Meet Me On Monday!

I ran across this link up last week so I thought I would join in with "Meet Me On Monday" this week.
This week's questions are:

1.  Tomorrow I am going to?  Work at my little part-time job as church secretary.  I have no plans for the afternoon yet, but those plans may change and a nap could be involved!

2.  When is your birthday?  August 1st.  My hubby's birthday is August 2nd and it's nice to celebrate with someone special like him!

 3.  What are you currently excited about?  My hubby has been working very long hours for the last 4-5 weeks while his electric plant's shut down has been going on but it ends this week!  Back to normal schedule hopefully by the end of the week!! Yay!!

4.  Do you have any secrets?  No I don't but if I did, I couldn't tell you!

 5.  What do you normally eat for lunch?  Usually I eat leftovers from the night before, whether it's a meal I've made or take-out from a restaurant.  If I have no leftovers, then I will most likely have a sandwich/wrap of some sort.  This is Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich which is a Pioneer Woman recipe.  Delish!!

 Link up with Java at "Never Grow Old" and meet up with the rest of us on Monday!

Weekend Fun

Allan has been working a lot of overtime for the past 3-4 weeks and we have barely even seen each other it seems.  Friday night after going out for supper, we came home to watch a movie.  Earlier in the week, I had watched "Courageous" and really wanted Allan to watch it also.

  He went to sleep pretty soon after starting it so we stopped it and will try again.  If you have not seen it, SEE IT!  It has the best message, especially to fathers. It is so emotional though!  I cried from beginning to end!
Saturday, mom, dad and I went to celebrate this 7 year old's birthday!

The party was held at the most beautiful park!  There was a face painter there and she painted all the kids faces.  She was great!  Much better than my face painting days at the kids' elementary school where I did simple hearts, baseballs, sunshine and flowers. 

Mom & Dad with the birthday girl

 

 

Her cake was AMAZING!  

I didn't know 7 year olds were into Angry Birds but evidently they are!  It was such a detailed cake and also delicious.

The birthday girl with her parents

Kids are so funny at birthday parties.  K could hardly open her gifts because she had so much 'help' from friends, but she didn't seem to mind. 

K's babysitter and family came also.  K has been in their home since she was 6 weeks old so they are very special people to her.

Happy Birthday!

Sunday was my usual Bible class and worship.  My kids in Bible class just crack me up.  They are really into singing "The Gospel Chariot" and LOVE the running over the devil part especially.  We've also been singing "I've Got The Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy" and they LOVE sitting the devil on a tack part.  They jump and holler OUCH and then just giggle so much they can hardly sing the rest of it.  After singing both of these yesterday, I reinforced about how bad the devil is and that we shouldn't listen to him when he wants us to do bad things.  I said, "He is really a bad guy".  Little B said, "Yeah, bad like a pit bull." haha  I just had to laugh!  But, she is right! 
Allan was able to make a quick run in for lunch at Molina's and then had to go back to work.  I went home, got my gown on and crawled in bed with my Karen Kingsbury book and read until I fell asleep.  I got a great nap in finally! 
I went to church again and then to Braum's afterwards.  Allan was off work by now so he came too.  We had a fun time with the church group.
I hope everyone had a great weekend also!

Thursday Thoughts

Today is the 17th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. This day will be forever remembered in the lives of most Oklahomans.  Our family was so scared and worried for a few hours.  Allan's mom worked downtown in the Southwestern Bell building.  First reports we heard mentioned that this building had been bombed also.  Phone lines were jammed and we couldn't get through to know if she was OK or not.  There were some very tense and anxious moments before finally hearing, several hours later, that she was fine.  So many others were not.

I will never understand why a person/persons could  intentionally cause this kind of death and destruction to totally innocent people, many of them children. 

The memorial that has been established is really a sight to see.  It is a beautiful tribute to the ones that lost their lives that April 19th morning.

In other somber news, I'm saddened about the death of Dick Clark.   He was truly an American icon. 

I used to watch American Bandstand when I would spend the night on Friday nights with my cousin, Darla.  Her mom would have us clean house on Saturday mornings and we always had American Bandstand blaring from the TV while we did the cleaning.
In recent years, well quite a few in fact, I always looked forward to New Year's Rockin' Eve! 

I was so glad that even after Dick suffered a stroke that he was able to make appearances the last few years on New Year's Eve.  It just won't be the same without him helping to ring in the new year from now on.

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

What a beautiful day we're having in SE Oklahoma today.  Perfect, perfect weather!

I'm LOVING that Sonic had Happy Hour all day yesterday!

Since it was Tax Day, I guess they figured everyone might need a little extra caffeine during the day.  I made two trips there!

I'm LOVING seeing this little fellow staring back at me through the back glass.

 He fell out of his nest a day or so ago and has been hopping around the back yard ever since.  I hope his momma is still taking care of him though.  Yesterday he hopped right up to the back door and just stared at me!  Precious!

I went outside to try to take more pictures of him and he hopped back in the grass and thought he was hidden from me.  He is just too cute!

I'm LOVING this new snack mom introduced me too!

I love caramel popcorn and this is surprisingly very good and only 130 calories in a package!  Yum!

I'm LOVING that this book is now on top of the stack beside my bed!

I love Karen Kingsbury books and this one is the 4th one in the Bailey Flanigan series.  I can't wait to see who she chooses to marry.  Will it be movie star Brandon or hometown boy Cody? 

I'm LOVING this new scarf that mom gave me a few days ago!

Thanks, Mom!

Have a great Wednesday and rest of the week!

Flashback Friday-Favorite Childhood TV Shows

Hi!  It's Flashback Friday-Favorite Childhood TV Shows!  I was a huge TV watcher as a kid.  TV shows back then...that sounds like so far away...were either westerns or shows that centered around family life.  They were all clean shows and you never had to worry that something inappropriate was going to be said or shown. 

Who didn't love "Leave It To Beaver"?

The Cleavers were just the perfect family it seemed.  Ward left everyday to go to work as Wally & Beaver were getting ready for school.  June always had a hot meal, a clean house and she looked like she never lifted a finger to do any work.

I loved "Family Affair"!

I don't remember what had happened to the mom in the family but Mr. French made up for mom's absence.  He was just wonderful.  Dad was so handsome!

"Here's the story...of a lovely lady"  Is there anybody that can't sing that song?

I think the "Brady Bunch" was everyone's favorite back in the day.  I'm the oldest child in our family and I always wanted an older brother...just like Greg Brady!  The Brady Bunch seemed so normal with all the same family struggles that we all had.  I loved Alice too!

"Sunday, Monday, Happy Days"!

This was another great classic family show.  Mr. & Mrs. C did such a good job raising kids.  I loved the 50's music and the Fonz also!

"Hello World, there's a song that we're singing!  C'mon get happy!"

The "Partridge Family" was so much fun!  I LOVED David Cassidy and Susan Dey.  The show dealt with family issues, all the while, traveling around in their bus, singing.  I loved, loved, loved this show!  I have all of their albums and still have old "Tiger Beat" magazines with David Cassidy on the cover.  He was so cute!!

Back to "Leave It To Beaver" for a second.  Eddie Haskell was one of Wally's best friends.  This is Eddie in recent years.

 

Years ago, when one of our best friends met Allan's dad at church, his first reaction was...He looks just like Eddie Haskell!

And he does!  His younger pictures look like him and his recent pictures look like him!  That just makes me laugh!  

This is a recent picture of Allan's dad.

I hope you enjoyed a look back at classic TV!

Thursday Thoughts...

Just a few thoughts for this beautiful Thursday...

I'm always saying this to my kids, especially when they say they will NEVER live in a small town again or come back here to live.  I believe that 'where you came from' makes us what we are today.  I'm thankful that I was raised in small towns and that Allan and I have raised our kids in a small town too.  I know city life has it's advantages but I don't think there is enough advantages to make me ever want to move from a small town. 

As much as I love small town life, this next thought is so true!

Living in a city, your actions can go unnoticed by people that actually know you personally.  In small towns, EVERYONE knows your business and sometimes that can be a good thing, but sometimes it can also be a bad thing.  The thing is, you have to live your life so that you have no worries about someone seeing or hearing you do the wrong thing!   This should apply no matter where you live though because someone is always watching.

This is very good advice.

 I know it's easy to get upset with people we meet in our everyday life such as the person in front of us at a stop light that sits there a second too long after the light has turned green, or the young girl whose first day on the job at Braum's is not going well.  We may never know what is going on in the lives of those people and they may have suffered some situation earlier in the day that causes them to behave the way they do.  They may just be preoccupied and not meaning to be in our way.  We all need to just slowwww down and have patience with people.

How many times have we thought a task was utterly impossible?

 This is so true!  I don't know how many times I have thought that there is no wayyyyyyyyyyy I"m ever going to finish/meet a deadline/write that term paper!  It may take some effort to get done, but almost always, when it's finally done, I say, "Well, that wasn't so bad."

And my final thought for the day...

  Now does this really surprise anyone that knows me?  I think not!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm sort of in an allergy medicated fog this week and I'm having trouble coming up with things I love.  I'm having trouble just thinking in general! 

I'm loving that I finally got my hands on my new Pioneer Woman cookbook!

I haven't made anything out of here yet but I'm going to soon.  Right now, I just keep going to the page where PW signed the book...personally...to ME!  Yay!!

I'm loving all the spring flowers everywhere, even though they are the source of my sneezing!

My neighbor's yellow roses are just gorgeous!  I go over every few days to take pictures of new blooms.  So, so pretty!

Oh my goodness!  This multi-colored rosebud in Mom's yard  is beautiful!  I can't wait to see it opened up.

  Mom's purple irises are pretty too!

And the white irises are just as pretty!  

I'm loving that I have these meds to help control my allergy symptoms after being outside admiring these gorgeous  flowers!

Happy Wednesday!

Easter Weekend

Last weekend was such a fun weekend!  My weekend actually started on Thursday when I left to go visit the kids.  The drive up Indian Nation Turnpike was just gorgeous!   It was just me by myself, enjoying the scenery and singing loudly with the soundtrack to "Mama Mia".  I was so hoarse when I got there that I could hardly talk!
Both of the kids were at work when I got there so I went by Ashley's new store to check things out first.  She recently started a new job as store manager of The Vintage Pearl and this weekend was the grand opening.  After visiting for a bit, I went on to the kids apartment to wait for them to get off of work.   Colby got home and we picked up Ashley for supper at Louie's. I didn't get to visit much with Colby because he was leaving early Friday morning to go to Dallas with the church group.

He and his co-workers recently went to a place in the mall there and took a mini-art lesson.  This is his masterpiece!

I love it!  He gave it to me and I'm so happy! 
Friday, Ashley and I shopped a bit and she got her hair cut.  Then, we went to her store to do some clean up and arranging.
Saturday was GRAND OPENING!

It was so exciting!  They had cupcakes too!

I actually made it all they way home with this deliciousness staring at me from the cup holder...and didn't take one bite of it til I got home.  Pinkitzel is the cutest little cupcake/candy shop there near The Vintage Pearl.  How convenient will that be for Ashley and the girls?
After I got home Saturday night, Allan & I went out to Mom and Dad's for supper.  My brother, Doug, and his family had come for the afternoon.  My sister-in-law, Stacey, made the best venison for supper...oh my goodness!  It was great!

This is Mom's bulldog, Freckles.  She is a mess!
After supper, we came home and I worked on my Sunday School lesson and made up my Easter goodie bags for my little ones.

B & P in Bible Class.  They always want to take pictures by the yellow wall.  They were so excited about hunting Easter eggs!

My favorite little girls!  L didn't make it in time for Bible Class but I had to get a picture with her.

Little girls dressed up for Easter are just the cutest things!  Of course, these three look adorable every Sunday!

I've known this sweet girl since Jr. High.  We roomed together for a while in college and she likes to tell this silly story about me talking in my sleep all the time.  I don't believe a word of it!
We went to Molina's after church with Mom and Dad, as usual.

This is a future Molina's waitress...well she does a fine job now at 5 years old.  I love her!  She is learning the family business and is just too cute when she is waiting on customers.  When we tip her, she runs straight to the gumball machines!   So cute!
I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!