally around 5:00. Engine light came on so that threw my time off a bit. (My neice did not tighten the gas cap after she put gas in for me)

Got back here to MS finally around 9:00pm.

Now back to real life back here & got to get busy with Operation Christmas Child at church.

Off to cook dinner now.

More later.

Letter from a friend

I received this from a friend on mine today.


Hello all my dear friends I do hope you will repost this to all your loved ones.
As many of you know a week ago today I lost two very special people, my 5 yr old great niece and 20 yr old step-daughter due to a 4 wheeler accident. No one knows what happened other than she lost control of the vehicle. Wearing a helmet may have saved the 20 yr olds life but the 5 yr old was cut in half.
Today just a week to the day later I got a call from a church member that there will be no church due to one of the members 14 yr old son some how lost control of his 4 wheeler and is being transported to the hospital. While we still don't know the extent of his injuries luckily he was wearing a helmet. His name is Alex if you could keep him on your prayer list.
He is a very experienced driver of 4 wheelers & been doing it since he was little.
Please if you own a 4 wheeler make sure you use all precautions. Don't put small children on it. I seen a lady on my way home today driving a 4 wheeler with a child who didn't even look 3 sitting in the front.
Remember life is short. Don't make it shorter then it has to be.
Love your friend,
Michelle Webb

Sad addition

Be sure & visit my other blog & read the post of "Sad Addition".
We lost a beloved family pet that I had the privilege to be a pet parent to.

Click on........ DeerField Point

Scene of the crime!

This is the scene of the crime.
After church Sunday we had Matthew take us to where it all began.

He tried to balance & jump from the top of the upside down U shaped bar beside him.

He hit the bottom step with his right hand/arm & the pea gravel with his left.

The step didn't give as much as the pea gravel.
Hence forth the reason for the cast.

I want to thank everyone involved for being there to watch after Mathew Friday before we made it back to the church.

Thank you so much Andi N. for holding my baby from the time he fell to putting him in the car for us & putting his seatbelt on him. You are so precious.

Little Creatures

Click HERE to Visit My Photos on Flickr

It is always so much fun to walk through the woods & see the creatures or critters as my husband calls them. Sunday after church we went to the land to clear some small trees & briar's on a point by the water that my boys have staked out for their own. Jeff & Chris fished a bit & Matthew & I cleared a little. Right before Jeff joined me again on land I happened upon something on the ground just walking around. At first it startled me but then something else caught my eye. It wasn't that scared of me. I thought maybe my swing blade had maybe caught it or I had cut some little tree it was in . I really still don't think so. There is a nest in some briar vines but it looks like an old one. I feed it a crushed snack cracker we had there. (Never go off without bringing snacks for the kids) It was/is a really pretty bird. We came home & looked on Flickr for pictures of one like it. It is a cockatiel. I went back today to take some chairs over there & looked for it again. My plans were to bring it home for a pet. In the wild there or in the wild of my home. Same difference, better food here. I have plans to go back tomorrow & look while I work. It would fly up to a tree branch & watch me work then back down to the ground & visit. I am guessing it had to have been someones pet.

I hope to have the rest of the briar's & little trees by the water gone tomorrow. While Chris was at scouts tonight Matthew & I went to Harbor Freight Tools that recently opened & bought them both 18" MACHETES . We had been using one to cut the really tough vines & the boys kept fighting over who got to use it. So what does a responsible mother do....go out & buy your 6 & 10 year old one each. This is a tool that will be like the BB gun, 22 rifle & sling shots & etc. You don't let little boys out to play with machete's in the subdivision. Neighbors just don't like that sort of thing. With this though comes responsibility. We are teaching them the right use, even though I caught site of them pretending to be swordsmen Sunday & pretending to cut the others head off. Such a proud moment. ;-( That is a joke. I hate it but they are boys with vivid imaginations.

Happy Easter 2008

I hope everyone had a great Easter. We went to church for great services & came home to see if the Easter bunny left any eggs. He has gone plastic these days. I guess he seen it takes alot of time boiling, dying, drying & keeping them hid until the next day. Plus having dye to have to wear off for the fingers & hands for a few days. Not that I would know that. ;-)

The boys wore their Easter outfits without alot of fussing this morning. They look pretty handsome all spiffed up. The crazy weather here in the south has had it turn cold today. Pretty outside but cold here in Mississippi.

Sunny Sunday

"Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious."

- Brendan Gill

What do you do on a gorgous sunny Sunday afternoon?

Go to your land & play. Here is a few pictures of our great day. The first thing that went up was a tire swing after we first bought. The best outside activity. Throwing snowballs in the back yard one day & playing in long sleeve shirts the next. Great southern weather.

Yes, the grown up on the swing is me & pushing is my husband. The secret to life is to stay young & have lots of fun.