H-E-A-T W-A-V-E

What is up with this weather??? Down in the south we have been MELTING because of this heat wave that is passing thru our area and insists on hanging around. Average temps have been in the mid 90's with real feel of 104... (yesterday.) Even the pool is not as refreshing as it should be. Blech! I have been tuned to the weather channel in hopes that a thunderstorm and some rain to break this heat will be forecasted... but no such luck.

Yesterday evening after the sun settled a bit and shade was cast on our back patio, the kids ventured out and played with sidewalk chalk. Hubby and I relaxed in our screen porch with the ceiling fan on high and listened to the rolling thunder in the distance. Nearby towns got hit with some storms but they bypassed us. We enjoyed what little we heard but still could cut the heat and humidity with a knife!!!

Today we will remain behind the walls of our Little Red House. The heat is too much for me, even in the pool. I have a tendency of passing out in the heat and know these temps are too much for me right now. My kids are not happy (see, Molly was already in her bathing suit) but they have found ways to amuse themselves. They arranged and organized their crayons and played store so they could exchange between them all.

I also made a trip to Wal-mart on friday and stocked up on play-doh, bubbles, sidewalk chalk and some $5 movies. Prayerfully all of these "new" toys will help us conquer cabin fever...

Last night after the littles were tucked in bed, Emma ran around the neighborhood taking pictures of our beautiful Southern Sky. We have some awesome cloud formations down here (along with wicked weather) Aren't these pics beautiful? She is up in her room drawing them right now. What an artist!!!

I really shouldn't complain. Wacky weather has been happening all over our country. My heart is breaking for those Arkansas families who were traumatized in the floods and those that lost loved ones too.... Then during my weather channel stalkings, I heard about the flooding in Oklahoma City.

What is happening?? Sometimes I am so overwhelmed I don't even know what to pray for... But prayers must be said. Prayers for those families, those homes and for provisions. And prayers of Thanksgiving that we are not in a crisis such as that!!!!

Our Sweet Surprise...

Wednesday afternoon a box from NY arrived on the stoop of our Little Red House. The moment I saw the return address I knew EXACTLY what the brown box contained!!!

DRAKES cakes. Down in the south we have not been able to find any DRAKES products. So when we drove away from Long Island, we kissed our beloved Devil Dogs and Coffee cakes goodbye...

Until wednesday that is. My sweet friend Janene read my craving on my FACEBOOK page and mailed us the surprise. She ROCKS!!!

Right now she is having her own sweet surprise as Janene and her family and THE CHATTY MOMMY and her clan are off to Hershey Park, Pa!! (read her blog next week to see pics of her adventure)... I sooo wish I could be with them. Instead I will drown my sorrows in coffee and devil dogs and have sweet dreams!!!

Super Boring And Uneventful...

is the only way I can describe today. A hot/ sometimes cloudy summer day. I pulled the watercolors out of the closet and let the Littles paint away. That held their interest for about 1 hour....

Then it was on to silliness... pure silliness, until they began to fight. ALOT!

My older girls had a friend over for most of the day. They were not much help in the creative department. When they were not on the computer, they did alot of this...

But the highlight of the day was when Emma and I went to our raspberry jungle and found a hidden jewel that the birds had NOT attacked. 1 beautiful red ripe raspberry...

And that my friends, was our super boring and uneventful thursday.

(thank God we will be shopping all day tomorrow. I can't handle another day like today...)

What's New With You???

My Dawn in-law and I chilaxin !

Good Morning, In our Little Red House, alot has been happening, starting with...

1) I spent waayyy too long at the pool yesterday and my back is burnt but my tan is on!

2) My family left to continue on the road to their new home in ALABAMA! It was nice seeing them for a few days though.

3) In 16 days I will have an OFFICIAL teenager in my home

4) Hubby and I VOTED!

5) My hose broke inexplicably and now I have to HAND WATER all of my flowers... ( our irrigation system is also in the middle of being repaired thanks to a run in with the lawn mower last week =/)

6) Payday is approaching and that means shopping for our new BABY GIRL starts. Can't wait!!!

7) A friend from church just gave us a bagful of books for the kids and it was like CHRISTMAS!! We needed some new books to read for the summer and we are thrilled to pieces over the new additions to our personal library!!

8) Im really getting into my book "Showers In Season" by Beverley LaHaye and don't look forward to when it ends. Luckily I have 3 more books in the series to read... hopefully will be able to read them all this summer.

9) PRAIRIE SKIRTS just arrived at Old Navy. ( I LOVE LOVE LOVE Old Navy) Time to stock up on skirts that don't show London and France when I walk!!!

10) I have 163 followers!! ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY THREE wonderful people who think my ramblings are interesting enough to come back and read more... I feel sooo honored!!!

11) I spent a perfect evening in my backyard sitting on my green chairs enjoying the southern sky.

12) I FINALLY fixed my TWITTER widget on my blog sidebar even though its still not perfect... but at least NOW you can read all my updates!!! Don't forget to keep up with me on there...

13) I also updated my blogroll with some new blogs I really enjoy. I will be updating them some more in the next few weeks so stay tuned!

14) A dear friend from NY just mailed us a surprise package that arrived today. The WHOLE family SQUEALED with delight at the contents... stay tuned to find out what it was????!!!

15) Im in LOVE LOVE LOVE with our new little girl!!!

What have YOU been up to lately??

Its A.........

GIRL!!!

A beautiful, healthy precious little girl. My heart melted when I saw her moving around and playing with her feet on screen. I can't wait to meet her and wrap her in PINK and BOWS!

And YES, we do have a name, but you don't think I would tell you everything in one post did you???

Thank you to all of you wonderful commenters who shared in my joy yesterday. I thought of you all when we found out.

xoxo

This Is The Day....

That the Lord has made... I will rejoice and be glad in it....

For this is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made!!!!

We are off to find out what are new addition will be. Wh at do you think? Pink or blue? Stay tuned. =))))))

P.s. IN A SHOE is FINALLY in labor!!! Check out her blog for baby updates. Can't wait to hear the news!!

Saturday...

Its Saturday morning! Going to be 91 degrees today which means pool time very shortly.

We are awaiting some family to arrive and stay for a few days before they continue on to Alabama. They are moving to the deep south and can't wait. Another life change directed by Gods hand.

I have french toast sticks in the oven for breakfast. (I cheated and bought a boxful for the kids. Im pregnant, Im allowed to be lazy sometimes) and about every 2 minutes I am greeted with another..."Are they ready... Im hungry..."

My coffee is next to me hot and ready to be sipped. I need to get outside and check on my flowers. At Lowes yesterday, I found the clearance cart and bought more Shasta daisies and other pretty flowers for my garden. My clematis is a purple, beautiful blooming mess and my cone flowers are just starting to bloom. I love them all!!

Our vegetable garden in the back is doing much better this year, although improvement is still needed. The soil needs to be adjusted to get our tomatoes sky high... but right now they are big and super healthy and LOADED with green tomatoes. I can just taste those sandwiches already.

Every night we have been getting thunderstorms due to the heat during the day. Rolling thunder across the sky. I was on the phone with THE CHATTY MOMMY and we were talking about how all our kids still wake us up at night. I have 5 and she has 4... none which include newborns... so why is this happening?? My master bedroom is beginning to look like a camp ground with blankets and sleeping bags thrown on the floor at all times... most times I don't even bother to clean it up because I know the next night someone else will be down because of some reason or other and the spot will be taken.

If the thunderstorms come before bedtime... we don't even bother putting them to bed. Straight on the blankets they go. They get too scared. Last night was a good night actually, a sound slumber.... Praise God!

2 more days till the BIG sonogram!!! I can't wait to find out what this baby is.... even though I have STRONG feelings towards a boy. I have dreams its a boy and visions of a boy. I will be completely shocked (and elated) if its a girl. But in 48 hour we shall see so stay tuned... I will be sure to let you all know what we find out. =)) Hubby took off of work to come with me and share in the joy. Then later this week, we will take all the kids out to start shopping for the new baby. I will let them each pick out one gift to bring to the baby in the hospital.... like a pacifier and a blanket. Each one of my babies used both (and some still do) so picking out the perfect blankie is VERY important to us!!!

So, im off to begin our Saturday, I hope your weekend is wonderful as well.

Just A Spoonful Of Sugar....

Have you ever thought about that spoonful of sugar you place in your coffee every day? Or the bag of sugar in your pantry that you make sweet treats for your family with?

Well, neither did I. Every morning I get a small teasponn out of this cute container and stir it in my cup and begin my day without a thought beyond.

Last Sunday, while in church, I was blessed to be able to hear a 5 minute testimony from the missionary Freddy Cooper. Him and his wife Paula are missionaries in The Dominican Republic and Haiti.

They briefly shared the truth behind the slavery that takes place in the sugar fields. Men and women forced to work 16 hour days cutting the sugar cane with macheties. Cildren as young as 5 or 6 are also handling these razor sharp tools and forced to work as well. 7 days a week for about $3 a week. They have little food, contaminated water and no medical care. Many of these dear souls cut and injure themselves on the job but nothing is done to help them.

After a touching video presentation, He asked us if we ever thought about where our sugar came from? He asked us to say a prayer for those people and for the missionaries who are going there to help them and bring them the gospel every time we spooned sugar in our coffee.

Since last Sunday morning when I heard this, I have not been able to look at sugar the same. Prayers go up whenever I spoon that white sweet grain in my hot cup and I also Thank the Lord for being free.

So, today I ask you.... where does your sugar come from???

I Will Not Be Blogging Today...

Because we did ALOT of this and I am just plain tired!!! Hope you all enjoyed your day as well...

( no, that is not my Little Red House in the background... I wish, we are 1 block away from the pool...)

Just Some Dribble....

I love 3 day weekends... but I dislike when they are over. We all miss hubby and am counting the days till friday afternoon hits again. I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial day. Over in my neck of the woods, we had severe rain and thunderstorms ALL weekend. Normally, I welcome the lightning and southern downpours but NOT on a holiday when we had big plans of swimming, sunning and grilling. My tan is fading. Being homebound for 3 days (minus running into church) left us a bit batty. We had a HUGE dose of cabin fever which gave me severe shopping-itis. Unfortunately, I could not remedy it as our budget is a bit tight right now... but I hope to fix that soon. Hee hee.

I recently discovered the store SWOOZIES!!! We have had one right down the road from me since we moved in and I just never went in... when I finally did, I was in HEAVEN. Monogramming galore, girly pink and green EVERYTHING, and personalized anything. It was awesome. Sadly, ALL the stores are going out of business and will shortly close its doors. I picked up cute pink tissues and some notepads and left.

BUT my love of all things monogrammed and personalized was cured when I found THIS website which has the CUTEST things at great prices. I have a few things on order... like these kitchen labels. (no, my name is NOT Pam Taylor for the record... or Jessica whatever...)
And my favorite home store KIRKLANDS is still in business and carries alot of my cute accessories that I love. I need to visit there soon....

on a brighter note, Hubby and I finally decided on a color for our master Bathroom. Our bedroom is a light sky sunny blue which I LOVE, I am accenting it all with black furniture and white accessories. Preferably white flowers... DAISIES!!! Something cool and crisp and soft to relax in. Our On suite will be a light grey-ish blue called Grey Horse. At first I was dead set against it but then once I saw the swatch on the walls, I fell in love. But I need to buy all new bathroom accessories. So I found the below shower curtain that would be perfect... with white bath mats and light white accessories.... PERFECT!! I can't wait. It will be a while before I get it all done but I will be SURE to post pics.

Along with drooling and window shopping on my mac this VERY rainy holiday weekend, I have been reading this book. I bought it during the Christmas season in a little bookstore in our mall. Its a series and I started with book #2 as they didn't have book 1. Oh well, The nice lady who worked there assured me it would not be a problem. It was about friendships that were made in a cul-de-sac... and all the problems that arise in each household. It has some drama but remains Christ centered... which is perfect... and as I live in a cul-de-sac... I felt drawn to the book and the friendships that were made. It has been great... a bit sad but great none the less.

I also have been in high stalk alert at IN A SHOE... Kim is in s-l-o-w labor with baby #10 (or #11??) I forget the number, but I enjoy her blog and am anticipating the home birth of her next baby... she updates frequently... check her out.

I am working on another post, much deeper than this shallow one. A missionary came to speak for just a bit this past Sunday morning and his video and testimony really touched my heart. It forever changed the way I look at sugar. When I take my cute little red and yellow sugar bowl over to my morning coffee and lift the lid, little do I realize the slave labor that is behind harvesting the sugar cane. I have been thinking about it ever since.... Praise God for Men and women like him and his wife who risk their lives to bring the gospel to these poor, depressed people.

I think I see the sun... OH MY!! Could it be?? That big yellow ball of heat has returned to the south??? Yikes, I spoke too soon... there it goes again....

Maybe I will run outside and plant my new SHASTA DAISIES and catch some vitamin d while I can. Did I mention DAISIES are my favorite flower?? I want to surround my mailbox with them... how beautiful that will look.

I hope you all have a GREAT tuesday. I have a very busy weekend coming up but it will be great fun! Today is our FIRST official day of summer vacation.... lets see how long we can hang in our pj's....=)))