NEW paintings at "the lambs ears" in birmingham

THESE PAINTINGS ARE ALL UNDER $100 AND AVAILABLE AT THE LAMBS EARS. 1-205-969-3138.
THEY SHIP! HELP YOUR LOCAL OR NOT LOCAL STARVING ARTIST/MOM!!

bathtime tunes

this is histerical. i could hear butter singing in the tub (loudly) "tell me why, WHY, wha-aa, does it hurrrt soo bayud?" so i grabbed the camera and as i was approaching the bathroom and recording, i heard bert yell, "STOP". and butter's voice goes from loud to small, quiet, and squeaky. i had to post!

we have been having SO MUCH FUN!!

doing all of the "outdoorsy" things that the mountains have to offer!!

what in the world have we been doing??

hiking, eating, sipping, climbing, horseback riding, soaking in the hot tub, DRIVING!

where in the world have we been???

ELLIJAY, Georgia~~~!!! at a fabulous "sliding rock cabin" called "run a muck"!! in the foothills of the blue ridge mountains. we had a blast. we spent two of the days with friends. this cabin was DECORATED beautifully by my friend (who owns the cabin) mostly from a store called Seibels in Birmingham (if you are familiar with this store...oooh lalalala!!). the cabin sits next to a trout stream and there was a bubbling hot tub that hangs over the river. here are some lovely pics!!

more crazy mountain pics!!

crazy pics that could not be left out!!

pain

pain all around me it seems. it is hard for it to not seep into my pores.

a mother, loses her husband and two daughters in a plane crash. leaving behind she and her teenage son.

a married couple leaves 3 kids behind as they crashed their plane into the gulf.

a family loses their 16 year teenage honor student in a car accident, as he was coming home from a debate tournament.

a beautiful 2 year old little girl in texas loses her life to neuroblastoma (cancer).

a couple you thought were inseparable, separates.

Lord, what do you say about pain?

i love the words in the song "held"
"this is what it means to be HELD... how it feels...when the sacred is torn from your life, and you survive. this is what it means to be held... and to know...that THE PROMISE IS when everything fails...we'll be HELD."

God does NOT...nor has EVER...promised us a pain free life. HE only promises that He will sustain and lift up those that believe on Him and are called according to His purposes.

read ISAIAH 43


1 But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.

GO GREEEEEEN!!!

sent "bif" (crunch's new name) to school this morning rehearsing with him about how "we" should not pour our drinks out at the lunch table. how "we" should stay seated during circle time. i even went as far as to write on his arm in black ink "I AM GOING TO STAY ON GREEN TODAY!" bif is also wearing GREEN as a reminder that you want to stay on THAT color rather than yellow or red.

what about peanut and butter?

PEANUT was in a production of "will rogers follies" it was so much work and just about killed us!! practices NON STOP with no concern for the girls ages or bedtimes. we will not be doing community theater again anytime soon. she is doing great in school although our BELOVED TEACHER has been in the hospital with an infection and we miss her greatly. we celebrated peanuts 9th birthday and she got a "ripstick" from her grandmother. she has been ripsticking all over the house. oh, she told me this morning that i was prettier when i was younger. thanks. i told her "you just wait until you are 35 and then you will see if you look like you did when you were 18!" ok, so i took it a little personally. ALSO, she is on a soccer team! a real one! they play for our little town and it is going to be intense, fun and tiring! GO HOMEWOOD!!

BUTTER had been really struggling in school with focusing in class. he was having a hard time sitting still and the teacher was really struggling with him. we decided to ask the doctor about some adhd medication. we filled out all the questionnaires and so did his teacher. it was a DEFINATE case that cried out ADHD. so, we started with adderall and he did great in class but when the medicine wore off around 4:00 in the afternoon he turned into a hamster on a wheel and was "exercising" all over the house. chin-ups on the mantle sit-ups, push-ups, a little jogging in place. this would last from 4 until about 9:00 until he was FORCED to calm down and go to bed. needless to say, we switched medications to one called vyvanse. this one seems to be doing MUCH better with the side effects. he is paying attention in class, his mood swings are much better and he is LEARNING his letters (finally) and doing great. praise the Lord for modern medicine.

here goes:
if you are reading this and have been told that your child could benefit from medicine FOR THE LOVE OF PETE please at least try it. it is really easy here are the steps:
get the questionnaires from your pediatrician (two for you and your spouse, and one for the teacher)
fill them out
take them back to the doctor
if he/she passes this "test" the doc will recommend a med. probably adderall.
give the child the medicine in the morning
HERE IS THE MIRACULOUS PART...ready?
you will know within one to two days if your child needs this medicine. here is how:
if he hypes up......he does not need it. see the doctor for other options.
if he calms down....he needed it and he THANKS YOU without knowing it.
it takes about two days of medicine that does not hurt him and then you have your answer.
don't be stubborn and remember it is NOT about you! it is not SHAMEFUL! it has been said that kids with ADHD/ADD are some of the smartest kids! it is about your child!
take it from me, it is no fun being trapped in a body that you can't control!
ADD or ADHD causes anxiety, anxiety causes depression.....
read the research done on those who are addicted to cocaine. a vast amount of these people have untreated ADHD and SELF MEDICATED with cocaine (a stimulant, same as adderall etc.)i will try and find the study.
finally, (and then i will shut up about this) just because your kid can concentrate on things such as tv and toys that they enjoy playing with. these things stimulate their brains and that is what they are aching for. HUGE sign of ADHD: tv stimulates them so much that is is very hard to get their attention.
one more thing: medication does not equal a lack in faith or your trust in the Lord. i thank the Lord for my kids medications just like i do for my dad's insulin.
disclaimer: not a doctor, just a mom with a very strong opinion on this subject.
here is one study on the subject:
http://www.addcentre.co.uk/selfmedcocaine.htm (copy and paste into your web browser)

back to butter, he has learned that he is really pretty good at baseball! he is excited about it and we are too!

a mother "crunched" by a little "bif"

ohhhh what have i been doing?? not blogging. i do not know if i have just been lazy or if i have not felt very inspired to write. the main events have been dealing with an unruly "crunch". from the pulling of the fire alarm at school he has continued to do these "acting out" type of things. pouring drinks out, spitting milk at people, squirting his juice boxes out (with his foot..). getting his mother called to the "principals" office. the horror!!! for real. then there is the "running" he runs or walks away...from the house...from his class. and he does NOT answer when called. SO....BUM Bum bum....we are going to have him "evaluated" i do not know exactly what this means but to me it means that my BABY is not perfect. he is my little lovie. he snuggles me and says "i love you mommy". if ONLY everyone could see that. oh how i will miss that when he grows up. maybe he'll be the one that ALWAYS tells me that he loves me EVEN as the big football player or what not. OH i have changed his name to BIF. it fits him better. don't ask me why.

oh. my. goodness. while i was typing this i was yelling his name "where are you?? come here or you know you will get a spank. answer me? are you hiding?" well, he did not answer so i got up and noticed the front door opened and i went out and saw him across the street the little "web-crawler" himself. ACROSS THE STINKING STREET. these were my words..."you KNOW that when you leave the house and you don't tell me, you will get a spank on your fanny and I HATE DOING THAT!!!! you KNOW that you are getting one and you do it anyway. i don't get it???"

THIS is why i can't be on the computer during his waking hours unless he is busy BECAUSE he acts out when my attention is not on him. he is now in his room and he got the spank. i took away his spiderman glasses. what else??? i am so worried about his safety.

i know what you might be thinking...."why was the door unlocked?" answer: a worker just went out and i did not know it. "why does she not watch his every move?" answer: who could watch a four year old's EVERY move? he moves like a freakin indian you cant hear him or notice when he goes somewhere it is like some sort of magic!!! "how does he get so far away from the house?" answer he can get out of the house and be five houses away in 3.5 seconds with four adults supposedly "watching" him (as we saw this weekend) if you do not have a kid like this it is easy to be critical of them. please do not be critical of me.....pray for me and of course pray for "Bif".
an old pic of bif. when he was just a busy 2 1/2 year old

magical night

three friends had a "fundraiser" for our dear friend who is going on a trip to the Ukraine with her husband. they go to minister to an orphanage that has special needs kids. my friend has an autistic son. she and her precious husband have big hearts for special needs kids.
well, in trying to come up with ideas to supplement the cost for them to go....we....three of her friends said, "lets have a dinner party and hire a singer and have a private concert and ask for a $25 donation!" we decided on my house because it has a pretty good "flow" factor. our dear friends, who cater, charged us practically nothing, and the "band" was two people...Adam Wright, lead singer of Act of Congress, and the INCREDIBLE Connie Skellie a violinist (with the voice of an angel)to play a home concert for us. We had a delicious dinner, some vino, and a show. well, i will say, it was MAGICAL! the candlelight behind them as they sang... the stories that they would tell in between songs were precious... the message of the Gospel was EVER PRESENT! the Lord blessed the evening. $950 was raised for my friend. it was a home run!
the photo is of my house. we moved my dining room table out and Adam and Connie stood under the chandelier and the candles were on the wall table behind them. most of the lights were off and we had chairs placed everywhere so everyone could see. we did not take any pictures. i could kick myself!
CLICK ON THEPOST TITLE TO GO TO THE ACT OF CONGRESS WEBSITE AND YOU CAN HEAR ADAM'S INCREDIBLE VOICE.

firetrucks are AWESOME!!

So let's call one~~ and all you have to do is pull this red lever and the whole place will start making lots of noisy woop woop woop sounds and then you get to all run outside and have fun watching the whoooooiiiiiiiiiiiiioooooooooooo come driving up! with all the firemen and the kids outside. what a great adventure! and when mommy comes to get me at school and everyone is looking at her like "tsk tsk tsk poor thing she's got her hands full". SO, when mommy comes to my schoolroom the teacher tells her that she has to go to the principal's office and mommy is having a deja-vu from all the times she had to go to the principal's office in school. then mommy tries to hold back the tears as they talk about me. ooh what happened at school today? (daddy asks)
Nufing.....i say.

911 call from 5 year old must see! CLICK HERE

click here to watch amazing little girl sing and play piano

i painted a cow!

i have wanted to paint a cow and so i did!!

she's too sexy for the dentist...

i let her out and i thought she was takin' care of bidness and instead she was takin' care of BADNESS and had broken open the trash bag right outside the door and eaten through the coffee grinds to get to the LARGE amount of leftover spaghetti. she was ORANGE when i opened the door. i put her in the sink and bathed her face in antibacterial soap ccuz that's all i had right there and then i thought i would show you a picture of her "grill". she is the hottest old lady on the block. looka them chompers! do you think it might be time for dentures??? NO, we have never had her teeth cleaned. who gets their dog's teeth cleaned? sheesh!!!!!

great picture.

crunch was being sweet and he was minding me and he was all ready for school wif his widdle backpack and i want to eat him up and keep him a baby and he is four!!

the next four videos

these videos will show you a little of what we deal with in having a mental DOG that lives with us! CESAR MILAN where are you when we need you? "shht. shht." that sound you make just does not work!!

The OCD DOG~~!! WOOF!