Movie Date With Butch

Yesterday I was treated to a movie date with Butch, as well as all the other 2nd and 3rd graders and Otter, too! We went to a special showing of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I was at first rather disappointed because at first we were scheduled to see the stage presentation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the Bijou Theater in Downtown. I was so excited about that, but the tickets had sold out, so we went to a movie instead. I was greatly surprised (after getting over the shock of having to watch a preview of the new Chipmunk movie! Ughhh!) that it was a really cute movie. No bad language, no sexual references or potty humor, which is as it should be for a G rated kids film.

My Word Of The Day

Snuggle:
v. tr.
To draw close or hold closely, as for comfort or in affection; hug.

–verb (used without object)

1.	to lie or press closely, as for comfort or from affection; nestle; cuddle.

–verb (used with object)

2.	to draw or press closely against, as for comfort or from affection.

For those of us who find themselves needing to snuggle, but find there is no one there for us...
The Boyfriend's Arm.
You know I had contemplated making a pillow somewhat like this when Joe was sent overseas, but I assumed it was just me who would think of something like this.

Thanksgiving Football

Thursday we had a wonderful time together with family and friends. With the forecast showing rain I was unsure about the football game. Well, the rain cleared away to give the family time to play the annual flag football game. It was a fun time as we had several internationals there that needed to learn the rules of the game (but that is nothing new for us). It turned out to be a really fun time of football. One of the funniest plays was when Butch got the ball. If you look in the picture he has Joe's coat on and it covers his flags! Joe picked him up to get his flags! They then made him take off his flags and put them on top of the coat.

Favorite Dates

I have no idea why this came to mind this morning, but I was thinking about past dates I have had and my favorites. I know that most people have a typical date night consisting of dinner and a movie. With the lack of good movies in theaters, though, this has personally not been an exciting thought for how to spend a date night. A lot of people are now stumped as what to do and sometimes do not even try. I thought of a couple of my favorite dates:


1. I went with Joe to Cades Cove and we had a picnic lunch together, looked around at all the buildings, just walked, talked, and laughed.




2. Walks on the beach in the evening. This was a somewhat tradition that my Dad and I did when we went to the beach. I guess this is not really a date, but it was a special time between me and my Daddy. You see the beach was our annual vacation and he and I would just walk and talk (or some times in silence) down the beach after dinner. Usually he and I were the only ones that wanted to do this. I guess that is how it became a tradition for us.





3. My Father/ Daughter "dates" to UT football games. Many years of happy memories!







4. Going to a Smokies baseball game. What could be better than baseball, peanuts, soda and... oh yeah, Joe. too. ;)






5. Frank Sinatra, Jr and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. This was nice because I am a big fan of Frank Sinatra and that was why Joe got the tickets for us. I really enjoyed the KSO when I went as a field trip in school. I am not sure I have ever been disappointed with their music.

Other times of hockey games, hikes, etc. are right behind these.

Thanksgiving Feast

Yesterday was Butch's Thanksgiving Feast at school. It was a SPREAD! A real turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mash potatoes, gravy, rolls, and several desserts. It was great! We also had entertainment from the kids. They had a little play, some poems, and some songs to show the parents. It was so cute and they did a great job!

Christmas Wish List

I have a new item to add to my Christmas Wish List. Family Tree Maker has a new version out: Family Tree Maker 2008. This version is different from the older version (by several editions) that I own. I am hoping to get the Deluxe version, which includes 3 months access to Ancestry.com. I love my subscription to Ancestry that was a Christmas gift last year. Ancestry.com has been a great help in my research for my family tree.

I Am A Hypocrite

What can I say... I am a hypocrite. I am not proud of this but it is true.

Hypocrite: person given to hypocrisy (pretense of virtue, piety, etc.)

I wonder at people who are shocked by the fact that "most" Christians are hypocrites. We all are. I am not perfect and I will never be as I walk on this earth. There has only been one to walk this earth that can truly claim perfection: Jesus. Although I know what is right and wrong (according to God's word) I still cannot become pure. I sin. I know you must all be shocked, but it is true I assure you. We all sin. Period. It is not just the unsaved that sin. Christians alike sin. We are all born with a sin nature. I, though, have become aware of my sin and realized that I need to have forgiveness for said sin. That is where Jesus comes into my life and makes me clean in God's eyes. Jesus became the glasses that God sees me through. Jesus came to our sin infested world to make a way for me, a poor hopeless sinner, to be able to stand before God without blemish. I am blemished with every day I live, but because I have given my heart and life over to Jesus He covers those sins and I appear without them before God. God is forgiving when we come to Him in repentance. How amazing is that?! I cannot do anything to become perfect or sinless, but through my acceptance of Jesus as my Savior I can become as white as snow by His blood that was spilt for me.

In the Bible there were certain people who followed God's word to the letter and considered themselves better than others. Jesus came and told them that it is not just physically killing, but the thoughts in your heart of murder, that cause you to become a murderer, therefore sin. I can "act" like I have never sinned, but if you could see my thoughts and know my heart you could see the truth. Can you judge a person by their exterior? No. I can have all the appearance of good but be not in the possession of a good heart. Man can be fooled, but God cannot. There is no place that we can go that God cannot find us. We are never out of His sight. He sees our hearts and knows our true motives. He is constantly disappointed in our sins, but is eager to forgive and FORGET as soon as we ask it of Him. Praise God for His mercy, grace and forgiveness and giving me the ability to have a personal relationship with Him!

Can You Believe It?

It is hard to believe,
but Otter will be five
months old this week.

Things Boys Never Outgrow

Today I learned of two things that my boys have not outgrown. First was Bubba.

About four years ago I got a phone call from Granddad asking if I could ask Bubba where he hid his remote control for the TV. This stemmed from an ongoing battle between the two of them for the TV rights on Sundays. This was funny when Bubba learned that he could hide the remote after changing the channel to the one of his choice. Well, now there are two TVs at Granddad's house so that is not much of a problem anymore, but I got another call on Saturday evening. This time it was Papaw asking if Bubba could tell me where he put the remote. He had hid it from his brother this time. How funny to get calls like this from both the grandfathers!

Now to Butch. In 2003 I took a picture of him with our cousin playing in the leaves. He pretended that he was fighting the leaves with his light saber. Well, today he was fighting the leaves with a stick while Joe blew the leaves. This time we were smart and got out the safety glasses to keep the leaves out of his eyes!

Another Tale From The Pumpkin Patch

At the trip to the corn maze there was a funny event that I forgot to add to my earlier post. So here it goes...

Before we entered the corn maze one of the leaders went over the short list of rules that the owners have for the maze. Well, we made it 7/8ths of the way through the maze before trouble struck. Being near the back of our group I was slightly farther from the happenings, but I did see parts. The boys were in the lead and at the moment we were stopped at the last point (there were 12 points where you punched holes in your cards and also found the trivia questions). As the boys waited on the slower adults in the group they started playing around the corner. That is when it happened! I saw a corn cob go flying by the others in front. Of course the male leader with us immediately called the boys down reminding them that throwing corn was one of the rules. He then made the comment that it should not be that hard for them to remember as there were only 5. Never underestimate a eight year old boy! One of the other boys that was standing with the other adults stated, "Actually, there are 6 rules!" His mother was horrified and put her head in her hand while shaking said head. I tried to help her by saying that if it had not been her's I was sure mine would have said the same thing!