He's Back...

The child has returned! Praise God!! We went to see him today after church. He has been gone to India for the past 2 weeks. He is good, no "Delhi belly"!! As you can see, he's in front of the Taj Mahl.

We only got to talk to him for about an hour and a half but he seemed excited to actually see what GFA is all about. We heard about the some of the street kids who have been taken in. Boys who are 6,7,8, 10 years old who are left to fend for themselves so they learn how to fight, steal and survive.

He described how they eat with their hands and roll everything in a ball then pop it into their mouths. Michael must have really LOVED that part!!

Michael mentioned how they traveled from one part of the country to the other. They didn't get to go to one place due to the persecution that Christians have endure lately. Some of the places he said that he felt uneasy and even scared, that you could feel a spiritual difference.

To me, that's creepy! I'm just grateful that God was with them for this trip!!

He also commented on the difference between Northerners and Southerners here in the states. Michael said that when they landed at an airport in New Jersey he noticed that no one smiled, no one was nice, people were rude to them and you could feel the tension there. Then they flew into Houston then DFW and found some hospitality. People who smiled and gave them directions and the atmosphere was happy, LOL!!!

Maybe he needs to go do missionary work in New Jersey instead of India!!

Welcome Home Son!! You've been missed!!!

Tim Hawkins - A Homeschool Family

My husband found this today and I thought it was cute! Enjoy!!!

Back in the Groove

It's our third day back in school. Man, it's hard getting up in the mornings when you have slept in for 2 weeks!

Right now, we are at lunch. We like lunch, it's an hour of doing nothing. Amanda usually plays Barbies in between bites. I turn on AMC and get on the laptop.

I was informed today by Amanda that she is the smartest kid in her class!! LOL!!! Our bible lesson this week has been about temptation. I had to giggle Monday when she told her Dad that eating off other people's plates is a temptation for him. LOL!!! So true, so true!! All he could do was grin.

We heard from Michael in India, Praise God!! So far so good!! He writes:


Greetings from the great land of india. Im riding on train. The trip is going well. Tell everyone im okay. Tell melissa im still alive and i love her. Ill see yall soon. I love you guys. Plane ride was to long still fighting some jet lag. India food great. Jesus is beautiful. I can get use to tea time. With love.

Sounds like things are good. Yes, Mama was worried. I'll be glad when he sets his feet back in North America, though.

The changing of eating habits is going OK. I'm still praying through alot!!! We went thru the DQ drive in to get Amanda an oreo blizzard and temptation got me. I ordered a kit kat blizzard, I took 2 bites of it and threw it away. One because it DID NOT look like the picture and two it really didn't taste good. What a blessing!!!

Watching the news the other day I saw a story of some kids from one of the school districts around here who would not be allowed in school due to not getting a hair cut. I just laughed, thought it was funny. Working for a school district you see kids dressed in ALL sorts of things and trying to get away with it. They try to get by with having long hair, pierced tongues, tatoos anything that is opposite of the dress code. Yes, in Texas we have dress codes. You as a parent are informed of the dress code from day 1.

While surfing Drudge, I ran across this. Texas students suspended

I couldn't believe some of the comments people left. I mean, if there is a rule, aren't you suppose to follow it?? I don't know, just thought it was funny!!!

Things I'm tired of...

Webkinz!!! I am sick of that website!! It is crummy!!!! We have registered two animals on that thing and Amanda cannot get to her animals rooms. Their tech support and customer service is insufficient! webkinz

She received another little animal like webkinz called E Pets. Guess what?? It worked!! At least with this one she can get on and do stuff. Like decorate, you know that ALL girls like to decorate! Especially with pink, striped wall paper!!

I will be glad when Monday gets here! That way I won't have to work so hard! The past two days I have worked myself to death! I have broken EVERY nail and my cuticles look horrible.

1) Undecorated the house and yard
2) cleaned out laundry area
3) rearranged, organized and added shelving in Michael's closet
4) cleaned out and organized the kitchen cabinets
5) cleaned out and organized our closet and drawers
6) cleaned out and organized Amanda's closet and drawers
7) took clothes to goodwill
8) refolded sheets and blankets in cabinet
9) clean and organize bathroom cabinets
10) prepare lessons for next week

Sometime tomorrow we have to go to the store, I despise going to the store. We will be buying low fat items, Oh Yeah!!! The past 2 days I have drank Diet Dr. Pepper, my body is starting to eat its own fat. Yes, the "program" has begun!

Mike came home telling me about Sparkpeople.com. A friend of ours is losing weight this way. Isn't technology wonderful?? Now all I have to do is figure out a way for the computer to exercise for me!

Did I mention that we have Dish Network? We now get HGTV!! (best channel in the world) and the Land of the Mouse channel!! Now, I like the "Mouse", enjoyed going to his place in Florida, but I am seriously getting tired of HSM1 & HSM2.

Here let me sing it for you:
"We're all in this together
Once we know
That we are
We're all stars
And we see that
We're all in this together
And it shows
When we stand
Hand in hand
Make our dreams come true"

I even know some of the moves too! It'll be real cute when I lose the weight! (wink,wink)
Maybe I can audition for HSM3??

Just a thought.

More Rambling...

The holidays are now over and it's time for the clean up! Time to take down all the decorations, inside and out.

The hard part about all of that is I have to put it all back in the attic...I have to. Because we took Michael back to GFA last night.

He leaves for India on the 5th and is excited about the trip. Needless to say, Mom's a little apprehensive! I mean, this is the first time he has EVER gone out of the "good ol' USA" and his parents aren't even with him.

I did give him specific instructions though...get batteries for the camera before you leave. Do not take your computer or cell phone over there, do not brush your teeth with tap water, do not drink ANYTHING with ice in it, stay with YOUR people, take pictures of the Taj Mahal, check bottled water to make sure the seal isn't already broken and watch out for MONKEYS!!!

I think that was pretty good advice, I mean, being the world traveler that I am! I hope he got the money that "Noah's Mom" gave him, I can't find it so I'm sure he did.

Next Monday we (Amanda & I) will begin school again! Get back into our routine and back to normal, not that anything around here is normal.

Amanda will be turning 10 on Monday so now it's time to decide...party or not??? I'm really torn about having one for her. Of course you don't want to have one and not invite everyone for fear of leaving someone out and hurting their feelings. Then on the other hand, why not? It's a party for her and she should be able to invite or not invite, right?

Although, there have been times when I have had to explain to her why she didn't get invited to something and it wasn't something that I enjoyed doing. But life goes on...

Wow, it's hard being a 10 year old girl!! LOL!! I'm sure whatever we decide will be fine.

It's 34 degrees outside right now and it doesn't look like it's going to warm up until Friday, so the outside lights might have to wait. Besides, the gable on our roof is steep and I don't relish the thought of climbing up there to unhook the lights.

I have decided that gluttony is a sin. I have also decided that I am a glutton. Therefore, we will begin to do something about this problem. I do not enjoy wearing pants that have an elastic waistband...I want zippers and buttons WITHOUT the roll that hangs over them!!!

The exercise, oh wow, I said exercise...the program will begin as soon as I get away from this laptop. It stinks getting old! And I'm not really old! I'll turn 41 this month. Never in my youth did I think I would be at this point in my life!!! A SAHM, homeschooling, turning 41, who wears elastic waistband pants, who has frizzy hair, not big hair, frizzy hair there is a difference. In Texas it's ok to have BIG hair.

Man, I have a lot to work on!

I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow. -Scarlett O'Hara

New Year 2008