The one that didn't get away!!!

6 lbs

21 inches long

Largemouth Bass

Caught by Isaac

My boys have really been enjoying some fishing this summer! At least several times a week they have been going together or with friends to local ponds. Right at the first of June Isaac started the summer by catching his first bass, a small one, but one that will be eaten very soon! He was thrilled! Several days later I got a panicked phone call from my DH and was thinking the worse, only to be fussed at for not checking my text messages!! The above fish pics were sent and I hadn't seen the message.

Let me just say that my Isaac takes after me, and gets excited about lots of stuff-but boy this took the prize. My DH has never caught anything this big!! Isaac caught the monster on a "critter crawl" bait on his new "Zebco" fishing pole. He makes his own casts and reeled the monster in himself.

And he hasn't stopped talking about it since! Mrs. Fishy is currently residing at the taxidermist in Lake Bowen. When she arrives home on driftwood-I promise to post more pictures, or maybe you could come visit our newest member of the family!

Give Away

Check out this blog and enter a nifty give-away!! She is having her 1st Blogiversary and is giving away a package of her favorite things. She has 3 beautiful children and always has funny stories to share :)

1 day down and 50 pounds to go

I took a picture of my scale tonight. For the challenge Lana and I are doing you are suppose to post the picture on your blog, but as much as I love all my readers and lurkers, I'm just not there yet. So will email it off and enter myself in this challenge and hope for the best. I'm not in it for the prizes, although those would be fun-I just want to feel better. We walked today on the path at the park. If you live near Landrum and haven't tried it, we love it!!! I want to start adding in some of the fitness equipment and some other things, but for today by the time we finished my lower back and hip were killing me. I am soooo out of shape. But I refuse to let this be another sit around and add to the pounds summer so we kicked it off with a bang. Tomorrow is our last day with students. Today after the 5th grade celebration I only had 3, so who knows if I will have any for our 1/2 day tomorrow.

Tomorrow's goal-drink my water :)

PS-

My rewards to myself:
10 pounds-pedicure
20 pounds-massage
30 pounds-new outfit
40 pounds-girls night
50 pounds-weekend away

And we're off . . .

If you scroll down a little you can see the picture I posted a few weeks ago of the startling reality I am facing with my weight. Since then I have done nothing, but be stressed and eat lousy. So as I face summer, time off and time to rest, I am joining my friend lana for a challenge here To be fit and fabulous by the fall. Lana has a great post about her goals here and I should probably follow her lead and make a list and post it up, but I'm not going to. I am ready to feel good and to feel better about being me and to be comfortable in my own skin again. I want to shop some place other than "the fat store" and to not have to go up another size.

What better time than now, not next monday or next week, but right now. I have the entire summer off and can rotate relaxing and exercising and be ready to face a new year :)

Care to join us?
I plan on walking and exercising lots and am counting on Lana as my chief motivator and cheerleader :)

What I really want to REMEMBER is . .

no matter what:

that I am doing and seeking God's will.

that I am trying to do the best I can as a Mom

that I am trying to be a Godly Wife

that I am the friend my friends need me to be

Sharks

Some days I think I need to carry a pocket recorder around to catch all the hilarious things my child says-he keeps us hopping. You just have to hear this or at least read it and pretend I'm telling it:

Isaac has been asking lots of questions about Heaven and Jesus and all sorts of things, but has made it very clear he does not want to go to Heaven right now, pretty funny to hear him tell it! But, the other day he was in the car on the way with Nana and this is what transpired-

Isaac-Nana, you know how my mama reads that Jesus book every night before she goes to bed

Nana-Yes, you mean the Bible??

Isaac-Yeah Nana, Mama reads her Bible before she goes to be everynight so she has Jesus in her heart, but I haven't read that whole Bible yet, so I don't have Jesus in my heart

Nana-? ? ? ? ?

Isaac-BUT, I have a really cool shark book, and I've read all of it-so I have sharks in my heart.

Sharks in his heart my friends, sharks in his heart! Needless to say we've tried to clear up confusion about reading the entire Bible being the key to heaven! But I still can't help but smile at how wise my sweet boy is in his own way.

What sharks do we have in our hearts? What things are we putting before our time with God? Even as I type this I am convicted of putting so many other things first.

Impact Weekend

Impact Weekend was last weekend at our church. We had a great time hosting a group of high school girls for the weekend!

Thought you might enjoy some laughs from their scavenger hunt adventures! I was their official photographer, Russell was their driver, and Isaac spent the entire afternoon looking for roadkill-he was really hoping for a dead polar bear, but we settled for this!

REALLY????

As I flipped through pictures of my class and our recent gardening adventures I was unfortunate enough to come upon this. And all I could think of was---REALLY????? This is not what I see when I have on the appropriate undergarments, the figure flattering cuts of clothing and hold everything in just right-but this is what is really there-and that is SC-ARY!! I am so super frustrated with myself, with my lack of self-control and my overall attitude! Yick-that's all I can think. Not only have I not lost baby weight from 4 1/2 years ago-but now I've added to it and not added another baby. Yes, I've been busy-Yes, I've had numerous health issues-but holy canoli- at some point this has to be taken care of or my health is going to be even worse. Don't get me wrong-I've known for a while that I needed to get back on the band wagon! It seems something always shoves me off when I am doing well-ie-mass on liver-2 surgeries, etc. etc. I can't even believe I am putting this picture up-but maybe if I plaster it here for the world to see I'll be a little more motivated to make sure that there's less of me to see :)

Seasons

As I lay in the grass the other day, looking at the sky and pondering the shade of blue that encompassed every inch of visible space, my mind wandered to how comfortable I was just stretched out laying in the grass. I couldn't help but think, how in just a few months it would be entirely too hot to lay anywhere without water. And then just a few months ago it was entirely too cold to lay anywhere without fire and a roof!! But now, and that day laying in the grass it's comfortable-it feels good and I love it! I feel that way about fall too. The light is perfect for pictures, the breeze keeps things just right, and the sun warms me to the soul. But I wonder if I would appreciate these changes in fall and spring as much, if we didn't have the bitter cold winter and the blazing hot and humid summer to contend with-If I were comfortable all the time I would wish for snow and hot summers, I wouldn't know how lucky I am.
I couldn't help but turn my thoughts to life. Much like seasons of the year we have seasons in our lives. Sometimes things are cold, sometimes we are in the fire, and then other times everything is just right and we are comfortable. Sometimes the comfortable is short lived and other times we bump just right along. God guides through the seasons of our life-whether through comfort or through fire-and each season has its purpose-rest, renewal, molding, shaping-but the fact remains through it all that God is the Captain, the Chief, He is and will always be in control. It's easy to question the reasoning at times and even easy to resist His will at times, but even when we think we are at the reigns, we are very, very wrong. I am thankful that through every season and every trial the Lord is my guide and that I have nothing else to fear.
So enjoy spring, if it every really comes to stay, and let it be our reminder of God's presence all around us.

Extraordinary

I had the great opportunity to kick my spring break off with a girls trip to Greenville for the Extraordinary Women's Conference at the Bilo Center. We spent the evening listening to amazing music, singing praises and laughing our socks off!! We ended it eating breakfast at Stack's and snuggling up in an amazing room at the Courtyard-we did eventually sleep-after several hours of girl talk. Can I just say that I am not 18 any more!!! Holy Mackrel!!! Four hours of sleep is tough to survive on for this almost 30 mom. By the end of the day I was all but snoring in my seat at the Bilo Center-of course I had some company :)

I have never gotten to go to this event before and I can't wait to go back again. I came home energized and refreshed-despite the lack of sleep. I was able to spend some great time of worship and fellowship and time just seeking GOD. It was so motivating to me to hear these women speak about being REAL and the real struggles they had.