Football and Politics...

Please don't think that things have been boring around the Bailey house and that is why I haven't written anything in a few days! As always, lots is going on here! Kamdyn is recovering from a badly sprained ankle and deep bone bruise that she got in a soccer game last week. She had to sit out at her game yesterday and she said afterwards that she did not like being a bench warmer. I tried to explain to her that she was sitting out because she was hurt but to her it was all the same. She is not a sit-on-the-sidelines kind of girl! The boys have started working out for basketball season, doing lots of running and conditioning. One of them loves this part of preseason and one of them does not. I'll leave the guessing up to you. And of course, they have all been trying to balance homework with the fun things they like to do! Yes, school is back in session!!

I feel like I have tons of things I would like to share but I have no idea where to start or how to pick a topic to go with. Let me start by saying I am some kind of excited about being an American and a Republican after listening to some powerful speeches these past two days. I am and always will be a huge fan of Mrs. Barbara Bush and of course Laura! But let me say I was impressed with Ann Romney last night.

I felt like I could just sit down with her and talk about raising kids, good recipes and being a survivor. And if I wasn't thrilled enough about our next first lady, I really got fired up with Gov. Chris Christie last night. If you missed his speech you missed a treat! Then tonight I hear another all-time favorite Condoleeza Rice and let's stop here so I can say man she is smart!! The RNC has featured other notable women in government, such as the governors from South Carolina and New Mexico, who were both well spoken and encouraging as they shared their excitement and determination for our country to succeed. Plus I love that VP nominee Paul Ryan talked about his IPOD playlist starting with ACDC and ending with Zeplin while Mitt Romney's playlist sounds like elevator music. And VP Ryan's family cracked me up as the one son was very proud to be waving to the entire room. I guess since we can't bring back #43 (you know, George W.) then I am good with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. But, enough about politics!

I was planning my week around college football Thursday night and the Texas ATM game but thanks to Isaac that has been postponed. I'm truly disappointed!

It might be for the best because I would have had a hard time flipping back and forth between the game and the RNC. I realize for some of you that would have been no problem but for me I would have to see both live. Our DVR is tied up with Big Brother anyway! Plus I was trying to figure out how to be at our football game watching Kamdyn cheer and do both of the things mentioned above.

This leads me to another random thought but I want to tell you all how proud I am of my Texas peeps because they are loud and proud at the RNC in their Texas flag shirts and large cowboy hats!

They truly are representing and it makes me proud. Plus, better a cowboy hat than a cheese head any day of the week. (I am typing this post with eyes on the laptop and ears on Fox News thus the random thought patterns here!)

Finally, earlier this week I shared one of my favorite hymns. Later my sisters reminded me of one my favorite contemporary songs that is getting lots of play time on KLOVE right now. I am putting the youtube link here for you to listen to this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzGAYNKDyIU

Just listen to the words. This song is my song!! Hope you'll enjoy it, too.

Thanks for being patient with my rambling!! I'll get more organized I promise...

Define old...

I came across this story today and I just felt like I had to share it with all of you! First of all, let me make it clear I am NOT a Good Morning America fan. I need that to be understood because my mother is faithful to the Today Show, or let's just be honest and say she is faithful to Matt Lauer. Good Morning America left our home with Joan Lunden and I always knew the headlines each morning because the Today Show was blaring in our living room. So, I just felt like I needed to make that clear before we get into the discussion of my story I want to share.

I do enjoy looking over the headlines that the people at Yahoo seem to think are interesting or worthy of mention. You just never know what will come along. Well today, the following story was one of the lead stories on Yahoo. In curiosity, I clicked on the article to read it and that is when I came to the Good Morning America story. If you have a quick 30 seconds, read the story here:

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/worlds-oldest-person-besse-cooper-turns-116-154351161--abc-news-topstories.html

Can you just imagine what it would feel like to be 116??? I can not get my mind around this! 116!! She has the title of the world's oldest person!

Honestly, I will not make it to that age and if by some chance the good Lord sees fit to leave me here on the earth that long I am fairly certain I won't remember anything. The odds are good that I will have Alzheimer's and I am OK with that. Brian has promised me that he will have some good laughs at my expense!!

It was the end of the article that really got me though. Should any of us have any hope or desire to live to be 116, this sweet lady offers us some advice. She says the secret to her longevity is that she eats good and minds her own business! So even if I wasn't destined for Alzheimer's I am fairly certain that I wouldn't make 116 based on living the way this lady has. I kind of want to ask her what she means by "eat good." The article says she lives in the south so maybe she defines eating good as having bacon each day or a big piece of chocolate cake or possibly she may even consider fried green tomatoes as eating good! As far as minding my own business, well I am a southern baptist after all!! You know we have prayer meeting to catch up on the town gossip! 

I would just love to sit down and talk to this lady! I can only imagine the stories she could tell us all. She has to be a talking history book!

Now you know the secret to living a long life and exactly how old that old really is!

I have to go now! Sarah Palin is being interviewed on Fox and I need to see what cute glasses she will be wearing for the interview!! Hope the weather stays good wherever you are...

How great Thou art...

I don't know if there is a way to share with you the way I felt in the worship part of our service today. Our family goes to the contemporary service at our church and I love it! It is so very different from the way I grew up, but I love this music and the way it speaks to me. Please don't misunderstand - I love hymns as well. I grew up on them, singing them and playing them at our church on the piano or organ. And every once in a while, our worship leader takes a hymn and puts together an arrangement with it that makes me think back to my childhood days in a small baptist church back home.

This morning was one of those mornings. We had such a great worship service going and then our worship leader started strumming the opening chords of "How Great Thou Art", which is probably one my favorite hymns for many different reasons. Without a doubt this was one of my grandmother's favorite songs! I always think of her when I hear it. We also had a small praise band (before the term praise band was ever formed) and playing this song with them always gave me chills. We played this song gathered around a flagpole at our high school over 20 years ago when "See Ya at the Pole" rallies were just getting started. I remember I wore out that page in my hymnal and I would sit in wonder as our church pianist would play it for her offertory.

But this morning, as I sang those words for probably the thousandth time in my life, I just thought to myself how very true the lyrics of this song have become in my life. The third stanza is my favorite and here is what is says:

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great thou art!

He gladly bore my sin and my shame and let me tell you all that was some kind of burden! I stumble and I fall and I am so undeserving of His mercy and grace. But this morning I was reminded of how thankful I am for His love that stretches out to me through nail scarred hands.

I hope today you can sing this powerful old hymn and that the words will penetrate your heart so that you too can say to God, "how great Thou art!"

Great Expectations...

I love Saturday mornings!! Growing up Saturday morning meant sleeping in, Saved by the Bell and a big breakfast! At our home, we have a similar routine for Saturday mornings and our kids love a big breakfast. I should clarify that by breakfast I really mean brunch because our teenagers also love their sleep!

Brian and I love a lazy Saturday morning! We love to get out our laptops, drink our coffee and turn on the Cooking channel. We enjoy watching Mexican Made Easy, Paula Deen (love her!!) and of course Pioneer Woman. I'm slightly stressed about how we are going to manage this once College Game Day is back but I am ever so thankful for DVR!!

So, this Saturday morning I wake up, get my coffee, get my laptop, get in my comfy chair and patiently wait to see what Ree will be sharing today. I am always amazed by her recipes!! As I am wrapping things up with Paula, I decide maybe I should I go ahead and cook the kids their breakfast so I can enjoy Ree with NO interruptions. I knew the boys had a yard to do and Kamdyn had a friend over so I go ahead and make a normal big Saturday breakfast - bacon, sausage, biscuits, eggs and oatmeal. (Here is a small sample of breakfast)

By the way, oatmeal is not such a big deal here in Mississippi. I grew up on it at home but here they prefer grits!! I still can't figure this one out. Grits are great if you add cheese on them and eat them with shrimp or fish but not as a substitute for real oatmeal!

But back to our morning....I finish cooking, eat with the boys, they leave, Kamdyn and her friend are still sound asleep and I think to myself - now is your chance!! Turn on Pioneer Woman! Today Ree has on a super cute shirt, amazing pair of boots and her hair is perfect as always. I can't wait to see what is happening on the ranch! And then...she shares her menu for today! Gazpacho (?), pasta with penchete and leeks (??), bruschetta (???) and lazy chile relenos.

Ree has totally let me down with this one! Can I just tell you my kids will not eat one of these things nor will Brian nor will I!!! I don't even know what penchete is or where to buy it!

She goes on to say she is home alone for 48 hours and this is her menu for one, all of her favorite things. WHAT?! Ree, home alone and you are cooking?! I would read, watch some netflix, eat some Frosted Flakes. I just don't know that I would be doing such elaborate cooking.

So, I have started my Saturday somewhat disappointed. I had such great expectations!! I am consoling myself with my last cup of chocolate glazed donut coffee (it's my favorite Keurig flavor!). Certainly things will improve! And I'll be hoping that next Saturday Ree can redeem herself and give me a little more to work with.

I am unglued....

So, it is the time of year where we are fully back into our routine! Part of our schedule for this time of year includes a Bible study small group I lead on Wednesday nights at church. I have been praying over the summer about what might be a good study for the fall. Most recently our group did the Beth Moore study of James and I felt like such a conqueror after that! While I did not take Beth up on the memorize-the-whole book challenge, I do feel as though I came away with a very deep understanding of this wonderful book of the Bible. I was a bit concerned about what would top this study and what would draw women in this fall.

Well, I was SO excited to begin advertising a few weeks ago for a new study called "Unglued". Once I saw the title I just knew this would be the study we would do. I found myself reading over the synopsis and nodding my head to all of it!! Did I need to know how to resolve conflict in my most important relationships? Yes I did! Did I need to learn how to be honest but kind when offended? As a matter of fact I did! Did I need to learn how to respond with no regrets by managing my tendencies to stuff, explode or react somewhere in between? Absolutely!! And I began to think if I needed some help here, maybe others would too. I really feel as though I can't be the only woman in America who gets frustrated with her children from time to time or the super-slow-yet-completely-grumpy check out lady at Walmart or the person sitting at a red light on the phone after the light has turned green! (oh wait, maybe that was me!)

Some days, it is just easy to come unglued and spout of hurtful words or angry words or even sarcastic words to our families, friends or coworkers. I almost hate to ask my kids if they can confirm that I am at times a bit unglued and surely wouldn't want to ask Brian. Unfortunately, when we allow ourselves to become unglued we most often hurt the ones around us who love us the most.

"Unglued" is a study written by Lysa Terkeurst, one of the writers for Proverbs 31 ministries. Please follow the link here and check it out. I believe this study will challenge us as women to think before we react, to show self control and to stop the devil dead in his tracks by obeying God. I think you will love it! Our group is excited!!

http://lysaterkeurst.com/unglued/



As a total P.S. to this post in a completely unrelated way, here is a picture of Brendan and his girlfriend from Monday night!! Her mother came through for me and took a picture of them before they left her house. See kids, a mother always wins!

Because letting go is hard to do....

August 20 would be any other day to me except for this year! Our oldest one is 16, driving on his own and typically I am OK with all that. However, tonight he left home to pick up his girlfriend for the first time and to take her out to eat for her 16th birthday. Please wait while I grab another tissue!

I snapped this picture of him right before he left, acting like I wanted a picture of him and Dallas, who is proudly sporting his Pittsburgh Steelers jersey! (remember we love football!) I believe Brendan saw right through me though because he objected to more picture taking as he got into the truck and pulled out of the drive way.

The truth is, I have known this day was coming and he has had this very sweet and good spirited girlfriend off and on for a few months. We really do like her! They go to school together, she cheers and he plays sports and on and on and on. And so tonight, on HER 16th birthday, I stood in our drive way waving goodbye to our baby boy all the way down the street, yelling reminders about using his manners and not honking the horn when he picks her up and wiping his mouth after he eats. I should probably say that I have no intention of being like Ray Romano's mom on Everybody Loves Raymond but I am willing to admit I might have those tendencies within me. I'm truly praying about it!

But back to first date night!

For those of you who know Brendan you will be laughing along with me as you envision him on a date in a real restaurant. He is as much of a tightwad as they come!! Not just frugal but truly tight fisted with the spending of the money! I am hoping she was content to order water, no appetizer and eat off the kiddie menu! But he wouldn't take my money as he left out the door, saying this was the time for him to show responsibility. And that's when I realized he is somewhere between a kid and a young man. If someone at the hospital would've just told me how emotional this moment might have been I would've greatly appreciated it! I might have been better prepared!!

Tonight I realized that little by little I am letting go of my child, our firstborn, trusting more and more that God will lead him and protect him. So, again I am sharing another family milestone with you. Some of you have lived through this and some of you have little ones and think this day for you is far away. Let me assure you it is not! From 6 to 16 happened in the blink of an eye. Enjoy each stage, make memories at every age because letting go is hard to do....

Are you ready for some football?

This weekend flew by and now I sit here on Sunday night thinking where did the time go?

Friday night my family officially welcomed in football season and I for one am thankful to have it arrive! Up front I should tell you our high school team is not known for its winning seasons or college-bound talent. But for me, there is something about sitting under the lights of Friday night football that makes everything else in the world just seem right. Sometimes I still see a team run through the sign on to the field and find myself humming along to my high school fight song. I can remember every word! I'm grateful my parents carried us girls to all those games growing up. I have lots of fond memories watching the Brownsboro Bears in action. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to play calling but I did learn offense from defense and that big guys = big hits!! (This also reminds me of the year I spent as the "photoist" for the school newspaper but that is another story!)

Brian has drafted his fantasy football team this weekend and the boys are doing their research even now to be sure they have a successful draft as well. The NFL is already back in prime time on our TV. Yes, the boys of fall are beginning to make their appearance. However, I want to make one thing clear to the few followers I may have in blog land - there is one team I will faithfully be watching this year! One team that I can't wait to see take the field!! One team that has the best fans in all of football world!!!

 

SO GET READY SEC!!! THE AGGIES ARE ON THEIR WAY! Yes, I am ready for some football!! I can't wait for Game Day. I hope you are ready to!

It's All Coming Back to Me...

Our family has almost survived the first whole week of school! I consider this a praise for sure. As the kids and I begin to settle into our school routine, the tick tock of the clock is all coming back to me. Where has the summer gone?! And here is what I am admitting to you all, I really enjoyed my summer mornings of a quite devotion with a good cup of coffee, the Today show and all it's Ann-Curry-London-Olympics drama and catching up on my reading and exercise. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

While I am still faithful to my morning devotion and cup of coffee, the rest of the simple parts of summer are now fading. My daily run/walk is harder to squeeze in and I have yet to find the end of our laundry basket from just this first week of school. And reading? Well, I have been in the same chapter of my book for about a week now. I did get to cook one meal for my family this week, which if you asked my kids may have been a good thing or maybe it wasn't.

But all of this reminds me of a Bible verse that I kind of cling to when I get into this woe-is-me-back-at-work-and-school pity party of one: "This is the day the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm118:24) OUCH! The psalmist is thankful, even rejoicing, for each day the Lord has made. I take comfort in the fact that God made this day for me and for my family and for you. He made this day for a purpose! While I am happier to see the sun set on some days, my new attitude has been to be thankful for each day and the opportunities God gives me in them. Today, I was thankful for cooler weather on the soccer field, for time spent with just me and Brian riding to the game, time spent with Kamdyn and a friend coming home as they laughed and carried on about boys like teen age girls do and for Thursday, one day closer to Friday! So I am sharing this encouraging thought with you and I am hopeful it will offer some new perspective as you also may be closing the door on the relaxing days of summer.

*and p.s. - We won our soccer game! Go Lady Rams!!

Call me...maybe!

We love music at our house!! It is not uncommon for someone to be humming along to a song. Some people (and by this I mean Brian and Koby) even enjoy changing up the lyrics to make up their own song. This summer's hit song "Call me Maybe" has provided our family with tons of entertainment! It all started with that Harvard baseball team video a few months ago as the guys recorded some hilarious motions to the song. One of my favorite versions of this song has been the U.S. Swim team and one of my husband's has been the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders. [check Youtube!] This song was even a hit on the Miss America pageant and featured Donal Trump!! However, today I found a new favorite adaptation of "Call me Maybe".

The link below is a must see!! Talk about changing up the lyrics... Here this little boys takes the tune of "Call me Maybe" and adapts it to his life. It is great and sure to give you a laugh. I am so glad Brian came across it on youtube because he came to the rescue of my blog today. I had about three different things I wanted to post and couldn't decide which to go with. For the record, none of the three had to do with music, videos or such a combination. So, I hope you enjoy this and maybe tomorrow will be something deeper in content. And hey, you can always call me...maybe?

CLICK HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3kwdue5XS0

Read all about it...

Today I have no special pictures to share and no exciting stories really (unless you want to hear about the marathon geometry lesson I did with Koby last night and here I might also add if you pray daily please lift this child UP!). Anyways, it is no secret that I love to read. The Kindle Fire my wonderful husband got me for Christmas has been the best thing since I toured the Library of Congress, a place so full of books I couldn't imagine ever picking just one and checking it out. But back to the Kindle Fire - I love to check the list of top 100 free books. As a warning to those of you who might be inclined to think this is a good idea...BE CAREFUL! There are some top 100 free books that deserve the triple rated R rating and that would be for the cover so I can't imagine the content. However, I have read some great authors by choosing books off this list and may be sharing some of those soon.

Not only do I love reading a good book but I am border line addicted to reading blogs about every day. I am going to share one with you today that I just love. Plus, I ran into the blogger this summer while I was in Birmingham totally unexpected! I know she had to think I was some stalker because I all but attacked her as I screamed out, "OH MY WORD! IS THAT YOU BOO MAMA?!" Her name is Sophie but her blog is http://boomama.net/ and she writes with the funniest wit and sense of humor. I can't wait to see her live at .MOM, a Lifeway women's conference in Birmingham for mothers off all ages and at all stages. Anyways, if you enjoy reading then you have to stop by her blog and let her entertain you. It's free, which we have established as being something I am a total fan of, and she is a huge college football fan on top of everything!

I am trying to determine what my blogging pattern might be and it is a stressful planning event! I am hoping to share a good recipe once a week, a good blog or book to read and if nothing else you can bet on a good family story just based on the revolving door that our home seems to have become. I never know who is dropping by, staying for dinner, staying the night or in need of a listening ear. So, stay tuned and visit with me when you can!

*If you are interested in more information about .MOM, click here:
http://www.lifeway.com/n/product-family/dotmom/?type=events&intcmp=iTeam3-Tiled-WomenMain-dotMOM

Lessons from a cheerleader....

So tonight was "Meet the Rams" night at the school. The cheerleaders performed, we met the football players and soccer girls and I can honestly say it feels like fall (minus the date being August 13). Our daughter is participating in her first year as a cheerleader on the JV squad. I will admit I was hesitant at first. But when I looked at this picture tonight I knew we made the right decision to support her desire to cheer.

She was SO excited to perform tonight and she did such a great job! I can remember being her age and being way too intimidated to ever think about trying out for cheerleader. She could care less if her jumps are high or if her body type fits the typical cheerleader form and that has been such an encouragement to me. In my life there are still many things I am not confident in; yet here is our 13 year old daughter reaching for a dream, making memories and having fun because she was willing to try something outside of her comfort zone. 

This kind of makes me wonder what would happen if I served the Lord with that same excitement? I am reminded of Matthew 22:37 where Jesus tells the Pharisees that the greatest command is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Hmmm....going all out for God. Who knew you could learn such a lesson from a cheerleader?

Let's see if I really can do this...

I am a huge fan of blogs and recently wondered if this was something I could do myself. I mean, how hard can it be?! Lots of people are spilling their guts across the Internet right now through social media or in other forms. I guess I am still a bit old fashioned - I just sent out the annual back to school email complete with the first day of school picture AND update on the kids. So I found myself thinking surely I can do better than that!

Facebook overwhelms me and I can't figure out why I would tweet on twitter and instagram really keeps me guessing. But, I do know about the blog world and thought just maybe I could venture into trying out a different way of keeping family and friends up to date on all the excitement that happens daily, sometimes even minute to minute, in our home. When I was growing up as the oldest of three girls my parents had some friends who used to stop by from time to time. I'll never forget Mrs. June saying, "well, our house was so quiet we just wanted to come over and watch what was going on here." At the time, I didn't understand what she meant but now that I have three teenagers I so understand!

So, this is my blog. I have absolutely no idea what I will share here but I can tell you feel free to "come over and watch is going on here" as I talk about serving the Lord, loving my husband, raising kids, cooking (??) and everything else that goes on in my day. I'll share some of my favorite blogs with you, some of my favorite recipes and some of favorite stories about my family. And, I have to confess at this point I am channeling the Pioneer Woman and so badly want to just say, "Welcome to my Frontier" with the disclaimer that A) I am a long way from being Ree, B) My frontier is small town Mississippi, and C) Our house never, ever, ever looks as clean as Pioneer Woman's! Now, here we go! Come back and check in with me when you can. Hopefully you can soon leave comments as well. I am exicted about this new world of blogging and look forward to sharing our home with you.

*By the way....this is the kids as we headed out the door for our first day of school just in case I missed you in my email update!!