REAL........ According to the dictionary, real means of or relating to fixed, permanent, or immovable things ;not artificial, fraudulent, or illusory.
This word has caused some friction in my life this evening. A statement was made with this word concerning adoption. My nephew is adopted. It is not a secret. He will tell you that another woman carried him in her belly and God chose him to be a part of our family. You see the statement was....How will he react when he finds out that my sister and brother in law are not his "real" parents and he chooses to look for his "real" parents. I flew off the handle with this statement. You see my sister and BIL are his "real" parents. They are there for him everyday. They are raising him. They are permanent, it is legal and they are not going anywhere. Their relationship as his parents is immovable. It is not artificial or fraudulent. It is what it is, two loving parents raising the son they have loved since he was an infant.
I am in no way undermining the role of his biological parents. They are exactly that, the biological parents. Just because they share DNA it does not make them his "real" parents. They knew they could not be "real" parents. "Real" parents are there every day. They love, support, nurture and provide for the child. His biological parents knew that they could not fulfill these roles and be what they needed to be for him. They knew enough about themselves to give him up to a couple who could be all this. They loved him enough to provide him with a "real" family by placing him up for adoption. Because of this, I am ever grateful for their fling of passion that resulted in such a beautiful blessing to our family. His "real" family that loves and supports him. The "real" family that has smiled and cried through the last seven years. In his life, my sister and BIL are his "real" parents. We are his "real" family. His life is "real". We are "real". We are permanent, we are immovable. We will never run from him. We are not artificial. Silk flowers are artificial. We are "real" in every since of the word.
Thank you Lord for an awesome nephew that you brought to our family. Thank you for allowing me to be his "real" aunt. I could not love him any more if he were my own child.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
More pics 2
Buffet Table
Buffet table again
My nephew, first in line and already eating. 
My brother and his wife. She put together an awesome Power Point in honor of my parents.
That is it for now until someone processes some different pictures.
My brother and his wife. She put together an awesome Power Point in honor of my parents.
That is it for now until someone processes some different pictures. What I do not have pictures of yet are the soloists and the dispay tables. There was one table that we had her dress , wedding album, cake topper, Bible and various other things from the wedding day. In the back I had a Guess the Price from 1960 table and sample wedding gifts.
More Pics 1
Table Decorations. We found old records at the thrift store for 50 cents or less. We printed some black and white wedding pictures and glued them to the records as a centerpiece. The other record I warped in the oven and made a bowl for the Chex Mix appetizers. The baskets were baskets we have collected at our store through the years to display merchandise. My sister spray-painted those pink. The baskets were used as the bread baskets. I made candy bar wrappers with the theme for the party favors. 
My sister and I finally getting our own dinner. She is in the pink and I am in the black in the back.
My parents are in the center during our Pastors tribute to them.
My brother is doing a quiz. I know he is blurry but this showed some of the decorations and the number of people. This was only a portion of the people.
That is me introducing the weddding party that was present. In essence, it was my parents, my grandfather , flower girl and a groomsmen but I forgot to mention him. He was family so he didnt care.
My sister and I finally getting our own dinner. She is in the pink and I am in the black in the back.
My parents are in the center during our Pastors tribute to them.
My brother is doing a quiz. I know he is blurry but this showed some of the decorations and the number of people. This was only a portion of the people.
That is me introducing the weddding party that was present. In essence, it was my parents, my grandfather , flower girl and a groomsmen but I forgot to mention him. He was family so he didnt care.
More coming.
Monday, September 20, 2010
The cake...
The cake.... Guests started attacking the cupcakes and the fake banana splits before we even officially started serving the cake. 
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Prayer Request
My sister's best friend has been diagnosed with breast cancer this week. She is due to have surgery on the 30th. This should be a happy time for her because her first granddaughter was born four months ago and her first grandson was born Wednesday. She also has MS. Please pray for her.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
It was a sucesss....
My parent's 50th Anniversary party was a success. I am physically exhausted. We did a 50's theme and it was great. I will post some pictures later when I get them. We had a 15 minute power point presentation about their life. Most of it was pictures of us as kids. My parent's received a standing ovation at the end. It was emotional. Someone told me that my Dad even had tears but he would never admit to it.
I will repeat from a previous post that they have not had a marriage full of greatness. It has been a marriage full of strife and tribulation. Through all this they remained faithful to their vows before God and stayed true to each other. We are their greatest accomplishments. They take pride in us. I had one of the ladies from our church sing the following song from Steve Green.
HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH
Here we are at the start committing to each other
By His word and from our hearts
We will be a family in a house that will be a home
And with faith we'll build it strong
Chorus:
We'll build a household of faith
That together we can make
And when the strong winds blow it won't fall down
As one in Him we'll grow and the whole world will know
We are a household of faith
Now to be a family we've got to love each other
At any cost unselfishly
And our home must be a place that fully abounds with
A reflection of His face
That is what we were raised with... A Household of Faith.
It was a fantastic evening with over 80 people in attendance. What a tribute to their marriage.
The food was fantastic. My alfredo sauce was superb, if I say so myself.
Fantastic night, fantastic memories.
I will repeat from a previous post that they have not had a marriage full of greatness. It has been a marriage full of strife and tribulation. Through all this they remained faithful to their vows before God and stayed true to each other. We are their greatest accomplishments. They take pride in us. I had one of the ladies from our church sing the following song from Steve Green.
HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH
Here we are at the start committing to each other
By His word and from our hearts
We will be a family in a house that will be a home
And with faith we'll build it strong
Chorus:
We'll build a household of faith
That together we can make
And when the strong winds blow it won't fall down
As one in Him we'll grow and the whole world will know
We are a household of faith
Now to be a family we've got to love each other
At any cost unselfishly
And our home must be a place that fully abounds with
A reflection of His face
That is what we were raised with... A Household of Faith.
It was a fantastic evening with over 80 people in attendance. What a tribute to their marriage.
The food was fantastic. My alfredo sauce was superb, if I say so myself.
Fantastic night, fantastic memories.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Kids write the craziest things....
The last two days I have been subbing for a special education teacher. Today's special education is not like the special education I grew up with. These are kids that may be a little slower or have ADD, ADHD, etc but the are in regular classes. I traveled to various classes during various times to assist kids either during math or language arts.
Yesterday I had a child that I was told struggles with reading and writing. They had a prompt to write about something that has made them happy. This boy needed no help getting started. I came back around to see his progress on what was supposed to be one paragraph with 10 sentences. He had written about 25 sentences in paragraph form about a trip to see the Philadelphia Eagles. He knew everything about that game. I was flabbergasted.Today, although, I found out he is a NFL fanatic. He had to write about a time he shared something with someone. He wrote about the time he went to see the Cleveland Browns play. He stretched his assignment and told me by going to the game that he shared his "TIME" with the Cleveland Browns. I just had to chuckle.
There was another girl today on the same assignment. She was writing about sharing her pencil with someone in class last year. The only problem was she did not write the word "pencil". I could tell she was trying to sound it out but she didn't write what was she was sounding out. The word she wrote was...... PENISL. Needless to say I had to look at it and put it in context and not laugh in the process. I then had her erase it and made her sound it out again with me guiding her. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she did not have that particular object to share with anyone and even if she had it, she should not share it until after marriage.
This next one happened at home. I came home and my nephew was showing me his homework. His spelling word was TAP and he had to use it in a sentence. He is a good thinker. He meant to write "I tapped my friend." What he wrote was " I tapth my frend." Ohh, spelling is my pet peeve so it is so hard for me not to correct all his spelling. Bless his heart , he is just sounding it out and writing what he hears. You have to love him.
I really enjoyed the last two days besides the time schedule. This school goes until almost 4 Pm and my nephew gets out at 2 Pm and this was the two days we had him. He was miserable waiting for me to get home. One of the little boys told me he saw me drive off yesterday and knows I drive a red car then he said he watched me from the bus because he liked me as his teacher. I walked another student to his bus. He told me to tell his teacher that he promises he will be better tomorrow. He saw me today at the end of the day and told me he had stayed on green all day. Green is "ready to learn" and it is a good day. I gave him a high five . He just grinned from ear to ear
I love rewarding days like today.
Yesterday I had a child that I was told struggles with reading and writing. They had a prompt to write about something that has made them happy. This boy needed no help getting started. I came back around to see his progress on what was supposed to be one paragraph with 10 sentences. He had written about 25 sentences in paragraph form about a trip to see the Philadelphia Eagles. He knew everything about that game. I was flabbergasted.Today, although, I found out he is a NFL fanatic. He had to write about a time he shared something with someone. He wrote about the time he went to see the Cleveland Browns play. He stretched his assignment and told me by going to the game that he shared his "TIME" with the Cleveland Browns. I just had to chuckle.
There was another girl today on the same assignment. She was writing about sharing her pencil with someone in class last year. The only problem was she did not write the word "pencil". I could tell she was trying to sound it out but she didn't write what was she was sounding out. The word she wrote was...... PENISL. Needless to say I had to look at it and put it in context and not laugh in the process. I then had her erase it and made her sound it out again with me guiding her. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she did not have that particular object to share with anyone and even if she had it, she should not share it until after marriage.
This next one happened at home. I came home and my nephew was showing me his homework. His spelling word was TAP and he had to use it in a sentence. He is a good thinker. He meant to write "I tapped my friend." What he wrote was " I tapth my frend." Ohh, spelling is my pet peeve so it is so hard for me not to correct all his spelling. Bless his heart , he is just sounding it out and writing what he hears. You have to love him.
I really enjoyed the last two days besides the time schedule. This school goes until almost 4 Pm and my nephew gets out at 2 Pm and this was the two days we had him. He was miserable waiting for me to get home. One of the little boys told me he saw me drive off yesterday and knows I drive a red car then he said he watched me from the bus because he liked me as his teacher. I walked another student to his bus. He told me to tell his teacher that he promises he will be better tomorrow. He saw me today at the end of the day and told me he had stayed on green all day. Green is "ready to learn" and it is a good day. I gave him a high five . He just grinned from ear to ear
I love rewarding days like today.
Recipe Time
We are in the midst of getting ready for this weekend's celebration of my parent's 50th anniversary. The actual date was last Friday and we went out to a Japanese steak house. It was fun. The best part was watching my grandfather's face as he watched the cook on the grill.
Anyhow, I was looking for an easy Alfredo sauce because we are going to have a pasta bar. My sister was going to buy the jar sauce. Yucky! Well my friend Jen was telling me about an easy recipe she makes for Alfredo sauce that was easy but she couldn't email me until she got back home to TN to get the recipe. I started some research and found one. We tried it out Sunday, it was delish and we were dying for bread sticks to dip in our sauce.
After making this and it being so easy and delicious , it made me realize it really is ridiculous how much we pay for a meal at Italian restaurants. On average, probably $12 and I think that is low.
Here goes:
1/4 lb butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1 tbsp garlic
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
pepper
Place butter and garlic in sauce pan. Let butter melt. Add cream cheese and use whisk to stir. When well blended add the milk and half and half. Whisk constantly. When it looks like it is well blended add Parmesan cheese and pepper to your liking. Remove from heat. Let sit a few minutes and whisk before serving. Makes enough for a pound of pasta. You can add chicken , shrimp or broccoli if desired.
Breakdown of cost. I had the milk, garlic and pepper. The butter, cream , half and half and parmesan cheese were $7.25 but it was enough to make 4 batches. One batch would feed four with a pound of pasta.
It took all my might not to eat it like soup because it was so delicious.
Anyhow, I was looking for an easy Alfredo sauce because we are going to have a pasta bar. My sister was going to buy the jar sauce. Yucky! Well my friend Jen was telling me about an easy recipe she makes for Alfredo sauce that was easy but she couldn't email me until she got back home to TN to get the recipe. I started some research and found one. We tried it out Sunday, it was delish and we were dying for bread sticks to dip in our sauce.
After making this and it being so easy and delicious , it made me realize it really is ridiculous how much we pay for a meal at Italian restaurants. On average, probably $12 and I think that is low.
Here goes:
1/4 lb butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1 tbsp garlic
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
pepper
Place butter and garlic in sauce pan. Let butter melt. Add cream cheese and use whisk to stir. When well blended add the milk and half and half. Whisk constantly. When it looks like it is well blended add Parmesan cheese and pepper to your liking. Remove from heat. Let sit a few minutes and whisk before serving. Makes enough for a pound of pasta. You can add chicken , shrimp or broccoli if desired.
Breakdown of cost. I had the milk, garlic and pepper. The butter, cream , half and half and parmesan cheese were $7.25 but it was enough to make 4 batches. One batch would feed four with a pound of pasta.
It took all my might not to eat it like soup because it was so delicious.
Monday, September 6, 2010
What a Day!
This was supposed to be a fun family day at my grandfather's house. Kind of bittersweet because it just may have been our last get together in this house since it is on the market. How long it will be on the market , we don't know. It has been three weeks and there have been a lot of inquiries and about five to six showings. So far nobody likes the price. They don't understand that it is 2-3 acres of land backed up to state property which is preserved because it is part of the historical Yorktown battlefields. No one can build behind them. They are right in front of an awesome elementary school. At the end of the block is the best high school in the area and within a mile is the best middle school in the area also. My grandfather will hold out, he is stubborn.
OK, onto my Labor day festivities. My mom spent the morning cleaning the back porch and I ate my lunch out there alone. Everyone complained it was too hot. It was 84 and around here that is fall. We had steaks. I decided to enjoy my steak before my potato and salad. I sat on the porch and thoroughly enjoyed my rib eye that was cooked to perfection by my brother. Later I did have my potato, salad and grilled corn.
I decided to take my nephew across the street to the school park. We were not there 10 minutes when he told me we had to go back to go to the bathroom. So we headed back. He went to the bathroom and I went to the back porch. Despite being 7, he is a man and I know will take his time in the facility.
In the mean time, my mom comes out on the porch on her way to the trash. She asks me about some things they are getting rid of while trying to clean the house out. Then she opened the door and went to the trash. I hear her fussing about something that was thrown away but then see her coming back. She came up the steps, had the door open and lost her balance. She tried to catch herself but failed. She fell backwards down the last two steps straight on her butt, back and head. I ran down to her but no one else knew anything. The neighbor did not see it take place but he saw me helping her and jumped the fence to help. In the mean time I had ran to the kitchen window pounding for someone to come help. Between me and my brother in law we got her onto the back porch.
Well at this point, I think something is wrong but my sister, the RN, keeps telling me she is ok. She could not tell us what year it was nor did she remember what happened. She kept asking me every few minutes, " What happened? Why do I hurt?" At my insistence we went to the ER. They ran test to rule out the heart. I knew it wasn't that, I saw her lose her balance. They did a CT and x-rays. Praise the Lord, no broken bones but she does have a slight concussion. On the way to the ER, I think she asked 20 times what happened.
I brought her home by myself because my Father is at my grandfather's house taking care of him at night. You see even with the emergency today, my mom's sister still could not take the time to take care of him. After all it is her father, not my father's father. So I get her up the steps but she gets weak. I am standing at the front of the house holding up dead weight trying to get her to a seat. The Grace of God pushed us to the chair. Later she musters enough energy to get to the bed and rests while I wait on her prescriptions.
I came home and sat on the side of her bed and bam the boards under the bed came loose. What else could happen. I had to stand her and put her in a chair while I lifted the mattress and springs up to fix the board. I hate her bed. Then I had to get her situated in her bed again. It is now 11:35 and I just ate dinner.
It is not a laughing matter but it is a little funny to see her butt. One side has her skinny butt she inherited from her father but the other side looks like a giant softball is attached to it.
Now I have been in such a frenzy with taking care of her that I do not even remember if I took my BP meds.
What a Labor Day! I am off to bed because if she has to get up for any reason I have to get up too. Please uplift her in prayer as you heals. She is in a lot of pain.
As I look back on the day , I see that God brought me back from that park in perfect timing because if I was not on the porch it would have been awhile before anyone saw her on the ground and no one would have known what happened.
OK, onto my Labor day festivities. My mom spent the morning cleaning the back porch and I ate my lunch out there alone. Everyone complained it was too hot. It was 84 and around here that is fall. We had steaks. I decided to enjoy my steak before my potato and salad. I sat on the porch and thoroughly enjoyed my rib eye that was cooked to perfection by my brother. Later I did have my potato, salad and grilled corn.
I decided to take my nephew across the street to the school park. We were not there 10 minutes when he told me we had to go back to go to the bathroom. So we headed back. He went to the bathroom and I went to the back porch. Despite being 7, he is a man and I know will take his time in the facility.
In the mean time, my mom comes out on the porch on her way to the trash. She asks me about some things they are getting rid of while trying to clean the house out. Then she opened the door and went to the trash. I hear her fussing about something that was thrown away but then see her coming back. She came up the steps, had the door open and lost her balance. She tried to catch herself but failed. She fell backwards down the last two steps straight on her butt, back and head. I ran down to her but no one else knew anything. The neighbor did not see it take place but he saw me helping her and jumped the fence to help. In the mean time I had ran to the kitchen window pounding for someone to come help. Between me and my brother in law we got her onto the back porch.
Well at this point, I think something is wrong but my sister, the RN, keeps telling me she is ok. She could not tell us what year it was nor did she remember what happened. She kept asking me every few minutes, " What happened? Why do I hurt?" At my insistence we went to the ER. They ran test to rule out the heart. I knew it wasn't that, I saw her lose her balance. They did a CT and x-rays. Praise the Lord, no broken bones but she does have a slight concussion. On the way to the ER, I think she asked 20 times what happened.
I brought her home by myself because my Father is at my grandfather's house taking care of him at night. You see even with the emergency today, my mom's sister still could not take the time to take care of him. After all it is her father, not my father's father. So I get her up the steps but she gets weak. I am standing at the front of the house holding up dead weight trying to get her to a seat. The Grace of God pushed us to the chair. Later she musters enough energy to get to the bed and rests while I wait on her prescriptions.
I came home and sat on the side of her bed and bam the boards under the bed came loose. What else could happen. I had to stand her and put her in a chair while I lifted the mattress and springs up to fix the board. I hate her bed. Then I had to get her situated in her bed again. It is now 11:35 and I just ate dinner.
It is not a laughing matter but it is a little funny to see her butt. One side has her skinny butt she inherited from her father but the other side looks like a giant softball is attached to it.
Now I have been in such a frenzy with taking care of her that I do not even remember if I took my BP meds.
What a Labor Day! I am off to bed because if she has to get up for any reason I have to get up too. Please uplift her in prayer as you heals. She is in a lot of pain.
As I look back on the day , I see that God brought me back from that park in perfect timing because if I was not on the porch it would have been awhile before anyone saw her on the ground and no one would have known what happened.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Praise the Lord, we were spared..
Hurricane Earl turned and went out to sea and we were spared. We are experiencing a little rain this morning. Though when I say a little , I mean very little. It was sprinkling at 8 AM and my driveway is dry again already and it is 8:53.
I am very happy we were spared. We could have used a little more rain though. We have only had one good rain storm this summer. Other than that this has been a picture perfect summer for vacationing on the coast but if you live here it has been dry and hot. I mean hot, hot.
I am very happy we were spared. We could have used a little more rain though. We have only had one good rain storm this summer. Other than that this has been a picture perfect summer for vacationing on the coast but if you live here it has been dry and hot. I mean hot, hot.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Preparations...
Hurricane Earl is making a threat to this area. So far we are only under a Tropical Storm Warning but depending on the path Earl chooses we could be right in his path.
So am I ready. Can you ever be ready 100%?
Water- yeppers, 3 cases of 32 16 oz bottles
Propane-yeppers , filled it yesterday
Food-yeppers , some , we have a freezer full that can be cooked on the grill should the power go out
Candles- yeppers, lots of them floating around the house
Flashlights-yeppers
Batteries- yeppers
Generator- yeppers, cranked it up yesterday
Gas-yeppers some
Last year a Tropical Storm came through with only flooding but it downgraded from a hurricane long before it hit here. This one is still a category 4 and is off the coast of Carolina now. We are an hour from North Carolina. Seven years ago Hurricane Isabel came through and we were without power for 9 days. I pray that does not happen again.
IN the mean time, I am heading out to take the swing down.
Toodles.
So am I ready. Can you ever be ready 100%?
Water- yeppers, 3 cases of 32 16 oz bottles
Propane-yeppers , filled it yesterday
Food-yeppers , some , we have a freezer full that can be cooked on the grill should the power go out
Candles- yeppers, lots of them floating around the house
Flashlights-yeppers
Batteries- yeppers
Generator- yeppers, cranked it up yesterday
Gas-yeppers some
Last year a Tropical Storm came through with only flooding but it downgraded from a hurricane long before it hit here. This one is still a category 4 and is off the coast of Carolina now. We are an hour from North Carolina. Seven years ago Hurricane Isabel came through and we were without power for 9 days. I pray that does not happen again.
IN the mean time, I am heading out to take the swing down.
Toodles.
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