We rent. We had some wonderful friends who, when dh graduated from Seminary, asked if we would like to rent the house they had on the market! So, they took it off the market, and we moved in! We love it - a bedroom for everyone (except dh and I, of course we share! :D), in a neighborhood we love, with a great yard for the dogs, a creek in the backyard for the boys to explore, and a tree house. For a while, I was adamant about saving to buy a home. But after living here, and realizing that we can't afford to buy this place, I am content with renting for a while. That plus the fact that my kids are getting older, and I really want to travel with them before they are gone... :auto:

Thanks so much for the help! :)

AAWWW...now I feel really happy!! :001_smile: (Wonder how long it will last? :confused: My happiness, I mean, not your rep!)

You sound like I feel! So, I am not alone?! :D And thanks for praying! :)

So, my sunday School teacher called me yesterday (Saturday) to let me know that he needed me to teach for him. I agreed, which gave me very little time to prepare a lesson. So, of course, I wasn't as prepared as I would have liked to be, and didn't feel good about the lesson. Then I go in to the worship service feeling bad about the lesson. Really bad - like to the point of crying! What is that?! Then, about halfway through the service, it is like a button is pushed, and the bad feelings aren't there anymore. I am really okay with the lesson. I mean I did my best with very little notice, right? I come home to take a nap, and wake up every few minutes thinking about what I should have done differently and mistakes that I had made. WHAT IN THE WORLD! If course, the sermon today is from Acts 16. The pastor makes a point that it is okay to be irritable, but to control our reactions to others. All I can think is that I am a horrible wife, because I am irritable with my dh more often than I care to admit these days. If this is what people mean about hormonal fluctuations, I have decided that I don't want any part of it. I'm done! Shoot me now! :glare:

The worst thing about my wedding day was the fact that my dress had no buttons on it. I had taken it to the cleaners to be pressed. The dress had buttons, tiny, white buttons, that went down the front of the dress. Well, apparently, the cleaner took them off to press the dress, and then didn't put them back on. I put my dress on, and then thought that I was nervous and couldn't button it. I asked my friend to help me. She came over and said, "Oh my gosh, there are no buttons on this dress!" :001_huh: I didn't panic though. I immediately started thinking what dresses I had at home that I could wear instead. Then I remembered a box of butineer (sp?) pins I had bought for the flowers. So, my dear friend spent the next 20 minutes pinning my dress shut. Needless to say, hugging was a very uncomfortable affair that day! My father-in-law was furious. I think he went after the wedding and chewed out the cleaner. I loved that man!

I almost said the same thing! Didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea! :D

My guy is a Middle School Minister - you know, those guys who find interesting, yet spiritual activities for a bunch of 6th through 8th graders! Really we both love it! He gets to go to camp with them, and lots of other fun stuff. He is also our church "media" person, meaning he gets all slides ready for the Sunday morning worship and sermon. He creates any videos that our worship leader wants to use along with songs. He also maintains our church website - http://www.fbcgarner.org. And, as if that's not enough, he also run our church sports programs - Upward Basketball, Upward Soccer (coming soon!), weight room, gym, etc. Before Seminary, he worked for Coca-Cola, and was a probation and parole officer before that. I am a part-time assistant for the worship leader at our church. It is really nice to work in the same office as my dh. We often get to run away for lunch together! I love it!

I have three, and I didn't realize this until I started to answer this post, but all three are ministry wives as I am. I think it helps to have folks who understand what your husband goes through on a daily basis. The three of them were close friends before my dh entered seminary, so it has been cool to see the relationships grow.

Aww...I think you are a great mom to go to the extra effort to run out and get gifts and plan a pool party at the last minute. Tell your sweet girl that the "Pool Party" was a surprise for her that you let slip. You aren't lying, it is a surprise - to both her and you! My boy turns 13 tomorrow, and he says to wish your girl a very happy day! :D

I have it for all three of my children, I love it, and I will continue to use it. :D

Thanks - I aim to please! :)

For me, it means trying my best to add more fruits and veggies to our meals, and aim for healthier snacks. I am someone who enjoys the "taste" of food, so bland doesn't work for me. I have to make conscious decisions to look for healthy, tasty choices.

I can't really help with the supplement, but maybe if you ate a little cocktail sauce with it...I'm just saying...;)

On our first day I take the kids with me to a local coffee shop. They have kids drinks for .99 cents, and I get myself a coffee as a reward for all the hard work I am getting ready to do! :D My kids remember this from year to year, and never fail to remind me of our tradition!

I have to say I understand where you are coming from. Only it is not my kids that my parents don't call, it is me! Every year, on my birthday, I wait for a call that I know isn't coming. And every year it hurts. This year my dad even called on my birthday to ask about picking something up from me, and yet never mentioned the birthday! Huh? My birthday was almost two weeks ago, and I am still having the "get over it" conversations in my head. I would think that they just forget, except that my sister's birthday is two days before mine and they do not forget it. Over time, I can rationalize the hurt away, but that doesn't make the initial hurt any less. Thankfully, I have a great dh and friends who understand and do their best to make up for it! So, all of that was said to say this - I understand your hurt and I am sending you a cyber hug!! :grouphug::grouphug:

Okay, who are we trading pins with? Somewhere in the park? Or other visitors? I guess that's what I am not understanding about them. Thanks for your help so far. Keep it comin'!

Please don't think less of me! McDonald's fish sandwiches - with all the tarter sauce (although I do scrape it off these days) McDonald's Big Mac - I haven't had one in years. Are you noticing a trend? Buttery garlic bread - lots of butter, lots of garlic. I just snacked on this last night. Maybe that's why dh was trying to pretend he was asleep when I went to bed... strawberry Twizzlers - I could eat 'em all day! liverwurst - I think...I haven't had it in a while. I had a friend whose mom would give us liverwurst as a snack... Burger King Whopper with cheese - again, I haven't had one in years... High fat, low nutrition. YUMMO! Not that I ever eat these things...;)

My dh and I are finally biting the bullet and saving for a trip to Disney next year. I am already excited and planning. We are going next September, and I have ordered the planning guides. My question is this - I read somewhere about ordering pins(?) on ebay to trade while there? What are they? Would they make good stocking stuffers for the kids to get them in on the planning and excitement? I haven't been in 15 years, and my children have never been. This is probably the only time we will ever be able to take them, so I want to make the most of it! Thanks for your help, and I would love to hear your words of wisdom!

Holy Cow! I will never be able to sleep tonight. A hole appearing from nowhere, filled with SNAKES!!! Oh my goodness. I am going to have to go find a very big book to read to get this out of my head!! Oh yuck...:scared:

Snakes - I can't even stand seeing them on television! :svengo: I also can't stand to touch food that has been on someone's plate. I cannot stand to be "smothered" by someone - I feel as if I can't breath!

Oh, yes, all the...oh, never mind...

So, Jennifer, you start your day with the reading? I am new to Sonlight this year, and was worried about our schedule. I am glad to read this! I don't know why I am so "stuck" on math first?! HHMMM, good idea...

I very recently had Chocolate Creme Brulee with raspberries. OH. MY. GOODNESS!! It was awesome. Unfortunately, we had it with friends who had treated us to dinner out at a restaurant that we would never be able to afford to eat at ourselves. Oh, well!

I would run, not walk, to my oldest child's room and give them whatever it took to get them to wake up and watch the youngers...car, new puppy, game system, whatever. I would then sprint to the closest coffee shop or grocery store and fuel up! :willy_nilly: I am just kidding - sort of! I really like my coffee in the morning, so it would probably be worth it to me to load the kids up. That is provided you can do this and stay calm, since you haven't had your morning dose of caffeine! Too bad there is not a coffee delivery company. Sort of like Pizza Hut or Dominoes. They could call it Cappuchin-O's or Go-Go Juice To You...I'm just sayin'...