Prime Time Comes to Town!!!!!

Follow this link to see how this little town made it big!!! Its been the talk of the town!

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4349794

Lady's February Article

Prisoner comes to terms with choices

By Betty DavisSunday, February 17, 2008

Mike is 49-years-old, serving 15 years in federal prison for drug dealing, with 10 years to go.
His home had a mom, a dad and one older brother. His parents were as dedicated to each another and to each boy as any I ever witnessed.
They loved those boys with words and actions, working hard and providing their needs and most of their wants. Not spoiling, just tending.
So what happened? We search for explanations when something or someone goes wrong. We feel safer when we can identify flaws. We know it can't happen to "us" if we know why it happened to "them." At least, that's my take.
Granted, there are situations that appear obvious; we can almost see it coming. But there are times we are blind-sided and we can't answer why.
Sometimes kids make mistakes and it's the fault of the kid. But it's hard to convince a mama or a daddy. Parents wonder what they did wrong, or what they could have done better.
The sorrow is that on another day, or in a year or two, the kids would've likely grown past it -- "it" being whatever they did that caused the mess. Then they can tell their own son or daughter their story, hoping to prevent another generation from making the same mistake.
Hopefully, parents don't brag or chuckle about younger, more foolish years, setting up their own kids to try the same foolishness. Mike's parents told no foolish stories.
Mike, a good kid growing up, began using drugs in high school. Later, he got a job, married, had children. By then, the drugs had him. He was caught, tried, sent to prison.
Mike was in prison when his dad died. Due to health reasons and distance, he hadn't seen his parents in three years. The only contact was one 15-minute phone call a week. He couldn't attend the funeral; couldn't grieve with his brother or his mother. He grieved in prison.
I sent Mike a sympathy card; it was one of the bigger favors I've done for myself. Subsequently, I've met a man who, through his letters, blames only himself and regrets decisions that caused enormous pain to others. He regrets the life he has cheated from himself, from his children, and the sadness caused to his family. He's remorseful about his decisions, as he should be. But that isn't the end of the story.
Mike sent a nine-page letter about himself and gave permission to share the letter with anyone who might make better decisions, if they had more information "from someone who's been there." He tells his story to warn, not brag. He's not chuckling.
Mike reads and studies; he has come to know Jesus (yes, Jesus will meet us anywhere). He creates beautiful items of leather that he sends to those he loves and who love him. More impressive are the cards on which he draws and paints. He treasures outside communications; we treasure his honest words written inside.
Mike expects and is prepared to serve his full sentence. I marvel that the sane can stay sane in such circumstances. His body lives in prison; his mind resides elsewhere.
What he did was wrong, very wrong. Even so, Mike reminds me of truths sometimes forgotten -- the grace with which Jesus forgives and that a life can be salvaged, wherever it is. To believe in better times, no matter the circumstances, and to talk of blessings, instead of complaints.
I'm glad to call him "nephew."

Betty Davis is a freelance writer in Abilene and regular columnist. She is a former Abilene public school board president.

Did y'all see this on YAHOO?

Texas university giving freshmen iPhones and iPod touches
By Justin Berka Published: February 26, 2008 - 04:57PM CT
Schools and universities are often big fans of Apple products, which usually translates to labs and laptop carts full of Macs. Educational institutions across the country have also started to provide students with personal laptops. Louisiana recently launched a program to distribute MacBooks to elementary school students, and now Abilene Christian University in Texas is getting into the act as well. But rather than handing out MacBooks, the university will be distributing iPhones and iPod touches to all incoming freshmen.
ACU began exploring uses for mobile devices in the summer of 2007 and ran a pilot study with faculty and and educational technology developers to determine how the iPhone could be used by students. The group came up with quite a few uses for the devices, devising more than 15 iPhone applications that they hoped will be useful to students. These applications include homework alerts, in-class surveys, directions to classrooms and offices, and meal balance information, just to name a few.
The iPhone and iPod touch program is a direct result of the study, and the usage patterns of the incoming freshman class will shape future mobile device programs at ACU. The school is also considering other ways to integrate technology and education. CIO Kevin Roberts made a recent presentation to Apple and a number of other institutions (including most of the Ivy League) about the iPhone programs, so perhaps more schools will follow suit in the future.
******Can I re-enroll as a freshman????????*******ha! Vanessa

You Know You're A Grown Up When...........

.....picking a big fight with your guy at midnight isn't nearly as gratifying as it once was. You want your beauty sleep!

.....dropping $50 on your favorite body cream is a reasonable expenditure because you're clear on the meaning of "occasional splurge."

.....just thinking about the most beloved candy of your childhood (Shock Tarts, anyone?) makes your teeth hurt.

.....as much as it breaks your heart (and it does), you steel yourself, stand back, and allow your children to: struggle in sports; sob when they don't get invited to the slumber party; and receive a lousy grade when they dont turn in their social studies assignments on time.

.....you realize----with, it must be said, a touch of horror----that routines are, in fact, comforting.

.....you start exercising and watching your weight not only to fit into a size (insert your dream number here) pair of jeans but also because it feels great to take care of yourself.

.....even though you don't do "hospital visits, his and her bridal showers, or funerals, you go anyway because it means a lot to someone else that you are there.

.....you finally embrace the value of a slip.

******copied from Redbook March 08*******

still in shock!

The kids have been "so neglected".........no one takes them to McDonalds anymore. We make them eat at places like Black Eyed Pea, Pizza House, and Leo's Mexican Restaurant. According to them, its just not fair. Soooooooo........being the Mom of the Year candidate that I am, I took them to the coveted arches tonight for dinner in Hillsboro. (J is also very busy at the moment, so it was a good time for the kids and I to go!)

We ate (did you know they dont have the asian salad anymore? so disappointing!), and the kids played while I cleaned out my purse full of gum wrappers, too many pens, and lots of Tylenol type products.

As we were dining, I sat in shock at the way other parents there spoke to their kids. One kid apparently put a larger bite than the mom liked in his mouth-----you would have thought he tried to set the place on fire because of the way she yelled at him. Two other 'ladies' brought 3 kids with them----apparently the kids were not to talk to the women because they also were yelling at the kids to "leave them alone because they were being unfair. The kids were there to play, not to interrupt conversations" OH MY!

I pray that I do not sound like the people I witnessed tonight!!!

SHLUMPADINKA??

Did any of you watch OPRAH yesterday? I usually DVR it and watch it at night so that I do not have to watch the commercials. Plus, it comes on at 4:00 here and that is right in the middle of homework time!

Anyway.......Oprah uses the term in the title all of the time for those of us who could look a little better sometimes. My biggest thing is the sweats! I counted today and I have 6 matching sweats outfits in all my fave colors! The fashion guy on Oprah yesterday said.........no more track suits! (So what will Lorie and I do with our matching black ones with the skull and crossbones on it? We were at Kohls together, both loved the outfit, and bought one the same day........funny enough we haven't shown up anywhere at the same time with the outfit on!)

The fashion guy (Lloyd something) did say that yoga pants are OK! THANK GOODNESS for that! I have black and gray ones.......long ones and capri ones!

It did inspire me to clean out my closet---now I need to have a garage sale! I moved items from my closet to the hall closet that I want to get rid of.

The fashion guy also said that leopard shoes match nothing, but everything! I saw some cutie ones at Target this week. Maybe I will try them. They could take up some of the room I have made in the closet!!!!!!!!!

Weekend Update + Sing Song 08

If you were not able to make it this year, Sing Song was great! The kids and I had a great time.
J did not go because he had a prior commitment with the powerlifting team, so we took his mom, LADY, along.

We sat in Section E.....14th row. I do not remember those steps being that steep!!!!!! I was holding on for dear life going up and down those steps! How did we used to do that everyday for chapel? Does that mean I am getting old?

Wanna know the best part? KOJIES WON! : )
We went to the Sat afternoon performance (forgot my camera) and then they tied with Siggies in the "appearance" category. I was telling Jill that we tied and she said "it's OK Momma.......its like you both got first" I said "We dont want to tie----we want to WIN!" Good job, girls. Its hard to believe I pledged 16 years ago. Does that mean I am getting old?

We also had a good time with Lady, Grandad, Ben, and Clara. Jenny was sick, so Ben and Clara spent the weekend with us at Lady and Gdad's. On Saturday morning, I realized that I had forgotten the kids' dress socks and went to get more. Clara went with Jill and I to get some and upon our return, Clara was out of her seatbelt and on the ground before I even opened my door!
Face down, in the rainwater, crying, and BLEEDING! She scraped her chin on the curb and was soaked from the water. I picked her up and all I could see was blood-----you should all be proud that I did not faint! She (THANK GOODNESS) did not need stitches, just Barbie bandaids and some dry clothes!

After church on Sunday, Lady took Jill and I to Michael's to purchase some knitting supplies.
She taught us how to knit! Now we just need to practice!

Had a little scare today when Dad called to say that he was being taken to the hospital in the ambulance for chest pains. He had triple bypass surgery 6 years ago. After hours of tests and waiting, the dr determined that he just had some kind of "cramp". He is supposed to go see his cardiologist this week and go from there. To celebrate his being OK, he and I went to Olive Garden. We were starving!

Hope you all have a great week!

An AMY-Inspired Blog

I seriously dont like it (dare I say "hate") when J is gone at night or has to leave early in the am to be somewhere. I dont sleep, feel a little crazy when all of the kids say "momma......whatever it is at the moment" at the same time, and I find it difficult to get them all ready by 7:30 am to go to school!! I am glad he has a job, is successful, and all of that................BUT.................still, I'd rather he be home!

After doing an enrollment with J today, and talking with a mom that has 4 BOYS about the ages of my kids plus one younger than G, I am SO THANKFUL that I have J and that he eventually does come home! This is a busy time for him and he is gone a lot doing enrollments all over TX.
One week next month LADY is coming to the rescue! THANK YOU, LADY!

HAPPY V DAY to all of you. Since I was enrolling, I have no cute pics of the kids parties. They tell me that they had fun. They will have to powerwash their teeth tonight and the next month with all of the candy they got!

The kids and I are going to Sing Song this weekend. Hope to see you there! GO KOJIES!

Watch Those Lemons...................

This is a video that I received on an email from a friend who is the queen of lemon or lime water.

Kinda scary! *********Pause the music or you wont be able to hear the girl talking!!!*********

SUGGESTIONS????????

I need HELP!
On Sunday, while I was at the movies with Amber, my sweet children plus one friend that was over decided to make microwave popcorn. Usually that is fine, but these were the snack size bags.....and they pressed the button on the microwave that says "popcorn" to cook them. The popcorn button is for full size bags, not snack size. As you can guess.........I have this terrible smell in the microwave from the burning (and lots of smoke according to Thomas). I think they tried 4-5 bags and gave up. "Where was Dad", I asked. "Watching football" was the response.

Any hints from all of you Heloise-types would greatly be appreciated and tried!

Weekend Wrap-up

We had a busy weekend! On Saturday morning, Jill and Thomas had their last bball games for their season. Jills team went 5-1 and poor Thomas's team went 0-6. I think they both enjoyed the season and are now looking forward to baseball/softball.

Sat afternoon Jill attended a softball camp. The weather was awesome!! She can really hit that ball! (She learned this from Shelley and I.....right??!!.....OK, maybe Cathe, too.)

Sat night we had our annual "Treat Your Sweetheart" dinner at church. This year we had it catered by a local restaurant instead of 35 of us trying to go to Waco and get back to church at a reasonable time for DESSERT! The men all have to cook a dessert, by themselves, and then it is judged! Jonathan has won before, his BFF (do boys have BFFs??) Trent has won before......but this year it was Joey who won. Trent got second, J got third! Joey made these bon bon type things with cherries in the middle. SO delicious. Trent made a brownie with chocolate cheesecake on top with beautiful berries and J made chocolate macaroon brownies. They were both ooh la la too!

Sunday after church my friend Amber and I went to see PS I LOVE YOU at the dollar movie.
It was good.......such a girl show!

In relation to the last post, they also make a Scooba robot that MOPS! We are borrowing/testing one that Trent's mom has. I used it this morning in the kitchen------it so totally ROCKS. You put the cleaning solution (from Bed Bath and Beyond or Linens N Things) in plus some water and let it go. It has separate reservoirs for clean and dirty water, so it is always mopping with clean water. Charge the thing up and let it go.......Does this mean that I am lazy now? Actually.........I really dont care if it makes me lazy---it is my little R2D2 helper!

This week will be crazy: J is gone to do an enrollment in DeLeon for a few days then has another in Waco for 3 days when he is back, the kids have VDay parties, and projects are due!
YIKES!

Vacuum Cleaning Robot

My sweet husband bought one of these vacuum cleaning robots yesterday.....the irobot Roomba 5th Generation. I was a little skeptical at first, but........now I am a BELIEVER! You let it charge on the docking station first, then let it go! It comes with virtual walls that you can block off spaces with if you only want it to do a certain area. Last night while we were bathing the kids, doing homework, eating dinner, etc. we set it in our front room, which is carpeted, and WOW!
It vacuums under the furniture and everything. No wonder people have such bad allergies.
It also does hardwood and tile floors. The little sweeper that you can see in the pic swipes the baseboards.

Today I set it off in our living room and forgot the virtual wall or to set something in front of the hall door----and, needless to say, it was LOST! I lost the robot. When Jill got home from school I had her help me look for it....it had gotten stuck under my bed on the cord to the mattress warmer. She retrieved it for me and it is vacuuming as we speak!

There is also one called the Scooba, that MOPS! Maybe I will get it for Valentines Day. Isnt that a romantic gift? Maybe I will buy it for VDay for Jonathan.......he does the mopping (and most vacuuming) after all. He is better at it than I am! : ) He is stronger!

Now if I could just find one that does laundry and changes the sheets!

Cocoa is HOME!

Cocoa is HOME from his stay at the pet hospital after his PARVO scare! We are so glad that he is alive and well. THANK YOU, Dr Meurer!

Jill went on a bowling trip with all the kids in the 3rd grade who read enough Bluebonnet Books to qualify. She had a great time and LOVED the shoes. How about that cheesy smile?

A beautiful sunset out our back windows I thought I would share.................

The boys playing sword fighters in the rain yesterday (in their socks! where are their shoes??? On the trampoline they said).......Dont you love the rainbow in the background?

Things You Learn At The Dinner Table

While having dinner tonight, Thomas asked Jonathan if he thought Grant was the smartest kid around. J answered that he is a pretty smart kid......why do you ask?

Thomas replies, "Jill and I got him to eat dirt and a plant a couple of days ago!" Then he just laughed..............

Sweet Maddie.........

Today is our niece Maddie's birthday. She would have been 10 years old. I know that she, Jill, and Hope (another niece) would have been the best of friends. They were all born within one calendar year of each other. Say a prayer for J's sister, Carra, her husband Jimmy, and boys---Davis and Jake today especially. Its a sad day for our family, but I cannot even imagine what it is like for them.

We miss that brown-eyed girl.

Today..........

I did get my voice back yesterday----so now I can answer my own phone! You know its the little things that make me happy! Thanks to all of you for your home remedies----the one I forgot on the last post was to gargle with alum water. NASTY is all I have to say about that one.

Our little 4 month old dog, Coco, is very sick. I got home yesterday around 4:30 and she was throwing up what looked like white foam......I called the vet......he was out somewhere with someone's horse and was going to be a while. The vet tech gave me the number to the animal hospital in Waco and I took Coco there. After some testing, it was determined that she has Parvo. NOT GOOD.
She had to spend the night at the hospital with an IV for fluids and antibiotics. He had to be picked up by 7:30 am this morning (thanks, Dad, for picking up the dog you dont like!) and taken to our regular vet. I took him there this morning after the 3rd grade parent breakfast and the vet says he has to stay there! For up to a week or more! He is going to be on the IV there, too.
Say a little prayer for Coco. We love that little dog.

It is also contagious----and we have another Shih Tzu that is 5 months old and she is fine. I did take her back to the vet today to get a booster shot to make sure that she doesn't get it, too. We are also bleaching everything! EVERYTHING! I am going to get another pillow for the dogs today. My sweet budget nazi is going crazy over this.........but..........it has to be done.

Maybe I should be selling pet insurance. I have heard of it.........I thought it was a little crazy until I paid the bill for the one night in the hospital. OH MY. I will keep you all updated about Coco.

The kids are all fine. J has a Girl Scout Bowling Trip tonight, we have bball games tomorrow, signups for softball/baseball/tball this weekend, and of course......some football game on Sunday.