Hey Peeps

Sunday...got up this morning and cleaned the house. Took Jason to lunch....his birthday is today....and washed some clothes. Rueben bought a truck for $300. It's okay...reminds me of a Sanford & Sons truck, as most of his "purchases" do. But, it will be good for pulling the boat. I have been frustrated this weekend. Seems like everytime I turn around Rueben and I are arguing about some nonsense!!! Christmas and money are so stressful!!! It is a bad season anyway between him missing his dad and me missing my mom, we try to focus on Ryan and Caitlyn and Santa---but there are times.... Anyway...peeps holla...take care.

HOLY BAT FLAPS GRANDMA......

it's cynthia!! YEP ladies and gentlemen...I am back. I don't think anyone stops by anymore. Things have been fruit basket turn over. Still at Intercall, living in Alabama, trying to buy a house and kids and family doing great. Ryan lost his first tooth today....................cry-cry-cry-cry...I am upset that my baby is growing up. Rueben, being the big bully that he is, was too afraid to pull ryan's tooth.....he doesn't like to do that!!! So after rueben messing around for an hour with string after string after string. I had to be that bad guy and just give it the ol' mommy yank!!! Yea...it was tradgic...but we have passed the milestone of tooth pulling!!! Well, peeps headed to newnan to meet his psycho!! mother and drop him off....take guys!!holla

Grandma Moses has left the building!

Hello peeps...sorry about the long time no blog. Rueben had surgery on the 8th and had a few minor complications that resulted in a couple of day's stay at the horse-pistol. My computer was deathly ill as well, so why Rueben was getting repaired, I sent my pooter off to restore bootcamp. Drill Sargent Dan has since whipped the ol' pc back into shape---therefore---Grandma Moses has left the building. It is fast as far as desk top thingy mabobs go, the internet is still slow...but that's dialup for you! Rueben is doing well now, the fam is great and I am so happy to have my computer back...thanks Drill Sargent Dan!

Tragedy on the homefront

Okay, so I have been a little behind in the blogging dept....I apologize. Some smartie pants had make a comment about me not posting and then wasn't nice enough to leave their name---oh well, guess you aren't important enough to leave your name. So what is the deal with the Gnome? I suppose the InterHell bitch team needed a cheerleader so he filled the opening. Gnome----what a boring life you lead if all you have to do is link to our blogs and keep track. How ridiculous is that, to snoop on InterHell bloggers? At any rate, if you are reading my blog, make yourself known so that we will stop wasting our time trying to figure out your connection to InterHell. There is no way you just pulled our blogs out of the air and linked.

On a different note....Rueben is out of work until further notice. He now has 1 confirmed injury and another possible injury that he will have test on tomorrow to confirm. He will have to have surgery and the doctor said that he is out of work until further notice pending the outcome of the test, surgery, outcome of surgery and recovery. Sounds like "myfundsarelow" times are here! And, Catie gave herself her first haircut. I was really expecting it before now, so I was proud that she waited this long. She trimmed (hacked-whatever) her bangs. I was braiding her hair for school tomorrow and when I told her to bring me the brush and hairband she started squalling at the top of her lungs. When I pulled her hair back I noticed all of these sprigs sticking up everywhere. When I asked her if she had cut her hair---the damn broke. The tears poured from her eyes like the bottom fell out. I just hugged her and told her that I wasn't mad and told her that I couldn't believe she had waiting this long.....she finally calmed down then we had to show Rueben...he laughed and she started boo-hooing again...she just knew he was mad at her....all's well now...she is in the bed and the tradgey of her haircut is just another page in her "crap catie did as a baby" book! Holla Girls and Boys....Peace

Why I hate teenagers!!!!

Okay....so apparently mr. smarty-pants has decided to grade our blogs based on how often we post, I made a d-. And so...here's the latest. I have decided that I hate teenagers---this revelation due to Joshua and his first SERIOUS girlfriend and Justin's very disturbing confession. When the icestorm hit last week, Rueben and I had "the talk" with Joshua and Justin. And--to prevent from re-living the nightmare--I decided that I hate teenagers. You know kids think that "the talk" is uncomfortable for them, it is 1000000000000000000000% worse for the parents. If it was that bad for the boys, what will it be like for Caitlyn? So, I prayed...Dear God in heaven.....may I sit a brick on her head so she will never grow up? He said no. I wasn't happy with his answer, but I guess Rueben and I weren't happy with the boys answers either. So, now, I can only imagine how God feels knowing the truth all of the time. Ignorance is bliss....yea that's it....I want to remain ignorant about Joshua and Justin and the talk, maybe I can forget it never happened. Maybe, just maybe I could be like Drew Berrymore's character in 50 First Dates and not remember what happened the day before. Or more appropriately for me...not remember the talk, but hope what we told the boys acutally sunk in. Okay.....pointless rambling....my Joshua isn't a baby anymore.....until that day I still pictured him around Ryan's age I suppose. I pictured him as this little mischevious boy that would never grow up. I see him in a much different light now...he's one of us---a potential grown-up. Joshua is in love with a really awesome girl that Rueben and I love. She is such a strong woman for her age. She and I talked for an hour and a half over the weekend and I have so much respect for her. To protect her, I will only skim the surface of her background. She is one of five, she was raised in a motel room, this was her birth mother's office (sadly enough). Because of what she was subjected to as a young child-she has made a vow to herself to not have sex until she is married. A vow that she demands herself to keep, she is her own conviction. Her grandfather was her support system. When she was 8 her grandfather passed away. She said shortly before passing away he was speaking to her and her older brother. She said that the most encourging words were told to her that day....her grandfather told her "Pookie (not really--substitute for her real name), you will never be good enough if YOU know you can be better". She said that she lives by those words still at 15 and will carry them throughout life with her. She was adopted by her current parents when she was 9. She went to the Day Camp at the rec dept. That is where she met Joshua and Justin for the first time. She said that she had a sorta crush on Justin until she got to know Joshua. They hung out for the next few summers until they were to old to go to Day Camp. They didn't keep in touch much. Joshua moved in with us and started school that next year. The first morning he stepped on the bus there sat Pookie. She said that her heart fell to her feet. She said that it has always been that way with him, but she didn't think that he would ever like her for a girlfriend. They hung out over the past two years and grew closer. Shortly after Christmas this past year, Joshua popped the little question and Pookie accepted his hand as her boyfriend. She said her heart still drops everyday she sees him. She told me the other night that she loves Joshua, and according to Joshua--the feeling is mutual. So...that is why I hate teenagers...one day they are working your last nerve because they won't pick their toys up and the next you are having to discuss why not to have sex before marriage. Joshua did make me proud, he admitted that he hasn't attempted to have sex-but thinks pookie could be a canadate. He told the truth and not what he thought we "wanted to hear". We commended him on being honest and encouraged him to always be honest with us and we would bite our tounges and help him work through anything as long as he was honest. He respects Pookie for her decision to wait and understands why...much because he can relate on a very personal level. This instilled a whole new level of respect for the both of them for me--pookie for being strong enough to be her own conviction and Joshua for be convicted enough to respect her. So, God does work in wonderful ways. I always wondered if positive could come out of what Joshua saw while he lived with his mother...I suppose so. God has put someone in his path that mutually agrees why sex is great with the right person...but not so great with many wrong people. All of you pray with me that they will keep their minds and hearts in the right direction and stay on the 'marriage' train.

Oh yea....I didn't mention the results of "the talk" with Justin....it was very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very upsetting to say the least and I will leave it at that. Just pray for him period--seriously!

Thank You!

Thank You to all of my friends and family for making today a special day for me!!!

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing!

Let me begin by saying hello and welcome to any new readers in blogger land!

Each year our Pastor assigns us a mission for the year. This year it is "Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing." I thought for a brief moment he had lost his mind and we needed to take him to the altar and pray for him! But as he begin to explain, it all made since. For those of you that are Christians this will make perfect sense for you. It is very important for us to put Christ first above all. This year's mission is to make Jesus the main thing and keep him there. Sometimes it is very hard to remember this....I shall not cast stones unless I cast the first at myself! Sometimes it doesn't take much to push me to the edge---mostly just a liar. And this I am guilty of. But, after the smoke cleared and I had a few moments to analyze to big picture--she really wasn't worth it. I let her consume too much of my time.

Ryan has a memory verse every month for his church class. This month his memory verse is:

"There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace." Proverbs 12:20

Oh, my goodness! Did this ever ring my bell when I saw it Sunday. It reminded me of the old wives tale "oh, what a tangled web we weave when yet we try to deceive"! As I thought about this in deep thought it occured to me that people have lost their first love. Instead of helping one another and standing up for what's right--we spend incrediable amounts of time ripping each other's heads off and stabbing other's in the back in spite of ourselves! So, with that said, here is tonight's sermon!

I want to start by saying kudos to two of the wonderful people that I am so blessed to work around. These two ladies have really been put through the ringer. The both of them are in messy broken marriages because the husbands strayed for what was greener on the other side only to find it was a field of moldy filth! K&M (just their first initals--so the innocent can be protected) you both are making great strides and I have seen such a wonderful work in your lives. You both have had to swollow the unthinkable--but have taken an absolute negative and made the sun shine on a cloudy day. Before any of you men get the wrong impression---women are just as guilty--my husband's ex for one! She is very friendly with everyone-herself he was scorned by her not once but twice and both times he caught her red-handed and there was no denying it! It took him several years to overcome the heart-wrenching pain of a cheating spouse, but he did! and K&M you are well on your way. Trust in God and he will take you to places that you could only imagine. Be faithful to him and Honor him and he will reward you more than you can hold!

More than just a cheating spouse can send you into an emotional whirlwind. We as people spend more time trying to kill each other's moral's, well-being, spirit, emotions, etc. than we do being a friend to someone. You have heard me say in the past and I will say it again. Arguments and disagreements will happen--step back--catch your breath and go on. If we spent as much time finding something nice to say about someone as we did complaining about them, we would have so much peace in our lives that there would never be a bad day to have.

Let me encourage you this year. Find your first love- not your puppy love or your first boyfriend or girlfriend--find the love of Christ within you. Reach out to him and grab hold of what he has to offer in this life. Make him your main thing and keep him there and you will not worry anymore. Ride on his coat tails and it will be smooth sailing! Your heart will be peaceful. Make your wrong's right. Apologize and really mean it. If you want to see someone else change-start with yourself. Don't expect out of someone what you are not willing to give of yourself.

Have a great year!

Love all of you!