Blessed

I think as Americans we are so spoiled and forget how blessed we are. Right now all you hear when you turn on the news is about how bad our economy is. And I know it is hard right now, I have been out of work since May and it has been real tight. But, as Americans we are so blessed, even when times are tight, we have so much more than many other countries in the world. I think about all of the excesses we have. I complain because I don't have enough storage space, not thinking that there are people in this world, even in our own country, that don't have living space. God has blessed me with a great house, 3 great kids and enough money to take care of our needs.

Routines

Why is it so hard for humans to keep routines. Well, at least routines that are good for us. We struggle with reading our bible and quiet time with God, with excercising daily and many other healthy habits. But, we have no problem making time to get on the computer or watch that show we can't miss every week! I am working on this in my life. I want to set up certain routines and stick with them! Pray that I can successfully do this!

Braxton's Birthday

Braxton's birthday was yesterday, he had a baseball themed birthday party. We had a great time! We had 10 kids here (not countin Devin, who is 15 and does not consider himself a kid).

Braxton blowing out his candles.

Birthday cupcakes.

Great Weekend

I love my family dearly and love being with them, but I had the opportunity to go to a wedding this weekend in Maggie Valley, NC this weekend with my dad and step-mom, so I went. I had so much fun. The rehearsal dinner was at Ghost Town in the Sky. The groom's parent's had the dinner in the Silver Dollar Saloon, there were Can-Can girls and Cowboys there, it was so neat. My dad, Ann (my step-mom) all had our pictures made dressed in the old time clothes, it was fun. On Saturday we went shopping at a gift shop in Maggie Valley, I can't remember the full name but it was Cabbage something. It was so neat! They had all kinds of neat stuff. My daddy was enamoured with the Christmas shop. They had lot's of affordable ornaments. It was so nice to be able to relax and not worry about being mommy or taking care of anyone! But I was glad to see my entire family when I got home!! It was funny, when I was away, I called the boys to talk to them several times. On Saturday morning when I talked to them, Braxton asked me if I was coming home that night. I told him that it was up to his Papa, to which he replied, I need my mommy! I said to him, what if Papa needs his daughter? He replied, "He has already had his couple of years". That made me smile!

A picture of the mountains in Maggie Valley!

Devin and the deer.

My husband, Robert is a hunter. He absolutely loves to deer hunt. You can bet that he will be in the woods the very first day that he can. October 1st is the first day of black powder hunting and October 11th is opening day for regular season. On Tuesday he killed his first deer of the season. When he kills one he always calls me and the boys help him get them out of the woods, they both enjoy helping him get them out and taking them to the processor. Well, this time Robert drug the deer half way and Devin drug it the rest of the way to the van. I don't know what Devin touched, but something didn't like him! He was fine when we got out of the woods. I talked to them for a few minutes and then I came home and they went to the processor as always. Robert called me on the way home and told me that Devins eyes were beginning to swell, I didn't think anything about it until he came home. He evidentally touched something that he was allergic to and rubbed his eyes. I gave him Benadryl and his eyes were better in less than 24 hours. I have never seen him react like this before, he and his brothers used to live in those same woods when we lived there, I have no idea what would make his eyes do this. I have attached a picture of him and how lovely he looked below.

Robert and his first deer of the year.
The deer.

Devin! My sister wanted to know if Devin and the deer got into a fight, you be the judge on who won!

Tailgating for Jesus

We went to church to day for a tailgating event. Between 2 campuses, the main campus in Anderson and the new campus in Greenville, New Spring church baptized 602 people today. 452 at Anderson and 150 at Greenville. What amazes me is that the Greenville campus has only been open for 3 months and we already have 150 to baptize! Amazing what God can do when you follow HIS vision! It is amazing to see people cheer and celebrate a baptism like you would at a sporting event!!!!

Date night

Thursday morning when I opened up my e-mail I recieved this:

From: OpenTable [mailto:rsmith2@ecslimited.com]
Sent: Wed 10/01/2008 10:37 pm
Subject: Restaurant Invitation from Robert L Smith

Search for restaurant availability and instantly book your reservation for free.
Hello, Robert L Smith has sent you an invitation!I have reservations at the Rio restaurant in Greenville for our date nite, Friday at 5:00pm. Then off to the 7:20pm movie at Cherrydale. Love you so very much!

He has been out of town for over 2 weeks, so we have not had a date night in quite a while so he decided that it would be a special evening. Rio is a Braxilian Steak House. They bring all kinds of meat around to your table and you can eat as much of it as you want and they have a wonderful salad bar that has shrimp, smoked salmon, asparagus, crab salad, tomatoe salad with mozerella cheese on it. It was wonderful! Then we went to see Nights in Rodanthe! It was classic Nicholas Sparks! Wonderful, my husband said he thinks it may be better than the Notebook and he loved the Notebook! It is so nice just to have a whole night of just me and him, because if we don't have that we can't have a successful family.