Stuck in the Middle with Blue

My middle child is now in Middle School!

Good Luck baby - I love you!

Hidden Beauty

My late summer garden is BORING! The bright pinks and purples of spring are faded. I've had to thin and trim the verdant thyme ground cover back to stems and the day lilies have gone to bed. August demands a closer look to find anything beautiful - there are only glimpses:

Juicy blackberries peeking out at the

sun from behind floppy leaves.





"Morning Glorious": a volunteer treasure with blue, fuchsia and white blossoms that hides behind the garden shed!

Another Blog

Hey friends - I have started another blog. Yes - I am crazy - thanks for asking!
It is all part of my attempt to use the "free" aspects of the internet to shamelessly promote my business. So it is specifically a sewing blog to post pictures, prices, etc. for Cinde Exclusives. It will link from my website so those who are interested can find out more info about my work. You can check it out here.
See Ya Bye!

At Work Today

I should be working or showering or cleaning or something but I am sitting here reading blogs. I supposed this is one of the hazards of working from home...no one to chat with around the water cooler. So I have to daily check in with all my fake cyber-friends who I have never met but who I know that I would have a kickin' good time with if I ever did.

Today, Lysa at Proverbs 31, puts in a good word for Chick-Fil-A. I think it is a good word for any Christian in the business world. Are we going the extra mile to serve our customers? To give them a bright spot in their day? To listen if needed? To have integrity in our dealings? Are they a person to us or just a means of getting that paycheck?

Lysa says, "Our tasks should be a means to an end- not the end itself. Whatever we are doing, we should have spiritual eyes that are wide open realizing not one person who crosses our path is there by happen chance."

Definitely something to think about at work today...which means I'd better get to it!

"Barefoot Cake Wrecks"

The other day I came across this hilarious blog called "Cake Wrecks". Self-described as "When Professional Cakes Go Horribly, Hilariously Wrong". Oh, my word, this site could be my new addiction...it is so stinkin' funny and some of the cakes are so very wrong.

Take this one for example:

Or maybe these seasonal favorites:

Do you suppose someone has created a snufflupagus/reindeer cross? Now those are some crazy genetics!

In the spirit of what would Jesus do, I decided I shouldn't throw cakey-stones or try to get the "cake log" out of my brother's eye without first taking a look at the splinter in mine.

Therefore I bring you: (drumroll) "Barefoot Cake Wrecks"

Now this was Max's birthday cake one year. It is supposed to be a surfboard but now that I look at it, I'm seeing a patriotic squid. See the blue "waves" that Max colored on the cake board? Maybe that was so you'd know it belonged in the water and not Cape Canaveral. Remember, however, I am not a professional cake decorator...just a mom who occasionally plays one on TV.


Okay...moving on...

This lovely creation - sporting a "ghetto shoe" - was for Blue's 5th birthday. I copied the shoe design from her invitations...was supposed to be pink leopard skin. Why is it still in the pan you ask? Easier to carry to the roller skating rink that way - plus mama is busy and it's much faster if you don't decorate the sides!

This little number was for a "picnic" themed birthday. It is supposed to be a checkered picnic tablecloth, complete with ants. It looks more like argyle gone buggy...

And now for the Grand Finale I bring you the "CCC". On the official "Cake Wrecks" blog, the "CCC" stands for Cupcake Cake and man do they ever get some heat.

Here are the "Barefoot Cake Wreck" versions: This one isn't too bad. I think you can tell it is a football sitting on the field at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, TN. You can tell that right???

Ummm, this is what you call "Mom using the computer to generate pieces of Spongebob that she can slap on some frosted cupcakes...because she also has to make crabby patties and keep 10 little 1st graders entertained."

However, please remember, I am not a professional...but the person who made this was:


Thanks for joining me in "caking" fun of myself today! Love ya'll!

Checkin' In with Random Stuff

Buford is in Baltimore.

Kids had Parent/Teacher Conferences tonight. Awesome reports - doing great.

Sewing biz is hopping. Will have to sew into tonight and most of day tomorrow to get caught up.

New fave song...



If you like kitties, check out this hilarious blog...

I dare you not to laugh!

Permission to Nag??

My parents stayed with us a couple of nights this week while they were participating in some activities at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. My house is only about 30 minutes away, cheaper than a hotel, plus their grandchildren live here...might be a bonus??
Buford, my dad, and I were talking about the busy schedule this week and how wives have to keep their husbands informed and reminded all the time. My dad said, "We need some nudging and guidance from time to time."
I said, "Dad, do you realize that the acronym for Nudging And Guidance is NAG?"

We had a big chuckle over that one and then I generously thanked him for the permission!

What I'm Listening To...

Newest addition to my ipod - love the lyrics...

Fellowship of the Unashamed

I found this bit of inspiration on the Compassion International blog. I am using it as my New Year's resolution - it is rich with recommitment which is exactly what I need as 2008 closes out.

“I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His and I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I’m done and finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or rewarded. I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by Holy Spirit power.
My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear.
I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of the adversary. I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won’t give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.
I am a disciple of Jesus. I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He does come for His own, He’ll have no problems recognizing me. My colors will be clear!”

We had ourselves a Wii little Christmas...

One big gift was under the tree yesterday morning and has provided non-stop entertainment. Blue worked up a sweat playing Wii tennis which is great since it is too blasted cold outside to do any type of outdoor playing or exercise.
Buford discovered that if you put your camera memory card into the Wii, you can draw on and embellish various photos. He added a black goatee and devil horns to a picture of me...I'm off to plot my revenge.

Merry Christmas, Ya'll!

A Fancy Photo Film of Family Fun

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Why Believe in God?

Recent news reports have shown new signs going up on buses in our nation's capitol. They say:

"Why believe in god...
Just be good for goodness sake!"

These signs are to help agnostics and atheists feel less "left out" this holiday season.

My response to that can be found by watching this video: http://www.rhchurch.org/pages/cardboard-testimonies/

I think it answers the question, "Why believe in God?" quite well.

Amen and Amen

I dreaded having to tell my little guy what the outcome of the election was. My children were so aware of and so involved in this one. Not like when I was little and we just wanted the election to be over so the TV programming would go back to normal! My kids knew there was a lot at stake riding on this one. We have had the discussion over and over that it is God who is ultimately in control.
This morning Beth urges us to come up higher with these words. They echo what the Lord placed on my heart this morning...we war on our knees. The weapons of our warfare are not of this world but they are might for the demolishing of strongholds! Unity in the body and revival in our nation can only come through prayer.

Kingdom Coming Download

Kingdom Coming

Click the widget above to download a free song from Shaun Groves. No strings attached - you can read about his intentions here.

And remember to check in with the Compassion bloggers in the Domican Republic here.

??Happy??Election??Day??

Dominican Republic

Some of my favorite bloggers are headed to the Dominican Republic and it's not for a vacation:

November 2–7, 2008 Compassion International will take a group of bloggers to see their ministry to over 40,000 children in the Dominican Republic. Known for its resort-speckled beaches, there’s another side to this Caribbean nation unknown to most vacationers. Our bloggers will visit a city dump where families scavenge for food and clothing. They’ll tour a neighborhood where drugs are trafficked and children live beside open sewers. And bloggers will also see firsthand how Compassion International and child sponsors are bringing hope to children living in these places by releasing them from poverty in Jesus’ name.


I would like to challenge my friends and family to take a look at a couple of these blogs over the next week and see the world through another's eyes...a part of the world that is so easy to ignore. In a week where everyone's focus is going to be on the election - may I ask you to focus for just a moment on the lives of children who get their food from a garbage dump - it will put life in America into perspective for all of us. Just click on the widget in my sidebar that says Domincan Republic. That will link you to the Compassion web page for this trip and then you can click on the individual bloggers to read their stories.

I would love if you'd leave a comment here about what you've read. Thank you!

Election

Yep - I'm just as sick of it all as you are. Sick of getting the emails warning of conspiracy and terrorism. Sick of the TV ads and biased media reports. This election and all the hoopla, hearsay, and heresy are enough to drive one to pull her own hair out by the handfuls...if that is where we are placing our hope.

I have said to several people in the last couple of weeks that the church in America is not a bride that is ready for her groom and that what might bring unity to the body and revival to our land is persecution...

Check out Shaun's post regarding this very idea.

Ponder, then pray. If you'd like to join me in prayer and fasting on Monday, November 3rd, for the election please leave a comment and I will email you with the details.

Fall Fun

Well since I'm here and on a roll - I'll just do another post.

To make up for the past month of no posting and all...

Last Saturday I was mowing and getting the garden torn out when the neighborhood kids decided to rake up the leaves in our front yard.

Now this might look like your ordinary pile of leaves...

But look who pops out in the next frame:

Next it was Blue's turn to get buried:

Then they all decided it would be great fun for me to take pictures of them with just their faces poking out of the leaves:

Here are Min and Dan.

Here are Blue and Miss S.

Fall is Fun!!!

Oh My - It Has Been Awhile

I'm sure all three of you who read this blog are wondering what in the world has happened to me since my last post of Sept. 20. Well, let me try to catch you up:

1. I took over as treasurer for the PTO of our elementary school. This in itself doesn't seem like all that daunting of a task - however, if you add in the fact that the previous treasurer didn't keep any books, it is daunting, frustrating, time consuming and downright irritating!

2. Our dog, Duncan, of 11+ years had to be put down. The last couple weeks of his life were very sad as he became less and less able to walk and unable to eat. He is buried out on my parent's farm which is a place he loved to run around and sniff things!

3. Now for some of the fun stuff:

Max went to Homecoming. (He is in blue shirt with his date, LB. Max's buddy, "Farmboy" is in the hat with his date, LB's BF)

Min celebrated his 8th birthday last Sunday with a costume party, scavenger hunt, and 8 candles stuck into a Monster Cupcake. Woo hoo! It was great fun and beautiful weather.

And then I had him mummified so he will stay 8 forever - I'm not going to let him get any bigger! Oh no, I'm not!

The Invisible Mom

A dear friend emailed this to me today. It is a blogworthy piece of writing for sure.

It all began to make sense; the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in.

I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:

'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.'

That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.