Being Intentional With Our Thoughts

Sometimes I'm not very good at putting my thoughts to words in a cohesive, readabable format. I get writer's block with the very first sentence. This usually happens when I'm writing about something that's more on the serious side and less on the humorous. But I decided I'm not going to let that discourage me from sharing a couple verses that have really helped me lately and have given me a peaceful feeling that only the Lord can give.

With our study on marriage in Sunday school winding down and the past LNO sessions (which I've shared about in previous posts) I've attended, I feel like I've learned a lot about not only being a wife and mother, but also being a child of God.

My thinking needs to be intentional.

Being intentional with your thinking has a big impact on your mood, your tone, and the way you view life in general. Last Sunday, one of my Sunday school teachers asked, "What do you think about in your free time, the few times in the day when you can just sit and think, like when you're driving, waiting in line somewhere, showering, etc.?"

She asked us if we thought about negative things, such as what you should have said to that certain someone who made you angry, or things you wish you were better at, or items you wished you owned, or people that irritate you?

Or do you think of the positives, the blessings in your life, the people who love you for who you are, the things you are good at, etc?

It seems that a lot of times our brain naturally goes to the negative. But the Word of God actually tells us to do just the opposite. The Lord wants us to be happy, to succeed, to find the joy in our lives that He's provided.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
-Philippians 4:8


And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
-Philippians 4:7


I know I don't have as much scripture memorized and hidden in my heart as I should, but being able to think and repeat these verses to myself during the day has made an impact in my life the past week or two.

The Lord wants only great things for us. We just have to trust in Him.


And that's basically it.

Like I said, I knew this post wouldn't really flow. I knew it would start off kind of weird and end abruptly. But that's okay.

And because it's late and Matt keeps asking when I'll be finished with the computer, I'll leave it at that.

Have a great tomorrow, ya'll!

The Story Behind the Honking

Saturday night was Mom's Night Out. We try and plan a day or night for all of us to go out and spend girl time together at least once a month. We've found that it really helps out in the sanity department.

We all met at Ben and Kristin's house and the husbands stayed back with the kids while we headed out for dinner in none other than The Mini (Kristen's mini-van). It's become one of our favorite ways to travel. We always laugh about it as we pile in, but then somehow find ourselves wanting to take it every time we go somewhere.

As we were driving, we stopped at a red light and couldn't figure out why a few people seemed to be very impatient with us and were honking their horns, even when the light was red.
We didn't think too much about it other than, "What's the deal people?! Chill out!"

We had a great time at dinner and the food was delicious. I had the crab cakes! Mmmmmm!

As we were leaving, Kristin went to put her leftovers in the back of her van and found this:

The funniest part - we didn't even take it off for the ride home.

The mind behind this madness??

This cat right here:

My cousin Ben, Kristin's husband

I've mentioned in the past what a complete nut he is.

Apparently his sweet little acts of cranking the car and backing it into the carport for us had an ulterior motive.

And I'm not so sure these guys didn't have a lil' something to do with it:

Clay (Jobeth's husband) and my hubs (And seriously if he wears that faded-out black T-shirt one more day I'm gonna scream. I bet it could walk by itself at this point. Tomorrow it just may go mysteriously missing.)

Their plan of putting the kids to bed right after we left apparently didn't work out too well.

Sunday after church Ben and his fam came over for lunch.

The cheese puffs in this pic were not part of the menu, although I wouldn't have objected.

Sara Gale

Kristin and her girls, Anna and Sara Gale

And of course after night services we had our weekly hotdog roast, only this week it was wings. We really should look into changing the name of our little gathering because we've been straying from the ol' hotdog for quite a while now.

The girls had a night of dress-up.

Leighton, Anna, Hayley, and Kate

I always enjoy spending time with my friend Kasey .

And before I go, Jobeth made an incredibly delicious key lime pie last night that she will be posting the recipe to on her blog. Make sure you you drop by and check it out!

Daddy Is One Happy Camper

Update on the camper sitch...

I know - I'm too old to say 'sitch', but sometimes I still throw it in.



Kate - helping Daddy inspect everything




M to the Izz-A, completely in his element and...

...me, trying to be in mine.

Well folks, the decision had to be made.

Here's a hint:

Now, the question is: Where should we go?

Do you know of any cool places to visit, camp-style?

We'd love to hear your ideas!

Wordless Wednesday

I love these gals

Today I thought I'd share an inside look at a little sisterly banter, that I wasn't a part of this time(because I'm the last person on the planet Earth not to have a facebook), yet love because it is the perfect example of how my sisters and I operate. Our minds are so very in sync.

The following was simply copied and pasted from Sal Gal's facebook page, which I hold the password to!


Alison Page Logue highly recommends Golden Oreo Fun Stix! I can't even open my eyes when I eat them! Shhyeah.....THAT good!

Sallie Page Bryant at 9:34pm June 22
the page girls' unadulterated love of all things edible is quite mind-boggling to me.

Alison Page Logue at 9:38pm June 22
i'll tell ya what's got THIS mind boggled......GOLDEN OREO FUN STIX!!!! go get some. now! i'll wait.

Sallie Page Bryant at 9:43pm June 22
can't. they'll make my butt mind-boggling.



Also, nice job of using facebook as your new Instant Messenger, girls! The time frame of this convo is impressive.



We've never claimed to be normal.

That there's an RV

This past weekend was spent on the road - on a hunt. M to the Izz-A had us out looking for campers. Camper, RV, travel trailer, while they may very well be different in definition, they're all the same to me. They all equal something I've never done - camped. I like to think that I'm a pretty well-rounded gal, experienced many of the great experiences life has to offer, but with my milestone birthday approaching next month, I still have never been camping. Staying half the night in my playhouse as a kid doesn't really count. And I only made it half the night because I ran out of my Fudge Rounds. Because let's face it, if Little Debbie wasn't camping, Little Hollie wasn't either.

And because it was Father's Day weekend, along with the fact that I'm about half way through my Joyce Meyer's book (It's better than my evening primrose oil!), I felt like I could successfully handle being part of Matt's search committee.

Keep in mind that it was in the triple digits here in the dirty South and that made things extra sweaty. Also, Kate came along with us. 'Nuff said. Ever try to shop for anything with a two year old? She just wasn't sharing the camping passion.

I could tell that Matt really appreciated our willingness to participate because by the time I got myself ready and grabbed my purse and Kate's bag, he already had the car loaded with snacks, DVD's, and a mini-cooler of Diet Cokes to keep his ladies happy.

After two days of searching, we definitely became more knowledgeable and got a better idea of what exactly we are and are not looking for, but still came home camperless.

I have however changed my thinking on the subject. When I first thought about camping, I told Matt that while we're at it, I'm gonna go ahead and purchase myself a fanny pack and stop shaving my pits. What does that have to do with anything?! I have no idea, it's just the first thing I could think of. Originally, I couldn't care less if we bought one or not, but when I realized that it has the potential to take my Gator football game enjoyment to the next level, I was sold!

And oh yea, let's not forget the great vacation memories for the family...

...minus Cousin Eddie of course.

Feeling pretty thankful...

...for this guy right here

and this guy right here.

Happy Father's Day!

Okay so maybe I did wait until Wednesday...

...but this is going to be anything but wordless. I've got a lot to cover. Isn't it just like me to have a semi-big event (Kate's party) and have it throw me out of the blogging world for a week? The smallest break from routine and this chic is out of whack!



First things first - The milk situation is under control. It never left an odor, thank goodness. I think the Shop Vac was the key. Thanks to everyone for the advice, I was ready and armed with my vinegar just in case!


So here I am trying to post about Kate's birthday and my foyer still looks like this:





Partied on Saturday... Bags still hanging out on Wednesday. Clearly I have my priorities in order.



Also, an overabundance of photos were taken on this very special day, so be prepared. Kate had her own personal paparazzi going on and there's a million pics to prove it.

And let me apologize in advance for being in so many of these pictures. BUT, in my defense, it was my little girl's birthday and I am her mama, so I think that I had a God-given right to be all up in her biz - at least while she thinks I'm still kinda cool?!


I'm gonna try and save (most of) my sappy I-can't-believe-how-time-flies-my-little-baby-is-growing-up story for the baby book, but I can't help but do a little reflecting.


Two years ago at this time I was big as a Buick and almost positive my neck was with child, too. Seriously, I just knew it had its own due date. After being a week overdue, I was induced (yay for giving me time to shower and shave!) on June 12th and my life changed forever.



Kate Page has brought more joy to our lives than I ever imagined possible. Holding her for the first time took my breath away, and I've never felt more proud of anything or anyone in my entire life.


I remember not wanting to leave the hospital because I was so scared I wouldn't know what to do with her. I came close to asking my nurse if she would just ride home with us for a few days until I got the hang of it. I was a total nutcase, I'm sure. But when we made it home, I felt more at ease. She had a way of looking at me that told me I was doing everything just right.


I love that girl.



Skip ahead...


Now we've celebrated her second birthday. For her first birthday party I ordered everything online and had it shipped to my house two months in advance. This go around, I went and bought everything the week of her party. I'm definitely more laid back than I used to be, maybe a little too much?


Since her actual birthday fell on Friday, I couldn't let the day go by without having a little something for her. So I hooked her up with a cupcake decorated with none other than Dora and Diego. Unfortunately for Dora, Kate calls her Doo-Doo.

On Saturday we had a party for friends and family.

Event parking? One could easily be led to believe that we went all out with orange tape and stakes to guide our guests to their parking spots.

Not quite.

The stakes have actually been a permanent fixture in our wanna-be lawn for about two months now. They're part of M to the Izz-A's (and his brother and father's) project, and what I like to refer to as Operation Great Green Hope. It's pretty much Operation False Hope at this point, because they've planted grass seed twice, and well, as you can see, it's still in the seed stage. This all stems from the fact they found it necessary to install a commercial-sized drainage system, for our family-sized land.

I thought for sure Dan knew Party Etiquette Rule #1: When invited as a guest to a party, never take it upon yourself to invite and bring your own guests of sorts, no matter how small they are.

I wanted to do something different with Kate's cake this year and decided to decorate it myself. I used all different kinds of candy. Most of the decorations we made by just sticking the candy into the icing and creating a design with them. The only part that took a little effort was creating the letters.

The letters were made by rolling out onto wax paper Starbursts and Airheads candy and then using lettered cookie cutters. FYI: It helps to warm the candy just a bit in the microwave before trying to roll it.

The kids loved eating all of the candy off their slice of cake. And all the leftover candy went to fill the pinata...and Mommy's purse! Sometimes I'm that loud person in church unwrapping candy. But then all you have to do is cough a little and everyone excuses you because they think you're unwrapping a cough drop.

I thought it would be neat to compare a pic from her 1st birthday party. Wow! Look how much she's grown! One year makes such a big difference.

Kate's 1st Birthday 2008