Thursday's Thoughts, Thanks & Winter pics

Well, we did it? Oklahoma beat yet another all time record for the most snowfall since 1923. After receiving 24 inches in our backyard last week, we were hit with another 9 inches starting around 12 am Wednesday and lasting until 1 pm. yesterday. They had just cleared all the streets and were ready to give the go ahead for back to school when this storm came in. So we have yet to return to school and as of today are still out. I am not sure if they will be able to get the roads in shape enough for them to return on Friday but I do know they are working around the clock. We aren't just dealing with the snow now, we are experiencing record low temperatures as well. So they have to figure that into the equation for those kids who walk and who wait at a bus stop! It has been 7 BELOW ZERO and that is NOT with the windchill! CAN YOU SAY BRRRRRRRR!!

I had to get out and see my Shoulder Dr. and was the only patient they had LOL. Before all the snow (LAST WEEK) I had gone into my regular session of Physical Therapy and had been experiencing some pretty severe pain. My awesome therapist was concerned and after conferring with her boss they took me off of strength training and just did some light stretching. He also gave me some exercises to do at home which I was thankful for because with the winter storm last week, they were closed, and I wasn't going anywhere. So a couple of weeks has gone by and my pain is still intense. I was able to make an appt. for Wednesday and just prayed that he wouldn't cancel and that I could get there to find out what was going on. After seeing him he has taken me off of all physical therapy and said that I have got some severe inflammation going on and really need to do nothing for 3 weeks and then we will see where we are from there. BUMMER!

My sweet husband made sure he filled up the bird feeder and spread out some deer corn. It didn't take long for the birds to come and they went for the deer corn too !! I had purchased Deer chops (which is basically chopped up deer corn) to actually use for the corn bags we are making and decided that it wasn't the best thing, so we used it to feed instead. Never did we think the birds would like it soo much :) Here are a few of the shots my husband got on Wednesday afternoon after the snow had stopped and the sun came out













I am so thankful to live "out of town" where we can see Gods beautiful creatures like we do! So thankful to have had this time with my family and even though everyone is ready to get back to their "normal routines" it has been such a gift to have had these past two weeks of snow days. Memories that will no doubt be remembered for years and years to come!

"Joyful" Wordless Wednesday

She loves our Redneck teeth ~ LOL Bubba eat your heart out!!


Got Snow??


Today I am linking up with Angel & 5 Minutes for MOMS

DO YOU COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS?

We just finished yet another Phenomenal Series @ Church titled "I Quit"
Week One was "Quit making excuses"
Week Two: Quit "Complaining"
Week Three was "Quit living in Fear" and
this week we just ended with "Quit Comparing"

The top 4 things that most people compare to others is:

Possessions
Appearance
Performance
Circumstances

I will be honest this weeks message was by far the one I related with the most! I have experienced on far to many occasions comparing myself to others. I have compared myself to other women but the worst that I experienced this spirit of comparison was in ministry and the comparing of spiritual gifts. I often felt "Wow, she knows so much more than me" or "Her prayers are so powerful"

Do you know that God HATES when we "Compare Ourselves to Others??" Here are a few reasons why.....

2 Corinthians 10:12 says
We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

Comparison is the DEATH of Contentment, It robs us of our meaning and steals our JOY! I especially like this one....It steals who God wants me to be and NOT who I wish I was!

Comparison makes us prideful.

Luke 18:11-12 in the Message says:
He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: "Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: 'Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.'

Comparing makes us Resentful

See here is 1 Samuel v.6-9 how King Saul of comparing himself to David and resenting how the people were praising David more than him!
As they returned home, after David had killed the Philistine, the women poured out of all the villages of Israel singing and dancing, welcoming King Saul with tambourines, festive songs, and lutes. In playful frolic the women sang,
Saul kills by the thousand,
David by the ten thousand!
This made Saul angry—very angry. He took it as a personal insult. He said, "They credit David with 'ten thousands' and me with only 'thousands.' Before you know it they'll be giving him the kingdom!" From that moment on, Saul kept his eye on David.

Another reason God hates us comparing is when we resent Gods goodness in others lives and tend to forget the blessings in our own lives!

Here is the Good News.....
We CAN Overcome this spirit of Comparison!! HOW?

KNOW what you have and the gifts God has given you like it says in Phillipians 4:11-13

I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you're again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don't mean that your help didn't mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.

Know WHO YOU ARE!

Ephesians 2:10 says
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do


Dear Lord, May We all need know who we are and not who we think we need to be!!

What about you? Do you compare yourself to others??

Happy Birthday and More Snow??

For soo many people here in Oklahoma, yesterday was the first time out of their house since last Monday evening. There is no milk, no bread, no bacon, and no eggs on the grocery shelves! YIKES! The weather is so bad, not just in Oklahoma, but it's not allowing the deliveries to be made and bring us these much needed items! GUESS WHAT!!! They are forecasting another winter storm that could possibly bring another 10 inches of snow. Holy Smokes!

no eggs!


no milk!



Our kids are out of school yet again today because the snow plows and salt trucks weren't able to get every single neighborhood cleared, therefore, the buses could not safely make it to pick up those kids who ride the bus to school. We are all wondering if they will attend school at all this week with the impending snow on the way! We shall see.....But even though there is still tons of snow hanging around it didn't stop us from celebrating my Beautiful Mothers Birthday!! NO WAY!! Normally we have everyone at our house and cook out but My Mom is one of those who hadn't gotten out so we went to her! I made her favorite chocolate cake and we went and spent the afternoon with her!

Happy Birthday Mom.....I love you soo much XOXO




Isn't she Lovely!


Ready. Set.


Blow.


They are soooo silly ;) We didn't have any birthday candles ....so we improvised!! :)


Happy Monday...How was your weekend?

Spiritual Sundays

It seems the Word of the week or maybe even the month would be SNOW. Some may Possibly correct me and say Blizzard. Here in Oklahoma we saw record snowfalls last Tuesday and here in my backyard we measured 24 inches of snow in a 24 hour time period. Today when we woke up what did we see?? ....yep, you guessed it MORE SNOW! Usually this would bring Joy, Squeals, or in the slightest a bit of excitement but NOT today. We are over the snow! Sooo over the snow. My husband spent the week in Florida for a business meeting and was due to arrive this afternoon. Upon arriving in Atlanta he was immediately notified his flight had been cancelled. We. were. crushed.

Both of us immediately began to pray and beg....ok PLEAD....for his return today. WIthin the hour my husband called and said he was taking a flight in about an hour and would be landing in a town about 2 1/2 hours from home. It was the only guarantee to being home today even if it meant driving part of that way. Well, I thought "I don't want him to have to rent a truck to drive home, surely I could drive to get him!!" I considered surprising him but due to the fact that the roads were already hazardous and it was snowing pretty heavily I wanted him to agree to my driving to get him. Yes. I persuaded him. Yes. I had to convince him that I would be beyond cautious and if I felt the slightest bit uncomfortable I would turn around.

We prayed. Loaded the car with plenty of blankets, water, coats, and all the "safety precautionary items imaginable" As I put the key in the ignition, I grabbed my kids hands and we prayed asking the Lord for His Protection, His Angels to encamp my car and the highway as well as their Daddy's plane to land. I have to be honest. I am not one to drive in this type of weather AT ALL! I honestly panic but I felt Gods Peace with me in such a powerful way!! Within the first few minutes of being on the road I hear Carrie Underwoods song begin to play "Jesus Take the Wheel" It was just soo precious of the Lord because not only did I feel HIS Peace around me like a blanket I just felt like this song was Gods way of saying "I am with you and I have the wheel"

We literally pulled into the airport just as my husband walked off the plane from landing. I didn't even know the name of the airport or where I was going but God did. All those years ago while I was in my Momma's womb the Lord knew this day would come and HE would lead me, direct me, and protect me.

Thank you Lord for being with me all week and for the Protection of bringing my family back together on yet another snowy day!

Thank you Charlotte and Ginger for hosting Spiritual Sundays! Please join in won't you??

TGIF ♥

This has been a VERY LONG WEEK to say the least! I am beyond thrilled that my husband returns today!! Being snowed in all week without him makes it seem like he was gone for a month!!!! I tell ya though, being snowed in isn't at all what it used to be. At least not for my kids. They have sooo much technology so they can see their friends via Skype or chat online, text or even present challenges(running in the snow with only short and a tshirt!!) to one another to be revealed on Facebook. So, Jenna asked her boyfriend to make a silly video and he didn't make just one...... He is on a roll and now has 3!! LOL Below is his 2nd video and in it you will meet Chuck and Lady RaRa....Lady Ga Ga's sister ;)




Happy Friday! To join in with Friday Funnies please visit Kim @ Homesteaders Heart

CORN BAGS TUTORIAL

Ok ~ I will be VERY honest with you guys! NEVER in my wildest dreams, did I think the majority of you all wouldn't know what corn bags are!!! But really I think you do :) I will just "remind" you LOL Some may know them as "rice bags" or "flax seed bags" but However you know them .... They are bags that you warm in the microwave and lay them on certain parts of your body (ie: your leg, your neck, your back, or your tummy or just wherever you might be aching.) They are also wonderful to heat up and place in your bed to warm it up before you jump in!! Sooo....see you knew what they were didn't you???!!!??! I knew it!

In our house we use the corn bags ALL.THE.TIME!! The last batch we got we have literally heated them up sooo much so that the corn inside the bags is BURNT!! LOL So Instead of buying more of them we decided to make our own. Here is how it's done.



Choose your material....a good cotton or even a flannel is nice
1/3 of a yard will do two corn bags.


Cut it in half


Turn the fabric inside out and sew around the edges and make sure you leave.....


a 4 to 5 inch gap in which you will fill with the corn


turn your bag right side out and make sure you pull your corners out completely too


fill it up with corn or rice or flax seed and then sew it up.....very carefully. I sewed it on the machine but if you feel more comfortable you can do this final bit by hand. Purely your choice!
(NOTE: We use Deer Corn that we purchase at a local feed store)


Heat in microwave and ENJOY!

For this size, if you use corn I would recommend heating for 3 minutes. Test to see if it's warm enough. Depending upon your microwave some may require more time, some less time.

Snowpocalypse 2011

Here is Oklahoma we have broken ALL kinds of Records!! Never in the History of our State have we seen snow like what we received in less than a 24 hour period! Our weathermen have ....well....how do I say it? They haven't always predicted the weather properly and more specifically, snowstorms and snowfall! This time though, I have to say....They were 100% ON IT!! But let me just tell you....we all thought they had lost their minds! I am not sure that they even believed themselves....predicting 20 inches when we have NEVER. EVER. seen snow like this before was a bit much for any of us to comprehend! BUT~ here is how it all played out....

As I was drifting off to sleep MON. night around 11:30 pm I heard thunder and then I saw Lightning and then I hear..... ICE ~ lots of ice along with snow! NOT GOOD. But let me just tell ya....Thunder snow is pretty cool! I woke up around 3 and saw quite a bit of snow on the ground and it was coming down pretty hard but back to sleep I go.

(I might add here that around 5pm on Monday evening I received notification that school was closed for Tuesday and then I heard that our state had been declared a "State of Emergency" Say What?? THERE IS NO SNOW ANYWHERE IN SIGHT! Not on the ground, Not in the air. No snow anywhere!! They also cancelled the "Severe Winter Storm warning" and declared a "Blizzard Warning!")

So when I woke up on Tuesday I was amazed at the amount of snow on the ground and it was coming down HARD!! The wind was blowing like crazy. It didn't stop snowing until early evening. After all was said and done we got more than 21 inches of snow. Highways were shut down, business' were closed, we were all encouraged to STAY HOME AND OFF THE ROADS!! No problem here because the snow drifts were anywhere from 3ft. to 6 ft. high! I am still not sure if I can even open my garage door!!!

I heard on the news Tuesday night that for the first time in over 106 years our Newspaper will not have a paper on Wednesday since no one made it in to work!! WOW WOW WOW!!!! Also, It was reported that the Hard Rock Casino roof collapsed due to the snow falling so quickly and so much in such a short time frame! The roof area was the size of 3 football fields!!! Holy smokes!

Here are some of the pics I took of this day that will go down in History! Some have called it Snowpocalypse. others SnowKlahoma. and there are those who are saying Snowmageddon. Whatever you want to call.... it has been CRAZY!!

Snow falls according to the news (yet it was still coming down).... Can you believe it......My town received the most snowfall!


My girl...ready to play in the snow! Gotta love a girl who sports suspenders ;)~


Of course the doggies had to get out and play too!!


The kids dug a cave!!


They both said how peaceful it was in their little caves LOL



This is looking across my street. If you look closely at their front door...you can see how high the drift is! They won't be coming in or going out of their front door unless they shovel first LOL


Yes ....they are standing up!


They had sooo much fun together! :) Cold but oh so much fun!!


Hope you all are having a great week! Stay warm and safe!!! Come back tomorrow because I will be sharing with you all what Corn bags are and how I made them!! Love you all ♥ ♥

Only In OK and other Monday Musings

I hope everyone had a blessed weekend! Here at home we had a couple of the most BEAUTIFUL and Sunny days EVER!! We actually tied a record for a High temperature of 76 in the Month of January. The last time that happened was back in 1947! But as we all know here in Oklahoma, if you are enjoying the weather, hang on just a bit because it is likely to change!! :) and Change it did! We woke up on Sunday to freezing temps once again and they are calling for a Severe Winter Storm. Snow is predicted to be anywhere from 6 to 12 inches!! HOLY SMOKES! and to make it worse they are calling for Ice beforehand! Ok, this just doesn't make this momma happy! One news station even said Blizzard like conditions are possible! SAY WHAT?????

My DH left on his business trip already and will be gone the whole week. Have I mentioned how much I hate it when he is gone :) LOL but I hate it even worse when we have a severe snow storm! He is off golfing and wearing shorts and we are here F.R.E.E.Z.I.N.G ~ Just sayin ;)~


Guess what?!!?! I learned how to make corn bags this weekend! I have NEVER....I repeat NEVER sewn anything! Not a button, not a hem, Nada Zip Zilch!!! But I made about 20 of these corn bags!!! :) HA! I know that so many of you are very talented at the sewing machine and are cracking up at me but it's ok!! I can handle it! Here are a few that I made :)





This weekend was an excellent message at church on Fear! I felt the Lord prompting me to spend time with the kids afterwards and talk to them about their fears. Once they shared their fears, we laid them at the Foot of the Cross and spoke Gods Word over them! It was such a powerful and wonderful time! Truly, God did NOT give us a Spirit of Fear but of Power, Love and a Sound Mind! 2 Tim 1:7


Here are some pics of my Sweet Grandbabies and their Papa! (my honey)


Isn't he soo handsome!


Rylee loves her bruverrr!! :)


Happy Monday! How was your weekend? I pray you have a blessed week my friends ♥

TGIF ♥

I like laughing. It's my Favorite :) Kim enjoys it too and THAT is why she hosts Friday Funnies so go ahead....join in on the laughter!

Being Blonde, I get alot of "Blonde Jokes" and I LOVED these that my friend sent me in my email this week. Hope you all do too


During a recent password audit by Microsoft & Google,
it was found that a blonde was using the following password:

"MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofyAustin"

When asked why she had such a long password, she said she was told that it had to be at least 8 characters long and include at least one capital.......


"Dear, If you are going to stuff your bra with kleenex, you need to take them out of the box first!"



Happy Friday my Friends! Love you all ♥