Good times in Bham

We got back tonight from Birmingham. Our old church had asked me to come and sing a particular song for a program, so, because I hardly ever turn down a chance to sing, we went for the weekend. We also never turn down a chance to see friends!

It was a great "friend" weekend. Drew's mom was just asking me if we wanted to move back to Bham, since we had such a fun weekend. I told her no, we're happy here. It's just super nice to be able to go back and visit with people who we love so much, and who love us that much back. Although we've made great connections and friends here in Tupelo, you can't compete with 11 years of friendship building.

We stayed with our friends Curt and Tammy in their new house. Their kids are around our kids age, so they all had a great time being crazy. We also got to spend some great time with Heather and Barry and their 3 kids, and our kids were in heaven. I know they appreciate their old friends, too.

Drew let me leave him and the kids early Saturday morning and meet with my old "Grace Group." Those women have walked with me through thick and thin, and I miss them terribly. It was a great time of lots of laughs, and of course a few tears.

Thanks C and T for letting us take over your new home. We love you!

Below and above are pics of our girls and their friends. (I forgot to get a "grace girls" pic! Dang!)

Disappointment

Do you all remember what it feels like to be disappointed? Not in others, though that's really bad, too, but disappointed in yourself? It's just a yucky feeling, a big old feeling of regret.

Today, I saw my little E be very disappointed in herself. I understood how she felt. I felt it when I was in 2nd grade and forgot about picture day, and took my picture in a red sweatsuit with unbrushed hair. I felt it when they had Annie auditions, and I chickened out of trying out. I felt it when I wrote out dozens of recipes for the Bham Junior League cookbook, and never got around to entering in any of them for a chance of publication. Disappointment. And it feels crappy.

But today, I realized, after holding a sobbing E, that witnessing my child be disappointed hurts even worse.

It was a simple thing: She had to bring a toy to school today to give to "baby Jesus." These toys were all going to a daycare of underpriveleged children. E picked out a fancy Barbie horse, all by herself. She was so excited. After I dropped her off to go to her class, I took the toy to the front desk at the preschool. Well, in all the excitement, E never connected with her gift. And had no gift to give to Jesus. As she cried and cried in the car this afternoon, I felt anger. Anger at myself, anger at her teacher for not recognizing what happened...it just makes me nauseous thinking that my little girl missed out on something special. And I want to fix it! But I also know that disappointment is part of life. Human beings are broken, weak, and let each other down. But as God told Paul , ..."My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (then Paul says)-Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.(2 Cor. 12:9-10)

Man, oh man, it's hard to delight in my own child's hardships. I want to fight for her, soothe her, make it all better. But that's not always my job. Sometimes, all I can do is hold her, and let her taste the bitter tears of her disappointment. Then maybe one day, she'll find her Saviour in her weakness. And perhaps hold her little girl one day, too.

Great FREE! educational website

E starts Kindergarten next Fall, and I want to make sure she knows what she needs to know for next year. I found out about this awesome website and thought I'd share it with everyone. Since we found it, she has been on it constantly, and I can tell she's learning!

Just click on the graphic and go at it!

Genie, the good ole elf

Guess who arrived at our house Monday? Genie the good ole elf! Now, I'm not big on adding ONE MORE THING during Christmas to do, since it can get stressful already. However, it is just so hilarious when we find him in the mornings! Yesterday, he had gotten in the Halloween candy (okay, I admit, I STILL haven't thrown that out), and gotten a sucker. He just threw the wrapper down and littered, can you believe that?

Welcome, Genie. You make our lives brighter around here!

So Thankful

Well, I hate to do this, but I've got a WHOLE LOT O' PICTURES from the holiday, so I must post one FAT blog of pictures. This is not my favorite way to blog, since you don't get good snapshots of each moment if you post the pictures in one big chunk, but if I don't get all of these up, I just might panic and want to give up on this blog thing. So, for those of you who were present in these pictures, these are for you to enjoy, and for those of you who were not present, my apologies for a very random blog.

Making Stuffed Pork Tenderloin before our Lifegroup Thanksgiving dinner(recipe posted at end of blog)

Using my rarely-used china for creative Thanksgiving presentation

Lifegroup Kids (minus 5, who were sitting elsewhere)

M and her boyfriend Grish, pounding the ivories

O and E unpacking Christmas decorations

Drew and M "bejeweling" the Christmas tree

Drew and O "Decking the Halls"

O and her cousin Hannah waiting on Thanksgiving Dinner at Nana and Papa's

The Love Grandkids Christmas card attempt, #671...can you guess who's trouble?

The beautiful big-girl cousins

Sucking chocolate syrup through a straw...you know, everyone's traditional Thanksgiving dessert! (Only at Nana's would this happen)

At Mimi's for Houston Thanksgiving...I "Heart" cousin Matt!

Cousins putting on the critically acclaimed play, "The Safe Houses and the Bumblebee"

My Mamaw (who likes to embarass me at Chik-fil-et) handing out goodies at Greenhaw Thanksgiving/Christmas

My Great-aunt Laura Mae, who is 91 years old!

STUFFED PORK TENDERLOIN

1 Pork Tenderloin(the kind that is split into 2 pieces in the package)

Lemon Pepper, Seasoned Salt, Garlic Salt

1 Bell Pepper

1 Onion

Bacon

1 Cup of Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup of worcestershire sauce

1 Stick of Butter

Liberally coat tenderloin in lemon pepper, seasoned salt, and garlic salt. Roughly chop bell pepper and onion and lay between the 2 pieces of tenderloin. Wrap in bacon and secure with toothpicks. Melt brown sugar, worcestershire sauce, and butter in a saucepan and baste during cooking. Bake on 350 for 1 hour. You can serve the remaining sauce on the side, if desired.