Ao5

This Sunday we'll be leaving for beautiful East Tennessee . We will be driving. 5-6 hours in a car with 3 kids. Ages 9, 6, 2. I know what you're thinking. UGH, right? NO!!! Not UGH! I am filling 2 binders chock full of paper games. We have BINGO cards based on sights we'll see on the way, we have lists of things to find, states lists and maps, plain lined paper, pipe cleaners, canned goods trays (these will be their "desks" for the following:), micro machine® cars & legos® in Ziploc® baggies, crayons, coloured pencils, notebooks and a bag of snacks for the Elders. The baby got a book and a generic "magna doodle®." We also planned ahead. Upon arrival they each have 2 new water guns. Next time you go on a family trip, whether by car or by plane, be sure the kids get their own little "bag of fun." Google is a wonderful learning tool when looking for on the road activities. I simply typed in Traveling With Kids and was rewarded with a bounty ...

How many (((Hugs))) have you hugged your kids today? Today I challenge you to hugging your kids a LOT!!! Count those hugs. Look at the joy on your child(ren)'s face(s). Titus 2:4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children Come back tomorrow and tell me how many kids you have and how many hugs you doled out (approximately, total hugs, you don't have to tell me how many per child) and at what time (your time zone) you started the doling. God blessed you with children. Whether by your own womb or by the wondrous miracle of adoption. Show Our Lord that you APPRECIATE that blessing. Be grateful for His gifts, HIS tithes and offerings to US! How else do you tell and/or show your kids you love them? Cherish them, keep them children as long as you can. You'll miss them one day! Love in Christ, Kayla

Have you touched your Husband today? A hug? A kiss? A caress across across the cheek? Have you? (if he is at work today) Were you up early enough to see him off to work? 1 Corinthians 7:34- (KJV) There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. If you were not up to see your husband off to work this morning, I challenge you to it tomorrow! I was up this morning. I kissed my Hubster goodbye. Getting up in the mornings has been very hard for me since I quit smoking. My schedule has been off. I was spending MANY mornings getting up WAY after The Hubster. I realised the err of my ways and have been making a strong effort to see him off to work. Right now that only means I rise just a few minutes before he leaves, but I am getting better. I am trying! I will keep trying and I will continue to...

I posted on Baby James a few days ago. I've been visiting AHH EVERYday to see if a "hold" had been placed on him. Everyday I cried as there wasn't. I've also been visiting Barbara's blog to see if she had any updates. Today I visited and was OVERJOYED to the point of screaming praises and bawling my eyes out. He has reigned in a MAGNITUDE of attention. So much in fact, that while they have not found a suitable adopting family (more like they haven't HAD A CHANCE!!!, they cannot send his file back to China! Baby James will soon have a home with a loving family and more Downs babies will be offered from China (assuming they hold up to their end of the bargain!). Visit Barbara's site, she gave all the details in yesterday’s entry. God is AWESOME!!!!!

Saturday, The Hubster & I were able to attend a seminar on DVD at our church. Dr. Gary Chapman delivers a powerful and Bible-centered message on the importance of marriage and how to keep yours alive and full of love (or TINGLES as he calls it! LOL). If you cannot get to a live Growing Marriage Conference of his, I suggest getting the DVD . If it's a bit on the pricey side, maybe your church group can offer this (for a small fee, as ours did), or you and a few close friends and couples can all chip in. Anyway, we left home around 8am to drop the kiddlin's off at my Mother-in-law's house. Got to the church around 9, left the church around 3:30 pm, dropped by our house, went to MIL's to pick up the kids and take her out to eat. We hit Longhorn first (about 5:30pm), but with 3 hungry kids, the 45-50 minute wait was not enticing us. About a week ago, The Hubster & I commented on how we'd like to go to Wylie’s again soon. It had been a couple years since we...

Last night at 12M= TWO MONTHS!!!!!

My heart just ached and I cried when I read about this beautiful baby boy named James today on Barbara’s blog . He doesn't have much time. I want to adopt one day. Unfortunately, right now we aren't stable enough too..... Please pray for Baby James if you aren't able to adopt him!

Here is an email I could have used from the site: Hey guys, I found this site giving away personalized items for free -- some worth up to $40. You can engrave your initials or otherwise personalize the item. But I need your help. They only process requests in batches of 500. The more people who submit valid requests, the sooner I get my item. So help me out, and submit a request at the link below. It takes less than 60 seconds, and you'll get a free personalized item (like a key chain). Note: please use a valid link in the request form. They're strict about links and won't consider the request valid unless the link is valid. http://www.cengraving.com/s/free Thanks! I've ordered mine (see last post!).

Thinking about a plaque for DH: Robert W. LASTNAMEHERE The Hubster (My cell phone says "the Wifey" LOL) .... I think he'd get a kick out of it.....

So the hunk of my burnin' love took yesterday off from work. He pulled his back on Saturday and being in the plane Tuesday and again on Wednesday made it worse. Apparently they hit a lot of turbulence. So he called in a sick day. Now he's back to work and I keep thinking it's Monday. So he'll work today and be off Saturday-Monday, go back to work Tuesday-Saturday and then we will be going on vacay! We'll be visiting the FIL & SMIL for the week of the 4th and we are going to a parade and fireworks show in a smalltown near them in TN. We're all looking forward to it. So yesterday I got in touch with our landlord about the house he's building. Recap- we are sorta stuck between 2 houses for rent. One an older one that is ok-nice. The LL there is a sweet older gentleman. The second house is still in the process of being built, may be a possible lease purchase and is owned by current LL. Come to find out on Wednesday, CLL (current LL) is running for District 1...

And only 328 calories to boot. 27 carbs, 18 grams of fat & 17 grams of protein. Sounds like a lot but dinner will be similar today with DH out of town. Not to mention my plan allows for the following: Calories 1250 - 1600/Carbohydrates 141 - 260/Fat grams 28 - 62/Protein grams 31 - 140. This plate consists of: *3 green onions (approximately 3" long) *5 slices cuke *5 baby carrots *2 slices Bryan® Roast beef *2 T. Ken's Steakhouse Sweet Vidalia Onion Dressing (full fat-n-all) *1 oz Cabot 50% Light Vermont Cheddar Cheese *4 Club Crackers Served up with icy cold water it was VERY filling! And YUMMY!

My Virtual Model Before (this is me currently): After (this is my final "at least" goal): Yes, I plan on getting a haircut and a good dye (just like I used to) as a reward. Maybe when I reach my 1st goal weight!

Actually the song goes "Monday, Monday... lalaaalalala...." But it is Tuesday, no? LOL The kids and I dropped The Hubster off at the aeropuerto (airport) this afternoon. I hate doing that. I hate him being away! We get to go pick him up tomorrow about 9:30pm at the train station (MARTA for you Georgia folks!). As long as things keep progressing and go as planned, this should only happen 1-2 more times. In other Kayla news...... For those that are unaware, I have been on a fit-into-smaller-clothes (A*K*A weight-loss) journey since May 31st. I did GREAT the first 2 weeks. I lost 3 pounds each week. Then I got that container of Metamucil® and my weight has been ALL over the place. It says that bloating may occur, but I'm not sure how long THAT is supposed to last. If you have ANY idea, please leave it in the comment section. I'm about to go nuts over it. Anyway, the bloating thing- my weight has fluctuated up to 5-6 pounds in a matter of days. Back and forth. Yes, nerve ...

My Baby blue eyes. His face covered in chocolate. What a wonderful thing to see on Thursday!

Today's project- searching for a rental house. Our local papers come out on Wednesdays. I see them via the wondrous world-wide web. Here's to you God....

Why did I change the name of my blog? This question was presented to me recently after I had changed the name. I think I had finally figured out that this a journal of my life and MANY a time I come here to present my problems to God. To ask prayers and to be able to reflect upon what I am doing right, what I'm doing wrong and just what I'm doing, period. It's my way of saying "Dear God, it's just me, Kayla." I have to be aware and remind myself daily of His blessings. This is merely a small way of doing that!

Who says nothing in life is free? I guess if you consider Faith to an Awesome GOD as payment then breakfast wasn't free. Yesterday I rec'd a sample for a health shake. Along with a t-shirt that I've given The Hubster. So that was my breakfast. In an effort to clear some cabinet space, I fed the kids some instant oatmeal and some hot cocoa packets for breakfast. We sat down to do Breakfast & Bible, something we've started since reading about The Duggar Family and their their breakfast routine: Our #1 goal is to lead our children to seek a close relationship with God & give Him every area of their lives. We purpose to start each day with a family Bible study, reading a chapter of Proverbs that corresponds with the day of the month. We have heart to heart talks with each of the older children regularly. We try to keep up with their attitudes & actions. Well, about that time, the doorbell rang. It was the UPS lady leaving a small but heavy pkg on my step. I br...

I feel I'm becoming a new woman. I am suffering bouts of depression in the progress, but I feel they are of my own fault. My husband and I have a new understanding of each other based on occurences Friday morning. I have been smoke free for 7 weeks tonight at midnight. I purged the internet for 48 hours and OH WHAT A feeling that was! Internet purging will become a habit in my life. I left the cyberworld for 48 hours with the agreement to myself that I would get online for necessary things. I did. Twice. Once for a map to a house we were off to look into renting. Another time when I couldn't find one of my recipes. Net net time (pun intended): approximately 6 minutes in 48 hours. On top of it all, I have a weigh in tomorrow that should hopefully show a loss of 6 pounds since May 31st. Yes, I've already weighed in since last Monday but since Mondays are the official weigh-in, I must not get giddy til tomorrow. God has shown me who I need to be. I am still struggling with it,...

I've decided I will spend the next 48 hours internet free. I hope. Maybe it will prove I DO have a little discipline! LOL I'll miss you all, but my home and family need me right now.

They made DH an offer last night. One of the men we met with on Friday called him yesterday morning to set up a meeting at Starbucks. He went there last night and they gave him THE number. He told me this morning before he left for work that he's going to call "S" today and accept. He will be employed by the new company between August 1st and September 1st at the latest. The reason for the span is that they are still building and with ANY building project, there may be delays. Congratulations, Honey!

Like sewing stuff. I can never find my seam ripper when I need it. Nor a tape measure, scissors, thimble, threader, etc. Now, let me tell you... I DO indeed have more than 1 tape measure. I also have more than one pair of scissors, but doggone-it. I need MORE!

Yes, that is a half-pint jar next to the onion!

I have onions to chop & freeze, spaghetti sauce to make, meat to separate, groceries to put away and some more grocery shopping to finish tonight!

What a past couple of weeks this has been! Last week the darling hubster flew to VA for a company meeting. He was gone 1 night, 2 days and BOY! Did we miss him terribly. This past week he went to Marianna, FL and was gone 3 days, 2 nights. That was odd. We haven't been apart like that since he trained for 2 weeks back in August 2004. The 3rd day and I was feeling his absence BAD! *pout* BUT, on a lighter note, a few good things came w ithin his absence. I stepped on the scale..... OK, so NOT good, BUT, I've decided I NEED TO DROP A FEW POUNDS!!! OK, MORE than a FEW! I joined Spark People sometime last year and then after poking on a time or 3, finally forgot about it. *blushblush* So in an atempt at some calorie-burning, the boys and I cranked up some tunes and MAD-DANCED around the house (like a bunch of bloody fools!) and in turn burned just under 100 cals per 10 minutes! But the best part...... we had a BLAST! So today we had a wonderful family outing. A FULL day, whew ...